Tuesday IBD Poster Presentations at ACG 2010

Is Inflammatory Bowel Disease a Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Disease?Presenters: Tarun Rustagi, MD, Mridula Rai, MD, and Luis Diez, MD

Purpose: To determine if IBD is a risk factor for coronary artery disease.

Results: In patients with IBD and coronary artery disease (CAD), Framingham risk scores are lower compared to those only with CAD, suggesting that IBD is an independent risk factor for CAD. Rustagi and colleagues say that recurrent “flares of intestinal mucosal inflammation leads to presence of excess pro-inflammatory cytokines and serum soluble adhesion molecules in IBD that could promote atherosclerosis-related inflammation, alter lipid metabolism, and contribute to plaque instability and rupture.”

Clinical Utility of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Serology Testing in Patients with Suspected Inflammatory Bowel DiseasePresenters: Siddharth Sura, MD, MPH, Awais Ahmed, MBBS, Adam Cheifetz, MD, and Alan Moss, MD, FACG

Purpose: To “determine the utility of serology testing in identifying IBD among a cohort of individuals with suspected IBD”—as the performance of such testing in patients with suspected IBD remains unclear—using testing that included perinuclear anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (pANCA), anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody, anti-outer membrane porin C antibody, and anti-CBir1 flagellin antibody.

Results: For identifying those who are at risk of developing diagnostic features of IBD among a population of patients thought to have the IBD, pANCA may be useful.

Characteristics Predictive of Progression to Malignancy of Raised Colonic Lesions in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC): A Systematic Review of the LiteraturePresenters: Wojciech Blonski, MD, PhD, Faten Aberra, MD, Anna Buchner, MD, PhD, Mark Osterman, MD, Ming Lin, MD, Gary Lichtenstein, MD, FACG

Purpose: To “perform a systematic review of the literature focusing on characteristics of macroscopically visible raised colonic lesions in patients with longstanding UC that predict progression to malignancy.”

Results: Although a lack of data exists to suggest that endoscopic characteristics of raised lesions in the colon of patients with long-standing UC could be used to predict benignity or malignancy, results for a small number of studies suggest that larger size, popypoid appearance, and location in the right colon of raise colonic lesions do predict progression of dysplasia to malignancy.

Impact of Severe Colitis and Colectomy on Marital Status and Divorce in Inflammatory Bowel DiseasePresenters: Marmy Shah, MD, Marwa El Mourabet, MD, Eva Szigethy, MD, PhD, Miguel Regueiro, MD, Michael Dunn, MD, Melissa Saul, MS, Leonard Baidoo, MD, Arthur Barrie, MD, Jason Swoger, MD, Marc Schwartz, MD, MPH, and David Binion, MD

Purpose: To evaluate the durability of one’s marriage among patients with colitis “following medical and surgical management for severe disease requiring hospitalization.”

Results: Although no increases in divorces were seen among the large cohort of married patients with IBD who required inpatient management of their severe colitis, and marriage durability did not seem to be affected among patients with IBD who required hospitalization, such patients do have significant concerns that treatment for their disease, especially colectomy/ileostomy, will damage the relationship with their significant other. Thus, Shah and colleagues feel that “impact of IBD colitis and its treatments on patients’ psychosocial function, interpersonal relationships and quality of life is an area of clinical investigation which warrants further study.”

Evaluation of IBD Serology in Inflammatory and Non-Inflammatory Disorders of the Ileal PouchResearchers: Bo Shen, MD, FACG, Emmanuel Obusez, BA, and Queener Elaine, LPN

Purpose: To “evaluate bacteria-antigen-based IBD serology for diagnosis and possible pathogenetic role.”

Results: “There is evidence that host immune response to certain bacterial antigens in patients with various categories of pouch disorders may be different, particularly to C-Bir flagellin antigen.”

2010 ACG IBD AwardDemographic Differences among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the U.S Military Health SystemPresenters: John Betteridge, MD, Corinne Maydonovitch, BS, and Ganesh Veerappan, MD

Purpose: To “determine the demographic differences among patients seen for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in the U.S military health system.”

Results: Consistent with other recent studies, Betteridge, et al. found a male predominance in ulcerative colitis and a female predominance in Crohn’s disease. Further, they say that although “not a true incidence assessment, the uni-modal peak in age during the 3rd to 4th decades is supportive of r