Anal defecatory function in ulcerative colitis patients after total proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Total proctocolectomy (TPC) followed by ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) remains the only viable option whenever different treatment modalities fail in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).

Objective: Prospective cohort pre/post study examining the anal defecatory function and competence in UC patients undergoing TPC plus IPAA using high-resolution anorectal manometry (HR-ARM).

Patients: Patients undergoing TPC and IPAA were enrolled in the study and subjected to HR-ARM prior to and 6 months after surgery.

The ulcerative colitis narrative Greece survey: patients' and physicians' perspective on quality of life and disease management.

Background: Using data from the ulcerative colitis (UC) narrative Greece survey, part of a global survey of patients and physicians, we aimed to identify the impact of UC on patients' lives and to compare patients' and gastroenterologists' responses to questions relating to communication during the management of UC in our country.

Methods: The survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll, and included 95 patients and 51 gastroenterologists. Eligible were adult UC patients who had seen a gastroenterologist in the past 12 months and had at some time taken a prescription medication (excluding those who had only ever taken 5-aminosalicylates).

The natural history of COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a nationwide study by the Hellenic Society for the study of IBD.

Objectives: COVID-19 has evolved into a global health crisis, variably affecting the management of patients with chronic illnesses. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may represent a vulnerable population due to frequent administration of immune-modifying treatments. We aimed to depict the natural history of COVID-19 infection in Greek patients with IBD at a nationwide level via unbiased reporting of all cases that were registered during the sequential waves of the pandemic.

Prevalence of Clostridium difficile infection among hospitalized inflammatory bowel disease patients in Greece.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an independent risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), which is associated significantly with disease severity. We aimed to determine the rates of CDI among hospitalized IBD patients in major tertiary referral hospitals in Greece.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out of stool cultures from hospitalized patients investigated for diarrhea, during 2016, tested for CDI with glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and toxins A and B.

Identification of serum proteome signature of irritable bowel syndrome: Potential utility of the tool for early diagnosis and patient's stratification.

Unlabelled: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder with high incidence, and great heterogeneity of symptoms. Numerous factors are correlated with IBS development; however, the pathophysiology is not yet clear. In addition, there is no appropriate diagnostic tool available.

Proton pump inhibitor and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor therapy for the management of noncardiac chest pain.

Introduction: Although gastroesophageal reflux disease is the main cause of noncardiac chest pain (NCCP), proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) benefit a minority of patients. Our prospective study evaluated the effect of PPI and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on the different subtypes of NCCP characterized by impedance-pH monitoring.

Methods: All NCCP patients underwent impedance-pH monitoring and on the basis of the results, those with abnormal distal esophageal acid exposure received PPIs twice daily (group A), those with a positive symptom index for chest pain received citalopram 20 mg and PPI once daily (group B), and those with a negative symptom index for chest pain received citalopram 20 mg once daily (group C).

Proteomics and irritable bowel syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a gastrointestinal disease that according to Rome IV criteria is subdivided into four subtypes. The pathophysiology of this disease is not well understood due to numerous factors playing multiple roles in disease development, such as diet, stress and hormones. IBS has a variety of symptoms and overlaps with many other gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal diseases.

Predictors of tissue healing in ulcerative colitis patients treated with anti-TNF.

Aim: To identify factors predicting mucosal healing in ulcerative colitis patients treated with anti-TNFα agents with or without azathioprine.

Methods: In a prospective, multicenter, one-year study biologic naïve patients aged 25-65 years, with corticosteroid-dependent or refractory colitis received combination treatment with anti-TNFα and azathioprine for 6 months followed by anti-TNFα monotherapy. Patients who denied combination therapy or were outside this age range received anti-TNFα monotherapy (controls).

Simethicone adjunct to polyethylene glycol improves small bowel capsule endoscopy imaging in non-Crohn's disease patients.

Background: Currently, there is no standardized protocol for bowel preparation before small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE). This study aimed to investigate the effect of simethicone combined with polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the visualization quality (VQ) of the SBCE in patients with or without known or suspected Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: This observational, prospective, single-center study included consecutive patients undergoing a SBCE between 2007 and 2008.

DNA methylation changes in inflammatory bowel disease.

The cause of inflammatory bowel disease, encompassing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, remains a mystery but evidence is accumulating that complex interactions between the genetic background and the gut microbiota of the host and environmental factors associated with rapid industrialization and westernized life styles may underlie its pathogenesis. Recent epigenetic studies have suggested that interactions between environment and host DNA may play a leading role in the phenotypical expression of both diseases, explaining amongst others the differences in disease expression in monozygotic twins. DNA methylation is the most studied epigenetic modification and during the last decade its correlation to IBD pathogenesis has been well established.