VIDEO: ‘Promising avenues of research’ may optimize IBD monitoring, address challenges
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LAS VEGAS — In a Healio exclusive, Kelly Cushing-Damm, MD, MSCI, discusses how emerging monitoring strategies for inflammatory bowel disease, including telemedicine and artificial intelligence, may benefit both the patient and the practice.
“Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at high risk of disease progression or disease complications when there is uncontrolled inflammation,” Cushing-Damm, assistant professor at Michigan Medicine, said. “Therefore, it’s important that after we start treatment, we confirm that there’s no or minimal residual inflammation.”
She continued: “Patient symptoms do not always match the level of inflammation. It’s important that we use objective markers in addition to symptom assessments to confirm that a disease is in remission.”
Current treat-to-target guidelines for disease monitoring include a combination of symptom assessment; noninvasive markers, such as C-reactive protein or fecal calprotectin; and colonoscopy.
While this strategy helps determine whether or not a patient is in remission, “it’s not always practical,” Cushing-Damm noted. For example, disease assessment may require time away from work as well as increased health care costs.
“We must continually assess how we can improve our practice,” Cushing-Damm said. “In this lecture, I highlighted some promising avenues of research that can help us think about how to navigate some of these challenges.”
Included are opportunities for remote monitoring such as telemedicine, wearable technologies, mobile apps and home-based stool and blood tests, as well as bedside ultrasound to track disease activity.
Cushing-Damm also noted that emerging artificial intelligence and precision medicine may help advance disease monitoring through predictive algorithms and tailor strategies to the individual patient, rather than the disease.
“Ultimately, disease monitoring is an important area of clinical practice,” Cushing-Damm said. “We want to minimize complications from uncontrolled disease and improve patient quality of life as quickly and as safely as possible. We have good strategies in place to monitor disease currently, and we have some great opportunities to think about as we look forward to the future.”
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Cushing-Damm K. Monitoring disease and therapy: What needs to happen. Presented at: Crohn’s & Colitis Congress; Jan. 25-27, 2024; Las Vegas.
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