Translating plasma citrulline concentration in clinical practice: Role of cross-sectional assessment in adult patients with short bowel syndrome.

Background: Cross-sectional plasma citrulline concentration (CIT) is considered a marker of enterocyte mass. The role of CIT in clinical practice in patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) is not clearly defined.

Aim: To assess the accuracy of CIT to discriminate SBS from healthy controls (HC) and SBS with intestinal failure (SBS-IF), requiring intravenous supplementation (IVS), from SBS with intestinal insufficiency (SBS-II).

Is SARS-CoV-2 infection an emerging risk factor for splanchnic venous thrombosis?

Objective: Thrombosis represents one of the most feared complications of the COronaVIrus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). Although pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis are the most described complications, some investigations reported thrombotic localization also in the splanchnic venous district.

Methods: We describe the case of a patient with SARS-CoV-2 infection presenting with abdominal pain and diagnosed with portal vein thrombosis.

A patient with pancreas divisum, recurrent acute pancreatitis, and homozygosity for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator-associated protein 5T allele.

Mutations in the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) have been reported to increase the risk of recurrent acute pancreatitis in patients with pancreas divisum. We assessed the CFTR gene in a young male patient with pancreas divisum and recurrent acute pancreatitis. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and computed tomography revealed that the patient had pancreas divisum, with an enlarged and tortuous pancreatic duct; he also had positive results from the cystic fibrosis sweat test.

Proton pump inhibitor treatment of patients with gastroesophageal reflux-related chronic cough: a comparison between two different daily doses of lansoprazole.

Aim: To compare two different daily doses of lansoprazole given for 12 weeks and to assess the role of gastrointestinal (GI) investigations as criteria for selecting patients.

Methods: Out of 45 patients referred for unexplained chronic persistent cough, 36 had at least one of the GI investigations (endoscopy, 24-h esophageal pH-metry and a 4-week trial of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy) positive and were randomly assigned to receive either 30 mg lansoprazole o.d.