Superior Effectiveness of Tofacitinib Compared to Vedolizumab in Anti-TNF-experienced Ulcerative Colitis Patients: A Nationwide Dutch Registry Study

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Clinicians face difficulty in when and in what order to position biologics and Janus kinase inhibitors in patients with anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) refractory ulcerative colitis (UC). We aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab and tofacitinib in anti-TNF-exposed patients with UC in our prospective nationwide Initiative on Crohn and Colitis Registry.

METHODS

Patients with UC who failed anti-TNF treatment and initiated vedolizumab or tofacitinib treatment were identified in the Initiative on Crohn and Colitis Registry in the Netherlands. We selected patients with both clinical as well as biochemical or endoscopic disease activity at initiation of therapy. Patients previously treated with vedolizumab or tofacitinib were excluded. Corticosteroid-free clinical remission (Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index ≤2), biochemical remission (C-reactive protein ≤5 mg/L or fecal calprotectin ≤250 μg/g), and safety outcomes were compared after 52 weeks of treatment. Inverse propensity score-weighted comparison was used to adjust for confounding and selection bias.

RESULTS

Overall, 83 vedolizumab- and 65 tofacitinib-treated patients were included. Propensity score-weighted analysis showed that tofacitinib-treated patients were more likely to achieve corticosteroid-free clinical remission and biochemical remission at weeks 12, 24, and 52 compared with vedolizumab-treated patients (odds ratio [OR], 6.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.81-10.50; P < .01; OR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.89-4.84; P < .01; and OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.15-2.99; P = .01; and OR, 3.27; 95% CI, 1.96-5.45; P < .01; OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.14-3.07; P = .01; and OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.06-3.09; P = .03, respectively). There was no difference in infection rate or severe adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS

Tofacitinib was associated with superior effectiveness outcomes compared with vedolizumab in anti-TNF-experienced patients with UC along with comparable safety outcomes.

Exposure to thioguanine during 117 pregnancies in women with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND

Safety of thioguanine in pregnant patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is sparsely recorded. This study was aimed to document the safety of thioguanine during pregnancy and in birth.

METHODS

In this multicenter case series, IBD patients treated with thioguanine during pregnancy were included. Data regarding disease and medication history, pregnancy course, obstetric complications and neonatal outcomes were collected.

RESULTS

Data on 117 thioguanine-exposed pregnancies in 99 women were collected. Most (78%) had Crohn's disease and the mean age at delivery was 31 years. In eighteen pregnancies (15%) IBD flared. Obstetric and infectious complications were seen in 15% (n=17) and 7% (n=8) of pregnancies, respectively. Ten pregnancies (8.5%) resulted in a first trimester miscarriage and one in a stillbirth at 22 weeks gestational age. Congenital abnormalities were observed in one induced abortion (trisomy 21) and in one of the live-born children (cleft palate) . In total 109 neonates were born from 101 singleton pregnancies and 4 twin pregnancies. In the singleton pregnancies, ten children were born prematurely and ten were born small for gestational age. Screening for myelosuppresion was performed in sixteen neonates (14.7%); two had anemia in umbilical cord blood. All outcomes were comparable to either the general Dutch population or to data from 3 Dutch cohort studies on the use of conventional thiopurines in pregnant IBD patients.

CONCLUSION

In this large case series the use of thioguanine during pregnancy is not associated in excess with adverse maternal or neonatal outcomes.

[Dabigatran-induced oesophagitis]

BACKGROUND

Dabigatran is a direct oral anticoagulant which is used as an alternative to the traditional vitamin K antagonists. Dabigatran can have various gastro-intestinal side effects. In this article we describe the case of a patient with dabigatran-induced oesophagitis and we present an overview of current literature.

CASE DESCRIPTION

An 87-year-old woman presented at the accident and emergency department with a 3-week history of nausea and melena. The patient had atrial fibrillation and hypertension with cardiac dilation. Phenprocoumon had been replaced with dabigatran 3 weeks previously. Gastroscopy showed elongated ulceration and exfoliation in the distal section of the oesophagus, consistent with dabigatran-induced oesophagitis. The patient was treated with an intravenous proton-pump inhibitor and the symptoms disappeared. The oesophageal mucosa was completely healed 8 weeks later.

CONCLUSION

It is important to recognize the symptoms and endoscopic picture of dabigatran-induced oesophagitis as dabigatran is increasingly being prescribed. In order to prevent dabigatran-induced oesophagitis it is essential to give the patient thorough instructions about how to take this medication.

[Abdominal pain caused by mobile caecum with strangulation]

An 84-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department of the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Curaçao for acute diffuse abdominal pain. Her medical history revealed an 'irritable bowel syndrome' with symptoms of chronic progressive abdominal pain. Plain abdominal radiography and computed tomography showed a substantially dilated bowel with torsion of the organ structures and suspected strangulation of the colon. Perioperative examination revealed a distended mobile caecum and right hemicolon. There was also strangulation and herniation of both structures through the foramen of Winslow around the hepatoduodenal ligament, protruding through the minor omentum. After destrangulation and closure of the herniation a caecopexy with an additional appendectomy was performed. Mobile caecum is defined as a failure of the right colon to fuse to the posterior parietal peritoneum. The symptoms of chronic abdominal pain may have been the result of the pre-existing mobile caecum.