Acute calculous cholecystitis: a real-life management study in a tertiary teaching hospital.

Aim: to describe the management of acute calculous cholecystitis in a tertiary teaching hospital and the outcomes obtained.

Material And Methods: a retrospective single tertiary center cohort study.

Results: medical records of 487 patients were analyzed.

Periodic gastroenterology and hepatology meetings with primary care. Reasons for consultation.

Introduction: care overload, aging of population, and increased chronic diseases lead to increased referrals from primary care, which may sometimes overload the health system. Thus, different interventions have been carried out attempting to improve these aspects.

Objectives: to assess the most frequent causes of consultation of general physicians, both in joint consultations and clinical sessions held jointly with specialist consultant in primary care, in the urban and rural setting, and the influence on referrals to first consultations of gastroenterology.

EUS-guided single-incision needle-knife biopsy: description and results of a new method for tissue sampling of subepithelial GI tumors (with video).

Background: The diagnostic efficacy of current tissue sampling techniques for upper GI subepithelial tumors (SETs) appears to be limited. Better tissue acquisition techniques are needed to improve the diagnostic yield in this setting.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine the safety and diagnostic yield of EUS-guided needle-knife incision and forceps biopsy (SINK biopsy) of upper GI SETs.

[Gene expression profiling in the first twelve weeks of treatment in chronic hepatitis C patients].

Introduction: Gene expression profiling in the first weeks of treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C may contribute to better evaluate the response to interferon-based therapy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the gene expression profiles of early responders and non-responders before, and after 12 weeks of treatment with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin.

Methods: Gene expression profiles were analysed in 12 patients with chronic hepatitis C, and scheduled for treatment with peginterferon alpha and ribavirin.

[Massive gastrointestinal bleeding due to gastric ulcer in a patient with amyloidosis].

Gastrointestinal amyloidosis may occur as part of the systemic manifestations of primary amyloidosis or in a localized form. The symptoms and signs that may occur are numerous and nonspecific, hampering clinical suspicion when this disease has not already been diagnosed. Gastric ulcers presenting as massive bleeding are an uncommon manifestation of this disease.

Increased Th1, Th17 and pro-fibrotic responses in hepatitis C-infected patients are down-regulated after 12 weeks of treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin.

Hepatitis C virus causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The infection induces up-regulation of cytokine and chemokines commonly linked to the development of cellular and pro-inflammatory antiviral responses. The current standard in hepatitis C treatment consists of combination regimens of pegylated interferon-alpha plus ribavirin.

[Immunity against hepatitis A virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C].

Background And Objective: Because of high fatality rate associated with acute infection by hepatitis A virus (HAV) in chronic hepatitis C patients, it is of interest to know the prevalence of immunization against HAV in these patients.

Patients And Method: Immunoglobulin G (IgG) IgG HAV antibodies (IgG anti-HAV) were determined in 313 hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV) positive patients and in 313 anti-HCV negative subjects (control group). Several epidemiological factors were recorded (age, sex, rural vs urban precedence, tattoos, parenteral drugs use, alcohol consumption and surgery).

Acalculous cholecystitis due to Salmonella enteritidis.

Acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) is defined as an acute inflammation of the gallbladder in the absence of stones. We herein report a case of a young man who developed AAC after a Salmonella enteritidis gastrointestinal infection.

[Cytokines and other immunological parameters as markers of distant organ involvement in acute pancreatitis].

Background And Objective: There is a role of immunologic proinflammatory mediators in pathogenesis of distant organ disfunction in acute pancreatitis (AP). The aim is to evaluate the relationship between those mediators and liver, kidney and lung disfunction in patients with AP.

Patients And Method: On the day of admission in 34 patients with AP, biochemical parameters of liver function, creatinine and arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) were determined, and cut points were established.