Gert de Hertogh © ECCO

The 15^th Congress of ECCO was held in Vienna, Austria between February 12 and 15, 2020. During this meeting, it was decided that I would take over from Roger Feakins as second Chair of the H(istology)-ECCO Committee. The committee was at that time one of the most recently established. Its primary aim is to expand the knowledge of IBD histopathology by organising a yearly masterclass. However, the framework of ECCO also offers many other opportunities to support clinical decision-making, by linking with the other committees and by participation in the composition of ECCO Practice Guidelines, Position Statements and Topical Reviews.

Richard Hansen © ECCO

The risk of thrombosis in paediatric IBD has become a hot topic in recent months, prompted by the publication of two impactful papers in Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis [1, 2]. Kuenzig and colleagues presented a large Canadian population-based study which described a vastly increased thrombosis rate in children with IBD compared to the normal population: the 5-year incidence was 31.2 per 10,000 person-years among children with IBD versus 0.8 per 10,000 person-years among children without IBD (95% confidence intervals 23.7–41.0 and 0.4–1.7, respectively) [1].

This week my dishwasher broke down. I hadn’t ever been in this situation before, so I called my plumber. He laughed at me and told me that he didn’t do stuff like that anymore. Instead, he gave me a number for a ‘kitchen appliance repair guy’. Since when have we developed specialists in the repair of kitchen appliances? I didn’t even know that such specialists exist. How the world around us has changed in the last 25 years! I called the number and the receptionist who answered my call was direct and to the point. She asked what the appliance was. ‘A Zanussi’, I said. ‘Why?’ ‘Well, it’s because we have different engineers for the different makes’, she said in her south London patois. Anyway, I spoke with the engineer who ‘ran a diagnostic check’ over the phone by instructing me remotely to push various buttons on the machine under his instruction. In doing so he demonstrated an ability to drive at the same time as guiding me around, from memory, the control panel of my model. He clearly has the patience of Job! When he promptly arrived a day later, he laid out his tools neatly in a semi-circle on the kitchen floor. He had brought specific ‘parts’ with him that he thought he might need. After about 20 minutes the task was complete – the washer was back in working order. He asked me to sign his form and within an hour of his leaving I received electronically a feedback form to comment on his promptness, manner and efficacy. As far as kitchen appliance repair guys go, he was awesome! A true master craftsman.

Dearbhaile O'Hanlon  © ECCO

Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is well established as first-line management for children with luminal Crohn’s Disease (CD) [1]. Its use in paediatrics was covered in the 2017 ECCO e-Learning Activity “Use of exclusive enteral nutrition in CD”.

The use of EEN in adults with CD is not as well established. It is often overlooked as a management tool but can be an effective therapy for adults in many scenarios. Catherine Wall and I designed an e-Learning Activity specifically covering EEN in adults with CD, and this was launched on the e-CCO Learning Platform in May 2022. The course was developed for gastroenterologists, surgeons, dietitians, nurses and other interdisciplinary medical experts interested in Inflammatory Bowel Disease(s) (IBD).

Susanna Jäghult © ECCO

Marie Andersson © ECCO

The e-CCO Learning Platform is fantastic and a real goldmine! The number of activities is enormous, all of them of high quality. The N-ECCO Committee has started to discuss how this goldmine can best be made available to IBD Nurses around Europe.

Pascal Juillerat  © ECCO

Dear ECCO Members,

Greetings to you and your families! I am sure you are all looking forward to the holidays and spending some quality time with all your loved ones.

I am excited to announce our revamped e-CCO Learning Platform!

With the new, and completely re-designed website, everything you need is now just one click away. The three main pillars of the e-Learning platform are now front and centre: The IBD Curriculum is here to serve you! It is a complete and comprehensive curriculum which outlines the need-to-know for gastroenterologists in order to develop expertise in the field of IBD. The e-Guide is a practical tool to help you manage IBD patients by visualising the ECCO Guidelines as algorithms based on the main UC and CD ECCO Guidelines. Of course, the guidance given by the ECCO e-Guide is based on evidence and validated processes. The e-Library, is your portal to access our large selection of IBD content! Anything from Congress Presentations, Videos, Podcasts, Tools and Skills, Congress Abstracts and much more!

With the re-designed website, you are now able to access all of the content with your mobile phone or tablet, too.

Shaji Sebastian © ECCO

Antonino Spinelli © ECCO

It is well known that the outcomes of surgery, and especially of IBD surgery, are not merely dependent on the operative procedure but are influenced by a number of factors before, during and after surgery. The multidisciplinary team involved in the care of IBD patients has the opportunity to optimise patient care and status prior to surgery to ensure optimal outcomes and reduce the risk of complications.

Suzanne van Zundert © Suzanne van Zundert

When mild to moderate Crohn’s Disease is diagnosed, various dietary approaches are used as a first-line medical treatment with a view to reducing inflammatory symptoms and achieving remission. It is important that this treatment is properly guided by a (paediatric) gastroenterologist and specialised nutritionist.

Jun Miyoshi  © Jun Miyoshi

Although I had to postpone my visit to Städtisches Klinikum Lüneburg due to the global COVID-19 outbreak, I was finally able to participate in intestinal ultrasound (IUS) training there in August to September 2022. I thank everyone involved in providing me with this great opportunity.

CCR6 blockade as novel therapeutic strategy against inflammatory bowel disease

Aim of the research

The CCL20/CCR6 axis is recognized as critical in IBD pathogenesis. However, CCR6 blockage has never been tested as therapeutic approach and no small-molecules CCR6 antagonists have been investigated as a potential anti-IBD drug candidates. Starting from our novel CCR6 antagonist (MR120), we aimed at: -designing and synthesizing more potent CCR6 antagonists; -identifying the most efficacious and tolerable anti-chemotactic CCR6 antagonist; -assessing the efficacy of MR120 and of the most promising novel derivative in adoptive transfer colitis (AT).