Although early treatment of Crohn’s disease (CD) patients with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents or immunomodulators (IMs) may improve long-term outcomes, especially those with poor prognostic factors, their effectiveness in Asians remains unclear. In this study, Korean patients with CD naïve to both intestinal surgery and intestinal complications, and with at least two risk factors for progression (diagnosis at age <40 years, systemic corticosteroid treatment <3 months after diagnosis, and perianal fistula at diagnosis) were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were classified into those who started anti-TNFs, or IMs but not anti-TNFs, within 2 years of diagnosis, and those who started anti-TNFs and/or IMs later. Their probabilities of intestinal surgery and intestinal complications were compared. A total of 670 patients were enrolled, 79 in the early anti-TNF, 286 in the early IM, and 305 in the late treatment group. Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test showed that from starting anti-TNFs/IMs, times to intestinal surgery (P < 0.001), stricturing complications (P = 0.002), and penetrating complications (P < 0.001) were significantly longer in the early anti-TNF/IM groups than in the late treatment group. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that, from starting anti-TNFs/IMs, late anti-TNF/IM treatment was independently associated with higher risks of intestinal surgery (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 2.321, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.503–3.584, P < 0.001), behavioral progression (aHR 2.001, 95% CI 1.449–2.763, P < 0.001), stricturing complications (aHR 1.736, 95% CI 1.209–2.493, P = 0.003), and penetrating complications (aHR 3.315, 95% CI 2.094–5.249, P < 0.001) than early treatment. In conclusion, treatment of Asian CD patients having poor prognostic factors with anti-TNFs/IMs within 2 years of diagnosis is associated with better clinical outcomes than later treatment.

AIMTo investigate the temporal trends in the misdiagnosis rate between Crohn’s disease (CD) and intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) in South Korea.METHODSWe retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients managed for CD or ITB at Asan Medical Center, a tertiary referral hospital, Seoul, Korea between 1996 and 2014. The temporal trends in the misdiagnosis rates between the two diseases were analyzed. The demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between CD patients who were initially misdiagnosed as ITB (final CD group) and vice versa (final ITB group). Final diagnostic criteria for ITB and medication for CD before definite diagnosis of TB were also analyzed in final ITB group.RESULTSIn total, 2760 patients were managed for CD and 772 patients for ITB between 1996 and 2014. As well, 494 of the 2760 CD patients (17.9%) were initially misdiagnosed as ITB and 83 of the 772 ITB patients (10.8%) as CD. The temporal trend in misdiagnosing CD as ITB showed a decrease (OR = 0.89, 95%CI: 0.87-0.91, P < 0.001), whereas the temporal trend in misdiagnosing ITB as CD showed an increase (OR = 1.06, 95%CI: 1.01-1.11, P = 0.013). Age at diagnosis, presenting symptoms, and proportion of patients with active/past perianal fistula and active/inactive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) were significantly different between final CD group and final ITB group. Forty patients (48.2%) in final ITB group were diagnosed by favorable response to empirical anti-TB treatment. Seventeen patients (20.5%) in final ITB group had inappropriately received corticosteroids and/or thiopurines due to misdiagnosis as CD. However, there were no mortalities in both groups.CONCLUSIONCases of CD misdiagnosed as ITB have been decreasing, whereas cases of ITB misdiagnosed as CD have been increasing over the past two decades.

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The overall mortality tended to be higher in Crohn's disease patients than in the general population; it was slightly lower in ulcerative colitis patients than in the general population.

Compared with a lightwand which is used blind, Optiscope , a rigid video-stylet, can provide direct imaging of airway structures, potentially offering improved conditions in cervical spine-immobilised patients. We randomly assigned 168 patients who required cervical immobilisation during tracheal intubation to use of the Optiscope or the lightwand. The initial intubation success rate (95% CI) was 90 (82-95)% with the Optiscope and 87 (78-93)% with the lightwand (p = 0.626). Median (IQR [range]) intubation time was longer (19 (12-41 [5-195] s vs. 15 (8-29 [3-117] s; p = 0.016), and there were fewer scooping movements (1 (1-2 [0-9]) vs. 2 (1-3 [0-14]); p = 0.002) when using the Optiscope compared with the lightwand. The incidence of postoperative airway complications was similar in the two groups. The devices were equivalent with respect to initial intubation success rate but the Optiscope yielded slightly longer intubating times.

Background/AimsThe reported rates of current smoking at the time of Crohn’s disease (CD) diagnosis tend to be low in East Asian studies. However, we hypothesized that East Asian patients may be reluctant to disclose their smoking history, likely because of the influence of the Confucian culture.MethodsWe prospectively re-evaluated the smoking status at diagnosis in 1,437 Korean CD patients whose smoking status had been reported in our previous study.ResultsAfter re-evaluation, the current smokers at diagnosis increased from 388 patients (27.0%) to 445 patients (31.0%), indicating that 12.8% (57 of 445 patients) of the current smokers at diagnosis did not disclose their smoking status at their initial evaluation. The proportion of current smokers at diagnosis who had initially concealed their smoking status was significantly higher among the female patients (29.7%, 11/37) compared with the male patients (11.3%, 46/408) (p<0.005) and among the patients who were ≤18 years old at diagnosis (56.4%, 22/39) compared with the patients >18 years old at diagnosis (8.6%, 35/406) (p<0.001).ConclusionsSubgroups of Korean CD patients, particularly young patients and female patients, are reluctant to disclose their smoking history. Therefore, the suggestion that smoking is not a risk factor for the development of CD in East Asians should be made with caution.

The long-term efficacy of IFX in a large, real-life cohort of Korean UC patients appears to be comparable to that in previously published Western studies.

Background/AimsPrevious studies have suggested a weak correlation between self-reported rectal effluent status and bowel preparation quality. We aim to evaluate whether photographic examples of rectal effluents could improve the correlation between patient descriptions of rectal effluents and bowel preparation quality.MethodsBefore colonoscopy, patients were asked to describe the nature of their last three rectal effluents. Photographic examples of rectal effluents were provided as a reference for scoring. Bowel preparation was subsequently assessed by a single endoscopist using a global preparation assessment scale. Preparation outcomes were grouped into two levels (excellent to good vs. fair to inadequate). Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to find any association between bowel preparation quality and patient characteristics.ResultsA total of 138 patients completed the questionnaires. The mean age was 56.5±10.4 years. The mean sum of the last three rectal effluent scores was 5.9±2.0. Higher rectal effluent scores (odds ratio [OR], 0.82; P=0.043) and the presence of diverticula (OR, 0.16; P<0.001) were risk factors for suboptimal preparation.ConclusionsPhotographic example-guided patient descriptions of rectal effluents showed a statistically significant association with bowel preparation quality. However, clinical significance seemed to be low. The presence of diverticula was an independent predictive factor for suboptimal bowel preparation quality.