Italian journal of gastroenterology and hepatology最新文献

Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography is a noninvasive procedure that is increasingly used in patients with hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases. The accuracy of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography has dramatically improved during the last few years, and there is no doubt that magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography will have a major impact on the gastroenterologist's diagnostic work-up of patients. The key for success in dealing with hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases is the precise knowledge of their course, the indications for treatment, and the therapy available. Thus, a team approach with strong representation from gastroenterology and radiology will be the most optimal path to an improved understanding of the value of Magnetic Resonance technology.

The term inflammatory bowel disease traditionally comprises ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and indeterminate colitis, an intermediate variant of the two major forms. The term is commonly used in the literature and in clinical practice even though it has never been revised in a Consensus Conference. The present nosology of inflammatory bowel disease seems not to be entirely satisfactory as it is limited to chronic diseases only and does not include several recently described idiopathic inflammatory bowel disorders. Although the aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease remains unknown, both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are characterized by a similar pathogenesis which consists in a persistent intestinal inflammation resulting from disregulation of the gut mucosal immune system. The pathogenetic mechanisms could, therefore, provide a suitable criterion for the classification of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. A revised classification of inflammatory bowel disease is thus proposed. It seems reasonable to subclassify inflammatory bowel disease into acute and chronic forms. Acute forms should include the sudden attacks of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease with rapid and complete resolution and the so-called "acute self-limited colitis". The chronic forms should comprise, besides the classical forms of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and indeterminate colitis, also other idiopathic inflammatory bowel conditions such as collagenous colitis, lymphocytic colitis and eosinophilic gastroenteritis.

A 75-year-old man with right upper quadrant abdominal pain was diagnosed by gastroscopy to have an impacted gallstone in the duodenal bulb. Using the polypectomy loop, the stone was extracted from the bulbus and mobilized into the stomach. After failure to remove the stone from the stomach as well as fragmentation by mechanical lithotripsy, electrohydraulic lithotripsy was used to break up the stone, parts of which passed spontaneously through the bowel. Thus, it was unnecessary to proceed with surgical enterolithotomy to remove, from the duodenal bulb, the impacted gallstone responsible for the gastric outlet obstruction.

Ischaemia is a rare but often lethal aetiology of pancreatitis. A 67-year-old man underwent aortocoronary by-pass. Postoperatively, he developed atrial fibrillation and possibly acute myocardial infarction. Later, he had acute pancreatitis and underwent laparotomy for purulent peritonitis due to a ruptured pancreatic abscess. Cholesterolosis was found but no gallstones. The postoperative period was heavily complicated and the patient eventually died due to multiorgan failure. The occurrence of ischaemic pancreatitis should be more readily suspected in patients with abdominal symptoms following surgery that induces ischaemia of the pancreas. It is possible that delay in diagnosis accounts for the high death rate of such postoperative complication.

Background and aims: Few data exist on the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in cirrhotic patients. In this study we assessed the efficacy of standard dual and one-week low-dose triple therapy on Helicobacter pylori eradication in cirrhotics.

Patients and methods: In a prospective study, 83 cirrhotic patients with epigastric pain were randomised to receive either a two-week course of dual therapy, composed of omeprazole 20 mg b.d. plus amoxycillin 1 g b.d. (n = 41) or a one-week course of triple therapy, composed of omeprazole 20 mg b.d., clarithromycin 250 mg b.d., and tetracycline 500 mg b.d (n = 42). Helicobacter pylori infection at entry and eradication 6-8 weeks after the end of therapy were assessed by rapid urease test and histology on biopsies from the antrum and corpus. When eradication did not occur with either dual or triple therapy, patients were given the alternative regimen. Helicobacter pylori eradication in these patients was assessed 6-8 weeks after the end of treatment by a further endoscopy.

Results: Helicobacter pylori eradication was achieved in 87.8% (36 out of 41; 95% confidence interval 77.8-97.8%) of patients after dual therapy and in 85.7% (36 out of 42; 95% confidence interval 75.1-96.3%) of patients treated with triple therapy (p = NS). In patients in whom initial eradication was unsuccessful, re-treatment eradicated Helicobacter pylori in 4 out of 5 patients given the triple regimen and in all 5 patients who received the dual therapy. One patient was lost to follow-up. No major side-effects were reported for either treatment regimen.

Conclusions: Our data show that both dual and triple therapies are effective in Helicobacter pylori eradication in cirrhotics as well as in eradication failure patients. Therefore, the use of the dual therapy regimen is strongly suggested as an initial treatment for Helicobacter pylori eradication in cirrhotic patients.

Background: Familial Adenomatous Polyposis in an autosomal dominant disease in which the large bowel is carpeted by polyps of various dimensions appearing during the second or third decade of life. Several extracolonic manifestations complete the clinical spectrum of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. If untreated, the disease leads invariably to colorectal cancer. The gene responsible for the disease, adenomatous Polyposis Coli, has been localized at chromosome 5q21.

Aims: To describe the clinical features of 156 Familial Adenomatous Polyposis patients (from 41 families) and to analyze possible correlations between genotype and phenotype.

Patients and methods: Familial Adenomatous Polyposis was defined as the presence of 100 or more polyps in the large bowel. In 17 families (41%), the proband was the only affected individual (single cases). Adenomatous Polyposis Coli gene mutations were studied on DNA extracted from peripheral white blood cells and evaluated by polymerase chain reaction single strand conformation polymorphism, followed by direct sequencing of samples showing abnormal banding at single strand conformation polymorphism.

Results: The large majority of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis patients underwent surgery; colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis was the most frequent approach, however, cancer of the rectal stump developed in 11.6% of patients submitted to colectomy and ileorectal anastomosis. Adenomas were rare in the stomach (8.8%), but their frequency increased in the duodenum (33.8%) and jejunum (55.0%, chi 2 for trend 23.7, p < 0.001). Desmoid tumours were diagnosed in 17 patients (10.9% of the total) and in 6 families. Mutations of the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli gene were studied in 20 out of 25 families (80%) and on a total of 75 individuals. The most frequent alterations were 1 to 5 bp deletions leading to stop codons and truncated proteins. Desmoid tumours, presence of duodenal or jejunal adenomas were associated with an ample range of mutations, from codon 215 to codon 1464. In contrast, particularly severe polyposis (mean age at appearance of polyps 11-16 years, and of cancer development 27-32 years) was associated with a "hotspot" mutation site at codons 1303-1309.

Conclusions: In patients with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, subtotal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis is still the treatment of choice. Adenomatous lesions seem to show a "gradient" distribution from the stomach to the large bowel. Desmoid tumours are relatively common, though their incidence is limited to some of the families. Constitutional mutations can be detected in 80% of the investigated families. Genotype-phenotype correlations showed a hot-spot at codons 1303-1309, frequently associated with severe polyposis.

A brief review is made of the use of high dose polyethylene glycol solution in the treatment of functional constipation and encopresis in children. Experience with low dose polyethylene glycol for the treatment of neurogenic constipation in children with severe brain damage is also reported. Treatment with polyethylene glycol caused a significant increase in bowel frequency and a decrease in gastrointestinal transit time. Side-effects, consisting of nausea, vomiting and irritability, have limited the use of this treatment in a few children.

Coeliac disease is a permanent intolerance to wheat gliadins and related prolamines. Patients who have an obvious malabsorption syndrome form only a small minority of the total number of people with coeliac disease. There are, in fact, no pathognomonic clinical features, and the condition is defined and diagnosed by the presence of pathological changes in the small bowel mucosa related to the presence of toxic prolamines. Susceptibility to coeliac disease is determined to a significant extent by genetic factors. A large part of the genetic susceptibility maps to the HLA region on chromosome 6, as approximately 95% of coeliac disease patients carry an almost identical HLA DQ2/heterodimer; a role of non-HLA genes has also been postulated. From a pathogenetic point of view, most evidence supports the notion of a DQ-restricted gluten-specific Th1 response in the lamina propria; nonetheless, it is possible that, in coeliac subjects, gluten, prior to T cell activation, could exert a direct toxic effect leading to the production of proinflammatory signals.

Bulking agents are not always effective and are not well tolerated by many patients. Non-bulking laxatives are not devoid of side-effects. A satisfactory treatment for functional constipation is not yet available and an ideal drug to efficiently treat these patients is needed. Unlike commonly used laxatives, low doses of polyethylene glycol solutions have few side-effects and appear to be beneficial to the patients.