American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy guideline on the diagnosis and management of GERD: summary and recommendations.

This clinical practice guideline from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) provides an evidence-based approach for strategies to diagnose and manage GERD. This document was developed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework and serves as an update to the 2014 ASGE guideline on the role of endoscopy in the management of GERD. This updated guideline addresses the indications for endoscopy in patients with GERD as well as in the emerging population of patients who develop GERD after sleeve gastrectomy or peroral endoscopic myotomy.

Gastric and colonic metastases of malignant melanoma diagnosed during endoscopic evaluation of symptomatic anemia presenting as angina: a case report.

A 72-year-old man visited cardiology for exertional chest pain, lightheadedness, and fatigue. Six years prior, he was surgically treated for cutaneous malignant melanoma of the lower back. After a negative cardiac work-up, primary care diagnosed severe iron deficiency anemia.

The Interface between Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Neuroinflammation, and Neurological Disorders.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a complex, chronic inflammatory condition affecting the gastrointestinal tract. IBD has been associated with a variety of neurologic manifestations including peripheral nerve involvement, increased risk of thrombotic, demyelinating and events. Furthermore, an evolving association between IBD and neurodegenerative disorders has been recognized, and early data suggests an increased risk of these disorders in patients diagnosed with IBD.

Laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication: a safe and effective anti-reflux option in lung transplant recipients.

Background: Fundoplication is known to improve allograft outcomes in lung transplant recipients by reducing retrograde aspiration secondary to gastroesophageal reflux disease, a modifiable risk factor for chronic allograft dysfunction. Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication has historically been the anti-reflux procedure of choice, but the procedure is associated with discernable rates of postoperative dysphagia and gas-bloat syndrome. Laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication, an alternate anti-reflux surgery with lower rates of foregut complications in the general population, is the procedure of choice on our institution's lung transplant protocol.

Acute transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) augments esophageal contractility in patients with weak peristalsis.

Background: Lung transplantation (LTx) remains controversial in patients with absent peristalsis (AP) given the increased risk for gastroesophageal reflux (GER), and chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Furthermore, specific treatments to facilitate LTx in those with AP have not been widely described. Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation (TES) has been reported to improve foregut contractility in LTx patients and therefore we hypothesize that TES may augment the esophageal motility of patients with ineffective esophageal motility (IEM).

Characterization of the upper esophageal sphincter response during cough.

Background: Vagal reflex initiated by esophageal stimulation and microaspiration can cause chronic cough in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). By raising intraabdominal pressure,cough can, in turn, predispose to GERD. The role of the upper esophageal sphincter (UES)in preventing esophagopharyngeal reflux during coughing is not well known.

Electrical activity from colon overlaps with normal gastric electrical activity in cutaneous recordings.

The stability of EGG recordings is affected by a variety of artifacts. The aim of this study was to investigate possible overlapping of dominant frequencies in recorded cutaneous electrical activity arising simultaneously from the stomach and/or colon. Ten normal volunteers, eight posttotal colectomy patients, and four patients posttotal gastrectomy were studied.

Microprocessor-controlled colonic peristalsis: dynamic parametric modeling in dogs.

The study aimed at completing a model of functional colonic electric stimulation and testing it for artificial recreation of peristalsis in dogs. Dynamic measurements of invoked single contractions obtained from two unconscious dogs as well as previously reported static contraction properties were utilized to suggest the optimal stimulation parameters of: (1) length of the stimulating electrodes, (2) separation between the successive electrode sets, (3) duration, and (4) phase lag between the stimuli sequentially applied to the electrode sets. The derived electrode configuration and stimulation pattern were adjusted for different anatomical dimensions and tested in distended colon full of viscous content.