Pär Myrelid © ECCO

By now we are all hoping that the cases of COVID-19 that we still see represent the beginning of the end of the pandemic. For more than two years, the health care system has been overloaded globally and the whole world has been suffering. Initially we struggled with severely ill COVID-19 patients filling up ICU wards at more or less every hospital, and in addition theatre staff were often asked to help out with COVID-19 patients rather than assisting in theatres. At some hospitals the theatres were turned into extra ICU wards. This was made easier by the fact that during the early days of the pandemic the normal emergency cases seemed to have disappeared. Just like prior to a tsunami, where the water withdraws before the giant wave hits, the emergency rooms were left empty for some days or even weeks. A deceptive calmness soon gave way to chaos.

Eytan Wine © ECCO

Many IBD specialists take pride in their multidisciplinary team (MDT), which is of huge benefit and should be considered a necessity for this complex group of conditions. When I joined the Dietitians of ECCO (D-ECCO) Committee 3 years ago, I came with a clear appreciation of the specific role of dietitians in IBD MDTs, but I continue to learn and be amazed by how much more can and should be achieved through the contribution of IBD-focused dietitians. As a paediatric IBD specialist, I have had the privilege and pleasure of working with dietitians in our team for many years, mostly in the context of nutritional assessment and follow-up, as well as nutritional therapy. As nutritional therapy has been established as a first-line therapy for paediatric Crohn’s Disease for many years [1], it is likely that we paediatricians may have a head start in involving dietitians. While many adult centres have built excellent units [2], the specific roles of dietitians are not always appreciated [3].

We are delighted to announce that this year we will run the 2nd cycle of the IBD Nurse Education Programme. The programme will take place in Hungary, and we are currently at the exciting stage of recruiting and selecting nurses to the programme. The primary aim of the programme is to increase the skills, knowledge and competences of nurses who are new to IBD and to help them in their role of delivering high-quality care to patients.  

The ECCO Guidelines Committee (GuiCom) is welcoming two new committee members. Both are already well known in the ECCO Family. Michel Adamina was the former chair of S-ECCO and Javier Gisbert was ClinCom member in the past.  

Young GEDII © GEDII

The 68^th ECCO Educational Workshop took place at the Hotel Cascais Miragem on April 6, 2022, in Cascais, Portugal. This event - the first ECCO live meeting since the COVID 19 pandamic - brought together more than 120 participants and was the perfect launch to GEDII’s Annual Meeting, which began on the following day. The workshop featured interactive discussion on various clinical scenarios and hot topics in IBD.

The primary goal of the Educational Workshops organised by the ECCO Education Committee is to harmonise IBD practices within ECCO Country Members by presenting the practical use of the ECCO Guidelines on Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

Pascal Juillerat  © ECCO

Dear ECCO Members,

I hope all of you were able to enjoy the short Easter break with your families and loved ones.

I also hope that you enjoyed the exciting scientific and educational programmes at the ECCO’22 Congress back in February. In case you missed or would like to re-watch some of the content, you can find all the recordings on our e-Library. Please note that access to this service and all of our wonderful content requires an up-to-date ECCO Membership.

A total of ten abstracts focusing on IBD genetics were accepted for presentation at the 17th Congress of ECCO. Four abstracts were presented in the scientific programme (OP) and two in digital oral presentation (DOP) sessions. The remaining four abstracts were presented as posters (eP). I describe here the most interesting findings from different domains of genetics in IBD.

A total of 72 abstracts focusing on IBD epidemiology were accepted for presentation at the 17^th Congress of ECCO. Among the best abstracts, seven were presented in digital oral presentation (DOP) sessions. The remaining 65 abstracts were presented as posters. Below, I summarise the most interesting studies, covering various fields in the epidemiology of IBD.

Dan Turner © Dan Turner

Academia can generate high-quality paediatric data during off-label use of drugs: the example of the prospective multicentre VEDOKIDS study

Remarkably, of the numerous biologics approved in adults with IBD, only infliximab and adalimumab have been approved in children. The long delay between approval of new drugs in adults versus children leads to their extensive off-label use, in the absence of appropriate dosing and safety data. Prospective paediatric data regarding vedolizumab are limited to a small phase 2 study (n=88; HUBBLE trial) focusing on pharmacokinetics. A paediatric phase 3 trial is underway but its completion is long overdue, also since vedolizumab is easily accessible in most countries without the constraints of study protocols. With that challenge in mind, once vedolizumab received approval in adults we initiated a prospective cohort study to explore the effectiveness, dosing and safety of vedolizumab in children. The VEDOKIDS study was sponsored by ECCO, The Paediatric Porto group of ESPGHAN and Takeda. Explicit demographic, clinical and safety data were prospectively recorded, and serum was collected for drug levels and stool for faecal calprotectin.