The prevalence of celiac disease and the appropriateness of the diagnosis in family medicine setting could be lower than expected.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of celiac disease (CD) and the appropriateness of this diagnosis in the family medicine setting in Italy.

Patients And Methods: The electronic databases of 16 general practitioners working in Rome (Italy) were analyzed. The prevalence of CD according to the Italian pathology identification code issued by the Italian National Health System was assessed.

COVID-19 in celiac disease: a multicentric retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder, characterized by increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections. Therefore, the CD patients could be exposed to an increased risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2, a virus for which the WHO declared a pandemic status in March 2020. This study aims to investigate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in CD patients, to assess the impact of CD on the risk of contracting this virus.

Screening for celiac disease among the personnel in active service of an Italian Armed Force.

Introduction And Objective: Celiac disease (CD) affects the 1% of the general population worldwide. Because of its clinical variability, roughly the 70% of CD patients are not correctly diagnosed and not adequately treated. Active military personnel represent an interesting cohort for a CD screening.

Paradoxical psoriasis in a large cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease receiving treatment with anti-TNF alpha: 5-year follow-up study.

Background: Psoriasis is an emerging paradoxical side effect in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when treated with anti-TNF alpha. Patients with severe skin lesions unresponsive to topical therapy need to withdraw from treatment.

Aim: To estimate the incidence of paradoxical psoriasis in a large cohort of IBD patients treated with anti-TNF alpha and to analyse its clinical correlates.

A multicentre case control study on complicated coeliac disease: two different patterns of natural history, two different prognoses.

Background: Coeliac disease is a common enteropathy characterized by an increased mortality mainly due to its complications. The natural history of complicated coeliac disease is characterised by two different types of course: patients with a new diagnosis of coeliac disease that do not improve despite a strict gluten-free diet (type A cases) and previously diagnosed coeliac patients that initially improved on a gluten-free diet but then relapsed despite a strict diet (type B cases). Our aim was to study the prognosis and survival of A and B cases.

Faecal calprotectin assay after induction with anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor α agents in inflammatory bowel disease: Prediction of clinical response and mucosal healing at one year.

Background: Faecal calprotectin levels correlate with inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease. We evaluated the role of faecal calprotectin after anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor α induction in inflammatory bowel disease patients to predict therapeutic effect at one year.

Methods: Faecal calprotectin levels were measured in stools of 63 patients before and after induction of anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor α therapy.

Long-term combination therapy with infliximab plus azathioprine predicts sustained steroid-free clinical benefit in steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis.

Background: Infliximab (IFX) has demonstrated effectiveness for inducing 12-month steroid-free clinical remission in patients with steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis (UC), but long-term data are lacking. The aim of the study was to describe the long-term outcome of IFX treatment in steroid-dependent UC and investigate if predictors of sustained clinical response and colectomy could be identified.

Methods: Consecutive patients with steroid-dependent UC treated with IFX were studied.

A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial on efficacy and safety of association of simethicone and Bacillus coagulans (Colinox®) in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disorder that affects 15-20% of the Western population.

Background: There are currently few therapeutic options available for the treatment of IBS. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of a medical device containing a combination of Simethicone and Bacillus coagulans in the treatment of IBS.

FOXP3⁺ T regulatory cell modifications in inflammatory bowel disease patients treated with anti-TNFα agents.

Treg modulation has been hypothesized as one of the mechanisms by which antitumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) agents exert their action in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, data in IBD are still conflicting. We evaluated CD4⁺CD25⁺FOXP3⁺ (Tregs) by flow cytometry in peripheral blood from 32 adult IBD patient before (T0) and after the induction of anti-TNFα therapy (T1).

Prevention of postoperative recurrence with azathioprine or infliximab in patients with Crohn's disease: an open-label pilot study.

Background And Aims: Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) often require surgery over their clinical course. However, endoscopic and clinical recurrence of disease appear respectively in up to 80% and 30% of patients after one year. Thus, a prophylactic treatment is needed to reduce the possibility of recurrence.

Comparison of Quantiferon-TB Gold versus tuberculin skin test for tuberculosis screening in inflammatory bowel disease patients.

Background & Aim: Screening for latent tuberculosis (LTB) is recommended before starting anti-TNF-alpha therapy. We compared the performance of Quantiferon-TB Gold (QFT-G) with the tuberculin skin test (TST) for the screening of LTB in a population of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients who were candidates for anti-TNF-α therapy.

Methods: Ninety-two IBD patients who were candidates for anti-TNF-α therapy were tested with QTF-G and TST.

Infliximab in steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis: effectiveness and predictors of clinical and endoscopic remission.

Background: Up to 20% of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) become steroid-dependent during their course. Thiopurines are recommended in steroid-dependent UC, but their efficacy is debated. Data exploring the use of infliximab in these patients are scarce.

Immune response to influenza A/H1N1 vaccine in inflammatory bowel disease patients treated with anti TNF-α agents: effects of combined therapy with immunosuppressants.

Background And Aims: Our first objective was to evaluate the immune response to the adjuvanted 2009 A/H1N1 pandemic (pH1N1) vaccine in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients treated with anti-TNF-α alone or combined with immunosuppressants (IS). Second and third aims were the safety of pH1N1 vaccine and the effects on IBD clinical activity.

Methods: 36 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 26 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and thirty-one healthy control (HC) subjects were enrolled.

Prevalence and natural history of hepatitis B and C infections in a large population of IBD patients treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor-α agents.

Background: The prevalence rates of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been reported to be higher than rates of infection among the general population. Although several cases of HBV infection reactivation in IBD patients treated with anti-TNF-α agents have been described, no evidence exists that anti-TNF-α therapy exacerbates the course of HCV. The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of HBV and HCV and the rate of HBV vaccination in a population of IBD patients; and to investigate the long-term effects of anti-TNF-α therapy in the subgroup with HBV or HCV infections.

Ileal Crohn disease: mural microvascularity quantified with contrast-enhanced US correlates with disease activity.

Purpose: To quantitatively assess microvascular activation in the thickened ileal walls of patients with Crohn disease (CD) by using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (US) and evaluate its correlation with widely used indexes of CD activity.

Materials And Methods: This prospective study was approved by the ethics committee, and written informed consent was obtained from all patients. The authors examined 54 consecutively enrolled patients (mean age, 35.

Sonography of the small bowel after oral administration of fluid: an assessment of the diagnostic value of the technique.

Purpose: This study was performed to assess the feasibility and possible advantages of bowel sonography after fluid filling of intestinal loops compared with conventional sonography.

Materials And Methods: Forty-five consecutive patients with known or suspected coeliac disease (35 females, ten males; age range 11-65 years) prospectively underwent sonography before and after ingestion of 750 ml of an aqueous solution of polyethylene glycol. Results before and after fluid distension were compared to assess whether luminal filling improved small-bowel visualisation.

New biological agents for the treatment of the "high risk" IBD patients.

Background: Several new biological drugs have been introduced in the last decade or are under investigation for the treatment of IBD. They include anti TNFalpha agents, anti adhesion molecules, anti IL-12/23, anti IL-6R and others. Their role in IBD therapy will be discussed in regard of the association of chronic inflammation and cancer in the gut.

Use of infliximab in particular clinical settings: management based on current evidence.

With the increasingly widespread use of the anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha agent infliximab for the treatment of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, there have been some concerns raised about the potential consequences of such therapy in particular clinical settings. In this review, we report the current strategies for optimizing treatment outcomes and minimizing the risks of some of the most serious events attributable to infliximab therapy. In particular, an up-to-date overview is provided on how to treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease using infliximab therapy, with regard to the diagnosis and management of latent tuberculosis infection and the risk of reactivation of hepatitis B and C infections.

Enteroclysis CT and PEG-CT in patients with previous small-bowel surgical resection for Crohn's disease: CT findings and correlation with endoscopy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of multidetector CT in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) relapse after ileocolic resection compared with endoscopy. Thirty-four patients were studied by endoscopy and multidetector CT, after oral administration of polyethylene glycol solution (n = 21) or after administration of methylcellulose via nasojejunal tube (n = 13). In CT examinations we evaluated the presence of mural thickening, target sign, perienteric stranding, comb sign, fibrofatty proliferation and complications.

Diagnostic value of endoscopic markers for celiac disease in adults: a multicentre prospective Italian study.

Aim: Some endoscopic features of duodenal mucosa are marker of mucosal injury, the most common cause being celiac disease (CD). The aim of this study was to prospectively assess the diagnostic value of the endoscopic markers for the diagnosis of CD in the adult population undergoing routine upper endoscopy.

Methods: This was a prospective multicenter study conducted at 37 Italian endoscopic centers.

Combined therapy with infliximab and seton drainage for perianal fistulizing Crohn's disease with anal endosonographic monitoring: a single-centre experience.

During infliximab treatment of perianal Crohn's disease (CD), the healing of the skin opening precedes fistula tract healing and this contributes to abscess formation and fistula recurrence. The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of combined treatment with infliximab and setons for complex perianal fistulas in CD and to define the optimal time for seton removal by anal endosonography (AE). Nine consecutive patients with CD were studied.

Video capsule enteroscopy in the diagnosis of celiac disease: a multicenter study.

Objectives: Duodenal biopsy is the current gold standard for diagnosis of celiac disease. Videocapsule endoscopy examines the entire small bowel and allows visualization of mucosal villi. We evaluated the potential of videocapsule endoscopy in assessing the severity and extent of mucosal changes in patients with suspected celiac disease.