Clinical Decision Making in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Mimics: Practice Management from Inflammatory Bowel Disease LIVE

Background

Since 2009, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialists have utilized "IBD LIVE," a weekly live video conference with a global audience, to discuss the multidisciplinary management of their most challenging cases. While most cases presented were confirmed IBD, a substantial number were diseases that mimic IBD. We have categorized all IBD LIVE cases and identified "IBD-mimics" with consequent clinical management implications.

Methods

Cases have been recorded/archived since May 2018; we reviewed all 371 cases from May 2018-February 2023. IBD-mimics were analyzed/categorized according to their diagnostic and therapeutic workup.

Results

Confirmed IBD cases made up 82.5% (306/371; 193 Crohn's disease, 107 ulcerative colitis, and 6 IBD-unclassified). Sixty-five (17.5%) cases were found to be mimics, most commonly medication-induced (n = 8) or vasculitis (n = 7). The evaluations that ultimately resulted in correct diagnosis included additional endoscopic biopsies (n = 13, 21%), surgical exploration/pathology (n = 10, 16.5%), biopsies from outside the GI tract (n = 10, 16.5%), genetic/laboratory testing (n = 8, 13%), extensive review of patient history (n = 8, 13%), imaging (n = 5, 8%), balloon enteroscopy (n = 5, 8%), and capsule endoscopy (n = 2, 3%). Twenty-five patients (25/65, 38%) were treated with biologics for presumed IBD, 5 of whom subsequently experienced adverse events requiring discontinuation of the biologic. Many patients were prescribed steroids, azathioprine, mercaptopurine, or methotrexate, and 3 were trialed on tofacitinib.

Conclusions

The diverse presentation of IBD and IBD-mimics necessitates periodic consideration of the differential diagnosis, and reassessment of treatment in presumed IBD patients without appropriate clinical response. The substantial differences and often conflicting treatment approaches to IBD versus IBD-mimics directly impact the quality and cost of patient care.

Fecal Calprotectin Responses Following Induction Therapy With Vedolizumab in Moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis: A Post Hoc Analysis of GEMINI 1

BACKGROUND

In patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), fecal calprotectin (FC) concentrations correlate with endoscopic inflammation evidence. This study investigated the effect of vedolizumab induction on FC concentrations and whether FC concentrations could be a reliable surrogate measure of disease status.

METHODS

Data from the placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial GEMINI 1 were used to evaluate week-6 relationships between outcomes (including clinical remission, mucosal healing [MH], and endoscopic remission) and both absolute FC concentration values and relative FC concentration changes from baseline (%FC0-6). Sensitivity and specificity were calculated by cross-tabulation; the value of week-6 FC concentration as surrogate biomarker was measured with Youden J statistic computed for various cut points.

RESULTS

GEMINI 1 induction phase enrolled 895 patients. Fecal calprotectin concentration decreases were deeper in patients with clinical remission, MH, and/or endoscopic remission than in patients without. The best week-6 indicator of clinical or endoscopic remission in this data set was absolute FC concentration ≤150 µg/g. The surrogate biomarker values (based on areas under the curve) for the best-performing cut points (FC0-6 reduction >90%, FC ≤150 µg/g) were fair (range, 0.70-0.77, total population). More patients met the ≤150 µg/g cut point with vedolizumab than with placebo. Baseline FC concentrations were not correlated with clinical outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Fecal calprotectin concentration reductions were greater with vedolizumab induction than with placebo. Week-6 FC concentrations had only fair surrogate biomarker value for endoscopic status. Our data suggest that, while FC may reflect inflammatory burden, FC concentration after vedolizumab induction may not be a robust biomarker of mucosal inflammation.

Prediction of the need for surgical intervention in obstructive Crohn's disease by 18F-FDG PET/CT

We preoperatively determined the accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for differentiating fixed muscle hypertrophy and fibrotic stenoses from acute transmural inflammatory stenoses in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) scheduled to undergo surgical resection for obstructive symptoms.

METHODS

Seventeen patients with known CD prospectively underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT before already-planned surgery for obstructive symptoms. Image interpretation was by consensus of 2 readers with knowledge of patient participation in the study but not of other clinical history. Lesions were qualitatively graded on a 5-point scale for the presence of increased (18)F-FDG uptake consistent with active inflammation. Maximum lean standardized uptake value (SUL(max)) was determined for lesions scored 1 or more. Imaging results were compared with the pathologic grading of inflammation and predominant histopathologic subtype for each patient's surgical specimen, whether mainly inflammation, fibrosis, or muscle hypertrophy.

RESULTS

Thirteen of the 17 patients underwent surgery (median, 28 d after PET/CT; range, 2-148 d), and 12 of these 13 had histopathologic correlation. Despite the predominant histopathologic subtype (inflammation, 5; fibrosis, 4; and muscle hypertrophy, 3), acute and chronic inflammation, fibrosis (median, 50%; range, 40%-90%), and muscle hypertrophy (median, 20-fold thickening; range, 9- to 40-fold thickening) were found in all patients. SUL(max) was significantly higher in severe than in mild-to-moderate chronic inflammation (8.2 +/- 2.8 vs. 4.7 +/- 2.5, P = 0.04). No patient with predominantly fibrosis or muscle hypertrophy (n = 7) had an SUL(max) greater than 8. Visually, 10 of 12 patients on PET/CT were considered to have active inflammation of the bowel.

CONCLUSION

Patients with CD who undergo surgery for obstructive symptoms have histopathologically mixed findings of inflammation, fibrosis, and muscle hypertrophy. Qualitative PET interpretations were quite sensitive, but additional semiquantitative analyses using SUL(max) helped identify patients with active inflammation. This information may be beneficial for referring gastroenterologists considering medical therapy versus surgery for patients with CD who present with obstructive symptoms.

Patient knowledge about electroconvulsive therapy: effect of an informational video

We wished to ascertain whether the addition of an informational video to the informed consent procedure for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) results in improved patient knowledge about ECT. Eighteen ECT patients were randomized to consent using the usual written document or using the written document and an informational video. The two groups were similar when compared on demographic variables and scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Each subject, just after signing the informed consent document, was administered an 8-question ECT knowledge questionnaire. The addition of an informational video to the consent process for ECT did not result in improved knowledge about ECT. Poor knowledge about ECT might be accounted for by unsuccessful communication from the doctors or cognitive impairment and apathy on the part of the patients. One benefit of the video was increased interest from family members in ECT and the consent process.

Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteraemia at an urban general hospital

Of 47 patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteraemia admitted to the Hillbrow Hospital, Johannesburg during a period of 18 months, 31 were males and 16 were females. Features predisposing to illness were found in 89.4% patients, chronic alcoholism, neoplastic disease and diabetes mellitus being the most common. Twenty-five infections were acquired in hospital and 22 in the community. Most patients (59.6%) had pneumonia. All isolates of K. pneumoniae were resistant to ampicillin (100%); several (42.6%) were resistant to other antibiotics also. The overall mortality rate was 55.3%. A higher mean initial blood pressure and lower concentrations of serum urea and bilirubin were found in survivors. None of the 28 patients, surviving more than 48 h who received combined therapy with an aminoglycoside and a beta-lactam antibiotic (to which the organism was susceptible) died. Among the remaining patients treated with either an appropriate beta-lactam agent alone, an appropriate aminoglycoside alone or ciprofloxacin the combined mortality rate was 83.3% (P = 0.007).