J Clin Med. 2020 Aug 20;9(9):E2697. doi: 10.3390/jcm9092697.

Ferdinando D'Amico ^1 2, Patrick Netter ³, Cedric Baumann ⁴, Muriel Veltin ², Camille Zallot ², Isabelle Aimone-Gastin ^5 6, Silvio Danese ^1 7, Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet ²

Author information

• ¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, 20090 Milan, Italy.
• ²Department of Gastroenterology and Inserm NGERE U1256, University Hospital of Nancy, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
• ³Ingénierie Moléculaire et Ingénierie Articulaire (IMoPA), UMR-7365 CNRS, Faculté de Médecine, University of Lorraine and University Hospital of Nancy, 54000 Nancy, France.
• ⁴Clinical Research Support Facility, Methodological and Statistical Unit, University Hospital of Nancy, 54000 Nancy, France.
• ⁵Department of Biochemistry-Molecular Biology-Nutrition, Nancy University Hospital, 54000 Nancy, France.
• ⁶Inserm UMR_S1256 N-GERE, Nutrition-Genetics-Environmental Risk Exposure, University Hospital of Nancy, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
• ⁷IBD center, Department of Gastroenterology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center-IRCCS, Rozzano, 20089 Milan, Italy.

Abstract

Technological progress, including virtual clinics, web or smartphone-based applications, and assessment of fecal calprotectin (FC) at home has favored the implementation of treat to target strategies for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Although these innovations are promising and have been associated with a significant reduction in health costs, their application in clinical practice is limited. Here, we summarize the most recent literature on virtual clinics and available FC home tests. In addition, we report the experience of IBD patients monitored through the IBDoc^® test at the Nancy University Hospital, focusing on usability testing and patient's satisfaction. This pilot experience shows that a virtual calprotectin clinic doubles adherence rate to FC in IBD patients. This finding is especially clinically relevant in the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic era, with an increasing use of e-health.