Publications by authors named "Eran Matz"
Background & Aims: In this nationwide cohort from Israel (Epi-IIRN), we aimed to characterize risks for age-related complications, mortality and IBD-related surgeries in patients with elderly-onset inflammatory bowel diseases (EO-IBD).
Methods: Data of patients with EO-IBD (≥65 years) diagnosed during 2005-2020 were retrieved from the epi-IIRN database. EO-IBD Patients were compared to 3 age-, sex- and district-matched non-IBD individuals, for age-related outcomes.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the effects of GLP-1 analogs, commonly used for diabetes and obesity, on patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
- Data was collected from over 3,700 patients with both IBD and diabetes, revealing that those treated with GLP-1 analogs had better health outcomes, reducing the risk of complications.
- The findings highlight a stronger protective effect in obese patients compared to non-obese patients, suggesting a need for further research on mechanisms and broader applicability of GLP-1 analogs.
Article Synopsis
- A nationwide study assessed the link between high eosinophil counts (PBE) and long-term outcomes in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
- The analysis included over 28,000 patients, revealing that PBE occurred more frequently in individuals with ulcerative colitis and in pediatric patients compared to adults.
- Results indicated that PBE is a significant predictor of severe disease progression, increased hospitalization, and higher medication needs in IBD patients, highlighting its potential as a marker for adverse outcomes and target for therapies.
Article Synopsis
- Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis have a higher prevalence of Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) compared to non-IBD individuals, with an odds ratio of 2.68.
- The study analyzed data from a large cohort in Israel, showing that FMF is more common in patients with Crohn's disease than in those with ulcerative colitis, and often the FMF diagnosis comes before IBD.
- FMF may lead to increased disease severity in patients with ulcerative colitis, while the disease outcomes are similar for Crohn's disease patients with or without FMF.
Background: Data on predictors of complicated ulcerative colitis (UC) course from unselected populations cohorts are scarce. We aimed to utilize a nationwide cohort to explore predictors at diagnosis of disease course in children and adults with UC.
Methods: Data of patients diagnosed with UC since 2005 were retrieved from the nationwide epi-IIRN cohort.
Background: Both corticosteroids and exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) have been used as induction therapy in children with Crohn's disease (CD).
Aim: To compare in a nationwide study the long-term outcomes of children with CD receiving either EEN or corticosteroids as induction therapy.
Methods: We retrieved data of all children diagnosed with CD (2005-2020) from the epi-IIRN cohort covering 98% of the Israeli population.
Article Synopsis
- This nationwide study analyzed the durability of first-line biologics in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, focusing on monotherapy versus combotherapy with immunomodulators over a median follow-up of 7 years.
- The results showed that the durability rates for pediatric and adult patients were similar, with 43% of patients maintaining their initial biologic treatment after 5 years.
- Additionally, anti-TNF biologics demonstrated comparable durability to vedolizumab, but were more effective when used in combination with other therapies.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in Israel and Sweden, two countries with different lockdown strategies.
- - Findings revealed that IBD incidence in Israel significantly decreased during the pandemic, while Sweden experienced a slight decrease initially followed by an increase, particularly among elderly-onset patients.
- - The research concluded that stricter lockdowns in Israel correlated with a greater reduction in IBD cases compared to Sweden, prompting a need for further research on the long-term effects of the pandemic on IBD.
Article Synopsis
- A nationwide study in Israel examined how early use of biologic treatments affects outcomes in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) from 2005 to 2020.
- Among 34,375 patients, earlier initiation of biologics showed a small reduction in surgery rates and steroid dependency for CD, but no significant improvements were seen for UC or in the pediatric group.
- The findings suggest that while early biologic treatment can lead to some benefits for CD patients, overall results for UC and in the pediatric population are less promising, indicating more research is needed.
Background: Since data on predictors of complicated Crohn's disease (CD) from unselected populations are scarce, we aimed to utilize a large nationwide cohort, the epi-IIRN, to explore predictors of disease course in children and adults with CD.
Methods: Data of patients with CD were retrieved from Israel's 4 health maintenance organizations, whose records cover 98% of the population (2005-2020). Time-to-event modeled a complicated disease course, defined as CD-related surgery, steroid-dependency, or the need for >1 class of biologics.
Article Synopsis
- Israel has a significant Jewish immigrant population and a high rate of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), prompting a study to compare IBD prevalence among immigrants and Israel-born Jews.
- A total of 33,544 IBD patients were analyzed, revealing that 15% were immigrants, with ulcerative colitis (UC) being more common in this group, particularly among those who immigrated before 1990.
- The results indicate that the longer immigrants stay in Israel, the higher their prevalence of IBD, which is influenced by the risk associated with their country of origin.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined the effectiveness of infliximab and adalimumab as first biologic treatments in children with Crohn's disease, using a nationwide cohort from Israel.
- Results showed that adalimumab monotherapy had significantly better long-term durability compared to infliximab monotherapy, while the two treatments had similar durability when used in combination.
- Overall, the findings suggest that adalimumab should be considered as the preferred first-line biologic therapy for pediatric Crohn's disease patients.
Deep learning approaches are gradually being applied to electronic health record (EHR) data, but they fail to incorporate medical diagnosis codes and real-valued laboratory tests into a single input sequence for temporal modeling. Therefore, the modeling misses the existing medical interrelations among codes and lab test results that should be exploited to promote early disease detection. To find connections between past diagnoses, represented by medical codes, and real-valued laboratory tests, in order to exploit the full potential of the EHR in medical diagnosis, we present a novel method to embed the two sources of data into a recurrent neural network.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes Mellitus (DM) is more common among individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). We aimed to assess quality-of-care-indicators in individuals with SMI following the 2015 Israel's Mental-Health-reform. We analyzed yearly changes in 2015-2019 of quality-of-care-measures and intermediate-DM-outcomes, with adjustment for gender, age-group, and socioeconomic status (SES) and compared individuals with SMI to the general adult population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReports from many settings suggest that pediatric overweight and obesity increased in 2020 and 2021, presumably due to lifestyle changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these previous reports have relied on convenience samples or subsets of the population. Here, we present results of a longitudinal study of the entire population of Israel, a nation of approximately 9 million people, with the proportion with underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity at age 7 and at age 14-15, across the years 2017-2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- A nationwide study analyzed the durability of the first biologic treatment for Crohn's disease (CD) using data from nearly the entire Israeli IBD population from 2005 to 2020.
- Results showed that adalimumab monotherapy had the highest treatment durability after one and three years compared to vedolizumab and infliximab.
- The study concluded that combination therapy improves durability for both adalimumab and infliximab, suggesting that anti-TNFs may be the preferred first-line biologics for treating CD.
Background: Thiopurines and methotrexate have long been used to maintain remission in Crohn's disease [CD]. In this nationwide study, we aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of these drugs in CD.
Methods: We used data from the epi-IIRN cohort, including all patients with CD diagnosed in Israel.
Background: Data regarding patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) not receiving maintenance treatment are scarce. In this nationwide study, we aimed to explore the frequency and long-term outcomes of untreated patients with UC vs treated patients.
Methods: We retrieved data from Israel's Health Maintenance Organizations, covering 98% of the population.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how different classes of antibiotics affect the durability of biologic treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in patients using anti-TNF agents.
- It analyzed data from a large Israeli registry involving over 13,500 IBD patients and identified significant differences in treatment persistence among various biologic therapies.
- Results showed that macrolides reduced the risk of stopping infliximab treatment, while fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins increased the risk of ceasing adalimumab; no significant effects were noted for ustekinumab and vedolizumab treatments.
Background: Timely access to quality medical care impacts patient outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In a nationwide study from the epidemiology group of the Israeli IBD research nucleus we aimed to assess the impact of residence and socioeconomic status (SES) on disease outcomes.
Methods: We utilized data from the 4 health maintenance organizations in Israel, representing 98% of the population.
Background: 5-aminosalicylates (5-ASA) are widely used in Crohn's disease (CD) despite guidelines advising otherwise. We aimed to assess in nationwide study the outcomes of first-line 5-ASA maintenance therapy (5-ASA-MT) compared with no maintenance treatment (no-MT) in patients with newly diagnosed CD.
Methods: We utilised data from the epi-IIRN cohort, including all patients with CD diagnosed in Israel between 2005 and 2020.
Background And Aims: Given the paucity of population-based data on the association between inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD], coeliac disease [CeD], and coeliac autoimmunity [CeA] we aimed to study the associations in a nationwide study.
Methods: Using health administrative data for all four health maintenance organisations in Israel, covering 98% of the population, we explored the prevalence of CeD in children and adults with IBD versus non-IBD matched controls. CeD was defined by three ICD-9 codes and CeA by positivity for tissue transglutaminase antibodies.
Background & Aims: In this nationwide study from the Israeli Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Nucleus, we aimed to describe the incidence of very early onset inflammatory bowel diseases (VEOIBDs) with a focus on infantile-onset disease and to compare management and disease course with older children.
Methods: Data were retrieved from the 4 Israeli Health Maintenance Organizations covering 98% of the population. Pediatric-onset IBD was categorized as follows: adolescent onset (10 to <18 y), early onset (6 to <10 y), VEOIBD (0 to <6 y), toddler onset (2 to <6 y), and infantile onset (<2 y).
Background: During 2020, Israel experienced two COVID-19-related lockdowns that impacted the provision of primary and secondary preventive care.
Methods: We examined the month-by-month performance of selected preventive care services using data from Israel's national Quality Indicators in Community Healthcare program. Process of care measures included hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing, cholesterol testing, colon cancer screening and mammography.
Background: Pre- and perinatal events may be associated with an increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. We aimed to investigate the role of pre- and perinatal factors as potential risk factors for the development of IBD in a population with a follow-up of 50 years.
Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study, reporting IBD incidence among individuals born in 1964-76, for whom pre- and perinatal exposures were reported as part of the Jerusalem Perinatal Study [JPS], by linking them to the database of the epidemiology group of the Israeli IBD Research Nucleus [epi-IIRN], including all IBD patients in Israel since 2005 and their matched controls.