Falk Gastro Info 5/2023

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with an increased risk of incident acute arterial events (AAEs): In a prospective cohort, there was an increased risk of incident AAEs and premature AAEs in IBD participants. Beyond traditional AAE risk factors, quantifiable indices of IBD disease activity and severity were independent predictors of AAEs.

Biopsy of non-tumor sites after biopsy of a colorectal cancer is not associated with metachronous cancers: Metachronous cancers were not significantly associated with biopsy of non-tumor sites after biopsy of the primary cancer in this large case-control study involving more than 14,000 patients.

Critique and systematic review of the utility of hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) as biomarker in chronic hepatitis B: New biomarkers could be of great benefit on the way to functional cure of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Indeed, the hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) is a possible candidate as suitable biomarker. A recent critique and systematic review, however, concludes that HBcrAg correlates poorly with HBsAg loss and response to antiviral therapy, and thus has limited clinical utility.

Analysis of acute severe non-A-E hepatitis (NAEH) in children in North-West Germany: NAEH is a rare but serious disease that often leads to acute liver failure. The 2022 global NAEH epidemic has been linked to adenoviral infections. A current evaluation from 2 North-Western German centers (Hanover and Essen) indicates an increasing incidence of NAEH since 2019. However, adenoviral infections played no role, which indicates other potential triggers of similar NAEH cases.

Risk of liver fibrosis associated with long-term methotrexate (MTX) therapy may be overestimated: Based on retrospective data, it was concluded that long-term MTX therapy has a significant risk of hepatic fibrosis. However, a recent longitudinal cohort study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis indicated that neither the cumulative MTX dose nor the duration of therapy were associated with increased liver stiffness. In contrast, age and BMI were independently associated with increased liver stiffness.

Endoscopic surveillance in patients at risk of hereditary gastric cancer: Random biopsies enhance the early detection of signet ring cell carcinoma and are complementary to targeted biopsies in surveillance of hereditary diffuse gastric cancer. This sampling method should be the standard of care when performing all surveillance endoscopies for individuals with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer.