Clinical outcome of newly diagnosed Crohn's disease: a comparative, retrospective study before and after infliximab availability

High infliximab trough concentrations are associated with sustained histologic remission in inflammatory bowel disease: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

The threshold concentration of infliximab during maintenance therapy has not been well-defined in relation to histologic remission. The aim of the study is to dentify the maintenance-phase infliximab concentration associated with histologic remission in inflammatory bowel disease patients (IBD).

METHODS

A prospective cohort study was carried out in 104 IBD patients seen at a tertiary care centre in London, Canada. Infliximab trough concentrations were collected during the maintenance phase of treatment and compared between participants with and without evidence of histologic remission. Participants were additionally evaluated for sustained histologic remission, and relapse to active disease.

RESULTS

Participants in histologic remission attained higher mean concentrations of infliximab during the maintenance phase (10.34 ± 0.69 μg/ml) compared to those with persistent disease activity (6.23 ± 0.67 μg/ml, p-value < 0.0001). Additionally, during the maintenance phase, sustained histologic remission was also associated with a higher mean concentration of infliximab (10.81 ± 5.46 μg/ml) compared to those who relapsed to active disease (5.68 ± 3.70, p < 0.001). Overall, participants with a mean infliximab trough concentration greater than 8ug/ml were more likely to have histologic remission (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, AUROC = 0.72, 95%CI = 0.65-0.84, p < 0.0001) and sustained histologic remission (AUC = 0.77, 95%CI = 0.63-0.91, p = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

Maintenance-phase infliximab trough concentrations greater than 8 μg/ml, which is higher than the currently recommended target concentration, are highly associated with histologic remission and sustained histologic remission.

Therapeutic preferences and outcomes in newly diagnosed patients with Crohn's diseases in the biological era in Hungary: a nationwide study based on the National Health Insurance Fund database

BACKGROUND

Accelerated treatment strategy, including tight disease control and early aggressive therapy with immunosuppressives (IS) and biological agents have become increasingly common in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the present study was to estimate the early treatment strategy and outcomes in newly diagnosed patients with Crohn's disease (CD) between 2004 and 2008 and 2009-2015 in the whole IBD population in Hungary based on the administrative database of the National Health Insurance Fund (OEP).

METHODS

We used the administrative database of the OEP, the only nationwide state-owned health insurance provider in Hungary. Patients were identified through previously reported algorithms using the ICD-10 codes for CD in the out-, inpatient (medical, surgical) non-primary care records and drug prescription databases between 2004 and 2015. Patients were stratified according to the year of diagnosis and maximum treatment steps during the first 3 years after diagnosis.

RESULTS

A total of 6173 (male/female: 46.12%/53.87%) newly diagnosed CD patients with physician-diagnosed IBD were found in the period of 2004-2015. The use of 5-ASA and steroids remained common in the biological era, while immunosuppressives and biologicals were started earlier and became more frequent among patients diagnosed after 2009. The probability of biological therapy was 2.9%/6.4% and 8.4%/13.7% after 1 and 3 years in patients diagnosed in 2004-2008/2009-2015. The probability of hospitalization in the first 3 years after diagnosis was different before and after 2009, according to the maximal treatment step (overall 55.7%vs. 47.4% (p = 0.001), anti-TNF: 73%vs. 66.7% (p = 0.103), IS: 64.6% vs. 56.1% (p = 0.001), steroid: 44.2%vs. 36.8% (p < 0.007), 5-ASA: 32.6% vs. 26.7% p = 0.157)). In contrast, surgery rates were not significantly different in patients diagnosed before and after 2009 according to the maximum treatment step (overall 16.0%vs.15.3%(p = 0.672) anti-TNF 26.7%vs.27.2% (p = 0.993), IS: 24.1%vs22.2% (p = 0.565), steroid 8.1%vs.7.9% (p = 0.896), 5-ASA 10%vs. 11% (p = 0.816)).

CONCLUSIONS

IS and biological exposure became more frequent, while hospitalization decreased and surgery remained low but constant during the observation period. Use of steroids and 5-ASA remained high after 2009. The association between the maximal treatment step and hospitalization/surgery rates suggests that maximal treatment step can be regarded as proxy severity marker in patients with IBD.

Medical Therapy of Fibrostenotic Crohn's Disease

Introduction

The present review serves to provide a concise overview of the current knowledge on therapeutic strategies with regard to fibrostenotic lesions in Crohn's disease.

Methods

A literature search was performed focusing on the last 5 years, and current concepts of pathophysiology, epidemiology, and treatment have been summarized.

Results

Fibrostenotic lesions in Crohn's disease are currently considered to be a consequence of the chronic inflammatory nature of the disease. Hence, therapeutic strategies are limited to the concept that early treatment of the inflammatory lesions can prevent structural changes, and to various endoscopic and surgical approaches. Direct targeting of the fibrostenotic lesion itself has not been the focus until now. This review will provide an overview of the pathophysiology and epidemiology of fibrostenotic lesions including current therapeutic approaches. Since research with regard to other organ systems and fibrosis is far more advanced, current strategies from available studies in these areas will be discussed. The results and the potential impact for Crohn's disease will be considered.

Conclusion

The vision of these approaches is to reverse structural changes and restore normal function.

The use of prognostic factors in inflammatory bowel diseases

The disease spectrum and natural course of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are highly variable. The majority of Crohn's disease patients will require surgery at a certain stage in their disease compared to only a fraction of the ulcerative colitis patients. Similarly, some patients are destined to experience an indolent disease course while others will require early intensive therapy. Ideally, these subtypes of patients should be identified as early as possible with the help of reliable prognostic factors in order to guide personalized therapeutic decisions. In this review, the authors focused on the most relevant reports on the use of different prognostic factors to predict disease course, postoperative recurrence and response to therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The last 15 years have seen a wealth of novel genetic and serological markers of disease severity. Nevertheless, none of these markers have proven to be superior to careful clinical phenotyping and endoscopic features early in the disease course. Future attempts should apply an integrated approach that unites clinical, serological and (epi)genetic information with environmental influences, with a clear focus on the microbiome to ultimately identify molecular-based and clinically relevant subgroups.

Long-term clinical outcomes of korean patient with Crohn's disease following early use of infliximab

Background/Aims

Several recent studies have reported that the early use of infliximab (IFX) improves the prognosis of Crohn's disease (CD). However, no data are available from Asian populations, as the forementioned studies have all been conducted in Western countries. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of early use of IFX on the prognosis of Korean patients with CD.

Methods

Patients with a diagnosis of CD established between July 1987 and January 2012 were investigated in 12 university hospitals in Korea. Because insurance coverage for IFX treatment began in August 2005, patients were assigned to either of 2 groups based on diagnosis date. The first group included patients diagnosed from July 1987 to December 2005, and the second from January 2006 to January 2012. We compared the cumulative probabilities of operation and reoperation between the two groups using the Kaplan-Meier method and a log-rank test.

Results

Of the 721 patients investigated, 443 (61.4%) comprized the second group. Although the cumulative probabilities of immunosuppressant (P<0.001) and IFX use (P<0.001) after diagnosis were significantly higher in the second group, there were no significant differences in cumulative probabilities of operation (P=0.905) or reoperation (P=0.418) between two groups.

Conclusions

The early use of IFX did not reduce CD-related surgery requirements in Korean patients with CD. These study results suggest that the early use of IFX may have little impact on the clinical outcome of CD in Korean patients in the setting of a conventional step-up algorithm.

Predictors of recurrence of Crohn’s disease after ileocolectomy: A review

Recurrence after ileocolectomy for Crohn’s disease (CD) is common and occurs in up to 80% of patients. Such recurrence can result in repeated surgical interventions, an increased need for medical treatment and, frequently, an impaired quality of life. The aim of this overview is to provide a summary of the factors associated with disease recurrence after ileocolectomy for CD. Recurrence can be measured clinically or endoscopically using established scoring systems. Radiology and serologic tests can also be used, oftentimes in conjunction with endoscopy and/or clinical findings. Many patient and operative factors as well as pharmacologic treatments have been studied as potential predictors of recurrence. Of these, only smoking and immunomodulatory or biologic medical treatment have repeatedly been shown to effect recurrence. Genetic predictors have been studied and suggested but further evaluation in larger cohorts is necessary. This paper highlights validated, reproducible scoring systems for recurrence and the key findings of studies including patient demographics, operative techniques, various pharmacological treatments and histological findings as predictors of recurrence post ileocolectomy in CD.

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 time-dependent 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.

Infliximab extends the duration until the first surgery in patients with Crohn's disease

Background/Aims. While biological drugs are useful for relieving the disease activity and preventing abdominal surgery in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), it is unclear whether the use of biological drugs in CD patients with no history of abdominal surgery is appropriate. We evaluated the effects of infliximab and other factors on extending the duration until the first surgery in CD patients on a long-term basis. Methods. The clinical records of 104 CD patients were retrospectively investigated. The cumulative nonoperation rate until the first surgery was examined with regard to demographic factors and treatments. Results. The 50% nonoperative interval in the 104 CD patients was 107 months. The results of a univariate analysis revealed that a female gender, the colitis type of CD, and the administration of corticosteroids, immunomodulators, or infliximab were factors estimated to improve the cumulative nonoperative rate. A multivariate analysis showed that the colitis type and administration of infliximab were independent factors associated with a prolonged interval until the first surgery in the CD patients with no history of abdominal surgery. Conclusions. This study suggests that infliximab treatment extends the duration until the first surgery in CD patients with no history of abdominal surgery. The early use of infliximab before a patient undergoes abdominal surgery is therefore appropriate.

Is early limited surgery associated with a more benign disease course in Crohn's disease?

AIM

To analyze the difference in disease course and need for surgery in patients with Crohn's disease (CD).

METHODS

Data of 506 patients with incident CD were analyzed (age at diagnosis: 31.5 ± 13.8 years). Both hospital and outpatient records were collected prospectively with a complete clinical follow-up and comprehensively reviewed in the population-based Veszprem province database, which includes incident CD patients diagnosed between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 2008. Follow-up data were collected until December 31, 2009. All patients included had at least 1 year of follow-up available. Patients with indeterminate colitis at diagnosis were excluded from the analysis.

RESULTS

Overall, 73 patients (14.4%) required resective surgery within 1 year of diagnosis. Steroid exposure and need for biological therapy were lower in patients with early limited surgery (P < 0.001 and P = 0.09). In addition, surgery rates during follow-up in patients with and without early surgery differed significantly after matching on propensity scores (P < 0.001, HR = 0.23). The need for reoperation was also lower in patients with early limited resective surgery (P = 0.038, HR = 0.42) in a Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression (P = 0.04) analysis. However, this advantage was not observed after matching on propensity scores (P(Logrank) = 0.656, P(Breslow) = 0.498).

CONCLUSION

Long-term surgery rates and overall exposure to steroids and biological agents were lower in patients with early limited resective surgery, but reoperation rates did not differ.

[The effect of early immunosuppressive therapy on the rate of resections performed in patients with Chron's disease, in Veszprém county, Hungary, a population-based cohort study]

Medical therapy for Crohn's disease has changed significantly over the past 20 years with the increasing use of immunosuppressants. In contrast, surgery rates are still high and evidence about the the changes in the outcome of Crohn's disease over the past decades is scarce.

AIMS

The objective of this study was to analyze the evolution of the surgical rates and medical therapy in the population-based Veszprém county database.

METHODS

Data of 506 Crohn's disease patients were analyzed (age at diagnosis: 31.5 years, SD: 13.8 years). Both hospital and outpatient records were collected and comprehensively reviewed. The study population was divided into three groups based on the year of diagnosis (cohort A: 1977-1989, cohort B: 1990-1998 and cohort C: 1999-2008).

RESULTS

Overall azathioprine, systemic steroid, and biological (only available after 1998) exposure was 45.8, 68.6, and 9.5%, respectively. The 1 and 5-year probabilities of azathioprine use were 3.2 and 6.2% in cohort A, 11.4 and 29.9% in cohort B, and 34.8 and 46.2% in cohort C. In multivariate analysis, decade of diagnosis (P<0.001), age at onset (P = 0.008), disease behavior at diagnosis (P<0.001), and need for systemic steroids (P<0.001) were significantly associated with the time to initiation of azathioprine therapy. Early azathioprine use was significantly associated with the time to intestinal surgery in Crohn's disease patients; in a multivariate Cox analysis (HR: 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28-0.65) and after matching on propensity scores for azathioprine use (HR: 0.42,95% CI:0.26-0.67).

CONCLUSIONS

This population-based inception cohort showed that reduction in surgical rates was independently associated with increased and earlier azathioprine use.