An observational study in Crohn Disease, Fibrostenotic Crohn's Disease and CD - Crohn's Disease, sponsored by PharmaNest, Inc. Not yet recruiting at 2 sites in Spain. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 80 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-01.
Sponsored by PharmaNest, Inc · Observational
The goal of this retrospective observational study is to learn whether artificial intelligence-based digital pathology can measure intestinal fibrosis and help identify patients with Crohn's disease who may be at greater risk of disease progression and surgery.
The main questions the study aims to answer are:
Does the FibroNest Phenotypic Fibrosis Composite Score [Ph-FCS(Muc)], measured from routinely collected ileal biopsies, reflect the severity of fibrosis assessed by a pathologist?
Researchers will retrospectively analyze previously collected ileal biopsies and medical information from adults with Crohn's disease. Biopsy slides will be digitized and analyzed using FibroNest digital pathology, and the resulting fibrosis measurements will be compared with pathologist assessments, clinical characteristics, disease history, and subsequent clinical outcomes.
Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that can lead to progressive intestinal fibrosis. Fibrosis contributes to structural bowel damage, strictures and obstruction and is an important cause of surgical intervention. However, intestinal fibrosis remains difficult to quantify objectively, particularly from routinely collected endoscopic biopsies, and there are limited validated tools to identify tissue fibrosis phenotypes associated with subsequent disease progression.
AIFOR-CD (Artificial Intelligence for Outcomes Research in Crohn's Disease) is a retrospective observational study evaluating the use of artificial intelligence-based digital pathology to quantify and characterize fibrosis in routinely collected ileal biopsies from patients with Crohn's disease.
The study uses the FibroNest Phenotypic Fibrosis Composite Score [Ph-FCS(Muc)], a continuous quantitative digital pathology biomarker derived from histological features of fibrosis measured in the mucosa of ileal biopsies. The study is organized around three complementary objectives: to validate Ph-FCS(Muc) against pathologist-assessed mucosal fibrosis severity; to investigate its relationship with Crohn's disease characteristics and history; and to explore whether quantitative fibrosis phenotypes in ileal biopsies can identify patients at increased risk of subsequent first ileal surgical resection for fibrostenotic Crohn's disease.
The study will use previously collected histological specimens and retrospective clinical information. Digital pathology analyses will be performed using pseudonymized whole-slide images of ileal biopsies, with appropriate blinding between biomarker measurements and the reference assessments or clinical outcomes when applicable.
AIFOR-CD is intended to determine whether quantitative assessment of fibrosis from routinely obtained endoscopic biopsies can provide objective information on intestinal fibrotic burden and contribute to the characterization and risk stratification of patients with Crohn's disease.
1,992 studies on the registry are indexed under Crohn Disease; 478 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 100 is below the median of 185 across 645 observational studies indexed under Crohn Disease.
Browse Crohn Disease studies →PharmaNest, Inc is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
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The study population consists of adults (≥18 years) with a diagnosis of Crohn's disease and an available ileal endoscopic biopsy suitable for digital pathology analysis. The overall AIFOR-CD population includes patients spanning varying degrees of mucosal fibrosis and disease characteristics. For the outcomes component, patients without prior gastrointestinal surgery or endoscopic intervention are selected according to whether they underwent a first ileal surgical resection for fibrostenotic Crohn's disease within 6-24 months after the index biopsy or remained free of ileal resection or endoscopic intervention for at least 4 years after the index biopsy.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Biopsy and archival tissue
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients with with Crohn's Disease (CD) and ileal biopsy that underwent a first ileal surgical resection for ileal fibro-stenotic Crohn's disease within a maximum of 24 months after the index biopsy. No endoscopic procedure (balloon dilation, strictureplasty or stricturectomy) is permitted between the index biopsy and the first ileal surgical resection.
Diagnostic Test: Ph-FCS(Muc) fibrosis severity Digital Pathology biomarker
Patients with Crohn's Disease and ileal biopsy that did NOT undergo first ileal resection or ileal endoscopic procedure (balloon dilation, strictureplasty or stricturectomy) within 4 years after the index biopsy.
Diagnostic Test: Ph-FCS(Muc) fibrosis severity Digital Pathology biomarker
Ph-FCS(Muc) is a continuous, quantitative digital pathology biomarker that integrates multiple histological features of mucosal fibrosis into a single fibrosis severity score, providing a more granular assessment than conventional ordinal histological staging.
Occurrence of the First ileal surgical resection for ileal fibro-stenotic Crohn's
Occurrence (and date of occurrence) of the First ileal surgical resection for ileal fibro-stenotic Crohn's , and No endoscopic procedure (balloon dilation, strictureplasty or stricturectomy)
Time frame: 24 months
Plan to share: Undecided
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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