AAP Bariatric Surgery Recommendations

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A recent policy statement (SC Armstrong et al. Pediatrics 2019; 144 (6): e20193223) outlines current evidence regarding adolescent bariatric surgery and makes recommendations for practitioners & policymakers.  There is also an accompanying technical report which provides more detail and supporting evidence.  Thanks to Ben Gold for this reference.

Full PDF Link: Pediatric Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: Evidence, Barriers, and Best Practices

This policy statement uses “adolescent” to refer to a person from age 13 years to age 18 years.

Background: “Although nearly 4.5 million US adolescents have severe obesity, current estimates suggest that only a small faction undergo metabolic and bariatric surgery…Many providers prefer a “watchful waiting” approach, or long-term lifestyle management.50 However, current evidence suggests that pediatric patients with severe obesity are unlikely to achieve a clinically significant and sustained weight reduction in lifestyle-based weight management programs53 and that watchful waiting may lead to higher BMI and more comorbid conditions…In addition, comparative data examining
postoperative outcomes along the severely obese BMI spectrum (low, middle, and high) suggest that adolescents within a lower BMI range (BMI <55) at the time of bariatric
surgery have a higher probability of achieving nonobese status when compared with individuals with a higher starting BMI (BMI ≥55).”

From Table 2 -Indications for Bariatric Surgery:

  1. Class 2 obesity, BMI ≥35, or 120% of the 95th percentile for age and sex, whichever is lower  along with clinically significant disease, including obstructive sleep apnea (AHI .5), T2DM, IIH, NASH, Blount disease, SCFE, GERD, and hypertension
  2. Class 3 obesity, BMI ≥40, or 140% of the 95th percentile for age and sex, whichever is lower. Clinically significant disease is not required but commonly present

Recommendations for practitioners:

  • Seek high-quality multidisciplinary centers that are experienced in assessing risks and benefits of various treatments for youth with severe obesity, including bariatric surgery, and provide referrals to where such programs are available.
  • Identify pediatric patients with severe obesity who meet criteria for surgery and provide
    timely referrals to comprehensive, multidisciplinary, pediatric-focused metabolic and bariatric surgery programs.
  • Monitor patients postoperatively for micronutrient deficiencies and consider providing iron, folate, and vitamin B12 supplementation as needed.
  • Monitor patients postoperatively for risk-taking behavior and mental health problems.

SYSTEM-LEVEL RECOMMENDATIONS:

  • Advocate for increased access for pediatric patients of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds to multidisciplinary programs
  • Consider best practice guidelines, including avoidance of unsubstantiated lower age limits, in the context of potential health care benefits and individualized patient-centered care.
  • For insurers: Provide payment for care (pre-operative, operative & post-operative). Reduce barriers to pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery (including inadequate payment, limited access, unsubstantiated exclusion criteria, and bureaucratic
    delays in approval requiring unnecessary and often numerous appeals) for patients who meet careful selection criteria.

My take: These recommendations are in general agreement with previous guidelines.  I think having the stamp of approval from the AAP is likely to help in getting coverage and may shift attitudes.

Related blog posts:

IBD Depression Screening

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LM Mackner et al. JPGN 2020; 70: 42-47. Bonney Reed, our psychologist at GI Care for Kids is one of the authors as well.

Key points:

  • Recommendation #1: Screen adolescents with IBD ages 12 and older for depression annually.
  • Recommendation #2: Screening Measures
    Age 12 years: Moods and Feelings Questionnaire, Short Form (MFQ-SF) ; age 13: Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
  • Recommendation #3: Evaluate youth who endorse SI (eg, PHQ-9 item # 9) further
    per clinic protocol or via a suicide screener, such as the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)
  • Recommendation #4: Educational Resources. Provide patients, families, and other clinicians with educational resources as needed. An additional aim of our tool kit is to give GI providers resources to assist patients, families, and other clinicians
  • Resources for modules 1-4, Supplemental Digital Content http://links.lww.com/MPG/B721

My take (borrowed from authors): “Implementing depression screening in a busy clinic may seem like a daunting task and is likely to require changes in workflow and procedures. Nonetheless, optimal IBD care treats all aspects of health, and identifying depression symptoms, that often go undetected and can affect IBD outcomes, benefits patients, families, and providers.”  In our office, we have implemented screening and there is now a smartform available in EPIC.  We are fortunate to work closely with psychologists who can help when there is an abnormal screen.

Related blog posts:

Disclaimer: These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications/diets (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician/nutritionist.  This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition.

How Often Do Adults Develop Celiac Disease After Negative Testing?

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RS Choung et al. Gastroenterol 2020; 158: 151-9.  

Full abstract link: (which has link to full text): “Community-Based Study of Celiac Disease Autoimmunity Progression in Adults”

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, waste blood samples from residents of a community were tested for CeD autoimmunity at 2 time points. We analyzed waste blood samples from 15,551 adults for tTGA and, if titer results were above 2 U/mL, for endomysial antibody. The median interval between the two time points was 8.8 years.

Results:

  • Of the serum samples collected at the first time point, 15,398 had negative results for tTGA, and 153 had positive results for tTGA (>4 U/mL). Based on medical records, 6 individuals received a diagnosis of celiac disease, for a cumulative incidence of celiac disease diagnosis of 0.06% over 10 years.
  • Forty-nine (0.32%) individuals with a negative result from the first serologic test for tTGA had a positive result from the second test
  • Among the 153 adults who were tTGA positive at the first time point, 31 (20%) had a subsequent diagnosis of celiac disease, 81 (53%) remained positive for tTGA without a clinical diagnosis of celiac disease, and 41 (27%) had negative test results for tTGA at the second time point.

Why Stool Diversity is a Crappy Argument for Drinking Red Wine

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A recent study (C Le Roy et al.  Gastroenterol 2020; 158: 270-2) has indicated that red wine (& to a lesser extent white wine) can improve the intestinal microbiome diversity.

A recent AGA blog provides some insight into this study: Is Red Wine Consumption Good For Your Intestinal Microbiome?

An excerpt:

Consumption of red wine polyphenols has been previously associated with health benefits ranging from reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors, metabolic syndrome, and depression to improving cognition…

Le Roy et al compared the effects of beer and cider, red wine, white wine, spirits, and sum of all alcohols on the α-diversity of the intestinal microbiota (determined from 16s ribosomal RNA sequence data) in discovery cohort of 916 women (from a study of twins in the United Kingdom) and 2 replication cohorts (in Europe and North America) using a linear mixed-effect model adjusted for age, body mass index, Healthy Eating Index scores, education, and family structure…

LeRoy et al found that red wine consumption was associated, in a frequency-dependent manner, with α-diversity—even rare consumption had an effect. White wine was associated with α-diversity to a lesser extent, and there was no association with other alcohol categories…

LeRoy et al also observed a direct association between red wine consumption and blood level of insulin and high-density lipoprotein.

[Limitations] this was a cross-sectional and observational study; randomized studies would be needed to determine whether red wine drinking has direct effects on composition of the intestinal microbiome and health outcomes…

My view: If you like to drink red wine, that’s fine but I would be reluctant to expect a health benefit –no matter how great your poop is.  As the associated editorial notes, “high consumption of alcohol has many adverse health effects, including development of cirrhosis. So, it remains to be determined whether long-term trials of red wine can be safely managed in an ethically responsible manner. It will be important to identify doses that provide beneficial health effects without reducing gut barrier integrity.”

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How Important Is It to Correct Vitamin D Deficiency in a Critically-Ill Patient?

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According to a recent study (NEJM 2019; 381: 2529-40), correction of vitamin D deficiency in critically-ill has NO significant effects on mortality and other non-fatal outcomes.

Link  to abstract: Early High-Dose Vitamin D3 for Critically Ill, Vitamin D–Deficient Patients

The article notes that observational data have indicated that Vitamin D deficiency is common in critically ill patients and has been associated with longer lengths of stay, prolonged ventilation and death.  However, “vitamin D level is considered a marker of coexisting conditions and frailty, and residual confounding may drive theses associations.”

Methods: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial of early vitamin D3 supplementation in critically ill, vitamin D–deficient patients who were at high risk for death. Randomization occurred within 12 hours after the decision to admit the patient to an intensive care unit. Eligible patients received a single enteral dose of 540,000 IU of vitamin D3 or matched placebo.

Results:

  • A total of 1360 patients were found to be vitamin D–deficient during point-of-care screening and underwent randomization. Of these patients, 1078 had baseline vitamin D deficiency (25-hydroxyvitamin D level, <20 ng per milliliter [50 nmol per liter]) confirmed by subsequent testing and were included in the primary analysis population.
  • The mean day 3 level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was 46.9±23.2 ng per milliliter (117±58 nmol per liter) in the vitamin D group and 11.4±5.6 ng per milliliter (28±14 nmol per liter) in the placebo group
  • The 90-day mortality was 23.5% in the vitamin D group (125 of 531 patients) and 20.6% in the placebo group (109 of 528 patients) (difference, 2.9 percentage points; 95% CI, −2.1 to 7.9; P=0.26). There were no clinically important differences between the groups with respect to secondary clinical, physiological, or safety end points.

My take: Correction of low serum vitamin D levels did not improve outcomes.  This likely indicates that low vitamin D levels are often an epiphenomenon of critical illness and not a contributing causal etiology.

Related blog posts:

Montreal

 

 

 

Liver Shorts -January 2020

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S Nagai et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019; 17: 2759-68. For patients who underwent liver transplantation during 2016–2017, a significantly lower proportion of patients with NASH survived for 1 year after transplantation than patients with HCV (P = .004) or ALD (P < .001). 1-year patient survival rates: NASH 90.4%, HCV 92.8%, ALD 93.5%. Full Text: Increased Risk of Death in First Year After Liver Transplantation Among Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis vs Liver Disease of Other Etiologies

JE Squires et al. JPGN 2020; 70: 79-86.  Using a prospective, longitudinal database, this study from ChiLDReN network with 93 children with biliary atresia and native liver found that NO increased prevalence of neurodevelopmental delays. Markers of advanced liver disease (high bilirubin/GGT for those ≤5 yrs, and portal hypertension for those >5 years) did negatively affect neurodevelopmental measures.

C Jaramillo et al. JPGN 2020; 70: 87-92.  This pilot study with 21 patients found that degree of fibrosis, quantified by collagen hybridizing peptide, at time of Kasai, was associated with the risk of requiring a liver transplantation by age 4 years.  Total bilirubin >2 mg/dL and Albumin ❤ g/dL at 3 months post-Kasai were also associated significantly with need for liver transplantation.

H-S Chen et al. Hepatology 2019; 70: 1903-12. In this study from Taiwan with 182 children (median age of 10.6 at enrollment) with hepatitis B and a normal ALT, a baseline anti-HBc titer of >500 IU/mL was associated with spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion with hazard ratio of 2.81.  Over the median follow-up of 19.8 years, 85 subjects (46.7%) had HBeAg seroconversion. Thus, anit-HBc reflects anti-HBV immune response in the HBeAg-positive patients with normal ALT.

Gluten Intake and Development of Celiac Disease -Two Studies

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  • NA Lund-Blix et al. Am J Gastroenterol 2019; 114: 1299-1306.
  • K Marild et al. Am J Gastroenterol 2019; 114: 1307-14.

Thanks to Ben Gold for these references.

In the first study, the authors used an observational prospective nationwide cohort study, the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) with 67,608 children born between 2000-2009 and with a mean followup of 11.5 years.

Key findings:

  • Celiac disease (CD) was diagnosed in 738 children (1.1%)
  • The adjusted relative risk of CD was 1.1 per standard deviation increase in daily gluten amount at age 18 months.
  • Compared to children in the lowest quartile of gluten ingestion, those in the upper quartile had an adjusted relative risk of 1.29.
  • Timing of gluten introduction, ≥6 months or before 4 months, was also an independent risk factor for CD. In those before 4 months the aRR was 1.45 and for those ≥6 months the aRR was 1.34

In the second study, the authors used the prospective Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young cohort with 1875 at-risk children.

Key findings:

  • Children in the highest tertile of gluten intake between ages of 1 and 2 had a 2-fold greater hazard of developing CD autoimmunity (positive tTG antibodies) (aHR 2.17) than those in the lowest tertile.
  • The risk of CDA increased by 5% per daily gram increase in gluten intake in 1 year olds.

My take: Taken together, these studies indicate that higher gluten exposure (between 1-2 years) is associated with a modestly-higher risk of CD; in addition, early (<4 months) and late exposure (>6 months) may increase the risk as well.

Related blog posts:

Spoiler alert: This case study by A Fasano et al. NEJM 2020; 382: 180-9. describes a presentation of celiac disease and Addision’s disease. I recently had a teenager present with similar symptoms who had Addison’s alone (clues were fatigue, low sodium and hyperpigmentation)

How helpful is a pH-Impedance Study in Identifying Reflux-Induced Symptoms?

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In both kids and adults, individuals presenting with complaints of reflux more often have other problems like functional heartburn or reflux hypersensitivity (see posts below).  A recent prospective, cross-sectional study (LB Mahoney et al. JPGN 2020; 70: 31-36) provides data that further shows that abnormal pH-impedance (pH-MII) testing does NOT predict reduced quality of life (QOL) in children with reflux symptoms (n=82).

Key findings:

  • 38% had abnormal pH-MII testing; however, there were no significant differences in QOL scores on any of the tested questionairres between those with normal or abnormal pH-MII studies.
  • Subjects with gross esophagitis on EGD reported significantly worse QOL scores. Microscopic esophagitis was not associate with differences in QOL scores.

The implication of this study is that reflux without esophagitis is NOT a driver of abnormal QOL parameters; instead, functional GI disorders are likely more important.

My take: This study makes it clear that gross endoscopic findings are much more consequential than abnormal pH-MII studies.

Related blog posts:

Highlights in IBD from Two 2019 Meetings: American College of Gastroenterology and United European Gastroenterology Week

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Gastroenterology & Hepatology. December 2019 – Volume 15, Issue 12, Supplement 5

Excerpts from William Sandborn Commentary which are at the end of this supplement along with references:

Vedolizumab

In the VARSITY study (An Efficacy and Safety Study of Vedolizumab Intravenous [IV] Compared to Adalimumab Subcutaneous [SC] in Participants With Ulcerative Colitis), 769 patients with ulcerative colitis were randomized to a year of therapy with either adalimumab at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved dose or vedolizumab at the FDA-approved dose…This shows that the idea that vedolizumab (and anti-integrin therapy) is slower-acting than anti-TNF therapy is not correct, and that both of these classes of drugs can work fairly quickly in a number of patients.

Dr Brian Bressler and colleagues looked at the effectiveness of anti-TNF therapy in the real world when used second line after failing first-line biologic therapy with vedolizumab…The study conducted by Dr Bressler and colleagues, which included both Crohn’s disease patients and ulcerative colitis patients, found that the results were fairly similar whether patients received first-line biologic therapy with an anti-TNF agent or whether patients received first-line therapy with vedolizumab… It is generally thought that vedolizumab is a safer therapy than anti-TNF therapy, so with the finding from this study, a reasonable treatment approach could be to start with vedolizumab and see if it works…

Dr Christina Chambers and colleagues identified outcomes for pregnancy in 223 women, 53 of whom received vedolizumab. The researchers found that there were no major structural birth defects reported in the vedolizumab group, compared to 5.7% and 5.3% in the disease-matched group and healthy control group, respectively. Thus, there seemed to be no signal for an increased malformation risk in patients who were undergoing treatment with vedolizumab and became pregnant.

Adalimumab

The SERENE trials are a set of head-to-head trials, one for ulcerative colitis and one for Crohn’s disease, comparing standard-dose adalimumab to a more intensive induction regimen of adalimumab…

For both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, the SERENE trials showed that the current FDA-approved dosing regimen is effective and that more intensive induction therapy does not improve outcomes over time. Thus, there is no utility in giving high induction doses. 

Tofacitinib

Over 1000 patients who had been treated with tofacitinib were examined…during induction and maintenance of the placebo-controlled portion of the tofacitinib clinical trials, there were a total of 5 deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli events. All 5 occurred in patients who were receiving placebo; none of these events occurred in patients who were receiving tofacitinib…[And] There was a total of 5 deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli events during this long-term extension…Looking at the ulcerative colitis clinical trial data that I presented, it is somewhat reassuring that we did not see the same elevation in risk for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli that was seen in the high-risk rheumatoid arthritis patient population.

Mont Royal (Montreal)