FOCUS: Future of fecal calprotectin utility study in inflammatory bowel disease

AIM To evaluate the perspective of gastroenterologists regarding the impact of fecal calprotectin(FC) on the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD).METHODS Patients with known IBD or symptoms suggestive of IBD for whom the physician identified that FC would be clinically useful were recruited. Physicians completed an online "pre survey" outlining their rationale for the test. After receipt of the test results, the physicians completed an online "post survey" to portray their perceived impact of the test result on patient management. Clinical outcomes for a subset of patients with follow-up data available beyond the completion of the "post survey" were collected and analyzed.RESULTS Of 373 test kits distributed, 290 were returned, resulting in 279 fully completed surveys. One hundred and ninety patients were known to have IBD; 147(77%) with Crohn's Disease, 43(21%) Ulcerative Colitis and 5(2%) IBD unclassified. Indications for FC testing included: 90(32.2%) to differentiate a new diagnosis of IBD from Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS), 85(30.5%) to distinguish symptoms of IBS from IBD in those known to have IBD and 104(37.2%) as an objective measure of inflammation. FC levels resulted in a change in management 51.3%(143/279) of the time which included a significant reduction in the number of colonoscopies(118) performed(P < 0.001). Overall, 97.5%(272/279) of the time, the physicians found the test sufficiently useful that they would order it again in similar situations. Follow-up data was available for 172 patients with further support for the clinical utility of FC provided.CONCLUSION The FC test effected a change in management 51.3% of the time and receipt of the result was associated with a reduction in the number of colonoscopies performed.

Transition clinic attendance is associated with improved beliefs and attitudes toward medicine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

AIM To evaluated the differences in knowledge, adherence, attitudes, and beliefs about medicine in adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) attending transition clinics.METHODS We prospectively enrolled patients from July 2012 to June 2013. All adolescents who attended a tertiarycentre-based dedicated IBD transition clinic were invited to participate. Adolescent controls were recruited from university-affiliated gastroenterology offices. Participants completed questionnaires about their disease and reported adherence to prescribed therapy. Beliefs in Medicine Questionnaire was used to evaluate patients' attitudes and beliefs. Beliefs of medication overuse, harm, necessity and concerns were rated on a Likert scale. Based on necessity and concern ratings, attitudes were then characterized as accepting, ambivalent, skeptical and indifferent. RESULTS One hundred and twelve adolescents were included and 59 attended transition clinics. Self-reported adherence rates were poor, with only 67.4% and 56.8% of patients on any IBD medication were adherent in the transition and control groups, respectively. Adolescents in the transition cohort held significantly stronger beliefs that medications were necessary(P = 0.0035). Approximately 20% of adolescents in both cohorts had accepting attitudes toward their prescribed medicine. However, compared to the control group, adolescents in the transition cohort were less skeptical of(6.8% vs 20.8%) and more ambivalent(61% vs 34%)(OR = 0.15; 95%CI: 0.03-0.75; P = 0.02) to treatment.CONCLUSION Attendance at dedicated transition clinics was associated with differences in attitudes in adolescents with IBD.

Impact of medical therapy on patients with Crohn's disease requiring surgical resection

AIM: To evaluate the impact of medical therapy on Crohn's disease patients undergoing their first surgical resection.METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated all patients with Crohn's disease undergoing their first surgical resection between years 1995 to 2000 and 2005 to 2010 at a tertiary academic hospital(St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada). Patients were identified from hospital administrative database using the International Classification of Diseases 9 codes. Patients' hospital and available outpatient clinic records were independently reviewed and pertinent data were extracted. We explored relationships among time from disease diagnosis to surgery, patient phenotypes, medication usage, length of small bowel resected, surgical complications, and duration of hospital stay.RESULTS: Total of 199 patients were included; 85 from years 1995 to 2000(cohort A) and 114 from years 2005 to 2010(cohort B). Compared to cohort A, cohort B had more patients on immunomodulators(cohort A vs cohort B: 21.4% vs 56.1%, P < 0.0001) and less patients on 5-aminosalysilic acid(53.6% vs 29.8%, P = 0.001). There was a shift from inflammatory to stricturing and penetrating phenotypes(B1/B2/B3 38.8% vs 12.3%, 31.8% vs 45.6%, 29.4% vs 42.1%, P < 0.0001). Both groups had similar median time to surgery. Within cohort B, 38 patients(33.3%) received anti-tumor necrosis factor(TNF) agent. No patient in cohort A was exposed to anti-TNF agent. Compared to patients not on anti-TNF agent, ones exposed were younger at diagnosis(anti-TNF vs without anti-TNF: A1/A2/A3 39.5% vs 11.8%, 50% vs 73.7%, 10.5% vs 14.5%, P = 0.003) and had longer median time to surgery(90 mo vs 48 mo, P = 0.02). Combination therapy further extended median time to surgery. Using timedependent multivariate Cox proportional hazard model, patients who were treated with anti-TNF agents had a significantly higher risk to surgery(adjusted hazard ratio 3.57, 95%CI: 1.98-6.44, P < 0.0001) compared to those without while controlling for gender, disease phenotype, smoking status, and immunomodulator use.CONCLUSION: Significant changes in patient phenotypes and medication exposures were observed between the two surgical cohorts separated by a decade.