Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Upper Gastrointestinal Bleed in Liver Cirrhosis; Less May Be More.

Introduction: Administration of antibiotics in patients with cirrhosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding has been shown to improve outcomes. Little is known regarding optimum duration of prophylactic antibiotics. Seven days of antibiotics are generally recommended but very few studies have compared antibiotic duration to clinical outcomes in current available scientific literature.

Are We Overradiating Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Introduction: Protracted exposures to small doses of radiation, even cumulative effective doses (CED) as low as 50-100 mSv, may increase the risk for malignancy. Medical radiation exposure has not been rigorously examined for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We examined medical radiation exposure in patients with IBS at a tertiary care center in the USA.

Polycythemia and Anemia in Hereditary Hemochromatosis.

Introduction Hereditary hemochromatosis is a syndrome of dysregulated iron homeostasis resulting in the excessive deposition of iron. Hemochromatosis causes pulmonary, pancreatic, and hepatic dysfunction, all of which are risk factors for anemia in the general population. Conversely, iron overload states are thought to predispose to polycythemia.

Acute kidney injury after multiphase imaging for lesions detected on hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance in patients with cirrhosis.

Objective: The risk difference between multiphase multidetector contrast-enhanced CT and MRI for developing acute kidney injury (AKI) has not been previously evaluated in patients with cirrhosis undergoing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance. We aimed to compare the rate of AKI after CT and MRI for evaluation of these lesions.

Design: A retrospective chart review of all patients with cirrhosis who underwent either multiphase multidetector liver protocol CT or MRI for lesions detected on HCC screening was conducted at West Virginia University.

Independent association of obstructive sleep apnea with Barrett's esophagus.

Background And Aim: Current guidelines suggest screening at-risk groups of patients for Barrett's esophagus (BE), a precursor to esophageal cancer. Although BE and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have common risk factors, including elevated body mass index and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the relationship between these two conditions has not been well established.

Methods: Retrospectively, all patients who had undergone a polysomnography and esophagogastroduodenoscopy at West Virginia University Hospital from 2013 to 2018 were identified and divided into groups on the basis of the presence or absence of OSA.