Outcome of four weeks' intervention with probiotics on symptoms and endoscopic appearance after surgical reconstruction with a J-configurated ileal-pouch-anal-anastomosis in ulcerative colitis.

Objective: Pouchitis is a common and troublesome condition in patients operated on with ileal-pouch-anal-anastomosis (IPAA). A disturbed microecology in the pouch has been suggested as one possible explanation. In a previous double-blind, randomized, controlled study we demonstrated clinical improvement of symptoms in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) operated on with IPAA, during intervention with live probiotic microbes Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteriae.

Assessment of mucosal inflammation and blood flow in response to four weeks' intervention with probiotics in patients operated with a J-configurated ileal-pouch-anal-anastomosis (IPAA).

Background: Pouchitis is a common and troublesome condition in patients operated on with ileal-pouch-anal-anastomosis (IPAA). A disturbed mucosal perfusion in the pouch has been suggested as a possible cause. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) has been used successfully to measure gastric and colonic mucosal perfusion in humans.

[Should patients with severe sepsis be treated with activated protein C?].

Background: Xigris (recombinant human activated protein C) has recently been introduced as a treatment for severe sepsis following a large multicentre trial (the PROWESS trial).

Material And Methods: Critical review of the original paper, follow-up studies and commentaries, and subgroup analyses from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Results: Changes in trial design after the start of the trial as well as inconsistent results in two phases of the trial make interpretation difficult.

Assessment of mucosal inflammation and circulation in response to probiotics in patients operated with ileal pouch anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis.

Background: Pouchitis is a common and troublesome condition, and a disturbed microbiological flora and mucosal blood flow in the pouch have been suggested as possible causes. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) has been used successfully to measure gastric and colonic mucosal perfusion in humans. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of intervention with probiotics on ileal pouch inflammation and perfusion in the pouch, assessed by endoscopy, histology, fecal calprotectin and LDF.

Assessment of Mucosal Inflammation and Circulation in Response to Probiotics in Patients Operated with Ileal Pouch Anal Anastomosis for Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Pouchitis is a common and troublesome condition, and a disturbed microbiological flora and mucosal blood flow in the pouch have been suggested as possible causes. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) has been used successfully to measure gastric and colonic mucosal perfusion in humans. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of intervention with probiotics on ileal pouch inflammation and perfusion in the pouch, assessed by endoscopy, histology, fecal calprotectin and LDF.

Heterogeneity of intraepithelial lymphocytes in refractory sprue: potential implications of CD30 expression.

Background: Refractory sprue is defined as primary or secondary failure to respond to a gluten free diet in patients with coeliac disease-like enteropathy and may signify cryptic or overt enteropathy associated T cell lymphoma.

Aims: To study in detail jejunal morphology and immunophenotypes in patients with refractory sprue in the search for features that might be useful to predict prognosis.

Patients: Seven patients are described, representing all such cases identified in our hospital over a 13 year period.

[Pharmaceutical revision of hospital drug administration].

Background: Quality audits of the implementation of drug administration procedures are carried out in order to determine objectively to what extent implementation conforms to procedures.

Methods: Since September 1997, the pharmacy at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Norway has performed quality audits of drug administration at the hospital, using interviews and surveys. Staff members in the audited unit and the auditing pharmacist agree on prospects for quality improvements and review possible action.

Intracerebral abscess caused by Nocardia otitidiscaviarum in a renal transplant patient--cured by evacuation plus antibiotic therapy.

We present a 50-year-old female who experienced generalized convulsion 3 months after a successful cadaveric renal transplantation. The first cerebral CT scan indicated cerebral frontal infarction. Repeat CT some days later revealed progressive lesions, and a highly malignant tumor or abscess was suspected.

Low frequency of complications in imported falciparum malaria: a review of 222 cases in south-eastern Norway.

We performed a retrospective study of 222 cases of falciparum malaria diagnosed in Oslo and Akerhus counties, Norway, from January 1988 to December 1997. Except for 12 cases, all had acquired the disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-four (28.

Accuracy of IgG serology and other tests in confirming Helicobacter pylori eradication.

Background: In this study we assessed the accuracy of IgG serology and other tests in confirming Helicobacter pylori eradication.

Methods: The outcome of anti-H. pylori therapy was established by at least two of the following tests: rapid urease test (RUT), culture, 14C urea breath test (non-capsule or capsule UBT), and IgG serology (Orion Diagnostica Pyloriset New EIA-G).

Accuracy of seven different tests for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection and the impact of H2-receptor antagonists on test results.

Background: In this study we compared the accuracy of seven diagnostic tests in diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection.

Methods: Over 1 year 351 consecutive dyspeptic patients were tested for H. pylori infection by means of antral biopsy specimens for the rapid urease test (RUT), culture, microscopy (acridine stain), and the laboratory urease test (LUT) and, in addition, with 14C urea breath test (UBT), IgG serology, and IgA serology (Orion Diagnostica Pyloriset New EIA-G and New EIA-A).

Topical metronidazole treatment in pouchitis.

Patients with pouchitis usually respond to oral metronidazole treatment, but side effects of the treatment are common. Eleven patients with pouchitis were given local treatment by instillation of metronidazole in doses of 40-160 mg daily into the reservoir. The effects of the treatment on the bacterial flora and short-chain fatty acids in reservoir contents, morphology of the ileal mucosa, and serum concentrations of metronidazole were studied.

Susceptibilities of Norwegian Candida albicans strains to fluconazole: emergence of resistance. The Norwegian Yeast Study Group.

All Candida albicans isolates in Norwegian microbiological laboratories in 1991 judged clinically important (except vaginal isolates) were collected. The isolates were tested for susceptibility to fluconazole with an agar dilution test and a commercially available agar diffusion test. A total of 212 strains (95%) were susceptible to fluconazole, and MICs for most of the strains (92%) were < or = 1.

Breath methane and colorectal cancer.

The association between colorectal cancer and breath methane is controversial. We compared a group of 59 patients with unresected colorectal cancer with a group of control subjects matched for age and sex. We also studied 43 of the cancer patients before and 3-6 months after resection.

[Cytomegalovirus disease in the gastrointestinal tract].

Cytomegalovirus infections in immunocompromised patients may cause serious illness, particularly in patients with HIV-disease and in transplant recipients. There is an increasing number of reports of cytomegalovirus infections involving the alimentary tract, especially colitis. Diagnosis of cytomegalovirus disease is at present based on specific histological findings.

Sampling efficiency in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection and chronic active gastritis.

The methods and sampling procedures used in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection and chronic active gastritis were evaluated. Five biopsy specimens for bacteriological cultivation and three specimens for histological examination were obtained endoscopically from a defined area of the gastric antral mucosae of 83 patients. An increase in the number of biopsy specimens for cultivation from one to five revealed only one more H.

Fatal cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis in a patient receiving low dose prednisolone therapy.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis is uncommon in patients who are not gravely immunodepressed. We report a case of fatal CMV colitis in a 54-year-old woman on low dose steroid therapy. She was admitted to hospital after sudden onset of abdominal pain and hemorrhagic watery diarrhea.

Campylobacter pylori infection and its relation to chronic gastritis. An endoscopic, bacteriologic, and histomorphologic study.

Campylobacter pylori was isolated from 27 of 61 gastric antral biopsy specimens and from 8 of 61 duodenal biopsy specimens. A significant correlation between the occurrence of C. pylori and chronic active gastritis was demonstrated.

Bacteria of the gastric antrum and their relation to chronic gastritis.

Biopsy samples from the gastric antrum were taken from 61 patients. On bacteriological culture, Campylobacter pylori was isolated in 27 subjects. Thirty-four patients had chronic gastritis, as seen in routine-stained histological sections.

Sorbitol as a sweetener in the diet of insulin-dependent diabetes.

Unlabelled: We compared sorbitol given alone and as part of a mixed meal to nine insulin-dependent diabetics (IDD's) during continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Blood glucose, sorbitol and breath hydrogen + methane were measured following six test meals: Pure glucose, sorbitol and lactulose, a mixed meal alone, and sweetened with sorbitol and sucrose. Blood glucose increase was very small after lactulose and sorbitol, significantly larger after glucose.