Satish Keshav

It is with overwhelming sadness that the death of Satish Keshav, Oxford IBD specialist, scientist, teacher, mentor to many, friend and colleague, is reported. 

Wolfgang Eigner

Dear Friends and Colleagues!

It is with regret and great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our dear colleague and friend Dr. Wolfgang Eigner in his early thirties.

Silvio Danese © ECCO

Dear ECCO Family,

I want to personally thank everyone who attended the ECCO Congress in Copenhagen.  ECCO 2019 can proudly be defined as the biggest IBD meeting in the world. I am very happy about the increasing number of participants, which this year totalled 8034 from 98 countries. ECCO 2019 once again offered top science, with 144 abstracts presented and 1012 abstracts accepted. And obviously, a special thank you is due to all the invited speakers for their outstanding presentations and to the ECCO Committee Members for ensuring the success of the meeting.

Nuha Yassin  © ECCO

Ignacio Catalán-Serra © Ignacio Catalán-Serra

Nuha and Ignacio have been recently appointed as the new ECCO News Associate Editors and will be working with the ECCO Office as well as the General Secretary (Willem Bemelman) to bring you new format and content to ECCO News. This will start with this first issue of the year providing you with a summary of the oral presentations given at the recent ECCO 2019 Congress in Copenhagen. 

Nuha and Ignacio would welcome your ideas on what you would like to read on ECCO News and would appreciate it if you could either contact them directly or email the ECCO Office with your suggestions.

Willem Bemelman  © ECCO

Nuha Yassin  © ECCO

Ignacio Catalán-Serra © Ignacio Catalán-Serra

ECCO’19 Copenhagen welcomed the record number of participants – 8034 – by offering the three-day Scientific Programme “Research drives clinical care”, 16 educational courses, and a poster exhibition of 860 hard copy posters, as well as a platform for 45 exhibitors and for innumerable business meetings.

One of these meetings also brought the new ECCO News Editors team together in order to plan for the publication year 2019.

8,034 delegates attended the 14th Congress of ECCO in Copenhagen

The 14^th Congress of ECCO – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2019, held on March 6-9, 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracted a total number of 8,034 delegates from 98 different countries. Since the inaugural ECCO Congress in 2006 in Amsterdam, at which there were 350 delegates, participant numbers have steadily increased, as shown in the graph below:

ECCO Congress participation 2006-2019 © ECCO

Another record number of abstracts has been submitted for the 14^th Congress of ECCO. Out of 1,222 submitted scientific abstracts, 1,012 abstracts have been accepted.

Of these abstracts, 38 have been selected as Oral Presentations during the Scientific Programme and another 90 were selected as Digital Oral Presentations. ECCO Committee Members reviewed each of these presentations to select the winners of the Top 10 DOPs, IIS Abstract Awards, and the Y-ECCO Abstract Awards.

Janneke van der Woude © ECCO

One of the main goals of ECCO is to promote IBD-related basic and clinical research as well as to foster interaction and productive collaboration among European research groups working in the IBD field.

To achieve this goal, ECCO continues to award Grants, Fellowships and Travel Awards, and the number of awardees has now increased to an amazing total of more than 25.  

Sebastian Zeissig © ECCO

Mechanisms and therapeutic modulation of mucosal healing in IBD 

We saw one of the best-ever attended SciCom Workshops this year, with exciting talks and highly interactive discussions around the topic of mucosal healing in IBD. In two sessions, the mechanisms of intestinal regeneration and its disruption in IBD and novel approaches to the clinical assessment and therapeutic modulation of mucosal healing were discussed.

Krisztina Gecse © ECCO

It was our pleasure to welcome three new members, Laurent Beaugerie, Peter Bossuyt and Shaji Sebastian, onto the Clinical Research Committee of ECCO at the ECCO’19 Copenhagen Congress.

John Mansfield © ECCO

The ECCO Clinical Research Committee (ClinCom) organises The School for Clinical Trialists as a half-day workshop at the ECCO Congress. This year the topics covered were: The Evolution of Trial Design and How to Optimise Recruitment to Clinical Trials. 

Marieke Pierik © ECCO

The mission of the Epidemiological Committee of ECCO is optimisation of epidemiological research methods in Europe. During the ECCO Congress in Copenhagen, EpiCom said goodbye to Laurent Beaugerie and Nynne Nyboe-Andersen. We greatly thanked them for all their contributions to EpiCom and welcomed two new members from two different countries: the Netherlands and France.  

Pascal Juillerat  © ECCO

Henit Yanai  © ECCO

The 17th Intensive Advanced IBD Course took place before the ECCO Congress as the highlight of the educational programme, which runs in conjunction with the Congress.

This well-known course, which has been held regularly almost since the inception of ECCO, took place once again at the 14th Congress of ECCO, attracting a full attendance from Europe and beyond. Overall, 87 doctors from 41 countries participated and were treated to a comprehensive update on IBD. 

Report on the 1^st ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop – Endoscopy Portion

Marietta Iacucci  © ECCO

Giovanni Maconi  © ECCO

Participating speakers and chairs: Raf Bisschops (Leuven, Belgium), Paulo Kotze (Curitiba, Brazil), Federica Furfaro (Milan, Italy), James East (Oxford, United Kingdom), Matt Rutter (North Tees, United Kingdom), Marietta Iacucci  (Birmingham, United Kingdom), Taku Kobayashi  (Tokyo, Japan), Filip Baert  (Roselare, Belgium), Krisztina Gecse (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Henit Yanai (Petah Tikva, Israel) and James Lindsay (London, United Kingdom)

Giovanni Maconi  © ECCO

Christian Maaser  © ECCO

Participating speakers and chairs: Antonio López-Sanromán (Madrid, Spain), Giovanni Maconi (Milan, Italy), Jordi Rimola (Barcelona, Spain), Torsten Kucharzik (Lüneburg, Germany), Stephan Vavricka (Zurich, Switzerland), Christian Maaser (Lüneburg, Germany), Rune Wilkens (Copenhagen, Denmark).

Joana Torres © ECCO

This year, during the 14^th Congress of ECCO in Copenhagen, the first Guidelines and GRADE Methodology Workshop took place, organised by GuiCom (Guidelines Committee of ECCO). The GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations) methodology represents a systematic approach to making judgements about quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. It has been developed by the GRADE Working Group and is now widely seen as the most effective method of linking evidence-quality evaluations to clinical recommendations. For a year now, several ECCO Members have been working using this methodology to develop the new Crohn’s Disease guidelines. 

Susanna Jäghult  © ECCO

Petra Hartmann  © ECCO

The 10^th N-ECCO School in Copenhagen was attended by 68 participants from 24 countries, including dietitians and IBD nurses. The 10th N-ECCO School covered various IBD topics of interest to both nurses and dietitians who work with IBD patients. The aim was to enhance participants’ basic knowledge in IBD, enabling them to provide better support to IBD patients throughout Europe and beyond. The N-ECCO School has also come to serve as a great networking opportunity, allowing nurses and dietitians to share their experiences.

Ana Ibarra © ECCO

On the evening of Thursday, March 7, 19 nurses from 13 countries across Europe participated in our yearly N-ECCO National Representatives Meeting.

As N-ECCO Committee Member responsible for the National Representatives, Kay Greveson welcomed the attendees, and this was followed by a short round of introductions. Four countries were happy to present their new National Representatives. An exchange of nurses every 2–3 years is greatly encouraged by N-ECCO, but many countries nevertheless retain the same National Representatives for more than 3 years. New people tend to mean new ideas, although some countries have different service setups and getting new representatives is sometimes difficult.

Dearbháile O’Hanlon  © ECCO

As a new member of the D-ECCO Committee it is a pleasure to review the 4th D-ECCO Workshop at the 14th Congress of ECCO. This year we had an excellent attendance of 140 attendees from across the multidisciplinary areas, including dietitians, nurses, physicians and clinical researchers.

The programme was divided into three sessions.

Yves Panis © ECCO

The 8^th S-ECCO IBD Masterclass (held in collaboration with the European Association of Coloproctology, ESCP) was organised to take place during the 14^th Congress of ECCO in Copenhagen. As in previous years, it was a full-day masterclass, and this year it attracted 183 participants.

David Wilson © ECCO

The mission of the Paediatric Committee of ECCO is improving knowledge on paediatric-specific IBD issues as well as supporting and facilitating research into paediatric IBD. During the ECCO Congress in Copenhagen, P-ECCO said goodbye to Patrick van Rheenen and Jaroslaw Kierkus. We greatly thanked them for all their contributions to P-ECCO and welcomed two new members: Johan van Limbergen and Amit Assa. 

Dominik Bettenworth © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

It is a great pleasure for me to write my first Members’ Address. A few weeks ago, the 14^th Congress of ECCO took place and was fully packed with world-class, international presentations on basic science research and clinical studies that had the common goal of improving the care of our IBD patients. My personal highlight of the Congress was, however, to take over as Y-ECCO Chair from Nuha Yassin. Many of you will know Nuha from personal meetings at the Y-ECCO Workshops, Consensus Guidelines meetings or the ECCO Interaction: Hearts and Minds at the Annual Congress of ECCO. Personally, over the past three years I have got to know Nuha as an inspiring person with a very clear vision of the various Y-ECCO projects that she has been able to put into practice as a highly talented networker, while always adding the perspective of an experienced surgeon. 

Nuha Yassin © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

We hope you are all well and that you enjoyed the ECCO Congress. We certainly did, and we were very pleased to meet many new members at the Y-ECCO Basic Science Workshop as well as to catch up with familiar faces. This year our workshop was over-subscribed, and the room was jam-packed. Our participants consisted of a mixture of basic scientists, clinicians, clinician scientists, nurses, trainees and senior members. We are delighted that our Basic Science Workshop appeals to everyone and caters for many needs. 

Johan Burisch © ECCO

Every two years, Y-ECCO arranges a workshop addressing topics about career and skill development for young researchers and physicians. We thereby aim to address important topics that are not fully covered during the rest of the ECCO Congress. This year the workshop took place for the 11^th time, with the overall topic being modern career-enhancing skills. 

Mark Samaan  © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

A warm welcome to the Y-ECCO Literature Review section, where you will find a summary and discussion of cutting-edge clinical trials as well as basic science studies in the field of IBD. 

If you are a Y-ECCO Member and you are looking for an opportunity to get actively involved in ECCO and gain some visibility, contribute your article to the Y-ECCO Literature Review corner, together with a short self-description and your picture.

Serum Concentration of 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one Are Associated With Bile Acid Diarrhea in Patients With Crohn's Disease

Battat R, Duijvestein M, Vande Casteele N, Singh S, Dulai PS, Valasek MA, Mimms L, McFarland L, Hester KD, Renshaw M, Jain A, Sandborn WJ, Boland BS

Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018 Nov 15. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2018.11.012    

Ivan Lyutakov  © Ivan Lyutakov

Introduction

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) comprises a heterogeneous group of chronic inflammatory disorders with two main conditions, Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) [1]. Bile acid malabsorption (BAM) and bile acid diarrhoea (BAD) have been recognised to be a common cause of chronic diarrhoea, and this recognition has led to the initiation of a search for new screening tests (biomarkers). BAM is one of the mechanisms leading to microscopic colitis, a key factor in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome-diarrhoea, and molecular mechanisms of BAM are found in IBD patients with or without involvement of the terminal ileum. BAM/BAD is more frequently found in CD than in UC, and the obvious aetiology for BAM in CD is either ileal resection or ileal disease [2]. The pathophysiology of diarrhoea in CD is multifactorial but there are two key factors, colonic water and electrolyte absorption, which can be impaired directly by colonic inflammation or indirectly by increased concentrations of bile acids having secretory effects, referred to as BAD [3].

Risankizumab in patients with moderate to severe Crohn's Disease: An open-label extension study

Feagan BG, Panés J, Ferrante M, Kaser A, D'Haens GR, Sandborn WJ, Louis E, Neurath MF, Franchimont D, Dewit O, Seidler U, Kim KJ, Selinger C, Padula SJ, Herichova I, Robinson AM, Wallace K, Zhao J, Minocha M, Othman AA, Soaita A, Visvanathan S, Hall DB, Böcher WO

Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;3:671–80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(18)30233-4   

James Gauci  © James Gauci

Introduction

Management of Crohn’s Disease involves the suppression of inflammation through administration of immunosuppressive drugs. While conventional therapies such as corticosteroids and thiopurines exert a broad effect on the immune system, the advent of biological agents has allowed for selective targeting of cytokines and integrins.

Unfortunately, a third of patients treated with tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists demonstrate a primary non-response, with another third developing either secondary failure or intolerance. These patients will then have a lower chance of responding to treatment with other TNF antagonists or with the integrin antagonist vedolizumab.

Optimised infliximab monotherapy is as effective as optimised combination therapy, but is associated with higher drug consumption in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Drobne D, Kurent T, Golob S, Švegl P, Rajar P, Hanžel J, Koželj M, Novak G, Smrekar N, Ferkolj I, Štabuc B

Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2019;49:880–9

Aravind Gokul Tamilarasan  © Aravind Gokul Tamilarasan

Introduction

Since the publication of the landmark SONIC trial in 2010 [1], the use of combination biologic–immunomodulator therapy has been considered best standard practice for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) who have failed topical therapies or immunomodulators (thiopurines or methotrexate). More recently, real-world data from the PANTS (Personalised anti-TNF therapy in Crohn’s Disease) study demonstrated the benefit of combination therapy (particularly for infliximab) in the form of higher week 54 remission rates and prevention of immunogenicity [2]. Notably, the week 54 remission rates were independent of infliximab trough levels or immunogenicity status, suggesting additional benefits apart from improving the pharmacokinetics of infliximab. This study aimed to provide further real-world data on the effect of combination therapy on clinical and pharmacokinetic outcomes.

Charlotte Hedin © ECCO

Our interviewee for this Issue is the current Director of the Center for Clinical Research and Prevention at Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. She started her medical training at Herlev University Hospital in Copenhagen, but early in her career the lure of research called and she embarked on a career in epidemiology with a particular focus on IBD and cancer risk. To date she has more than 130 publications listed on PubMed, of which many are highly cited and over 70 are first or last author contributions. She has received many awards for her research and is frequently invited to present her data at international meetings and congresses. Professor Tine Jess, welcome to the Interview Corner.

Report on the main feedback and questions from the delegates

At the 14^th Congress of ECCO, the UR-CARE Team received positive feedback from delegates who tried UR-CARE at the UR-CARE Training Centre. Most delegates were very satisfied with the ease of use of the platform and pleasantly surprised that it was free for physicians. Having a standardised platform among the different centres was also very welcomed. People were impressed by the possibility of creating personalised reports of their patients and of having access to a statistical module with the use of desired filters (a timesaving and major asset compared to Access or Excel databases).

Tim Raine  © ECCO

We are excited to announce this new feature to support readers of the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis (JCC). Since January, key papers accepted for publication in the journal are being accompanied by a short (5-7 minute) audio recording, made available from the Journal homepage.

Hungary

Name of group: Hungarian Colon Section
Number of active members: 200
Number of meetings per year: 2 
President and Secretary: Karoly Palatka (president), Klaudia Farkas (secretary)
National Representatives: Tamas Molnar, Karoly Palatka
Joined ECCO in: 2004
Incidence of IBD in the country (if available): 10/100,000

Simplifying treatment options and processes

The satellite symposium sponsored by Tillotts Pharma was introduced by the Chair, Geert D’Haens, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Due to the nature of the disease, treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is complex. National and international guidelines are available to aid the decision making of the treating physician, but in clinical practice, differences exist between textbook and reality. Below we provide a summary of the presentations of the two speakers.