Hepatic Involvement in Systemic Sarcoidosis.

BACKGROUND Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease that can affect any organ, including the liver. It is manifested by the presence of non-caseating granulomas within involved organs, most commonly the pulmonary, lymphatic, and hepatic system. Unlike pulmonary or lymphatic involvement, hepatic involvement is usually asymptomatic and it is underdiagnosed.

Early Versus Delayed Feeding in Patients With Acute Pancreatitis: A Systematic Review.

Background: Acute pancreatitis is among the most common and costly reasons for hospitalization in the United States. Bowel rest, pain control, and intravenous fluids are the cornerstones of treatment, but early feeding might also be beneficial.

Purpose: To compare length of hospital stay, mortality, and readmission in adults hospitalized with pancreatitis who received early versus delayed feeding.

Cold snare piecemeal resection of colonic and duodenal polyps ≥1 cm.

Background: Endoscopic removal of duodenal and colorectal adenomas is currently considered to be the standard of care for prevention of adenocarcinoma. The use of cautery carries a risk of delayed bleeding, post-polypectomy syndrome, and perforation. We examined the safety and feasibility of removing colonic and duodenal polyps ≥ 1 cm using a piecemeal cold snare polypectomy technique.

The incidence and predictors of lupus-like reaction in patients with IBD treated with anti-TNF therapies.

Background: The incidence of lupus-like reactions (LLRs) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor (ATNF) has not been well defined. We aimed to characterize the features and predictors associated with LLR.

Methods: We studied a cohort of adult patients with IBD treated with ATNF by a single specialist during 2009.

Low-dose smoking resumption in ex-smokers with refractory ulcerative colitis.

Background And Aim: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is primarily a disease of non-smokers. Ex-smokers may have a more refractory disease course and anecdotal evidence in non-controlled clinical trials have suggested that smoking resumption, or the administration of nicotine, may ameliorate signs and symptoms of UC in ex-smokers. We report outcomes of ex-smokers with refractory UC who resumed low-dose cigarette smoking.

Gene-environment interactions in a mutant mouse kindred with native airway constrictor hyperresponsiveness.

We mutagenized male BTBR mice with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea and screened 1315 of their G3 offspring for airway hyperresponsiveness. A phenovariant G3 mouse with exaggerated methacholine bronchoconstrictor response was identified and his progeny bred in a nonspecific-pathogen-free (SPF) facility where sentinels tested positive for minute virus of mice and mouse parvovirus and where softwood bedding was used. The mutant phenotype was inherited through G11 as a single autosomal semidominant mutation with marked gender restriction, with males exhibiting almost full penetrance and very few females phenotypically abnormal.