Browsing by Author "Farraye, Francis A."

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    Clinical Decision Making in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Mimics: Practice Management from Inflammatory Bowel Disease LIVE
    (Oxford University Press, 2024-04-11) Fiske, Hannah W.; Ward, Christopher; Shah, Samir A.; Holubar, Stefan D.; Al-Bawardy, Badr; Barnes, Edward L.; Binion, David; Bohm, Matthew; Brand, Myron; Clarke, Kofi; Cohen, Benjamin L.; Cross, Raymond K.; Dueker, Jeffrey; Engels, Michael; Farraye, Francis A.; Fine, Sean; Forster, Erin; Gaidos, Jill; Ginsburg, Philip; Goyal, Alka; Hanson, John; Herfath, Hans; Hull, Tracy; Kelly, Colleen R.; Lazarev, Mark; Levy, L. Campbell; Melia, Joanna; Philpott, Jessica; Qazi, Taha; Siegel, Corey A.; Watson, Andrew; Wexner, Steven D.; Williams, Emmanuelle D.; Regueiro, Miguel; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Since 2009, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialists have utilized "IBD LIVE," a weekly live video conference with a global audience, to discuss the multidisciplinary management of their most challenging cases. While most cases presented were confirmed IBD, a substantial number were diseases that mimic IBD. We have categorized all IBD LIVE cases and identified "IBD-mimics" with consequent clinical management implications. Methods: Cases have been recorded/archived since May 2018; we reviewed all 371 cases from May 2018-February 2023. IBD-mimics were analyzed/categorized according to their diagnostic and therapeutic workup. Results: Confirmed IBD cases made up 82.5% (306/371; 193 Crohn's disease, 107 ulcerative colitis, and 6 IBD-unclassified). Sixty-five (17.5%) cases were found to be mimics, most commonly medication-induced (n = 8) or vasculitis (n = 7). The evaluations that ultimately resulted in correct diagnosis included additional endoscopic biopsies (n = 13, 21%), surgical exploration/pathology (n = 10, 16.5%), biopsies from outside the GI tract (n = 10, 16.5%), genetic/laboratory testing (n = 8, 13%), extensive review of patient history (n = 8, 13%), imaging (n = 5, 8%), balloon enteroscopy (n = 5, 8%), and capsule endoscopy (n = 2, 3%). Twenty-five patients (25/65, 38%) were treated with biologics for presumed IBD, 5 of whom subsequently experienced adverse events requiring discontinuation of the biologic. Many patients were prescribed steroids, azathioprine, mercaptopurine, or methotrexate, and 3 were trialed on tofacitinib. Conclusions: The diverse presentation of IBD and IBD-mimics necessitates periodic consideration of the differential diagnosis, and reassessment of treatment in presumed IBD patients without appropriate clinical response. The substantial differences and often conflicting treatment approaches to IBD versus IBD-mimics directly impact the quality and cost of patient care.
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    Significance of granulomas in the outcomes of Crohn's disease patients
    (Hellenic Society of Gastroenterology, 2022) Saade, Marie Christelle; Wehbe, Hisham; Mourad, Fadi H.; Hosni, Mohammad; Francis, Fadi F.; Makki, Maha; Binion, David G.; Tamim, Hani; Farraye, Francis A.; Malik, Talha; Hashash, Jana G.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: The presence of granulomas in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is one of the characteristic histologic features of Crohn's disease (CD). The clinical significance of granulomas remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the presence of granulomas on endoscopic pinch biopsy or surgical resection from the upper or lower GI tract is associated with worse outcomes among patients with CD. Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of patients with CD evaluated at a tertiary care center between 1996 and 2019. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the presence or absence of granulomas on GI histology. Clinical and laboratory data, and outcomes of interest, were obtained from the electronic medical records. Patients' characteristics and outcomes were compared between the 2 groups. Results: A total of 237 patients were included in our study; 41 (17.3%) had granulomas on their biopsy/resection specimen. The presence of granulomas in the GI tract was significantly associated with the development of intra-abdominal abscesses and/or fistulas (P=0.037), greater utilization of immunomodulators (P=0.029), and greater use of immunosuppressive medications (immunomodulator and/or biologic therapy) (P=0.015). No significant differences were found between the 2 groups in terms of number of hospitalizations, presence of perianal disease, intestinal resection, mean age, mean age at initial diagnosis of CD, duration of disease, sex, or smoking history. Conclusions: The presence of granulomas in the GI tract of CD patients may serve as a prognostic biomarker of worse disease severity. Larger studies are needed to better validate this finding.