Severe Activity of Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a Risk Factor for Severe COVID-19.

Background: Data from the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic suggested that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are not at higher risk of being infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) than the general population and that a worse prognosis is not associated with immunomodulatory drugs, with the possible exception of systemic steroids.

Methods: This retrospective, observational study included consecutive IBD patients from the Sicilian Network for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (SN-IBD) cohort who had a SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis (polymerase chain reaction-confirmed presence of the viral genome in a nasopharyngeal swab) during the second COVID-19 pandemic wave (September 2020 to December 2020). Data regarding demographics, IBD features and treatments, and comorbidities were analyzed in correlation with COVID-19 clinical outcomes.

Head-to-head comparison of biological drugs for inflammatory bowel disease: from randomized controlled trials to real-world experience.

During past years, the increasing knowledge of molecular mechanisms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have led to the development of several targeted biological therapies. This great expansion of available medical options has prompted the need for comparative data between drugs. For years, given that most randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were performed only placebo, this demand has clashed with the absence of head-to-head trials comparing two or more treatments.

Direct-acting antiviral agents and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: is it still a clinical dilemma?

Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) revolutionised the treatment of chronic HCV-related disease achieving high rates of sustained virological response (SVR), also in more advanced patients, with a good safety profile and a proven positive effect on the reduction of risk of HCC occurrence. Nevertheless, patients with an history of successfully treated early HCC were initially excluded from pivotal trials. Although some initial retrospective studies, affected by several methodological issues, raised concerns regarding a possible harmful effect on the risk of HCC recurrence after antiviral therapy, more recent prospective studies and meta-analyses provided evidence that risk of HCC recurrence after DAA therapy is similar, or even lower, than that observed in patients treated with interferon or in DAA-untreated controls.

New endoscopy advances to refine adenoma detection rate for colorectal cancer screening: None is the winner.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in males and second in females, and globally the fourth cause for cancer death worldwide. Oncological screening of CRC has a major role in the management of the disease and it is mostly performed by colonoscopy. Anyway, effectiveness of endoscopic screening for CRC strictly depends on adequate detection and removal of potentially precancerous lesions, and accuracy of colonoscopy in detection of adenomas is still suboptimal.

Radiofrequency Ablation for Treatment of Refractory Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Background And Study Aims: GAVE is an uncommon cause of upper nonvariceal bleeding and often manifests itself as occult bleeding with chronic anemia. To date, the standard of care for GAVE is endoscopic treatment with thermoablative techniques. Despite good technical results, approximately two thirds of patients remain dependent on transfusions after the therapy.