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Methotrexate, same as Azathioprine or Mercaptopurine, is NOT recommended for inducing remission , but to maintain remission. It can take up to 12 weeks to work However, these immunomodulators should be started earlier when patient is responding to first line treatment, in order to maintain remission and prevent flareups,  especially those with extensive disease or other poor prognostic features (early age at diagnosis, penetrating or stricturing disease, neeed for steroid, high CRP, smoker) should be considered for early introduction of biological therapy (dual biologic plus immunomodulator)

Active Crohn’s first line of treatment is an 8-week course of systemic corticosteroids to induce remission. Budesonide can be used  in mild-moderate case of ileal crohns, but should be escalated to systemic treatment if patient does not response.

Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN) may be used to induce remission in mild to moderate Crohn’s disease patients where avoidance of corticosteroid is desired, and in those who are motivated to adhere strictly to EEN for up to 8 weeks. As this is a young male, this could be a possibility that may be worth exploring with paediatricians , dietitian and surgical team involvement. Howwever the fact that CRP is so high makes this case not  the ideal  candidate as he is already presenting systemic inflammation and there should be a good window of time needed  for this diet to work.

See BSG IBD guidelines 

Scores of 8-14 represent Hazardous or Harmful range. In those cases, the recommendation is to explain to the patient that they may be drinking too much on occasions, and the likely negative impact the alcohol can cause as it is carcinogenic, can help developing cardiovascular disease, can cause dependence and can put you or others at risk.

Any  score of 15 or above associates high risk (drinking could cause harm and it is important a clear determination to cut down or stop alcohol). Any score of 20 or above indicates likely dependence and needs referral to specialist and supervised detoxification

Kudo II (asteroid or stellate pits) which are star or cross-shaped.  This is very typical of hyperplastic polyps (non neoplastic)  or serrated lesions.

We need to differenciate between non dysplastic (the majority of Barrett's do not have any dysplasia, just metaplasia) versus dysplastic changes (proliferative changes that is characterized by a loss in the uniformity of individual cells in a tissue and loss in the architectural orientation )

The overall yearly incidence of  eosphageal adenocarcinoma in non dysplasitc  is 0.3% (. This is approximate and based on a metanalysis, although we know that factors such a age, smoking or obesity increase the overall risk of adenocarcinoma in Barrett's patients, and equally, the risk lowers when short segment (<3cm) - down to 0.19 % per year)

9.1% is the overall incidence of progression (to either HGD or adenoca) in those who already present low grade dysplasia, up to   9.1% per patient/year  with pooled annual incidence of adenocarcinoma of 0.54% per year

based on the American Association for the study of liver diseases  guidelines

Even in 2019, 38.9% of the HCC- liver transplant  had Hepatitis C etiology (vs 24% NASH and 16.3% ALD) . This is completely different in patients without HCC (the majority of liver transplant candidates, which only 7% had hepatitis C , 28% NASH and the leading cause with 37.7 %  was ALD.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2020.05.0

Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm account for around 5% of pancreatic neoplasm. They are almost exclusively found in females (f:m ratio 10:1) and usually appear in their 20s.  CT and EUS can show well-encapsulated mass with varying solid and cystic components, caused by hemorrhagic degeneration. Peripheral calcification may occur.  They appearance can vary from solid to purely cystic- therefore even a small cystic lesion in a young female without previous pancreatitis episodes must make us consider this diagnosis

These lesion have a potential for malignant degeneration (Around 15%) therefore surgical removal is recommended . Cytology can show cluster  or sheets of papillary cells, PAS + and Vimentin.

• CLINICAL CASE AND Image: Dr Hajar Adil
• Source: Endosonography, 5th Edition by Shyam Varadarajulu, MD, Paul Fockens, MD, PhD and Robert H. Hawes, MD.
• Learning point brought by Dr Sarto Paquin

Difficult case with patient older than 65 and comorbidities with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

Vedolizumab should be indicated in his case as it performs better than anti TNFs in ulcerative colitis, confirming the results of the Varsity study.   ( Over a 5 year period, drug persistence is higher in patients treated with vedolizumab as compared to anti-TNF therapies and loss of response is less frequent again in the vedolizumab group). Age or previous TIA /AV block are not contraindications for anti-TNF (only Moderate-severe heart failure, which is not the case) So even though Adalimumab would be a valid option, it should be ideally used if Vedolizumab fails.

JAK inhibitor (Tofacitinib) should not be prescribed in people with a history of cardiovascular disease (eg. heart attack or stroke) at increased risk of cardiovascular problems (eg. current or past long-time smokers) at increased risk of cancer or aged 65 years and over unless no suitable alternative

Ozanibod could be an oral alternative , however second-degree Mobitz type II atrioventricular (AV) bloc and TIA within the previous 6 months contraindicates its use.

Off the quizz options, another good one would be Ustekinumab (interleukin 12&23 antagonist drug ) as not contraindicated here and equally valid to Vedolizumab.

Underwater EMR offers the advantage of keeping the polyp surface small in flat polyps (opposite to when we inject lifting solution where the polyp keeps spreading and this makes grabbing the polyp en bloc more difficult) this explains why is a good method to remove en bloc lesions bigger than 10mm (Ideally even bigger than 20mm, although even with U-EMR the bigger the polyp, the more difficult to obtain full resected piece en bloc. This results are published in endoscopy in this meta analysis

If patient had HGD / Adenoca on a Barrett´s oesophagus, then the lesion is removed or ablated and afterwards the Barretts is fully ablated, we should perform regular gastroscopies for surveillance after Barretts eradication- yearly for 5 years and then at year 7 and 10-  Check the guidelines

If the reason for the ablation was only low grade dysplasia, then the surveillance can be 1,3 and 5 years and than surveillance can be stopped.