The e-CCO Learning Platform is fantastic and a real goldmine! The number of activities is enormous, all of them of high quality. The N-ECCO Committee has started to discuss how this goldmine can best be made available to IBD Nurses around Europe.
With the new, and completely re-designed website, everything you need is now just one click away. The three main pillars of the e-Learning platform are now front and centre: The IBD Curriculum is here to serve you! It is a complete and comprehensive curriculum which outlines the need-to-know for gastroenterologists in order to develop expertise in the field of IBD. The e-Guide is a practical tool to help you manage IBD patients by visualising the ECCO Guidelines as algorithms based on the main UC and CD ECCO Guidelines. Of course, the guidance given by the ECCO e-Guide is based on evidence and validated processes. The e-Library, is your portal to access our large selection of IBD content! Anything from Congress Presentations, Videos, Podcasts, Tools and Skills, Congress Abstracts and much more!
With the re-designed website, you are now able to access all of the content with your mobile phone or tablet, too.
It is well known that the outcomes of surgery, and especially of IBD surgery, are not merely dependent on the operative procedure but are influenced by a number of factors before, during and after surgery. The multidisciplinary team involved in the care of IBD patients has the opportunity to optimise patient care and status prior to surgery to ensure optimal outcomes and reduce the risk of complications.
When mild to moderate Crohn’s Disease is diagnosed, various dietary approaches are used as a first-line medical treatment with a view to reducing inflammatory symptoms and achieving remission. It is important that this treatment is properly guided by a (paediatric) gastroenterologist and specialised nutritionist.
Although I had to postpone my visit to Städtisches Klinikum Lüneburg due to the global COVID-19 outbreak, I was finally able to participate in intestinal ultrasound (IUS) training there in August to September 2022. I thank everyone involved in providing me with this great opportunity.
The CCL20/CCR6 axis is recognized as critical in IBD pathogenesis. However, CCR6 blockage has never been tested as therapeutic approach and no small-molecules CCR6 antagonists have been investigated as a potential anti-IBD drug candidates. Starting from our novel CCR6 antagonist (MR120), we aimed at: -designing and synthesizing more potent CCR6 antagonists; -identifying the most efficacious and tolerable anti-chemotactic CCR6 antagonist; -assessing the efficacy of MR120 and of the most promising novel derivative in adoptive transfer colitis (AT).
Fine determination of gut tissue layers' inflammation exploring immune-microbiota signatures: new biomarkers of recurrence in surgical patients with Crohn's disease?
Up to 65% of patients with Crohn’s Disease (CD) show disease recurrence after ileocolic resection (ICR). The reasons for this high recurrence rate are still unclear, but the abnormal CD inflammatory process, supported by microbiota dysbiosis, affects all the intestinal wall layers. We explored the mutual interplay of inflammatory and microbial factors involved in CD through a systems-level study (tissue and systemic level), at the time of ICR, evaluating whether these specific factors are associated with CD recurrence.
ECCO is an ever-expanding organisation with educational activities which extend throughout the year. For this ECCO News I spoke with Nicole Eichinger, the Executive Director of ECCO, to find out a bit more about her and how the ECCO Team work behind the scenes to keep this vital organisation running as smoothly as it does.
In the United Kingdom (UK), approximately 500,000 people live with IBD, and in the coming decade it is anticipated that the prevalence of IBD will surpass 1% of the population [1]. In 2019, the third UK IBD Standards for adults and children were published following extensive patient and healthcare professional consultation [2]. The IBD Standards cover seven domains: service design and delivery; pre-diagnosis referral pathways; management of the newly diagnosed patient; flare management, including self-management and timely access to specialist advice; surgery including pre- and postoperative care; inpatient medical care; and ongoing long-term treatment and monitoring in both secondary and primary care.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a long-term condition of the gut which is known to impact the quality of life and social functioning of those affected due to the chronic nature of symptoms. These factors, along with communication across the gut–brain axis, cause many patients to suffer from mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression [1]. Previously, the magnitude of these comorbidities had not been established, but recent studies [1, 2] have found the prevalence to be high: a third of all patients and a half of those with an active IBD flare have been found to suffer from anxiety, while depression has been found to affect a quarter of patients and a third of those with active symptoms.
Furthermore, compared with controls, patients with IBD and mental health disorders show increased use of healthcare resources (both primary care visits and emergency secondary care visits) and increased use of antidepressant and anxiolytic medications [2]. While antidepressant medications are commonly used to treat anxiety and depression in IBD [3], understanding of how effectively these treatments are prescribed remains limited, and this is particularly true regarding the adequacy of duration of treatment in this cohort.
This population-based study was performed in the United Kingdom and used data from the primary care setting that was routinely collected electronically in general practices as part of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). The authors looked to review the antidepressant prescribing in primary care for those diagnosed with IBD. They focused on the rate of antidepressant treatment initiation following IBD diagnosis, the duration of antidepressant treatment according to international guidelines, potential risks of inadequate antidepressant treatment duration and general trends in antidepressant prescribing.
Suzanne van Zundert
Francesco Giudici
Edda Russo
Amedeo Amedei
Robin Dart
