Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious disease and diarrhea has been reported in up to 76% of cases. The purpose of the present paper was to carry out a retrospective study of the clinical and demographic data of SARS patients with diarrhea in Princess Margaret Hospital.
Methods: From 1 to 31 March 2003, hospital records from 240 patients with confirmed SARS were studied.
Aim: Elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level is commonly seen among patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). We report the progression and clinical significance of liver derangement in a large cohort of SARS patient.
Methods: Serial assay of serum ALT was followed in patients who fulfilled the WHO criteria of SARS.
J Gastroenterol Hepatol
November 2004
Background And Aim: Colon transit study with radio-opaque markers is helpful in the evaluation of chronic constipation. Normal reference values, based on radio-opaque markers, have not been reported from Chinese adults in Hong Kong.
Methods: Fifty-one healthy Chinese (27 men, age 42 +/- 12 years) were enrolled through a newspaper advertisement.
Background And Aims: As part of a public education program, the Hong Kong Society of Gastrointestinal Motility studied the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the community, which was based on the recently published Rome II criteria. The distribution of diarrhea or constipation-predominant IBS subtypes, the prevalence of bowel symptoms and the predictors of health-care seeking were also studied.
Methods: Among 1797 randomly selected respondents, 1000 successful telephone interviews (56%) were conducted from August 2000 to December 2000, using a validated questionnaire in Chinese that looked into demographic data and various bowel symptoms during the past year.