Dominik Bettenworth © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

It is a great pleasure for me to write my first Members’ Address. A few weeks ago, the 14^th Congress of ECCO took place and was fully packed with world-class, international presentations on basic science research and clinical studies that had the common goal of improving the care of our IBD patients. My personal highlight of the Congress was, however, to take over as Y-ECCO Chair from Nuha Yassin. Many of you will know Nuha from personal meetings at the Y-ECCO Workshops, Consensus Guidelines meetings or the ECCO Interaction: Hearts and Minds at the Annual Congress of ECCO. Personally, over the past three years I have got to know Nuha as an inspiring person with a very clear vision of the various Y-ECCO projects that she has been able to put into practice as a highly talented networker, while always adding the perspective of an experienced surgeon. 

CALM Trial

Sasha Fehily  © ECCO

Introduction

There has been a recent shift in Crohn’s Disease (CD) management away from the conventional focus on short-term clinical outcomes and towards the maintenance of long-term remission.  In 2015 the International Organisation for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases released a consensus statement recommending a treat-to-target approach [1]. The STRIDE initiative recommended pursuing treatment escalation in order to achieve the treatment targets of clinical remission and mucosal healing, with adjunctive use of normal C-reactive protein (CRP) and faecal calprotectin (FC) levels. However, the authors noted that prospective studies would be needed to confirm that achievement of these targets would alter the natural history of disease and improve patients’ quality of life.

Dominik Bettenworth  © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

A warm welcome to the Y-ECCO Literature Review section, where you will find a summary and discussion of cutting-edge clinical trials as well as basic science studies in the field of IBD. 

If you are a Y-ECCO Member and you are looking for an opportunity to get actively involved in ECCO and gain some visibility, contribute your article to the Y-ECCO Literature Review corner, together with a short self-description and your picture.

Charlotte Hedin © ECCO

Florian Rieder is currently an Associate Staff physician in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition as well as an Investigator in the Department of Inflammation and Immunity at the Cleveland Clinic in the USA. His area of interest is pathogenesis of intestinal fibrosis and trial endpoint development for testing anti-fibrotics in stricturing IBD patients. He received his medical degree from the LMU Munich and has worked in Germany, Switzerland and South Africa as well as the USA. 

Nuha Yassin © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

I hope that this Members’ Address finds you all well and that you’re enjoying the beautiful autumn colours. Alas, this will be the last time that I address you as Y-ECCO Chair, as I will be stepping down from this position at the next ECCO Congress (2019, Copenhagen). It is with the greatest pleasure that I will then hand over the position of Chair to my colleague, Dominik Bettenworth (Münster, Germany), who has been an executive Y-ECCO Committee Member for the last 3 years. My colleague John Nik Ding will also be completing his 3-year Committee Membership and accompanying me down the path of the autumn leaves to regular ECCO Membership, thus making way for two new Y-ECCO Committee Members.

Christina Kapizioni  © Christina Kapizioni

Increased risk of acute arterial events in young patients and severely active IBD: A nationwide French cohort study

Kirchgesner J, Beaugerie L, Carrat F, Andersen NN, Jess T, Schwarzinger M; BERENICE study group
Gut. 2018;67:1261–1268.

Dominik Bettenworth © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

A warm welcome to the Y-ECCO Literature Review section, where you will find a summary and discussion of cutting-edge clinical trials as well as basic science studies in the field of IBD. 

If you are a Y-ECCO Member and you are looking for an opportunity to get actively involved in ECCO and gain some visibility, contribute your article to the Y-ECCO Literature Review corner, together with a short self-description and your picture.

Nuha Yassin © ECCO

“The patient's perspective”

With the Y-ECCO Interview corner, I have had the honour to talk to inspirational people who have been kind enough to share with the ECCO Family and the IBD Community their professional and personal IBD journeys. Taking an IBD MDT approach, I have had the pleasure to speak to surgeons, gastroenterologists, nurses and dietitians from Europe and beyond. 

Today, I have the pleasure to speak to a representative of the most important group within the MDT, the patient. As clinicians, our clinical and research work is patient centred. Therefore, it is natural that the Interview corner should take us to a place we have never been before, the patient’s home. 

Nuha Yassin © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

I hope you are well and enjoying your summer break. As we catch the last rays of sunshine, or hide away from the sweltering heat, we think about the next ECCO Congress in the beautiful city of Copenhagen. Abstract submission is now open, and Y-ECCO Members can prepare for writing the best abstracts and sharing their research with the ECCO Community. There will be an opportunity to win one of the five best Y-ECCO Abstract Awards, but you’re only eligible if you indicate that your abstract qualifies for the Y-ECCO Abstract Award. If you’re a Y-ECCO basic scientist, please prepare your abstracts with a general focus on two areas, genetics/epigenetics and metabolomics, and do tick the box if you’d like your abstract to be considered for presentation at the Y-ECCO Basic Science Workshop.

Viktor Domislović  © Viktor Domislović

Cumulative burden of inflammation predicts colorectal neoplasia risk in Ulcerative Colitis: A large single-centre study

Choi CR, Al Bakir I, Ding NJ, Lee GH, Askari A, Warusavitarne J, Moorghen M, Humphries A, Ignjatovic-Wilson A, Thomas-Gibson S, Saunders BP, Rutter MD, Graham TA, Hart AL
Gut. 2017 Nov 17. pii: gutjnl-2017-314190. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2017-314190.