Failure of Helicobacter pylori eradication: is poor compliance the main cause?

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate whether poor compliance can be considered as the main cause of the low Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication rate observed in an ambulatory population.

Methods: Seventy-eight patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia or gastroduodenal ulcer in whom H.

Influence of age, gender, hormonal status and smoking habits on colonic transit time.

The factors that influence colonic transit time in healthy humans are not yet clearly defined. The aim of this study was therefore to determine (a) if there are differences in colonic transit time between men and women and (b) if age, female hormonal status or smoking habits are associated with alterations in these parameters. Colonic transit time was measured in 164 asymptomatic subjects (80 males, 84 females) by a radio-opaque marker technique with one single plain abdominal X-ray.

[Evaluation of anorectal motility].

Constipation and incontinence frequently lead to medical consultation. A careful history and a complete physical examination of both anus and rectum are required before performing anorectal motility tests, the most important of which are anorectal manometry coupled with electromyography of the external anal sphincter and defecography. The pathophysiologic origin of these symptoms can then be understood.

[Evaluation of small intestinal motility].

Disturbances of small bowel motor function are increasingly recognized in clinical practice, either in the setting of an underlying disease that may affect the neuro-hormonal control of gut motility, such as diabetes or scleroderma, or as part of unexplained intestinal dysfunctions such as the irritable bowel syndrome or chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. In the absence of endoscopic or radiological mucosal disease, it is often clinically helpful to define the motor function of the small bowel to understand the origin of the patient's symptoms. The hydrogen breath test after a lactulose oral load is currently used to measure mouth to caecum transit time.

Solitary rectal ulcer: an unusual cause of rectal bleeding in children.

The solitary rectal ulcer syndrome (SRUS) is a disease which is commonly diagnosed in adults but only rarely described in children. Rectal prolapse and intussusception are frequently associated with this entity. A relationship between SRUS and chronic constipation due to spastic pelvic floor syndrome (SPFS) is often observed.