[Colorectal carcinoma following radiotherapy of gynecological carcinoma].

To assess the risk of radiation-induced cancer of the colon we studied 196 patients with a history of radiation treatment for cancer of the female genital system. After a median follow-up of 12.4 years (range 10-15 years) corresponding to 1172 patient-years, 94 (48%) patients were still alive.

Acute ischaemic colitis in a female long distance runner.

A 34 year old female long distance runner is reported with bloody diarrhoea. Colonoscopy revealed patchy haemorrhagic mucosal lesions throughout the colon. The most extensive lesions were found in the sigmoid colon.

Angiodysplasia of the colon: an expression of occlusive vascular disease.

We performed a prospective case control study and found among 306 patients, in whom a complete colonoscopy was done, 19 patients (6%) with angiodysplasia of the colon. These patients were significantly older than control subjects (p less than 0.05).

[Ischemic-granulomatous colitis: a new differential diagnosis from Crohn's colitis?].

In patients with inflammatory bowel disease the presence of epitheloid cell granuloma is considered to be the most reliable single criterion for the presence of Crohn's disease. We report on 6 patients (5 female, 1 male, mean age 73.5 years) with acute onset of inflammatory bowel disease, in whom the presence of epitheloid cell granuloma led to the diagnosis of Crohn's disease.

[Clinical value of gastrointestinal bleeding scintigraphy in vivo using 99mTc-labeled erythrocytes].

99mTc labeled red blood cell imaging was performed in 13 patients with clinical evidence of gastrointestinal bleeding from an unknown source. In all these patients the bleeding sites had remained unclear after the standard diagnostic evaluation, including upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (13 patients), colonoscopy (12 patients) and angiography (4 patients). Nine of 13 patients (70%) had a scan indicating active bleeding.

[Actinomycosis of the colon: clinical, endoscopic, serological and therapeutic aspects].

The case of a 73-year-old woman with extensive abdominal actinomycosis is reported. It appears to be the first case of abdominal actinomycosis in which endoscopic and serologic investigations have been performed before and after medical therapy. Ultrasonography, CT scan and surgical exploration revealed an extensive inflammatory tumor of the sigmoid colon involving the urinary bladder and uterus.

Mucosal biopsy of vascular ectasia (angiodysplasia) of the large bowel detected during routine colonoscopic examination.

Between 1975 and 1983, 9434 colonoscopic examinations were performed at the University Hospital of Zürich. Localized vascular ectasia was detected in 84 patients and there were 48 mucosal biopsies from 46 patients. From the total of 48 biopsies only 24 (50%) showed vascular anomalies.

Bullous esophageal lesions due to cotrimoxazole: an immune-mediated process?

A 78-yr-old man experienced a generalized bullous eruption of the skin (a Stevens-Johnson variant of erythema multiforme) with simultaneous involvement of the esophagus due to co-trimoxazole. Immunologic tests revealed specific antibodies of the immunoglobulin G class but not of the immunoglobulin E class against sulfamethoxazole, and in particular against trimethoprim. Lymphocyte transformation tests demonstrated sensitized lymphocytes against trimethoprim but not sulfamethoxazole.

[Primary colon tuberculosis].

Two cases of primary gastrointestinal tuberculosis are reported. One patient showed radiologic, colonoscopic and histopathologic features of Crohn's disease. After a five-year follow-up, acid-fast bacilli were identified in colonic tissue cultures.

[Clinical significance of colonic angiodysplasias].

Among 9343 colonoscopic examinations (1975-1983) colonic angiodysplasias (AD) were diagnosed in 78 patients (0.8%). The mean age of patients with AD was 68 (17-86) years which was significantly higher than that of patients without AD (p less than 0.

Monoclonal gammopathy in chronic active hepatitis.

Immunoelectrophoresis was performed in 31 of 272 patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH) because of an M-spike component (seven patients, 2.6%) or hypergammaglobulinemia (24 patients) revealing a monoclonal gammopathy (MG) in 11 patients. In addition, 50 randomly selected patients with CAH and no evidence for an M-spike component were tested by immunoelectrophoresis.

[Bedside diagnosis of pancreatitis using the urinary amylase test tape. Preliminary results].

A test strip for rapid detection of alpha-amylase in urine was evaluated in 12 patients with an acute episode of acute or chronic pancreatitis and in 16 patients with hyperamylasemia of varying origin. The test strip was positive in 11 of 12 patients with acute pancreatitis and in 8 of 13 patients with hyperamylasemia. In 3 patients with macroamylasemia the test strip was negative.

Hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis B virus infection. Analysis of 75 cases from Switzerland.

The prevalence of serological markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was investigated in 75 patients with histologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatitis Bs-antigen (HBs-Ag) was found in 30.8% and evidence of present or past infection in 61.

[Hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma: indication for a possible causal connection even in non-endemic Switzerland].

62 patients with histologically proven hepatocellular carcinoma have been investigated for the presence of serological markers of hepatitis B virus infection, and the findings have been related to alpha 1-fetoprotein measurements and to the nature of the basic disease process affecting the liver. The results document a statistically significant increase in the prevalence of hepatitis B virus markers as compared to patients with cirrhosis of the liver only, pointing to a probable etiological relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma even in areas of the world where the infection is not endemic. Early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma is limited by the remarkably high percentage of patients who have no, or only marginal, elevation of serum alpha 1-fetoprotein.

Pneumatosis cystoides coli: a rare complication of colonoscopy.

A case of colonic pneumatosis cystoides intestinales (PCI) which occurred three days after a routine colonoscopy is presented. A review of the literature revealed only two other cases of PCI following colonoscopy. The close temporal association to the colonoscopy supports the mechanical hypothesis as the probably mechanism leading to intramural PCI.

[Megacolon as a rare complication of diabetes mellitus].

The clinical and radiological features of diabetic megacolon and gastroparesis occurring in a 48-year-old woman are presented. The only two other well-documented cases of diabetic megacolon from the literature are reviewed. The predominant dilatation of the sigmoidal colon in the setting of a generalized megacolon may be, especially if associated with bladder atony, a clue to the diagnosis of the diabetic nature of a megacolon.

[Long-term course of sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis: a biochemical, immunologic and histologic follow-up study].

36 patients with acute sporadic non-A, non-B viral hepatitis were prospectively followed up. Study parameters included biochemical and immunological (hepatitis A/B) data, histology of the acute and chronic stage of the disease and immunohistology for hepatitis B markers. The mean follow-up period for the patients with complete remission was 8.

Multiple hepatitis attacks with immunothrombocytopenia in a heroin addict.

A 25-year-old heroin-addict had four episodes of acute hepatitis, each of them associated with thrombocytopenia. Serologically, hepatitis A and B as well as cytomegalo- or Epstein-Barr virus infections were excluded. High levels of circulating immune complexes and antibodies reacting with aminophospholipids, a component of both liver cell and platelet membranes, were detected during the last two attacks of hepatitis, but were absent during remission.