Biliary varices on endoscopic ultrasonography: clinical presentation and outcome.

Background And Study Aims: Bile duct varices are not a well-recognized feature of portal venous obstruction. The aim of the present study was to describe the clinical and endosonographic features of biliary involvement in patients with extrahepatic portal venous obstruction (EPVO).

Patients And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted of the clinical features, outcome, and endosonographic findings (using Olympus EUM-3 or EUM-20 probes) in 21 patients with EPVO and endosonographic features of biliary varices.

Prospective multicenter study comparing a standard reusable sphincterotome with a disposable triple-lumen sphincterotome.

Background: Few data are available on the comparative performance of different types of sphincterotome. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of endoscopic sphincterotomy performed with either a reusable, single-lumen sphincterotome or a disposable triple-lumen instrument.

Methods: Seventy-seven consecutive adults requiring endoscopic sphincterotomy were prospectively and randomly assigned treatment with either a standard reusable single-lumen sphincterotome (group A, n = 38) or a disposable triple-lumen sphincterotome with a guidewire (group B, n = 39).

Molecular scanning of the human PPARa gene: association of the L162v mutation with hyperapobetalipoproteinemia.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is a member of the steroid hormone receptor super family involved in the control of cellular lipid utilization. This makes PPARalpha a candidate gene for type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia. The aim of this study was to investigate whether genetic variation in the human PPARalpha gene can influence the risk of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia among French Canadians.

Association of a duodenal follicular lymphoma and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer.

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is an inherited predisposition to colorectal and endometrial cancers caused by germline mutation of mismatch repair genes, with hMLH1 and hMSH2 underlying the majority of the cases. Although lymphoid tumors are the most common tumors in mouse models for HNPCC, lymphomas are almost never encountered in patients who have HNPCC, except in rare families with germline homozygous deletion of hMLH1. We report the case of a 53-year-old man who had a history of colon cancers related to constitutional hMLH1 mutation and who was diagnosed as having a duodenal follicular lymphoma This diagnosis was supported by IgH-BCL2 rearrangement and BCL2 immunoreactivity in tumor cells.

Selective expansion of intraepithelial lymphocytes expressing the HLA-E-specific natural killer receptor CD94 in celiac disease.

Background & Aims: Celiac disease is a gluten-induced enteropathy characterized by the presence of gliadin-specific CD4(+) T cells in the lamina propria and by a prominent intraepithelial T-cell infiltration of unknown mechanism. The aim of this study was to characterize the subset(s) of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) expanding during active celiac disease to provide insights into the mechanisms involved in their expansion.

Methods: Flow-cytometric analysis of isolated IELs and/or immunohistochemical staining of frozen sections were performed in 51 celiac patients and 50 controls with a panel of monoclonal antibodies against T-cell and natural killer (NK) receptors.

Severe osteopenia in symptom-free adults with a childhood diagnosis of coeliac disease.

The frequency of osteopenia in symptom-free adults diagnosed with coeliac disease during childhood and who resumed a normal diet during adolescence is unknown. Severe osteopenia (a bone mineral density below two standard deviations of the mean) was found in up to a third of symptom-free young adults on a normal diet. These patients should not be thought to be disease-free but should receive long-term follow-up and most of them should be advised to resume a gluten-free diet.

Outcome after surgical resection of intraductal papillary and mucinous tumors of the pancreas.

Objective: Treatment of intraductal papillary and mucinous tumors of pancreas (IPMT) usually requires surgery. The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk of recurrence in patients after surgery according to the histological nature of the neoplasm and the type of surgery.

Methods: The outcome of 45 patients who underwent partial pancreatectomy (n = 35) or total pancreatectomy (n = 10) for IPMT was studied according to the nature of the neoplasm (invasive carcinoma or noninvasive neoplasm), type of surgery (partial or total pancreatectomy), and lymph nodes status.

Metastatic jejunal VIPoma: beneficial effect of combination therapy with interferon-alpha and 5-fluorouracil.

The VIPoma syndrome is rare. It is usually caused by a neuroendocrine tumor located in the pancreas. Somatostatin analogs and interferon-a can be helpful in the symptomatic control of the disease, but the efficacy of chemotherapy in metastatic disease is limited.

Right colonic involvement is associated with severe forms of ischemic colitis and occurs frequently in patients with chronic renal failure requiring hemodialysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with severe outcome in patients with ischemic colitis.

Methods: The files of 60 consecutive inpatients (34 women, 26 men, mean age 67 yr) with ischemic colitis were reviewed. The following data were analyzed: age, sex, smoking, medications, history of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, chronic renal failure and hemodialysis, the time elapsed between the first symptoms and the diagnosis, and the site and extension of their colonic involvement.

Endosonographic features predictive of benign and malignant gastrointestinal stromal cell tumours.

Background/aim: Some endoscopic ultrasonographic (EUS) features have been reported to be suggestive of malignancy in gastrointestinal stromal cell tumours (SCTs). The aim of this study was to assess the predictive value of these features for malignancy.

Methods: A total of 56 histologically proven cases of SCT studied by EUS between 1989 and 1996 were reviewed.

Push enteroscopy in celiac sprue and refractory sprue.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine in patients with sprue whether jejunal endoscopy improves the diagnostic yield or provides information that may modify management, when compared with evaluation limited to the duodenum.

Methods: From January 1994 to June 1998, a total of 31 patients (6 men, 25 women, mean age 41 years) were prospectively evaluated by push enteroscopy. They were divided into two groups: (1) celiac disease at different stages of activity (n = 23) and (2) refractory sprue (n = 8).

[Selective segmental colectomy in diverticular sigmoiditis. The surgical risk is not increased after 70 years of age].

Unlabelled: Segmental colectomy for complicated diverticulitis is often indicated, between attacks, in elderly patients. We report a retrospective study of operated patients over the age of 70. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the age risk of consecutive patients operated between diverticular attacks by segmental colectomy, and whether such a surgical procedure is justified, as the life expectancy of these patients was 74 years for men and 81.

Small bowel metastases from primary carcinoma of the lung: clinical findings and outcome.

Objective: Symptomatic small bowel metastases from primary carcinoma of the lung have been rarely reported. The aim of this study was to describe clinical presentation and outcome in a series of patients.

Methods: Between 1984 and 1996, 1544 patients with lung cancer were referred to our institution for surgery and 1399 were operated on.

[Dieulafoy colonic ulcer. A rare cause of lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage].

Dieulafoy's disease is an unusual cause of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, reported to account for less than 2% of acute gastrointestinal bleeding episodes. Bleeding occurs from a defect in an unusually large submucosal artery, through a minute mucosal erosion. Endoscopic diagnosis is sometimes difficult, but primary endoscopic therapy may be successful and should be attempted.

Technetium Tc 99m hexamethyl propylene amine oxine leukocyte scintigraphy in patients with ulcerative colitis: correlation with clinical, biologic, endoscopic, and pathologic intensity, and local release of interleukin 8.

Background: Technetium Tc 99m hexamethyl propylene amine oxine (99mTc-HMPAO) has been used to radiolabel leukocytes with promising results for its clinical use in inflammatory bowel disease. During active ulcerative colitis, colonoscopy is indicated to determine the extent and the intensity of the disease for proper management. The aim of this prospective study was to determine whether 99mTc-HMPAO-labeled leukocyte scintigraphy can give information similar to that obtained with colonoscopy during acute attacks of ulcerative colitis.

Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium subsp. silvaticum DNA cannot be detected by PCR in Crohn's disease tissue.

Background: The etiology of Crohn's disease remains unknown. A putative mycobacterial cause of the disease is still controversial.

Aims: To assess the mycobacterial hypothesis in Crohn's disease using a polymerase chain reaction technique.

[False radiologic pneumoperitoneum. The value of emergency abdominal computed tomography].

We report 2 cases of false pneumoperitoneum. The diagnosis was suspected on an upright chest or abdominal plain films. The absence of clinical signs and symptoms of peritoneal irritation suggested a wrong radiological diagnosis.