Usefulness of panoramic 344°-viewing in Crohn's disease capsule endoscopy: a proof of concept pilot study with the novel PillCam™ Crohn's system

Background A new capsule endoscopy (CE) system featuring two advanced optics for 344 degrees-viewing and a prolonged operative time has been recently developed for Crohn's disease (CD) patients. Hence, we evaluated, for the first time, the performance of this novel CE and the add-on value of the 344 degrees-viewing in a multi-center real-life setting. Methods Consecutive patients with suspected or established CD received the PillCam (TM) Crohn's System as supplementary diagnostic work-up focused on the small-bowel between June 2017 and June 2018. Technical and clinical data, including the panenteric CE diagnostic yield, the Lewis score and the impact of small-bowel findings on clinical management during a 6-months follow-up (new diagnosis, staging or treatment upgrade) were collected, thereby evaluating the added value of the 344 degrees panoramic-view (lesions detected by camera A and B) over the standard 172 degrees-view (lesions detected by one camera only). Results Among 41 patients (aged 43 +/- 20 years), 73% underwent CE for suspected CD and 27% for established CD. The rate of complete enteroscopy was 90%. No technical failure or retention occurred. Compared to the standard 172 degrees view, the panoramic 344 degrees-view revealed a greater number of patients with a relevant lesion (56.1% vs. 39.0%; P = 0.023), resulting in higher Lewis score (222,8 vs. 185.7; P = 0.031), and improved clinical management (48.8% vs. 31.7%, P = 0.023). Conclusions The panoramic 344 degrees-view increases small-bowel CE accuracy, thereby improving the clinical management of CD patients with mild small-bowel active disease. This system should be regarded as a new standard for both small-bowel diagnosis and monitoring in inflammatory bowel diseases.