Protocol for a national, multicentre study of post-endoscopy colorectal and upper gastrointestinal cancers: The POET study.

Aim: The primary aim of the study is to define the post-colonoscopy colorectal cancer (PCCRC) three-year rate and the post-endoscopy upper gastrointestinal cancer (PEUGIC) three-year rate across public hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Method: This retrospective cohort study will be conducted via the trainee-led STRATA Collaborative network. All public hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand will be eligible to participate.

Biomarkers in the early prediction of rescue therapy in acute severe colitis-a single-centre retrospective study.

Nil.

Artificial intelligence improves adenoma detection rate during colonoscopy.

Background: Artificial intelligence-assisted colonoscopy (AIAC) has gained attention as a tool to assist with polyp detection during colonoscopy. Uncertainty remains as to the clinical benefit, given limited publications using different modules.

Method: A single-centre retrospective study was performed at Waitematā Endoscopy, a private endoscopy centre in Auckland, New Zealand.

Structured oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx assessment during routine esophagogastroduodenoscopy improves detection of pre- and early cancerous lesions: a multicenter, comparative study.

A structured assessment of the oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx (OHL) may improve the diagnostic yield for the detection of precancerous and early cancerous lesions (PECLs) during routine esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Thus, we aimed to compare routine EGDs ± structured OHL assessment (SOHLA), including photo documentation with regard to the detection of PECLs. Consecutive patients with elective EGD were arbitrarily allocated to endoscopy lists with or without SOHLA.

A Noninferiority Randomized Clinical Trial of the Use of the Smartphone-Based Health Applications IBDsmart and IBDoc in the Care of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients.

Background: Providing timely follow-up care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease in remission is important but often difficult because of resource limitations. Using smartphones to communicate symptoms and biomarkers is a potential alternative. We aimed to compare outpatient management using 2 smartphone apps (IBDsmart for symptoms and IBDoc for fecal calprotectin monitoring) vs standard face-to-face care.

The risk of non-melanoma skin cancer in New Zealand in inflammatory bowel disease patients treated with thiopurines.

Background And Aim: New Zealand (NZ) has one of the highest rates of non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) in the world. Thiopurine use in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients has been shown to increase NMSC risk. This study aimed to investigate the possible increase of NMSC risk in thiopurine-treated IBD patients in NZ despite the high background rate.

"We are what our bacteria eat": The role of bacteria in personalizing nutrition therapy in gastrointestinal conditions.

The theme for the 2016 World Digestive Health Day is "Your Diet and Gut Health". The World Gastroenterology Organization thereby wishes to raise awareness of the relationship between what we eat and gastrointestinal symptoms. World Digestive Health Day (WDHD) is celebrated each year on May 29.

Primary pleural epithelioid hemangioendothelioma mimicking as a posterior mediastinal tumor.

A 41-year-old man with no previous asbestos exposure presented with 6 months of dull right lower chest pain and weight loss. The initial computed tomography (CT) scan was reported as showing a soft tissue thickening in the posterior mediastinum with non-specific nodules in the horizontal and oblique fissures. An endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration from the 12 × 25 mm heterogeneous posterior mediastinal mass was suspicious for a ganglioneuroma.

Disease activity assessment in IBD: clinical indices and biomarkers fail to predict endoscopic remission.

Background: In the current management paradigm, mucosal healing is preferred over clinical remission as a therapeutic end point in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) because of the benefits engendered with respect to durability of remission. Colonoscopy, however, is not suitable for regular disease monitoring, and routine clinical assessment is often inaccurate with respect to endoscopic disease activity. The current investigation set out to characterize the relationship that exists between endoscopically determined IBD activity and clinical and biochemical measures of disease severity and to determine clinically useful thresholds for use in clinical practice.

Support and practical advice for the use of nutrition support teams.

There are many guidelines recommending that provision of parenteral nutrition (PN) should be supervised by nutrition support teams (NSTs). There is some evidence that these teams make economic sense, decrease complications and result in greater delivery of target nutritional requirements. Moreover, a recent report on the quality of PN care in the UK found only 19% was considered to be consistent with current good practice.

Refeeding syndrome: screening, incidence, and treatment during parenteral nutrition.

The possible deleterious effects of feeding after a period of prolonged starvation have been known for over 60 years. The resultant biochemical disturbance, symptoms, and signs have been termed the refeeding syndrome (RS). The key to the pathophysiology is the stimulation of insulin release resulting in anabolic activity.

The diagnostic yield of colonoscopy in patients with isolated abdominal pain.

Aim: Colonoscopy is an overstretched resource and there is no consensus on whether isolated abdominal pain is an appropriate indication for colonoscopy. We evaluated the proportion of patients referred for colonoscopy with isolated abdominal pain and determined the diagnostic yield for this indication.

Methods: All patients registered as having a colonoscopy at Waitemata District Health Board on Endoscribe reporting database between March 2005 and February 2010 were included.

Successful treatment of parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease in an adult by use of a fish oil-based lipid source.

Liver disease occurs in 15% to 40% of adults on long-term parenteral nutrition, with steatosis being more common than cholestasis in the adult population. This problem has been well reported in the pediatric population, but we describe the case of a man who became profoundly jaundiced after being on parenteral nutrition for 3 y and responded rapidly to a change in lipid source from soybean and olive oil-based emulsion (ClinOleic) to a fish oil-based lipid emulsion (Omegaven).

Infliximab or cyclosporine for acute severe ulcerative colitis: a retrospective analysis.

Background And Aim: Medical treatment of steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) is limited to either cyclosporine or infliximab. Studies comparing cyclosporine with either placebo or intravenous methylprednisone showed promise for cyclosporine, but associated it with significant toxicity. There is conflicting, but increasingly positive evidence for using infliximab.