Comparison of an ecabet sodium and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) combination therapy with PPI alone in the treatment of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)--induced ulcers in early gastric cancer: prospective randomized study.

Background/aims: Ecabet sodium (ES) is a widely employed mucoprotective agent, for the treatment of gastric ulcers. The present paper prospectively evaluate the additive benefits of using ES in combination with the rabeprazole proton pump inhibitor (PPI) for the treatment of gastric ulcers after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).

Methodology: A total of 56 patients who had undergone ESD for early gastric cancers were randomly assigned to receive either PPI with ES (P/ES group, n=28) or PPI alone (PPI group, n=28) for 8 weeks.

Multivariate analysis for factors predicting rapid response of leukocytapheresis in patients with steroid-resistant ulcerative colitis: a multicenter prospective open-label study.

Leukocytapheresis (LCAP) has been advocated as a treatment for moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis (UC) in Japan. To clarify the predictive factors for a rapid response to LCAP treatment, we conducted a multicenter prospective open-label study. A total of 105 patients with UC were analyzed.

Endoscopic findings can predict the efficacy of leukocytapheresis for steroid-naive patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis.

Aim: To investigate the therapeutic usefulness of leukocytapheresis (LCAP; Cellsoba) in steroid-naive patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methods: Eighteen steroid-naive patients with moderately active UC received one LCAP session every week for five consecutive weeks.

Results: The remission rate 8 weeks after the last LCAP session was 61.

Serum proinflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules in ulcerative colitis.

Background/aims: The aim of this study was to define the correlation between serum markers, such as proinflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules, and disease activity in ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methodology: Nineteen patients with UC treated in our hospital from April 2003 to June 2004, were enrolled into this study. We measured serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) from a blood sample.

Herpes simplex pancreatitis.

Lesions of the pancreas induced by viral infection have drawn relatively little attention because of their low incidence, and the histopathologic features of viral pancreatitis have not been fully elucidated. We report the autopsy findings of 2 patients, a 59-year-old woman with allergic granulomatous angiitis and a 73-year-old man with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis who had a disseminated visceral herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. In both cases, the liver was the organ most severely affected by the viral infection.