Endoscopy is the mainstay of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) evaluation and the pillar of colorectal cancer surveillance. Endoscopic equipment, both hardware and software, are advancing at an incredible pace. Virtual chromoendoscopy is now widely available, allowing the detection of subtle inflammatory changes, thus reducing the gap between endoscopic and histologic assessment. The progress in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has been remarkable, and numerous applications are now in an advanced stage of development. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems are likely to reshape most of the evaluations that are now prerogative of human endoscopists. Furthermore, sophisticated tools such as endocytoscopy and probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) are enhancing our assessment of inflammation and dysplasia. Finally, pCLE combined with molecular labeling could pave the way to a new paradigm of personalized medicine. This review aims to summarize the main changes that occurred in the field of IBD endoscopy and to explore the most promising novelties.

No abstract

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and stroke are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Along to the traditional risk factors for these diseases, chronic inflammation is known to be an important player in accelerating the process of atherosclerosis, which can result in an increased incidence of arterial thromboembolic events. As in other chronic inflammatory diseases, in the past few years, several studies suggested that subjects affected by inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) may also be at an incremented risk of atherosclerotic disease, especially during the periods of disease's flare. Therefore, IBD treatment may assume an important role for achieving both disease remission and the control of the atherosclerotic risk. In this article we aimed to perform a comprehensive review on evidence on the increased risk of arterial thromboembolic events in patients affected by IBD and discuss the potential role of IBD therapy in reducing this risk.