The prevalence of liver enlargement and liver steatosis was higher among IBD patients. The prevalence of gallstones was increased in CD patients only. This risk was related to age, female sex, and previous surgery.

U p to 20% of health care personnel (HCP) were found to be infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) 1 in the outbreak in northern Italy. 2 Recommendations on patient and HCP protection have been made, such as postponing procedures, triage, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and creation of differentiated in-hospital pathways. 3,4 However, several barriers against the adoption of these strategies exist, including cultural factors and shortages of medical resources; therefore, there are few reports of real-world experiences and outcomes with their adoption. 5 The aim of this survey was to investigate the burden of COVID-19 on endoscopic activity in a high-risk area of COVID-19 outbreak, approaches to evaluating patients, adoption and compliance of HCP with protective measures, and initial possible viral transmission outcomes from endoscopy units within a large, community-based setting (both between patients and HCP and between HCP). MethodsThe study was conducted as a survey between March 16 and March 21, 2020. Directors of emergency departments in highrisk areas of northern Italy (Supplementary Figure 1) were invited by e-mail to complete a questionnaire (Figure 1 and Supplementary Table 1). Participation was voluntary. Additional methodology is provided in the Supplementary Material. Results Characteristics of the Endoscopy UnitsA total of 42 endoscopy units were invited, of which 41 participated (97.6%). Most respondents (n ¼ 37, 90.2%) were from high-volume endoscopy units, for a total of 968 endoscopy personnel, including 323 endoscopists, 496 nurses, and 149 health care assistants. Changes in Endoscopy Activity Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019All endoscopy units had patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in their hospital. All but 1 center (40/41, 97.6%) reduced Infection Prevention and Control Measures for Coronavirus Disease 2019Regarding the preventive measures taken after the first Italian case (February 18, 2020), 5 (12.2%) endoscopy units did not take any measures, 29 (70.7%) endoscopy units adopted a triage for risk stratification of COVID-19 infection, 7 (17.1%) endoscopy units decreased endoscopic See editorial on page 36.

SUMMARYBackground: Acid-suppressive medications are commonly used in hospitalized patients, but, to date, little is known about the overall use of these drugs in the hospital setting. Aim: To evaluate the appropriateness of acid-suppressive therapy in a large teaching hospital in northern Italy, and the fall-out of hospital prescription in general practice. Methods: The use of antisecretory agents was monitored for 1 month in adult patients consecutively admitted to L. Sacco University Hospital by reviewing their clinical charts. The appropriateness of each prescription was reviewed jointly by two consultant gastroenterologists.

The risk for gallstones (GD) in inflammatory bowel diseases and the factors responsible for this complication have not been well established. We studied the incidence of GD in a cohort of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and investigated the related risk factors. A case-controlled study was carried out. The study population included 634 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients (429 CD, 205 UC) and 634 age-matched, sex-matched, and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls free of GD at enrollment, who were followed for a mean of 7.2 years (range, 5-11 years).The incidence of GD was calculated by dividing the number of events per person-years of follow-up. Multivariate analysis was used to discriminate among the impact of different variables on the risk of developing GD. The incidence rates of GD were 14.35/1,000 persons/year in CD as compared with 7.

No abstract