Impact of dose escalation on colostomy-free survival and treatment outcome in squamous cell anal carcinoma.

Purpose: Primary radiochemotherapy (RCT) constitutes the standard of care for early- and advanced-stage anal carcinoma. This retrospective study investigates the impact of dose escalation on colostomy-free survival (CFS), overall survival (OS), locoregional control (LRC), progression-free survival (PFS), and acute and late toxicities in patients with squamous cell anal cancer.

Methods: Considered were the outcomes of 87 patients with anal cancer treated with radiation/RCT between May 2004 and January 2020 at our institution.

The effect of oral pancreatic enzyme supplementation on the course and outcome of acute pancreatitis: a randomized, double-blind parallel-group study.

Context: Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency is a significant problem after acute pancreatitis.

Objective: To evaluate whether oral pancreatic enzyme supplementation improves the recovery of pancreatic exocrine function and to explore the efficacy, safety and tolerability of pancreatic enzyme supplementation in patients during the refeeding period after acute pancreatitis.

Design: Prospective double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized study.

[Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and therapy in five cases].

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are rare causes of gastrointestinal bleeding. In most cases these tumors are localized in the stomach and small intestine, more rarely in the esophagus and colon.Pluripotent mesenchymal cells are the suspected origin of GIST.

Identification of enterohepatic Helicobacter species in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease.

Using a group-specific PCR assay, we investigated the presence of enterohepatic Helicobacter species in gut specimens from patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Enterohepatic Helicobacter species were detected in 12% (3 of 25) of the patients with Crohn's disease, in 17% (3 of 18) of the ulcerative colitis samples, and in 4% (1 of 23) of the controls.

Risk factors for failure of endoscopic stenting of biliary strictures in chronic pancreatitis: a prospective follow-up study.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate the value of interventional endoscopy in patients with strictures of the common bile duct (CBD) caused by chronic pancreatitis (CP), and to define the subset of patients who may be at risk for failure of endoscopic intervention, in a prospective follow-up study.

Methods: A total of 61 patients with symptomatic CBD strictures caused by alcoholic CP were treated by endoscopic stent insertion for 1 yr with scheduled stent changes every 3 months. After the treatment period, all patients entered a follow-up program.

F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and C-Reactive Protein (CRP).

This study was done to evaluate if the accuracy of FDG-PET concerning the differentiation of benign and malignant pancreatic masses differs for patients with and without elevated C-Reactive Protein (CRP). Three hundred-four patients (165 neoplasms, 98 chronic pancreatitis, and 41 benign lesions) received FDG-PET of the abdomen prior to planned resective surgery. CRP was unknown, normal, and elevated with 211, 71, and 22 patients, respectively.

Influence of Helicobacter pylori infection and omeprazole treatment on gastric regional CO2.

Background: Gastric regional CO(2) accumulation indicates gastric mucosal hypoperfusion in critically ill patients. CO(2) is also a reaction product of urea degradation, and we therefore tested the hypothesis if regional pCO(2) is influenced by Helicobacter pylori infection.

Material: Seven H.

Treatment of benign biliary strictures in chronic pancreatitis by self-expandable metal stents.

Aim: To determine the efficacy the value of self-expandable metal stents in patients with benign biliary strictures caused by chronic pancreatitis.

Method: 61 patients with symptomatic common bile duct strictures caused by alcoholic chronic pancreatitis were treated by interventional endoscopy.

Results: Initial endoscopic drainage was successful in all cases, with complete resolution of obstructive jaundice.

Endoscopic ultrasound in pancreatic diseases.

There are many indications for the use of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the management of patients with pancreatic diseases. High-resolution imaging of the pancreas is achievable due to the close proximity between luminal structures and the pancreas. Since its introduction, EUS has had a significant impact on the diagnosis of pancreatic diseases.

A group-specific PCR assay for the detection of Helicobacteraceae in human gut.

Background: Enterohepatic Helicobacter species are emerging pathogens, which are increasingly isolated from humans with enteric diseases. Nevertheless, current methods to detect Helicobacteraceae in the human gut have significant limitations.

Methods: Based on 16S-rRNA gene alignments and computer aided primer analysis a set of group-specific PCR primers was designed.

Modern diagnostics of chronic pancreatitis.

Chronic pancreatitis is a well-defined disease on histopathological grounds, but for clinical purposes diagnosis is generally not based on histological specimens. Imaging procedures, non-invasive or with different degrees of invasiveness, and pancreatic function tests are therefore the diagnostic mainstay in patients with suggestive clinical history. The correct diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is easy in late stages but difficult in an early stage of the disease.

EUS in the diagnosis of early chronic pancreatitis: a prospective follow-up study.

Background: The aim of this prospective, follow-up study was to investigate the value of EUS in the diagnosis of alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis.

Methods: One hundred thirty patients with known (n = 51) or clinically suspected (n = 79) chronic pancreatitis were included. Patients with a history of chronic use of alcohol and recurrent abdominal pain underwent endoscopic retrograde pancreatography and EUS.

Is a preoperative multidiagnostic approach to predict surgical resectability of periampullary tumors still effective?

Background: Multimodality staging is recommended in patients with periampullary tumors to optimize preoperative determination of resectability. We investigated the potency of currently used diagnostic procedures in order to determine resectability.

Methods: Ninety-five consecutive patients with periampullary tumors prehospitally staged resectable underwent preoperative diagnostic tests: helical-computed tomography (CT) with maximum intensity projection of arterial vessels (MIP), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance cholangiopancreaticography (MRCP), endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP), digital subtraction angiography (DSA), and positron emission tomography (PET).

H. pylori infection and visceral hypersensitivity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Background/aim: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is characterized by abdominal pain and changes in stool habits. Visceral hypersensitivity (VH) is a key factor in the pathophysiology of IBS. The role of Helicobacter pylori infection in the induction of VH in the upper gastrointestinal tract is controversially discussed.

Does gastric juice pH influence tonometric PCO2 measured by automated air tonometry?

To determine the influence of changes in gastric juice pH due to intravenous administration of pentagastrin and omeprazole on intramucosal regional PCO2 (Pr(CO2)), we investigated 17 healthy human volunteers. Gastric juice pH was obtained from a glass pH electrode for continuous gastric juice pH measurement and Pr(CO2))was measured by using automated air tonometry. After baseline (8:00 A.

Comparison of two tubeless function tests in the assessment of mild-to-moderate exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Background: Faecal elastase 1 (FE1) and the pancreolauryl test (PLT) are widely used for the non-invasive diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). Whether one of these two tests is superior for the detection of mild-to-moderate EPI is the subject of controversy. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of the PLT and FE1 for the detection of EPI in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Prospective comparison of endoscopic ultrasound and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in the preoperative assessment of masses in the pancreatic head.

Aims: To compare the diagnostic value of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in the differentiation of malignant from benign masses in the pancreatic head.

Methods: Within 14 months 95 prospective patients with masses in the pancreatic head were assigned for preoperative EUS and ERCP. Both procedures were performed and recorded according to a standardized protocol.

Chronic pancreatitis: diagnosis and staging.

Chronic pancreatitis is a dynamic disease characterized on one side by a progressive destruction of the pancreatic parenchyma and change in the architecture of the gland and on the other by the impairment of its function. Diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis may be a quite easy or a very difficult attempt according to the severity and evolutive stage of disease. In fact, while most patients presents with a typical history of alcohol abuse, recurrent abdominal pain and steatorrhea, in the late stage of disease it is not rare to see patients with symptoms and signs which may be not typical for pancreatitis.

Values and limitations of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron-emission tomography with preoperative evaluation of patients with pancreatic masses.

The aim of this study was to determine the value and limitations of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-position-emission tomography (PET) for differentiating benign and malignant pancreatic disease and for staging malignant disease. One hundred fifty-nine patients with 89 malignant and 70 benign pancreatic lesions all received PET, computed tomography (CT), and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) before pancreatic surgery. The original reports were compared for all patients (group I; N = 159), for a subgroup that neither had fasting plasma glucose levels > or =130 mg/dL or known elevated levels of C-reactive protein ([CRP], group II; n = 123), and for the remaining patients (group III; n = 36).

Prospective evaluation of brush cytology of biliary strictures during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

Background And Study Aims: Cytological methods may be used to differentiate benign from malignant biliary strictures. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of an endobiliary cytotechnique which can easily be performed during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

Patients And Methods: Cytological samples were obtained by brushing biliary strictures via a guide wire in 86 patients with strictures of unknown status.

Prevalence of resistance to clarithromycin and its clinical impact on the efficacy of Helicobacter pylori eradication.

Background: Triple therapy with a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) in combination with metronidazole and clarithromycin is the method of choice for eradication of Helicobacter pylori. Failures have been primarily blamed on the development of resistance to clarithromycin. The present study investigated the prevalence and clinical significance of resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole in determining therapeutic success of both triple therapy as a primary eradication method and high-dose dual therapy in non-responders.

Combined activity of azithromycin and lansoprazole against Helicobacter pylori.

Background: Due to its unique pharmacokinetic properties, azithromycin may be an attractive combination partner for H. pylori eradication regimens. However, up to 15% of clinical isolates are primarily resistant to azithromycin as well as to other macrolide antibiotics.