Efficacy of Endoscopic Dilation of Gastroduodenal Crohn's Disease Strictures: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Individual Patient Data.

Background & Aims: Little is known about the effects of endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) for strictures of the upper gastrointestinal (UGI) tract in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). We performed a pooled analysis of the efficacy and safety of EBD for UGI CD-associated strictures.

Methods: We searched Embase, Medline, and the Cochrane library, as well as bibliographies of relevant articles, for cohort studies of adults with CD and strictures of the stomach or duodenum (up to the ligament of Treitz) who underwent EBD through December 2016.

Excellent outcome of direct antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C in Switzerland.

Background: The introduction of direct acting antivirals (DAAs) for the therapy of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) has revolutionised treatment and marks a paradigm shift in the approach to this disease, rendering interferon-based therapies obsolete.

Aims Of The Study: We retrospectively and prospectively evaluated treatment results after the introduction of DAA in Switzerland in a cohort of patients with CHC.

Methods: We examined 565 patients who received DAA treatment for CHC between November 2013 and June 2016 with regard to HCV genotype, fibrosis stadium, treatment and outcome.

Stent-over-sponge (SOS): a novel technique complementing endosponge therapy for foregut leaks and perforations.

Background And Study Aims: Endoluminal vacuum therapy (EVT) has evolved as a promising option for endoscopic treatment of foregut wall injuries in addition to the classic closure techniques using clips or stents. To improve vacuum force and maintain esophageal passage, we combined endosponge treatment with a partially covered self-expandable metal stent (stent-over-sponge; SOS).

Patients And Methods: Twelve patients with infected upper gastrointestinal wall defects were treated with the SOS technique.

Nonampullary Duodenal Adenomas Rarely Recur after Complete Endoscopic Resection: A Swiss Experience Including a Literature Review.

Introduction: Duodenal polyps and especially duodenal adenomas are a rare and mostly coincidental finding in patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Due to their malignant potential, duodenal adenomas should be removed upon diagnosis. So far, the limited available data on the performance of endoscopic polypectomy show conflicting results with regard to adverse events and the adenoma recurrence rate.

Targeting senescent cholangiocytes and activated fibroblasts with B-cell lymphoma-extra large inhibitors ameliorates fibrosis in multidrug resistance 2 gene knockout (Mdr2 ) mice.

Unlabelled: Cholangiocyte senescence has been linked to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Persistent secretion of growth factors by senescent cholangiocytes leads to the activation of stromal fibroblasts (ASFs), which are drivers of fibrosis. The activated phenotype of ASFs is characterized by an increased sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli.

CMOST: an open-source framework for the microsimulation of colorectal cancer screening strategies.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. CRC incidence and mortality can be reduced by several screening strategies, including colonoscopy, but randomized CRC prevention trials face significant obstacles such as the need for large study populations with long follow-up. Therefore, CRC screening strategies will likely be designed and optimized based on computer simulations.

Severe Infectious Complications after Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration of Suspected Mediastinal Duplication Cysts: A Case Series.

Background And Study Aims: The role of cyst cytology to diagnose mediastinal duplication cysts remains controversial. Since endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) of duplication cysts has been considered as safe so far, there are only a few case reports of infections following FNA.

Case Summary: We report a case series of all patients at our institution undergoing EUS evaluation for suspected mediastinal duplication cysts ( = 5) in the last 15 years.

Over-the-scope-clip closure of long lasting gastrocutaneous fistula after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube removal in immunocompromised patients: A single center case series.

Over-the-scope-clips (OTSC) have been shown to be an effective and safe endoscopic treatment option for the closure of gastrointestinal perforations, leakages and fistulae. Indications for endoscopic OTSC treatment have grown in number and also include gastro cutaneous fistula (GCF) after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube removal. Non-healing GCF is a rare complication after removal of PEG tubes and may especially develop in immunosuppressed patients with multiple comorbidities.

Life-threatening bleeding of a duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumor in a teenager: a rare case report.

Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are per se infrequent and are exceptional in children or young adults. So far, only 2 cases of pediatric duodenal GISTs have been published. Here we report on the case of a 19-year-old female patient who was admitted in hemorrhagic shock due to arterial bleeding of a duodenal GIST located in immediate proximity to the major duodenal papilla.

Direct antiviral agent treatment of chronic hepatitis C results in rapid regression of transient elastography and fibrosis markers fibrosis-4 score and aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index.

Background: Novel direct antiviral agents (DAA) targeting hepatitis C virus (HCV) have revolutionized the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection (CHC). Rates of sustained virological response (SVR) to treatment have drastically improved since introduction of DAA. Transient Elastography (TE) is an ultrasound based, non-invasive technique to assess liver stiffness (LS).

Brief Exercise Increases Peripheral Blood NK Cell Counts without Immediate Functional Changes, but Impairs their Responses to ex vivo Stimulation.

Physical as well as psychological stress increases the number of circulating peripheral blood NK cells. Whereas some studies found a positive correlation between exercise and NK cell counts and cytotoxic activity, others showed that, for example, heavy training leads to a decrease in per cell NK cytotoxicity. Thus, the impact of exercise on NK cell function and eventually on altered immunocompetence remains to be elucidated.

Prevention of pure red cell aplasia after major or bidirectional ABO blood group incompatible hematopoietic stem cell transplantation by pretransplant reduction of host anti-donor isoagglutinins.

Background: Persistent anti-donor isoagglutinins after major ABO blood group incompatible hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may cause delayed red blood cell engraftment and post-transplant pure red cell aplasia.

Design And Methods: We investigated the effect of pretransplant anti-donor isoagglutinin reduction by in vivo absorption and/or plasmapheresis on the incidence of pure red cell aplasia and the time to red blood cell engraftment in 153 hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with major ABO incompatibility.

Results: Twelve patients (8%) developed pure red cell aplasia, 3/98 (3%) with, and 9/55 (16%) without prior isoagglutinin reduction (p=0.

Flow cytometric measurement of ABO antibodies in ABO-incompatible living donor kidney transplantation.

Due to different detection methods, a comparison of anti-A/B antibody (Ab) levels among transplantation centers after living donor ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation is problematic. In the present study, anti-A/B Ab levels were determined prior to, and after, blood group A-to-O kidney transplantation using a recently established semiquantitative flow cytometry-based method, ABO fluorescence-activated cell sorting (ABO-FACS), and compared with standard agglutination titers and indirect antiglobulin testing. Pretransplant agglutination titers were reduced from 1:64 to 1:4, by a total of 14 Glycosorb A column immunoadsorptions (IADSs).