Publications by authors named "Niels Thorsgaard"

BACKGROUND: Whether infliximab therapy can be successfully discontinued after patients with Crohn’s disease have attained sustained, clinical, biochemical, and endoscopic remission is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled withdrawal study of infliximab in patients with Crohn’s disease who were in clinical, biochemical, and endoscopic remission after standard infliximab maintenance therapy for at least 1 year. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to continue infliximab therapy or to receive matching placebo for 48 weeks.

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Introduction: The aim of this study was to explore changes in medical therapy and document the level of COVID-19-specific worries in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during the COVID-19 epidemic in Denmark.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey including 619 IBD patients was conducted. Patients answered questionnaires regarding IBD, IBD medicine, sociodemographic information, mental health, and COVID-19-specific worries (response rate = 64.

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Background: Serum vitamin D level is commonly low in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although there is a growing body of evidence that links low vitamin D level to certain aspects of IBD such as disease activity and quality of life, data on its prevalence and how it varies across disease phenotype, smoking status and treatment groups are still missing.

Materials And Methods: Patients diagnosed with IBD between 2010 and 2011 were recruited.

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Background And Aims: Anaemia is an important complication of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia and the practice of anaemia screening during the first year following diagnosis, in a European prospective population-based inception cohort.

Methods: Newly diagnosed IBD patients were included and followed prospectively for 1 year in 29 European and one Australian centre.

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Aim: The aims of The Danish National Registry for Biological Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease are to ensure that biological therapy and the clinical management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) receiving biological treatment are in accordance with the national clinical guidelines and, second, the database allows register-based clinical epidemiological research.

Study Population: The study population comprises all Danish patients with IBD (both children and adults) with ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and IBD unclassified who receive biological therapy. Patients will be enrolled consecutively when biological treatment is initiated.

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Objective. To investigate whether patients on long-term antisecretory medication need to continue treatment to control symptoms. Methods.

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Background: No direct comparison of health care cost in patients with inflammatory bowel disease across the European continent exists. The aim of this study was to assess the costs of investigations and treatment for diagnostics and during the first year after diagnosis in Europe.

Methods: The EpiCom cohort is a prospective population-based inception cohort of unselected inflammatory bowel disease patients from 31 Western and Eastern European centers.

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Background: The EpiCom cohort is a prospective, population-based, inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients from 31 European centers covering a background population of 10.1 million. The aim of this study was to assess the 1-year outcome in the EpiCom cohort.

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Aims: To compare the outcome after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) according to sex and age, including comparison of sex- and age-specific mortality of PPCI patients with that of the general population.

Methods And Results: This population-based follow-up study included 7,385 STEMI patients treated with PPCI and 42,965 matched general population controls. The primary outcome was the composite endpoint of mortality, reinfarction, and stroke at 30 days, one year, and two years.

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Background: The association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and high mortality from coronary heart disease is well-known. However, the role of SES in relation to the clinical outcome after primary percutaneous coronary intervention remains poorly understood.

Methods And Results: We studied 7385 patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

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Background: In acute steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis, rescue therapy with infliximab has become a therapeutic option in patients facing colectomy. Data on efficacy and safety in this setting are sparse.

Methods: Patients with ulcerative colitis and acute and severe steroid-refractory disease, who were given infliximab as rescue therapy, were identified by a review of patients' records and databases of infliximab-treated patients.

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Objective: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are characterized by an impaired mucosal defence to normal constituents of the intestinal flora and a dysregulated inflammatory response. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in these processes were associated with CD and UC.

Material And Methods: Allele frequencies of the cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2/PTGS2/PGHS2) G-765C and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2) C421A as well as allele and haplotype frequencies of multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1, ABCB1) SNPs G2677T/A, C3435T and G-rs3789243-A (intron 3) were assessed in a Danish case-control study comprising 373 CD and 541 UC patients and 796 healthy controls.

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Objective: Three CAspase Recruitment Domain (CARD15) mutations have shown to predispose to Crohn's disease in Caucasian populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the mutation frequency in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and in healthy controls in Denmark.

Material And Methods: Genotyping of the three common CARD15 mutations was carried out on 388 patients with Crohn's disease, 565 patients with ulcerative colitis and 796 healthy controls using real-time PCR.

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Objectives: Comprehensive experimental methods are of major relevance assessing pain mechanisms in patients with chronic pain. Chronic pancreatitis is thought to involve the sensory response in other visceral organs and somatic tissue. We, therefore, aimed at exploring the pain mechanisms in chronic pancreatitis (CP) using a multimodal and multitissue stimulation approach.

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Objective: Animal experiments and clinical observations have indicated a different working profile of oxycodone compared to morphine, and it has previously been shown that oxycodone attenuates visceral pain better than morphine. The objective of this study was to test the effects of oxycodone and morphine on experimental pain in patients with pain caused by chronic pancreatitis.

Material And Methods: Ten patients took part in this blinded, cross-over study.

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Objectives: To gain more information of the pain mechanisms in chronic pancreatitis we applied standardized experimental pain stimulation of the duodenum, oesophagus and the skin in 12 healthy controls and 13 patients with chronic pancreatitis and typical pain attacks.

Methods: Using endoscopy a guide wire was positioned into the horizontal part of the duodenum, and a probe with a distal balloon was introduced over the guide wire. Mechanical stimuli were given as tonic (38 ml/min) or phasic (increasing volume steps of 5 ml delivered for 60 s) distensions of the balloon.

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Objective: To examine the association between exercise test results and the 5-year cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, and myocardial infarction, in patients referred for exercise testing because of known or suspected coronary heart disease.

Design: A study of all patients (N = 2763) who in 1996 had an exercise test in two Danish counties (900000 inhabitants). Data and follow-up were based on medical records and general administrative healthcare and population registries.

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BACKGROUND: The cardiac diagnostic examination activity in a population should ideally mirror age and gender characteristics of the prevalence of ischemic heart disease. In this study, the prescription of anti-anginal drugs in relation to morbidity and mortality brought on by ischemic heart disease, and in relation to exercise tests and coronary angiography, is analyzed. METHODS: The study population comprised two Danish counties with a total of 896,954 inhabitants.

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