Differences in Biologic Utilization and Surgery Rates in Pediatric and Adult Crohn's Disease: Results From a Large Electronic Medical Record-derived Cohort

Clusters of Disease Activity and Early Risk Factors of Clinical Course of Pediatric Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to define clusters of disease activity and prognostic factors of disease course in a well-characterized cohort of children with Crohn's disease (CD).

METHODS

All patients from the SIGENP IBD (Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition Inflammatory Bowel Disease) registry with a 5-year follow-up and 6-monthly evaluation were included. Active disease was defined for each semester as follows: clinical activity (weighted Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index ≥12.5 or Mucosal Inflammation Noninvasive Index ≥8) and active disease on endoscopy (Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's Disease >3 or fecal calprotectin >250 µg/g) or imaging. Formula-based clusters were generated based on previously published patterns in adults.

RESULTS

Data from 332 patients were analyzed. A total of 105 (32%) experienced a quiescent disease course; 49 (15%) and 31 (9%) a moderate-to-severe chronically active and chronic intermittent disease, respectively; 104 (31%) and 43 (13%) had active disease in the first 2 years after diagnosis and remission thereafter and vice versa, respectively. Surgery at diagnosis was significantly associated with a quiescent course (odds ratio [OR], 10.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.05-25.22; P=.0005), while growth impairment at the diagnosis and active disease requiring corticosteroids at 6 months were inversely related to the quiescent group (OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.27-0.81; P= .007; and OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.16-0.71; P= .005, respectively). Perianal involvement at diagnosis and moderate-severe activity at 6 months correlated with disease progression (OR, 3.85; 95% CI, 1.20-12.85; P=.02).

CONCLUSIONS

During the first 5 years of follow-up, one-third of children with CD experience a quiescent course. However, another one-third have a moderate-to-severe disease course. Surgery at the diagnosis is related to a quiescent course, while growth impairment and lack of response to induction therapy correlate with more severe disease activity during follow-up.

Advancements in the Management of Pediatric and Adult Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review of Treatment Strategies and Long-Term Outcomes

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC), remains a clinically complex condition in children and adults. This study is a systematic analysis of key developments in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, as well as their efficacy and safety over time. Early diagnosis of pediatric IBD is very important since it affects growth and development in children. New therapeutic approaches like biological agents, small molecules, and gene or targeted drugs have given the medical fraternity new treatment protocols. There is a trend towards more selective therapies for adult IBD, especially for anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) biologics, integrin antagonists, and interleukin-12/23 (IL-12/23) inhibitors. This review emphasizes the need for patient management where early intervention leading to mucosal healing has been identified to predict durable outcomes. Systematic analysis of existing literature comparing childhood and adult populations shows that morbidity, pathophysiology, therapeutic outcome, as well as the potential for adverse outcomes are dissimilar, which supports the need for differentiated therapy. This work also looks at long-term consequences of the intervention course, the avoidance of surgery, and an improvement in the quality and stability of life as well as reduction in further development of malignant transformation. The new developing strategy of gut microbiome modification and nutrition support for maintaining remission is also argued. Despite these progresses, issues still persist concerning the effectiveness of treatments, side effects, and patients' compliance. These recommendations give this review a prospective outlook of treatment regimens likely to define the future of IBD management for all age groups.

Biological therapy, surgery, and hospitalization rates for inflammatory bowel disease: An observational Latin American comparative study between adults and pediatric patients

OBJECTIVE

Compare the proportions of use of biological therapy, surgeries, and hospitalizations between adults and pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)-patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Observational, retrospective, and multicenter study. Data were collected from all consecutive IBD patients seen as outpatients or admitted to hospital, during 2015-2021, in two IBD tertiary centers in a South Brazilian capital. Patients with unclassified colitis diagnosis were excluded from this study. Patients were classified as having CD or UC and sub-categorized as adult or pediatric according to age. Data were analyzed using frequency, proportion, Fisher's exact test, and Chi-square test.

RESULTS

A total of 829 patients were included: 509 with CD (378 adults/131 pediatric) and 320 with UC (225/95). Among patients with CD, no differences were observed for proportions of use of biological therapy (80.2% in pediatric vs. 73.3% in adults; P=0.129), surgery (46.6% vs. 50.8%; P=0.419), or hospitalization (64.9% vs. 56.9%; P=0.122). In UC, significant differences were observed for biological therapy (40.0% vs. 28.0%; P=0.048) and hospitalization (47.4% vs. 24.0%; P<0.001). No significant difference was observed in surgery rates (17.9% vs. 12.4%; P=0.219).

CONCLUSIONS

Biological therapy and incidence of hospitalization were greater among pediatric patients with UC, compared with adults; no difference was observed in the need for abdominal surgery. In CD, no significant difference was observed in the three main outcomes between the age groups.

Large language models outperform traditional natural language processing methods in extracting patient-reported outcomes in IBD

Background and Aims

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are vital in assessing disease activity and treatment outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, manual extraction of these PROs from the free-text of clinical notes is burdensome. We aimed to improve data curation from free-text information in the electronic health record, making it more available for research and quality improvement. This study aimed to compare traditional natural language processing (tNLP) and large language models (LLMs) in extracting three IBD PROs (abdominal pain, diarrhea, fecal blood) from clinical notes across two institutions.

Methods

Clinic notes were annotated for each PRO using preset protocols. Models were developed and internally tested at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and then externally validated at Stanford University. We compared tNLP and LLM-based models on accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value. Additionally, we conducted fairness and error assessments.

Results

Inter-rater reliability between annotators was >90%. On the UCSF test set (n=50), the top-performing tNLP models showcased accuracies of 92% (abdominal pain), 82% (diarrhea) and 80% (fecal blood), comparable to GPT-4, which was 96%, 88%, and 90% accurate, respectively. On external validation at Stanford (n=250), tNLP models failed to generalize (61-62% accuracy) while GPT-4 maintained accuracies >90%. PaLM-2 and GPT-4 showed similar performance. No biases were detected based on demographics or diagnosis.

Conclusions

LLMs are accurate and generalizable methods for extracting PROs. They maintain excellent accuracy across institutions, despite heterogeneity in note templates and authors. Widespread adoption of such tools has the potential to enhance IBD research and patient care.

Efficacy and Safety of Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha in Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease

BACKGROUND

Very early onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEOIBD) is defined as disease onset in patients younger than 6 years. Challenges in treatment of VEOIBD include lack of approved therapies and increased incidence of monogenic immunodeficiencies. We report on patterns of anti-TNF use, efficacy, and safety in a large cohort of patients with VEOIBD.

METHODS

Very early onset inflammatory bowel disease patients receiving care at a single center were prospectively enrolled in a data registry and biorepository starting in 2012. Whole exome sequencing was available to all patients. Clinical data including IBD medication use and response were extracted from the medical record. We examined antitumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) cumulative exposure and time to failure and evaluated the effect of covariates on anti-TNF failure using Cox proportional hazard regression.

RESULTS

In this cohort of 216 VEOIBD patients with median 5.8-year follow-up, 116 (53.7%) were TNF-exposed. Sixty-two TNF-exposed patients (53.4%) received their first dose at younger than 6 years. Cumulative exposure to anti-TNF was 23.6% at 1 year, 38.4% at 3 years, and 43.4% at 5 years after diagnosis. Cumulative exposure was greater in patients with Crohn's disease (P = .0004) and in those diagnosed in 2012 or later (P < .0001). Tumor necrosis factor failure occurred in 50.9% of those exposed. Features predictive of anti-TNF failure included ulcerative colitis/IBD-unclassified (hazard ratio, 1.94; P = .03), stricturing (hazard ratio, 2.20; P = .04), and younger age at diagnosis (hazard ratio, 1.25; P = .01). Adverse events occurred in 22.6% of infliximab-exposed and 14.3% of adalimumab-exposed.

CONCLUSIONS

Efficacy and safety of anti-TNFs in VEOIBD is comparable to what has previously been reported in older patients.

Rare and severe adverse events in children with inflammatory bowel disease: analysis of data from the PIBD-SETQuality Safety Registry

BACKGROUND

Rare and severe adverse events can occur in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and the relationship with disease or drug treatment is often uncertain. We aimed to establish a method of reporting adverse events of interest in children with IBD, allowing for estimates of incidence rates with comparison between different regions, and, if possible, to compare with published data on rates of adverse events in children overall.

METHODS

For this analysis, we used data from the Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network for Safety, Efficacy and Treatment and Quality improvement of care (PIBD-SETQuality) Safety Registry, which collects data on multiple rare and severe adverse events in children younger than 19 years with IBD. Overall, the registry collected data on ten prespecified rare and severe adverse events in children with IBD, as established by a panel of paediatric IBD experts, via reports from paediatric gastroenterologists at participating hospitals between Nov 1, 2016, and March 31, 2023. Reporting physicians, who could only be paediatric gastroenterologists or IBD nurses reporting on behalf of paediatric gastroenterologists, were recruited through invitations sent to both national and international IBD networks and at conferences. Once per month, participating paediatric gastroenterologists received an email with an anonymous and unique link to an online survey asking them to report whether any of ten rare and severe adverse events had occurred in a patient in their paediatric-IBD population in the previous month. Prevalent or retrospective rare and severe adverse events were excluded, as were events occurring in children with an unconfirmed diagnosis of IBD or for whom inflammatory colitis was part of a monogenic immunodeficiency disorder. Duplicates and events that did not meet the definitions and criteria were excluded. Physicians could also report other, non-categorised adverse events if they considered them rare and severe. In case of no response, up to two reminders were sent for each per-month survey. Annual denominator data surveys were sent to obtain the total number of person-years for the estimation of incidence rates, which were calculated via Poisson regression models.

FINDINGS

Responses were gathered from 220 paediatric gastroenterologists from 167 centres. 121 centres were in Europe, 23 centres were in North America, 17 centres were in Asia, and six centres were in Oceania. Combined, the total population with paediatric IBD consisted of an estimated 30 193 children with 114 528 person-years of follow-up. 451 adverse events were initially reported. After excluding and reorganising adverse events, 402 were eligible; 261 (65%) were categorised and 141 (35%) were non-categorised. The most frequently reported adverse events were venous-thromboembolic events (n=66), renal failure (n=43), opportunistic infections (n=42), and cancer (n=33). Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (n=4) and liver failure (n=3) were the least frequently reported adverse events. Incidence rates per 10 000 person-years were 5·50 (95% CI 4·25-6·97) for venous-thromboembolic events, 3·75 (2·74-4·99) for renal failure, 3·67 (2·67-4·89) for opportunistic infection, and 2·88 (2·01-3·98) for cancer. Of 66 venous-thromboembolic events, 31 (47%) involved cerebral venous sinus thrombosis at an incidence rate of 2·71 (95% CI 1·86-3·77).

INTERPRETATION

The PIBD-SETQuality Safety Registry enabled us to identify incidence rates of rare and severe adverse events in children with IBD. Our findings can guide physicians and enhance awareness of the incidence of adverse events in children with IBD that are considered to be rare.

FUNDING

EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

Impact of antitumour necrosis factor therapy on surgery in inflammatory bowel disease: a population-based study

OBJECTIVE

It is unclear whether widespread use of biologics is reducing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) surgical resection rates. We designed a population-based study evaluating the impact of early antitumour necrosis factor (TNF) on surgical resection rates up to 5 years from diagnosis.

DESIGN

We evaluated all patients with IBD diagnosed in Cardiff, Wales 2005-2016. The primary measure was the impact of early (within 1 year of diagnosis) sustained (at least 3 months) anti-TNF compared with no therapy on surgical resection rates. Baseline factors were used to balance groups by propensity scores, with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) methodology and removing immortal time bias. Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) with IBD unclassified (IBD-U) (excluding those with proctitis) were analysed.

RESULTS

1250 patients were studied. For CD, early sustained anti-TNF therapy was associated with a reduced likelihood of resection compared with no treatment (IPTW HR 0.29 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.65), p=0.003). In UC including IBD-U (excluding proctitis), there was an increase in the risk of colectomy for the early sustained anti-TNF group compared with no treatment (IPTW HR 4.6 (95% CI 1.9 to 10), p=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Early sustained use of anti-TNF therapy is associated with reduced surgical resection rates in CD, but not in UC where there was a paradoxical increased surgery rate. This was because baseline clinical factors were less predictive of colectomy than anti-TNF usage. These data support the use of early introduction of anti-TNF therapy in CD whereas benefit in UC cannot be assessed by this methodology.

Early Initiation of Biologics and Disease Outcomes in Adults and Children With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Results From the Epidemiology Group of the Nationwide Israeli Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Nucleus Cohort

BACKGROUND & AIMS

In this nationwide study, we explored whether early initiation of biologics is associated with improved outcomes in children and adults with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).

METHODS

All patients diagnosed with CD or UC in Israel (2005-2020) were included in the Epidemiology Group of the Israeli Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Nucleus cohort, encompassing 98% of the population. We compared disease duration at biologics initiation (ie, 0-3 months, >3-12 months, >1-2 years, and >2-3 years) using the cloning, censoring, and weighting by inverse probabilities method to emulate a target trial, adjusting for time-varying confounders and selection bias.

RESULTS

Of the 34,375 included patients (of whom 5240 [15%] were children), 7452 of 19,264 (39%) with CD and 2235 of 15,111 (15%) with UC received biologics. In CD, by 10 years postdiagnosis, the probability of CD-related surgery decreased gradually but modestly with earlier initiation of biologics; a significant difference was noted between >2-3 years (31%) and 0-3 months (18%; P = .02; number needed to treat, 7.7), whereas there was no difference between the 0-3-month and >3-12-month periods. The 10-year probability of steroid dependency for the 0-3-month period (19%) differed both from the >2-3-year (31%; P < .001) and 1-2-year periods (37%; P < .001). In UC, no significant differences in colectomy or steroid dependency rates were observed between the treatment initiation periods. Similar trends were noted in the pediatric population.

CONCLUSIONS

Very early initiation of biologics was not associated with some outcomes except for a modest risk reduction of surgery and steroid dependency for CD, which requires confirmation in future studies. In UC, early introduction of biologics was not associated with reduced risk of colectomy or steroid dependency.

Artificial intelligence in pediatric surgery

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the landscape of medicine and is already being utilized in conjunction with medical diagnostics and imaging analysis. We hereby explore AI applications in surgery and examine its relevance to pediatric surgery, covering its evolution, current state, and promising future. The various fields of AI are explored including machine learning and applications to predictive analytics and decision support in surgery, computer vision and image analysis in preoperative planning, image segmentation, surgical navigation, and finally, natural language processing assist in expediting clinical documentation, identification of clinical indications, quality improvement, outcome research, and other types of automated data extraction. The purpose of this review is to familiarize the pediatric surgical community with the rise of AI and highlight the ongoing advancements and challenges in its adoption, including data privacy, regulatory considerations, and the imperative for interdisciplinary collaboration. We hope this review serves as a comprehensive guide to AI's transformative influence on surgery, demonstrating its potential to enhance pediatric surgical patient outcomes, improve precision, and usher in a new era of surgical excellence.

The Future of Advanced Therapies for Pediatric Crohn's Disease

Pediatric Crohn's disease commonly presents with moderate-to-severe intestinal inflammation with a greater risk of complications if remission is not achieved. Anti-tumor necrosis factor therapies have offered the possibility of deep and durable remission; however, many children do not respond or no longer respond over time. Further, some children do not require broader systemic immunosuppression to achieve remission and are better served by an alternative treatment strategy. Proper utilization of advanced biologic and small-molecule therapies, which have become available for adult patients since anti-tumor necrosis factor medications, is paramount for tighter disease control for a large proportion of children. Newer advanced therapies such as anti-integrin and anti-interleukin biologics, and several small-molecule agents capitalize on various mechanisms through narrower immunologic targets and reduced immunogenicity. Given limited regulatory approvals of these agents for use in children with Crohn's disease, clinicians continue to rely on data extrapolated from clinical trials in adult patients, sparse pediatric studies, and a growing real-world experience for treatment selection and optimization. In this article, we discuss currently available treatment options, pipeline drugs, and relevant data as they pertain to some of the most pressing clinical challenges faced in treating pediatric Crohn's disease.

Middle small-bowel segment Lewis score may predict long-term outcomes among patients with quiescent Crohn's disease

Background

Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) has been proven to accurately diagnose small-bowel inflammation and predict flares among patients with quiescent Crohn's disease (CD). However, data regarding its predictive role in this population over an extended follow-up are scarce.

Objectives

To predict clinical exacerbation and to assess the yield of Lewis score in identifying CD patients with future clinical exacerbation during an extended follow-up (>24 months).

Design

A post hoc analysis study.

Methods

Adult patients with quiescent small-bowel CD who were followed with VCE, inflammatory biomarkers and magnetic resonance enterography in a prospective study (between 2013 and 2018). We extracted extended clinical data (up to April 2022). The primary composite outcome (i.e. clinical exacerbation) was defined as intestinal surgery, endoscopic dilation, CD-related admission, corticosteroid administration, or biological/immunomodulator treatment change during follow-up.

Results

Of the 61 patients in the study [median age 29 (24-37) years, male 57.4%, biologic treatment 46.7%], 18 patients met the primary outcome during an extended follow-up [median 58.0 (34.5-93.0) months]. On univariable analysis, complicated [hazard ratio (HR) 7.348, p = 0.002] and stricturing disease phenotype (HR 5.305, p = 0.001) were associated with higher risk for clinical exacerbation during follow-up. A baseline VCE middle small-bowel segment Lewis score (midLS) ⩾ 135 identified patients with future exacerbation [AUC (area under the curve) 0.767, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.633-0.902, p = 0.001, HR 6.317, 93% negative predictive value], whereas the AUC of the conventional Lewis score was 0.734 (95% CI: 0.589-0.879, p = 0.004). Sensitivity analysis restricted to patients with either complicated (n = 34) or stricturing (n = 26) disease phenotype revealed that midLS still predicted clinical exacerbation during follow-up (AUC 0.747/0.753, respectively), in these patients.

Conclusion

MidLS predicts treatment failure in quiescent CD patients (median follow-up of 5 years) independently of disease phenotype.

Long-term Outcomes of Perianal Fistulas in Pediatric Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND

Approximately 30% of Crohn's disease-related perianal fistulas heal in the adult population with conventional medical and surgical interventions. This healing rate remains unknown in pediatric patients.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine the healing rate of pediatric perianal Crohn's fistulas and identify factors associated with healing.

DESIGN

Retrospective case series.

SETTING

A quaternary referral center.

PATIENTS

Patients aged <18 years with a Crohn's perianal fistula, seen between January 1, 1991, and August 1, 2021, were included in the study.

INTERVENTIONS

Multivariable logistic regression to identify factors independently associated with perianal fistula healing.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Healing of Crohn's perianal fistula at the date of last clinical encounter, defined as the clinical note reporting a healed fistula or normal perianal examination.

RESULTS

A total of 91 patients aged <18 years with a Crohn's disease-related perianal fistula were identified (59% female, 76% white). The mean (SD) age at Crohn's diagnosis was 12 (±4) years. The mean follow-up after Crohn's diagnosis was 10 (±7) years. Overall, 89% of patients had a perianal fistula, 2% had an anovaginal fistula, and 10% had an ileal pouch-associated fistula. Patients underwent a median (interquartile range) of 2 (1-5) operations. A seton was placed in 60% of patients, 47% underwent abscess drainage, and 44% underwent fistulotomy or fistulectomy. Fistula healing occurred in 71% of patients over a median of 1.3 (0.4-2.5) years. Seven patients (7%) underwent proctectomy, and 3 (3%) underwent ileal pouch excision. After multivariable adjustment, younger age at diagnosis of perianal fistula was associated with an increased likelihood of healing (OR 0.56 for each increased year; 95% CI, 0.34-0.92).

LIMITATIONS

Retrospective, single institution.

CONCLUSIONS

Over two-thirds of fistulas heal in pediatric Crohn's disease patients with conventional surgical and medical intervention. Younger age at fistula development is associated with an increased likelihood of healing. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/C185 .

RESULTADOS A LARGO PLAZO DE LAS FSTULAS PERIANALES EN LA ENFERMEDAD DE CROHN EN PACIENTES PEDITRICOS

ANTECEDENTES:Aproximadamente el 30% de las fístulas perianales relacionadas con la enfermedad de Crohn se curan en la población adulta con intervenciones médicas y quirúrgicas convencionales. Esta tasa de curación sigue siendo desconocida en pacientes pediátricos.OBJETIVO:Determinar la tasa de curación de las fístulas de Crohn perianales en población pediátrica e identificar los factores asociados con la curación.DISEÑO:Serie de casos retrospectiva.ESCENARIO:Un centro de referencia cuaternario.PACIENTES:Pacientes menores de 18 años con fístula(s) perianal(es) por enfermedad de Crohn, atendidos entre el 1 de enero de 1991 y el 1 de agosto de 2021.INTERVENCIONES:Regresión logística multivariable para identificar factores asociados de forma independiente con la cicatrización de la fístula perianal.PRINCIPALES MEDIDAS DE RESULTADO:Curación de la fístula perianal de Crohn en la fecha del último encuentro clínico, definida como la nota clínica que informa una fístula curada o un examen perianal normal.RESULTADOS:Se identificó un total de 91 pacientes <18 años de edad con una fístula perianal relacionada con la enfermedad de Crohn (59% mujeres, 76% blancos). La edad media (DE) al diagnóstico de Crohn fue de 12 (±4) años. El seguimiento medio tras el diagnóstico de Crohn fue de 10 (±7) años. En general, el 89 % de los pacientes tenía fístula perianal, el 2 % tenía fístula anovaginal y el 10 % de los pacientes tenía fístula asociada a reservorio ileal. Los pacientes fueron sometidos a una mediana (RIC) de 2 (1-5) operaciones. En el 60% de los pacientes se colocó sedal, en el 47% se drenó el absceso y en el 44% se realizó fistulotomía o fistulectomía. La curación de la fístula se produjo en el 71% de los pacientes durante una mediana de 1,3 (0,4-2,5) años. Siete pacientes (7%) se sometieron a proctectomía y 3 (3%) se sometieron a escisión del reservorio ileal. Después del ajuste multivariable, la edad más joven en el momento del diagnóstico de la fístula perianal se asoció con una mayor probabilidad de curación (OR 0,56 por cada año de aumento, IC del 95%, 0,34-0,92).LIMITACIONES:Retrospectivo, institución única.CONCLUSIONES:Más de dos tercios de las fístulas se curan en pacientes pediátricos con enfermedad de Crohn con intervención médica y quirúrgica convencional. Una edad más joven en el momento del desarrollo de la fístula se asocia con una mayor probabilidad de curación. Consulte Video Resumen en http://links.lww.com/DCR/C185 . (Traducción--Dr. Felipe Bellolio ).

Integrating Radiomics With Clinicoradiological Scoring Can Predict High-Risk Patients Who Need Surgery in Crohn's Disease: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Early identification of Crohn's disease (CD) patients at risk for complications could enable targeted surgical referral, but routine magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) has not been definitively correlated with need for surgery. Our objective was to identify computer-extracted image (radiomic) features from MRE associated with risk of surgery in CD and combine them with clinical and radiological assessments to predict time to intervention.

METHODS

This was a retrospective single-center pilot study of CD patients who had an MRE within 3 months prior to initiating medical therapy. Radiomic features were extracted from annotated terminal ileum regions on MRE and combined with clinical variables and radiological assessment (via Simplified Magnetic Resonance Index of Activity scoring for wall thickening, edema, fat stranding, ulcers) in a random forest classifier. The primary endpoint was high- and low-risk groups based on need for surgery within 1 year of MRE. The secondary endpoint was time to surgery after treatment.

RESULTS

Eight radiomic features capturing localized texture heterogeneity within the terminal ileum were significantly associated with risk of surgery within 1 year of treatment (P < .05); yielding a discovery cohort area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.67 (n = 50) and validation cohort area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.74 (n = 23). Kaplan-Meier analysis of radiomic features together with clinical variables and Simplified Magnetic Resonance Index of Activity scores yielded the best hazard ratio of 4.13 (P = (7.6 × 10-6) and concordance index of 0.71 in predicting time to surgery after MRE.

CONCLUSIONS

Radiomic features on MRE may be associated with risk of surgery in CD, and in combination with clinicoradiological scoring can yield an accurate prognostic model for time to surgery.

Clinical Features of Crohn's Disease Stratified by Age at Diagnosis According to Montreal Classification

Aim

The differences of clinical characteristics stratified by age at diagnosis especially according to Montreal classification were rarely studied in China. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the clinical features in various groups of CD patients stratified by age at diagnosis.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of CD patients was conducted through a stratified sampling according to Montreal classification. Patients were divided into three groups by age at diagnosis: group A1 (<17 years old), group A2 (17 to 40 years old), and group A3 (>40 years old). The clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, radiographic, and endoscopic features were analyzed by statistics.

Results

We enrolled 259 CD patients for the study. There was male predominance under 40 years old. Compared to group A1, more female patients were presented in group A3. There were more patients had perianal fistulas in group A1 compared to group A2 and group A3. Compared with group A1, patients in group A2 were associated with lower total protein (TP) levels. The mean TP and platelet count (PC) levels in group A3 were lower than group A1. Patients in group A1 had a lower rate of stricturing (B2) disease behavior than group A2 and group A3, and patients in group A3 who had a B2 disease behavior were higher than group A2. Those differences could guide early treatment or inventions for CD patients who might progress to a more complex disease behavior.

Conclusion

CD patients stratified by age at diagnosis according to Montreal classification had different clinical symptoms, laboratory test results as well as disease locations and behaviors.

Gross motor function prediction using natural language processing in cerebral palsy

AIM

To predict ambulatory status and Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels in patients with cerebral palsy (CP) by applying natural language processing (NLP) to electronic health record (EHR) clinical notes.

METHOD

Individuals aged 8 to 26 years with a diagnosis of CP in the EHR between January 2009 and November 2020 (~12 years of data) were included in a cross-sectional retrospective cohort of 2483 patients. The cohort was divided into train-test and validation groups. Positive predictive value, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) were calculated for prediction of ambulatory status and GMFCS levels.

RESULTS

The median age was 15 years (interquartile range 10-20 years) for the total cohort, with 56% being male and 75% White. The validation group resulted in 70% sensitivity, 88% specificity, 81% positive predictive value, and 0.89 AUC for predicting ambulatory status. NLP applied to the EHR differentiated between GMFCS levels I-II and III (15% sensitivity, 96% specificity, 46% positive predictive value, and 0.71 AUC); and IV and V (81% sensitivity, 51% specificity, 70% positive predictive value, and 0.75 AUC).

INTERPRETATION

NLP applied to the EHR demonstrated excellent differentiation between ambulatory and non-ambulatory status, and good differentiation between GMFCS levels I-II and III, and IV and V. Clinical use of NLP may help to individualize functional characterization and management.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

Natural language processing (NLP) applied to the electronic health record (EHR) can predict ambulatory status in children with cerebral palsy (CP). NLP provides good prediction of Gross Motor Function Classification System level in children with CP using the EHR. NLP methods described could be integrated in an EHR system to provide real-time information.

Adrenomedullin for biologic-resistant Crohn's disease: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2a clinical trial

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Adrenomedullin is a bioactive peptide with many pleiotropic effects, including mucosal healing and immunomodulation. Adrenomedullin has shown beneficial effects in rodent models of inflammatory bowel disease and, more importantly, in clinical trials including patients with ulcerative colitis. We performed a successive clinical trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of adrenomedullin in patients with Crohn's disease (CD).

METHODS

This was a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2a trial that evaluated 24 patients with biologic-resistant CD in Japan. Patients were randomly assigned to three groups and were given an infusion of 10 or 15 ng/kg/min of adrenomedullin or placebo for 8 h per day for 7 days. The primary endpoint was the change in the CD activity index (CDAI) at 8 weeks. The main secondary endpoints included changes in CDAI from week 4 to week 24.

RESULTS

No differences in the primary or secondary endpoints were observed between the three groups by the 8th week. Changes in CDAI in the placebo group gradually decreased and disappeared at 24 weeks, but those in the adrenomedullin-treated groups (10 or 15 ng/kg/min group) remained at steady levels for 24 weeks. Therefore, a significant difference was observed between the placebo and adrenomedullin-treated groups at 24 weeks (P = 0.043) in the mixed-effects model. We noted mild adverse events caused by the vasodilatory effect of adrenomedullin.

CONCLUSION

In this trial, we observed a long-lasting (24 weeks) decrease in CDAI in the adrenomedullin-treated groups. Adrenomedullin might be beneficial for biologic-resistant CD, but further research is needed.

Existing Prediction Models of Disease Course in Paediatric Crohn's Disease Are Poorly Replicated in a Prospective Inception Cohort

BACKGROUND

Several groups have proposed models to predict disease outcomes in paediatric Crohn's disease [CD], notably the RISK, GROWTH, and the Porto group, but none were externally validated. We aimed to explore these predictive models and individual predictors summarised by the PIBD-ahead project in a prospective inception cohort of paediatric CD.

METHODS

We included children who were diagnosed with CD at two medical centres and followed them at 3 and 12 months thereafter as well as at the last follow-up. Outcomes included steroid-free remission [SFR], surgery, and stricturing/fistulising disease.

RESULTS

In all 155 children were included (median follow-up of 31 [16-48] months, 107 [71%] had moderate-to-severe disease). Stricturing and penetrating disease at diagnosis were noted in 34 [22%] and two [1.3%] children, respectively, and these were excluded from the relevant analyses. At 1 year, 10 [8.3%] developed new stricturing disease, two [1.7%] developed penetrating disease, seven [5%] required intestinal surgery, and 15 [10%] required perianal surgery. The sensitivity/specificity/positive predictive value [PPV]/negative predictive value [NPV] of the GROWTH criteria for predicting SFR at 12 months [occurring in 70% of children] were 20%/85%/76%/31% and for surgery at 2 years were 96%/20%/16%/96%, respectively. Strictures were predicted by the RISK model with sensitivity/specificity/PPV/NPV of 33%/73%/18%/86%, respectively. The sensitivity/specificity/PPV/NPV of the Porto criteria to predict surgery were 86%/10%/4%/94%, respectively. None of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease-ahead [PIBD-ahead] predictors were associated with surgery or stricturing disease.

CONCLUSIONS

None of the three main predictive models in paediatric CD achieved sufficient accuracy, far from that reported in the original cohorts. This highlights the necessity of external validation in any prediction model prior to its implementation in clinical practice.

Utilization of Antitumor Necrosis Factor Biologics in Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study From North America

BACKGROUND

Research on the utilization and effectiveness of antitumor necrosis factor (TNF) biologics in children with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEOIBD) is urgently needed. Here we describe anti-TNF use and durability in a multicenter cohort.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with VEOIBD (<6 years) between 2008 and 2013 at 25 North American centers. We performed chart abstraction at diagnosis and 1, 3, and 5 years after diagnosis. We examined the rate of initiation and durability of infliximab and adalimumab and evaluated associations between treatment durability and the following covariates with multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression: age at diagnosis, sex, disease duration, disease classification, and presence of combined immunomodulatory treatment versus monotherapy.

RESULTS

Of 294 children with VEOIBD, 120 initiated treatment with anti-TNF therapy and 101 had follow-up data recorded [50% Crohn disease (CD), 31% ulcerative colitis (UC), and 19% IBD unclassified (IBD-U)]. The cumulative probability of anti-TNF treatment was 15% at 1 year, 30% at 3 years, and 45% at 5 years from diagnosis; 56 (55%) were treated between 0 and 6 years old. Anti-TNF durability was 90% at 1 year, 75% at 3 years, and 55% at 5 years. The most common reason for discontinuation of anti-TNF were loss of response in 24 (57%) children. Children with UC/IBD-U had lower durability than those with CD (hazard ratio [HR] 0.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06-0.51; P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Utilization and durability of anti-TNF in VEOIBD is relatively high and comparable with older children. Having Crohn disease (compared with UC/IBD-U) is associated with greater durability.

Improved Outcomes of Paediatric and Adult Crohn's Disease and Association With Emerging Use of Biologics-A Nationwide Study From the Epi-IIRN

BACKGROUND

The effectiveness of biologics for improving long-term outcomes in patients with Crohn's disease [CD] is still controversial. In this nationwide study, we aimed to evaluate trends of long-term outcomes in all CD patients in Israel during the biologics era.

METHODS

Trends of outcomes were analysed using data from the four Israeli health maintenance organisations, covering 98% of the population; joinpoint regression models were used to explore changes of these trends over 2005 to 2019.

RESULTS

A total of 16 936 patients were diagnosed with CD in Israel since 2005 (2932 [17%] paediatric onset, 14 004 [83%] adult onset) with 114 947 person-years of follow-up. The cumulative rate of any CD related surgery was 5%, 9%, 11%, and 14% at 1, 3, 5, and 10 years from diagnosis. The increase in use of biologics was sharp (from 8.9% to 36%; average annual percent change [AAPC], 14.3%), and the time to biologics was shorter in recent years (median time of 4.8 [1.9-8.1] years in those diagnosed in 2005-2008 compared with 0.5 [0.2-1.1] years in those diagnosed in 2015-2018; p < 0.001). A significant decrease was noted in the hazard of hospitalisations (1.3 [0.1-4.6] years compared with 0.2 [0.02-0.9] years; p < 0.001), steroid dependency (1.5 [0.2-5.4] years compared with 0.1 [0.02-0.4] years; p < 0.001), and intestinal surgeries [4.7 [1.6-8.2] years compared with 0.6 [0.2-1.4] years; p < 0.001), but not of perianal surgery (4.2 [1.1-7.7] years compared with 0.6 [0.2-1.4] years; p = 0.2). Outcomes were consistently worse in paediatric onset compared with adults.

CONCLUSIONS

The rates of hospitalisations, steroid dependency, and intestinal resections decreased in association with increased use of biologics both in children and in adults, but not the rate of perianal surgeries.

Computable Phenotype of a Crohn's Disease Natural History Model

BACKGROUND

Analytic tools to study important clinical issues in complex, chronic diseases such as Crohn's disease (CD) include randomized trials, claims database studies, or small longitudinal epidemiologic cohorts. Using natural language processing (NLP), we sought to define the computable phenotype health state of pediatric and adult CD and develop patient-level longitudinal histories for health outcomes.

METHODS

We defined 6 health states for CD using a subjective symptom-based assessment (symptomatic/asymptomatic) and an objective disease state assessment (active/inactive/no testing). Gold standard for the 6 health states was derived using an iterative process during review by our CD experts. We calculated the transition probabilities to estimate the time to transitions between the various health states using nonparametric Kaplan-Meier estimation and a Markov model. Finally, we determined a standard utility measure from clinical patients assigned to different health states.

RESULTS

The NLP computable phenotype health state model correctly ascertained the objective test results and symptoms 96% and 85% of the time, respectively, based on a blinded chart evaluation. In our model, >25% of patients who begin as asymptomatic/active transition to symptomatic/active over the following year. For both adult and pediatric CD health states, the utility assessments of a symptomatic/inactive health state closely resembled a symptomatic/active health state.

CONCLUSIONS

Our methodology for a computable phenotype health state demonstrates the application of real-world data to define progression and optimal management of a chronic disease such as CD. The application of the model has the potential to lead to a better understanding of the true impact of a therapeutic intervention and can provide long-term cost-effectiveness analyses for a new therapy.

HIGHLIGHTS

Using natural language processing, we defined the computable phenotype health state of Crohn's disease and developed patient-level longitudinal histories for health outcomes.Our methodology demonstrates the application of real-world data to define the progression of a chronic disease.The application of the model has the potential to provide better understanding of the true impact of a new therapy.

Identifying the Presence, Activity, and Status of Extraintestinal Manifestations of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Using Natural Language Processing of Clinical Notes

BACKGROUND

Extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) occur commonly in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but population-level understanding of EIM behavior is difficult. We present a natural language processing (NLP) system designed to identify both the presence and status of EIMs using clinical notes from patients with IBD.

METHODS

In a single-center retrospective study, clinical outpatient electronic documents were collected in patients with IBD. An NLP EIM detection pipeline was designed to determine general and specific symptomatic EIM activity status descriptions using Python 3.6. Accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, and agreement using Cohen's kappa coefficient were used to compare NLP-inferred EIM status to human documentation labels.

RESULTS

The 1240 individuals identified as having at least 1 EIM consisted of 54.4% arthritis, 17.2% ocular, and 17.0% psoriasiform EIMs. Agreement between reviewers on EIM status was very good across all EIMs (κ = 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70-0.78). The automated NLP pipeline determining general EIM activity status had an accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and agreement of 94.1%, 0.92, 0.95, and κ = 0.76 (95% CI, 0.74-0.79), respectively. Comparatively, prediction of EIM status using administrative codes had a poor sensitivity, specificity, and agreement with human reviewers of 0.32, 0.83, and κ = 0.26 (95% CI, 0.20-0.32), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

NLP methods can both detect and infer the activity status of EIMs using the medical document an information source. Though source document variation and ambiguity present challenges, NLP offers exciting possibilities for population-based research and decision support in IBD.

Pediatric Management of Crohn's Disease

Pediatric Crohn's disease is often more severe, requires higher levels of immunosuppression, and is associated with greater morbidity compared with adult Crohn's disease. Unique considerations in pediatric Crohn's disease include growth impairment, pubertal delay, bone disease, longevity of disease burden, and psychosocial impact. Treatment options are limited, requiring off-label use of therapy in this challenging patient population. Understanding the medications available, the existing evidence supporting their use, and side effects is important. There is tremendous potential for growth and improvement in this field and it is essential that all gastroenterologists have an understanding of this complex and unique patient population.

Artificial Intelligence for Disease Assessment in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: How Will it Change Our Practice?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived and it will directly impact how we assess, monitor, and manage inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Advances in the machine learning methodologies that power AI have produced astounding results for replicating expert judgment and predicting clinical outcomes, particularly in the analysis of imaging. This review will cover general concepts for AI in IBD, with descriptions of common machine learning methods, including decision trees and neural networks. Applications of AI in IBD will cover recent achievements in endoscopic image interpretation and scoring, new capabilities for cross-sectional image analysis, natural language processing for automated understanding of clinical text, and progress in AI-powered clinical decision support tools. In addition to detailing current evidence supporting the capabilities of AI for replicating expert clinical judgment, speculative commentary on how AI may advance concepts of disease activity assessment, care pathways, and pathophysiologic mechanisms of IBD will be addressed.

Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors for Crohn's disease relapses using natural language processing and machine learning: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

The impact of relapses on disease burden in Crohn's disease (CD) warrants searching for predictive factors to anticipate relapses. This requires analysis of large datasets, including elusive free-text annotations from electronic health records. This study aims to describe clinical characteristics and treatment with biologics of CD patients and generate a data-driven predictive model for relapse using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML).

METHODS

We performed a multicenter, retrospective study using a previously validated corpus of CD patient data from eight hospitals of the Spanish National Healthcare Network from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2018 using NLP. Predictive models were created with ML algorithms, namely, logistic regression, decision trees, and random forests.

RESULTS

CD phenotype, analyzed in 5938 CD patients, was predominantly inflammatory, and tobacco smoking appeared as a risk factor, confirming previous clinical studies. We also documented treatments, treatment switches, and time to discontinuation in biologics-treated CD patients. We found correlations between CD and patient family history of gastrointestinal neoplasms. Our predictive model ranked 25 000 variables for their potential as risk factors for CD relapse. Of highest relative importance were past relapses and patients' age, as well as leukocyte, hemoglobin, and fibrinogen levels.

CONCLUSION

Through NLP, we identified variables such as smoking as a risk factor and described treatment patterns with biologics in CD patients. CD relapse prediction highlighted the importance of patients' age and some biochemistry values, though it proved highly challenging and merits the assessment of risk factors for relapse in a clinical setting.

Evaluation of Natural Language Processing for the Identification of Crohn Disease-Related Variables in Spanish Electronic Health Records: A Validation Study for the PREMONITION-CD Project

Background

The exploration of clinically relevant information in the free text of electronic health records (EHRs) holds the potential to positively impact clinical practice as well as knowledge regarding Crohn disease (CD), an inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. The EHRead technology, a clinical natural language processing (cNLP) system, was designed to detect and extract clinical information from narratives in the clinical notes contained in EHRs.

Objective

The aim of this study is to validate the performance of the EHRead technology in identifying information of patients with CD.

Methods

We used the EHRead technology to explore and extract CD-related clinical information from EHRs. To validate this tool, we compared the output of the EHRead technology with a manually curated gold standard to assess the quality of our cNLP system in detecting records containing any reference to CD and its related variables.

Results

The validation metrics for the main variable (CD) were a precision of 0.88, a recall of 0.98, and an F1 score of 0.93. Regarding the secondary variables, we obtained a precision of 0.91, a recall of 0.71, and an F1 score of 0.80 for CD flare, while for the variable vedolizumab (treatment), a precision, recall, and F1 score of 0.86, 0.94, and 0.90 were obtained, respectively.

Conclusions

This evaluation demonstrates the ability of the EHRead technology to identify patients with CD and their related variables from the free text of EHRs. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to use a cNLP system for the identification of CD in EHRs written in Spanish.

Preoperative Anti-TNF Therapy is Associated with a Shorter Length of Resected Bowel in Patients Undergoing Ileocolic Resection for Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND

Massive or repeated intestinal resections for Crohn's disease (CD) could lead to disabling consequences. The present study aimed to assess the effect of preoperative anti-TNF therapy on the length of resected bowel and identify risk factors for postoperative morbidity following ileocolic resection for CD.

METHODS

Patients undergoing elective ileocolic resection for CD were included prospectively. Medical variables including demographics, Montréal classification, preoperative treatment, surgical details and 30-day postoperative morbidity were collected. Potential impact of preoperative anti-TNF treatment on length of ileocolic specimen and risk factors for postoperative morbidity were investigated.

RESULTS

One hundred and eight-four patients were included in this study, and 66 (35.9%) of them received anti-TNF agents within 8 weeks prior to surgery. Primary anastomosis was performed in 145 patients (78.8%). The mean length of resected intestine was 10 cm shorter in subjects receiving preoperative anti-TNF treatment than those without preoperative anti-TNF therapy (P < 0.001). The rates of postoperative overall, infectious and intra-abdominal septic morbidity were 29.9%, 19.0% and 7.6%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, anti-TNF therapy < 8 weeks before surgery was independently associated with a shorter length of resected bowel but didn't increase overall and septic complications, while systemic steroids use within 8 weeks prior to surgery independently increased overall complications and intra-abdominal sepsis.

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative anti-TNF therapy was associated with a shorter length of resected bowel but not the overall and septic postoperative complications in ileocolic resection for CD. Weaning off systemic steroids before surgery may improve postoperative outcomes in patients with CD.

Real world analysis on the efficacy and safety of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy in patients with stricturing Crohn's disease

Crohn’s disease (CD) is often complicated by strictures and associated with increased risk for surgery. Inflammatory strictures respond to medical therapy, and anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy is often used after the failure of steroids. However, data on efficacy of anti-TNF therapy in stricturing CD is limited. We retrospectively analysed the records of patients with stricturing CD who were treated with anti-TNF therapy and were prospectively followed from January 2005 to July 2020. Treatment success was defined as continuation of anti-TNF without the requirement for steroids or parenteral nutrition, switch to other anti-TNF, endoscopic dilation, surgery and severe adverse events leading to the withdrawal of anti-TNF. Fifty-nine patients were included [50-infliximab, 9-adalimumab; mean age-30.1 ± 15 years; males-69.5%; median disease duration-124 (range 30–396) months; median follow-up duration-42 (range 8–180) months]. Ileum was the most common site of stricture (69.5%), 20.3% of patients had colonic strictures, and 64.4% had multiple strictures. 55.9% of patients were steroid dependent and 37.3% were steroid refractory. The median duration of anti-TNF therapy was 14 (range 2–96) months, and 54.2% (n = 32) patients received concomitant immunomodulators. 88% improved with induction (11.8% primary non-response), secondary loss of response was seen in 52.2%, and the cumulative probability of treatment success at 1, 2 and 5 years was 69%, 51%, and 28% respectively. Anaemia at presentation predicted poor response. Only 30% of patients retained biologics on long-term (lack of response, cost, adverse events). 16.9% had adverse events, the commonest being reactivation of tuberculosis (5.1%). Anti-TNF therapy is associated with good short-term treatment success with modest long-term response in stricturing CD.