Anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy in Bulgarian pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease - an 8-year experience of a referral center.

Anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy has become a mainstay in the treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease over the past few decades.

Risk Factors for Surgery in Pediatric Patients with Crohn's Disease.

Objective: Pediatric Crohn's disease (CD) has a more aggressive phenotype and course than in adults. Many patients develop complications that require surgery. The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with increased risk for surgical intervention in pediatric patients with CD.

Surrogate Markers of Intestinal Inflammation in Paediatric Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Endoscopic evaluation is the gold standard for monitoring the disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but the procedure is invasive and not appropriate for frequent use, especially in the paediatric population. The aim of the present study was to assess the correlation between the levels of several inflammatory biomarkers and the degree of intestinal inflammation in paediatric patients with IBD.

Materials And Methods: A single center study including 31 children with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 22 children with Crohn's disease (CD) with different disease duration and activity.

Role of faecal calprotectin as a predictor of endoscopic activity in paediatric patients with ulcerative colitis.

Introduction: Colonoscopy is currently considered to be the gold standard for evaluation of colonic mucosa inflammation in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), but the procedure is invasive and cannot be repeated frequently, especially in the paediatric population. The aim of this study was to assess the role of faecal calprotectin (FC) as a predictor of endoscopic disease activity in paediatric patients with UC in clinical remission.

Material And Methods: Single-centre prospective study.

Recurrent Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infection in a patient suffering from inflammatory bowel disease and benefits of resistotyping.

Two-year Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile recurrences in a boy with ulcerative colitis are described. Isolates were toxin A/B positive and nonhypervirulent, and resistotypes of 2017 isolates differed from those in 2016, suggesting a reinfection, later confirmed by multilocus sequence typing (ST49 and ST92, respectively). Resistotypes may show the need of genotypic analysis.

Prevalence of is still high among symptomatic Bulgarian children.

positivity was assessed among 656 symptomatic children in 2010-2017. Overall infection prevalence was 24.5% and a significantly higher rate was detected in girls (28.

Helicobacter pylori resistance to six antibiotics by two breakpoint systems and resistance evolution in Bulgaria.

Background: Helicobacter pylori resistance to antibiotics is the main cause for eradication failures.

Methods: Antibiotic resistance in 299 H. pylori strains from 233 untreated adults, 26 treated adults, and 40 untreated children was assessed by E tests and, for metronidazole, by breakpoint susceptibility testing and two breakpoint systems.

Linezolid susceptibility in Helicobacter pylori, including strains with multidrug resistance.

Only a few studies have evaluated Helicobacter pylori susceptibility to linezolid. The aim of the present study was to assess linezolid susceptibility in H. pylori, including strains with double/multidrug resistance.

Campylobacter infection in 682 bulgarian patients with acute enterocolitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and other chronic intestinal diseases.

The aim of the study was to assess Campylobacter infections in 309 patients with acute enterocolitis, 272 patients with relapses of chronic enterocolitis, 70 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (involving Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) and 31 patients with other chronic intestinal illnesses. Isolation and identification were performed conventionally. Limited agar dilution method was used for susceptibility testing of the strains.