Ultrasonographic and clinical assessment of peripheral enthesitis and arthritis in an Italian cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of clinical and ultrasonographic musculoskeletal involvement in Italian patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: In this cross-sectional multicenter study, 148 consecutive patients with IBD were evaluated by a gastroenterologist and a rheumatologist. All patients underwent a B-mode and power Doppler ultrasonographic examination of 6 pairs of entheses and of knee and ankle joints.

Colonoscopy, pain and fears: Is it an indissoluble trinomial?

Colonoscopy is the reference method in the secondary prevention, diagnosis and, in some cases, treatment of colorectal cancer. It can often cause pain associated with embarrassment, anxiety, and physical and emotional discomfort. Pain intensity is influenced by a lot of factors, and there is a strict relationship among pain, pain perception, and mind.

Post-Anaesthetic Discharge Scoring System to assess patient recovery and discharge after colonoscopy.

Aim: To investigate whether discharge scoring criteria are as safe as clinical criteria for discharge decision and allow for earlier discharge.

Methods: About 220 consecutive outpatients undergoing colonoscopy under sedation with Meperidine plus Midazolam were enrolled and assigned to 2 groups: in Control-group (110 subjects) discharge decision was based on the clinical assessment; in PADSS-group (110 subjects) discharge decision was based on the modified Post-Anaesthetic Discharge Scoring System (PADSS). Measurements of the PADDS score were taken every 20 min after colonoscopy, and patients were discharged after two consecutive PADSS scores ≥ 9.

Portal hypertensive enteropathy diagnosed by capsule endoscopy and demonstration of the ileal changes after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt placement: a case report.

Introduction: Recent data suggest that mucosal abnormalities can occur even in the duodenum, jejunum, and distal ileum of cirrhosis patients. We present a case of portal hypertensive enteropathy in a cirrhosis patient shown by capsule endoscopy and the effect of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt on the ileal pictures.

Case Presentation: An 83-year-old Caucasian woman was admitted to our hospital for anemia and a positive fecal occult blood test.

Whipple disease: unusual presentation of a protean and sometimes confusing disease.

Objectives: To describe an unusual case of Whipple disease (WD) with confusing clinical features at onset and to discuss the diagnostic challenges for the clinician.

Methods: Description of a new case of this rare disease and thorough discussion of the atypical clinical manifestations at onset. A literature review, concerning the unusual onset, by means of a MEDLINE search from 1966 to 2007 was done.