CD73 expression in tissue granulomas in distinguishing intestinal tuberculosis from Crohn's disease in a South African cohort.

Introduction: Overlap of clinical, endoscopic and radiographic features, coupled with a poor microbiological yield makes differentiating Crohn's disease (CD) from intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) challenging. A potential histological differentiating mechanism is the use of immunohistochemical staining for the mesenchymal stem cell marker CD73, as a pilot study showed ITB but not CD granulomas stained positive for this marker. The aim of this study was to assess the value of CD73 in differentiating ITB from CD granulomas in a South African cohort.

The efficacy of endoscopic therapy in bleeding peptic ulcer patients.

Background: Endotherapy is the primary modality for the control of bleeding from peptic ulceration.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of endoscopic intervention for high-risk bleeding peptic ulcer disease and to benchmark our surgical and mortality rates.

Methods: Two hundred and twenty-seven patients with peptic ulcers stratified by Rockall and Forrest scores as at high risk for re-bleeding underwent therapeutic intervention (adrenalin injection) between January 2004 and December 2009.