TW Stevens et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2021; 19: 2333-2342. Open Access. Diagnostic Accuracy of Fecal Calprotectin Concentration in Evaluating Therapeutic Outcomes of Patients With Ulcerative Colitis

Key finding: A post hoc analysis of data from a phase 4 trial (the MOMENTUM trial) found that, even in patients (n=593 at week 8, n=305 at week 52) with complete endoscopic healing of UC, FC concentration can be used to discriminate patients with ongoing microscopic inflammation from patients with histologic remission.  The optimal FC cut-off concentrations for identification of patients with histologic remission were 75 μg/g at week 8 and 99 μg/g at week 52.

A Cassinotti et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2021; 19: 2293-2301. Noninvasive Monitoring After Azathioprine Withdrawal in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Deep Remission

Key finding: In this prospective study, 57 patients in deep remission stopped azathioprine after a median of 7 years. 26 (46%) relapsed within a median of 15 months. Fecal calprotectin (FC) levels were >50 mcg/g in all patients with relapse (FC specificity 100%) but the sensitivity was only 50%. Thus, having a normal FC does not preclude relapse but elevated FC is associated with relapse.

S Mahmmod et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2021; 27: 1954-1962. Outcome of Reverse Switching From CT-P13 to Originator Infliximab in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

In this retrospective study, 75 patients, 9.9% of all patients, who had been changed from originator infliximab to a biosimilar had clinical worsening. Key finding: Improvement of reported symptoms was seen in 73.3% of patients after reverse switching back to originator infliximab; alsor 7 out of 9 patients (77.8%) with loss of response regained response

J Kim et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2021; 27: 1931-1941. Clinical Outcomes and Response Predictors of Vedolizumab Induction Treatment for Korean Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Who Failed Anti-TNF Therapy: A KASID Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study

Key finding: Clinical remission rates with vedolizumab among patients with CD (n=80) and patients with UC (n=78) were 44.1% and 44.0%. Among patients with UC, the endoscopic remission rate was 32.4%