Crohn Disease: Koltun WA

Strong SA, Koltun WA, Hyman NH, Buie WD, Anonymous00017. · Fletcher Allen Health Care, 111 Colchester Avenue, Fletcher 301, Burlington, Vermont 05401, USA. · Dis Colon Rectum. · Pubmed #17690937 No free full text.

This publication has no abstract.

Poritz LS, Koltun WA. · Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery H137, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. · J Gastrointest Surg. · Pubmed #17390174 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Historical studies have shown that percutaneous drainage alone for intraabdominal abscess secondary to Crohn's disease is successful in avoiding surgery in only approximately 50% of patients. Failure, however, can require urgent surgery and is then associated with increased morbidity, extended hospital stays, and increased risk for stoma creation. Because of this, our current protocol is initial percutaneous drainage of the abscess, 5-7 days of broad spectrum IV antibiotics with simultaneous high-dose steroids and hyperalimentation, followed by planned one stage resection with primary anastomosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the success of this protocol with regard to length of stay, complications associated with the protocol, and its ability to avoid stoma creation. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed for all Crohn's disease patients with intraabdominal abscess who underwent the above protocol from 1992 to the present. RESULTS: Nineteen patients (11 male) were identified. Sixteen underwent ileocolectomy with primary anastomosis while only three patients required an upstream diverting ileostomy in addition to resection due to incompletely drained abscesses. The mean length of hospital stay was 13.9 +/- 0.6 days including 6.4 +/- 0.4 postoperative days. Four patients had post-op complications that did not require surgery (two self-limited anastomotic bleeds, one wound infection, and one pelvic abscess treated with a percutaneous drain). One patient needed reoperation for a small bowel obstruction. CONCLUSIONS: Crohn's disease patients with intraabdominal abscess can safely undergo planned resection with primary anastomosis if initially treated with successful percutaneous drainage and aggressive antibiotic and steroid management. Such a protocol provides a standard of care against which nonsurgical management can be compared and judged.

Poritz LS, Rowe WA, Koltun WA. · Department of Surgery, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033, USA. · Dis Colon Rectum. · Pubmed #12072629 No free full text.

Abstract: PURPOSE: Tumor necrosis factor antagonist therapy in the form of infliximab has been shown to promote significant healing in fistulizing Crohn's disease and therefore is often considered as a possible alternative to surgery. Our aim was to evaluate the role of infliximab in supplanting surgery for fistulizing Crohn's disease. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of all adult patients who received infliximab for fistulizing Crohn's disease at one institution between September 1998 and October 2000. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients (14 male; mean age, 38 years; range, 19-80 years) received a mean of three (range, one to six) doses of infliximab (5 mg/kg) with the intent to cure fistulizing Crohn's disease. Nine patients (35 percent) had perianal, 6 (23 percent) enterocutaneous, 3 (12 percent) rectovaginal, 4 (15 percent) peristomal, and 4 (15 percent) intra-abdominal fistulas. Nineteen (73 percent) of the patients had had prior surgery for Crohn' s disease. Six patients (23 percent) had a complete response to infliximab with fistula closure, 12 (46 percent) had a partial response, and 8 (31 percent) had no response to infliximab. Fourteen (54 percent) patients still required surgery for their fistulizing Crohn's disease after infliximab therapy (10 bowel resections, 4 perianal procedures), whereas half (6/12) of the patients treated with infliximab who still had open fistulas after treatment declined surgical intervention. Five of six patients with fistula closure on infliximab had perianal or rectovaginal fistulas. None of the patients with either enterocutaneous or peristomal fistulas were healed with infliximab. CONCLUSIONS: Although it was associated with a 61 percent complete or partial response rate, infliximab therapy did not supplant the need for surgical intervention in the majority of our patients with fistulizing Crohn's disease. Seventy-three percent of the patients either required surgery or still had open fistulas after infliximab therapy. Infliximab was much more effective in treating perianal disease than abdominal enterocutaneous disease.

Page MJ, Poritz LS, Tilberg AF, Zhang WJ, Chorney MJ, Koltun WA. · Department of Surgery, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 17033, USA. · J Surg Res. · Pubmed #10896824 No free full text.

Abstract: The CD1d molecule has been implicated to play a role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), possibly through its presentation of an intestinal antigen trigger. To understand the role of the CD1d class I-like protein in IBD, we investigated the molecule's expression in diseased intestinal tissue and determined its potential to undergo specific recognition by intraepithelial and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) derived from IBD patients. We have observed an increase in precipitable CD1d in inflamed tissues, which suggests CD1d up-regulation in IBD; this was not accompanied by the occurrence of CD1d-specific cytotoxicity by lymphocytes isolated from the same tissue sites. In contrast, we have observed CD1d-specific cytotoxicity by PBLs from both patients and normal controls mediated by a possibly unique type of lymphocytic cell. These observations support a model in which intestinal inflammation may be initiated by circulating PBLs following the tissue-specific upregulation of CD1d. These activated PBLs may then be the source of the extraintestinal manifestations observed with IBD. We therefore propose that the cells responsible for this activity may play a role in regulating immune responses through the specific recognition of CD1d-specific antigen(s).

Koltun WA. · No affiliation provided · Aliment Pharmacol Ther. · Pubmed #18416729 No free full text.

This publication has no abstract.