P132 Performance of a severity score in risk stratification of patients with ulcerative colitis

B. Morão, C. Frias Gomes, C. Gouveia, M.P. Costa Santos, J. Torres

Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Surgery Department, Gastroenterology Division, Lisbon, Portugal

Background

Patient stratification according to the risk of developing complications is an essential step to define the best treatment approach in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Recently, Siegel et al (Gut 2017) published a score that aims to access the disease severity, considering disease activity (both clinical and endoscopic factors) and complications during the disease course, ranging from 0 to 100 values (higher values indicating worse disease severity). Our goal was to evaluate the capacity of this score calculated at the time of diagnosis (dx) to predict disease course during follow-up (FU): steroid use, therapy escalation to immunomodulators or biologics, hospitalisation and/or abdominal surgery.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study including incident cases of UC in our centre between December 2012 and December 2018. We calculated the score at the time of dx and at the end of FU and collected data about disease course.

Results

Eighty-five patients (57% men with a mean age of 43 ± 17 years) with newly diagnosed UC were included. Disease extension according to Montreal was E1 in 30/85 patients, E2 in 37/85 patients and E3 in 18/85 patients. Median FU time was 40 months. Median risk score at the time of dx was 30 (IQR 3–91) and it was higher in patients with younger age (36 vs. 26, p = 0.08) and extensive colitis (64 vs. 26, p < 0.001). During FU, 19/85 and 17/85 patients needed steroid use and therapy escalation, respectively. Proximal disease extension occurred in one patient. Hospital admission for acute exacerbation and/or colectomy was required in 6/85. The score at dx was higher in patients who underwent hospital admission or colectomy (score: 70 vs. 26, p = 0.002), or that needed steroid (score: 57 vs. 26, p < 0.001) or therapy escalation (score: 57 vs. 26, p < 0.001) during FU. In a survival analysis, the time for steroid use (plogrank < 0.001) or therapy escalation (plogrank < 0.001) was lower in patients with a higher score at dx (61 vs. 88 months and 56 vs. 86 months, respectively). The median score at the end of FU was 3 (IQR 0–66); a second colonoscopy was not available in three patients, who were not included in this analysis. There was a score reduction in 77/82 patients (39/82 had a score of 0). Only one patient had a similar score and 4/85 patients had a higher score. Patients with a significant score reduction during FU (below the median) were more frequently patients with no need for steroid use (p < 0.001) or therapy escalation (p = 0.002).

Conclusion

This severity score seems to be a promising tool for risk stratification and prognosis determination in patients with UC, and its utility should be validated in prospective studies.