Citations

INTRODUCTION: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on immune-modifying therapies may have a lower vaccine response to certain vaccines. The aim of our study was to evaluate humoral immunogenicity of mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines among patients with IBD and healthy controls (HCs). METHODS: We performed a prospective study to evaluate humoral immunogenicity among patients with IBD and HCs after completion of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-two patients with IBD and 60 HCs were enrolled. All HCs and 97% of patients with IBD developed antibodies. Antibody concentrations were lower in patients with IBD compared with those in HCs (median 31 vs 118 μg/mL; P < 0.001). Those who received the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) COVID-19 (median 38; interquartile range [IQR] 24–75 vs μg/mL) had higher antibody concentrations compared with those who received the Pfizer-BNT vaccine series (median 22; IQR 11–42 μg/mL; P < 0.001). Patients on immune-modifying therapy (median 26; IQR 13–50 μg/mL) had lower antibody concentrations compared with those who were on no treatment, aminosalicylates, or vedolizumab (median 59; IQR 31–75 μg/mL; P = 0.003). DISCUSSION: Almost all patients with IBD in our study mounted an antibody response. Future studies are needed in evaluating sustained humoral immunity and the impact of booster dosing in patients with IBD.

Abstract Background Oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use in the general population is associated with a failure rate as low as 0.3% with perfect use but as high as 9% with typical use. Women with Crohn’s disease (CD) may have malabsorption in the setting of small bowel disease or resection, which could affect absorption of OCPs. Our aim was to determine the incidence of pregnancy in women with CD on OCPs. Methods This is a retrospective study assessing the incidence rate of OCP failure in females between 18 and 45 years of age seen at the Mayo Clinic with a diagnosis of CD and provided a prescription for OCPs, between 2016 and 2020. Failure was defined as clear documentation of becoming pregnant while using OCPs or having an active prescription of OCP at the time of conception. Results A total of 818 female patients with CD between 18 and 45 years of age with a prescription for an OCP were included in our study. Sixty-six patients (8%) conceived in this cohort. Of the 66 patients who became pregnant, 57 stopped the OCP before conceiving, 5 were excluded due to lack of data, and 4 women had active oral contraceptive prescriptions when they became pregnant (pregnancy rate of 0.5%). Conclusions In female patients with CD who are using OCPs for contraception, we found a low rate of pregnancy (0.5%) similar to the rate of pregnancy with perfect use of OCPs in the general population. OCPs are an effective method of birth control in women with CD.

AbstractAimThe existing literature was updated, assessing the use of surgery in patients with ulcerative colitis in more recent years.MethodsThis was a retrospective observational study identifying all patients with ulcerative colitis within the National Inpatient Sample, years 2009–2018. All patients with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revisions, Clinical Modification diagnostic codes for ulcerative colitis were included. The primary outcome was the trend in total number of total abdominal colectomy, proctocolectomy and simultaneous versus delayed pouch construction.ResultsA total of 1 184 711 ulcerative‐colitis‐related admissions were identified. An increase of 18.6% in the number of patients was observed, while the number of surgeries decreased. A total of 40 499 patients underwent total colectomy, annually decreasing from 5241 to 3185. The number of proctocolectomies without pouch decreased from 1191 to 530, while the number of patients undergoing pouch construction decreased from 2225 to 1284. The proportion of patients undergoing initial pouch at time of proctocolectomy decreased from 995 (45%) to 265 (21%), while the proportion of patients undergoing delayed pouch construction in 2018 was 79% (n = 1120).ConclusionSurgery use in ulcerative colitis has decreased in the last decade despite increasing numbers of hospital admissions in patients with this condition. While the overall proportion of patients undergoing pouch construction remained stable, the majority of patients were initially treated with total colectomy and their ileal pouches werre constructed in a delayed fashion.