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Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) using sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy is now common in many developed countries. This concise, evidence-based review looks at the impact of sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy screening on CRC incidence, CRC mortality and overall mortality. Data from controlled retrospective and prospective (observational or randomized) studies have generally shown that sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, whether for diagnostic, screening or surveillance purposes, are associated with a significant reduction in CRC incidence and CRC mortality. The data on their impact on overall mortality is much more limited, with most studies unable to report a reduction in overall mortality. The results of three meta-analyses have confirmed these conclusions. As expected, sigmoidoscopy has a predominant effect on left-sided CRC, although some studies have shown modest effects on right-sided colon cancer as well. Most studies on colonoscopy have demonstrated that the protective effect applies to both right and left-sided cancer, although the protection seemed better on the left side. Despite the introduction of other screening and diagnostic modalities for the colon, such as computed tomography colonography and colonic capsule endoscopy, lower endoscopy will continue to be an important mode of screening for CRC and evaluating the colon.
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Life expectancy in Korea has increased, and the number of screening colonoscopies in the elderly has also dramatically increased. The net benefit of colonoscopy in the very elderly (≥80 years of age as defined by the World Health Organization) may be reduced because of the competing risk of mortality due to other diseases. Therefore, the decision to perform screening colonoscopy may be more complex in this age group. As the potential increase in life expectancy due to screening colonoscopy is significantly reduced in the very elderly, this procedure should be limited to those among the very elderly who have substantial life expectancies. Furthermore, considering the common major complications associated with colonoscopy, poor bowel preparation, and the possibility of incomplete colonoscopies in the very elderly, the performance of screening colonoscopy in the very elderly may not be an ideal recommendation. In terms of providing the greatest benefit to the most number of people, patients with the highest potential gain in terms of life expectancy, relative to the diagnostic yield, should be targeted for colonoscopy screening. This review addresses the unique considerations regarding screening colonoscopy in the very elderly and the individualized approach, which involves the weighing of the risks and benefits for each individual with consideration of their overall health status.
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Several recent studies have reported that the early use of infliximab (IFX) improves the prognosis of Crohn's disease (CD). However, no data are available from Asian populations, as the forementioned studies have all been conducted in Western countries. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of early use of IFX on the prognosis of Korean patients with CD.
Patients with a diagnosis of CD established between July 1987 and January 2012 were investigated in 12 university hospitals in Korea. Because insurance coverage for IFX treatment began in August 2005, patients were assigned to either of 2 groups based on diagnosis date. The first group included patients diagnosed from July 1987 to December 2005, and the second from January 2006 to January 2012. We compared the cumulative probabilities of operation and reoperation between the two groups using the Kaplan-Meier method and a log-rank test.
Of the 721 patients investigated, 443 (61.4%) comprized the second group. Although the cumulative probabilities of immunosuppressant (
The early use of IFX did not reduce CD-related surgery requirements in Korean patients with CD. These study results suggest that the early use of IFX may have little impact on the clinical outcome of CD in Korean patients in the setting of a conventional step-up algorithm.
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Only moderate to severe Crohn's Disease (CD) patients without a satisfactory conventional therapy effect are eligible to get reimbursement from the National Health Insurance of Taiwan for using adalimumab. These are more stringent criteria than in many Western countries and Japan and Korea. We aim to explore the efficacy of using adalimumab in CD patients under such stringent criteria.
A retrospective analysis was conducted in nine medical centers in Taiwan and we collected the results of CD patients receiving adalimumab from Sep 2009 to Mar 2014. The clinical characteristics, response measured by CDAI (Crohn's Disease Activity Index), adverse events and survival status were recorded and analyzed. CR-70, CR-100, and CR-150 were defined as attaining a CDAI decrease of 70, 100 or 150 points compared with baseline.
A total of 103 CD patient records were used in this study. Sixty percent of these patients received combination therapy of adalimumab together with immunomodulators. CR-70 was 68.7%, 74.5% and 88.4% after week 4, 8 and 12 of treatment, respectively. The steroid-free rate, complications and survival were 47.6%, 9.7% and 99% of patients, respectively. In considering the mucosal healing, only 25% patients achieve mucosal healing after treatment for 6 to 12 months. Surgery was still needed in 16.5% of patients. Combination treatment of adalimumab with immunomodulators further decreased the level of CDAI at week 8 when compared with the monotherapy.
Even under the stringent criteria for using adalimumab, the response rate was comparable to those without stringent criteria.
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Mesenteric microvascular thrombosis has been implicated as a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the current study was to assess the possibility of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with IBD by measuring their carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT).
Thirty-eight patients with IBD who were followed-up for at least 3 years participated. Patients with a history of cardiovascular disease and known risk factors for atherosclerosis were excluded. As a control group, 38 healthy patients matched for age and gender without atherosclerosis risk factors were included. Carotid ultrasonography was performed in all patients and controls. Patient baseline characteristics and laboratory parameters were recorded to evaluate atherosclerosis risk factors.
The mean age of patients with IBD was 38.5±6.62 years. Twenty-three patients with IBD were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and the other 15 cases were diagnosed with Crohn's disease. The median duration of disease was 52.0 months. Serologic markers such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein (CRP), and cholesterol levels differed significantly, however, there was no significant difference in c-IMT between patients with IBD and those in the control group (0.53±0.10 mm vs. 0.53±0.07;
The results of the current study did not show an increase in c-IMT in patients with IBD. Further studies that include more subjects and a longer follow-up period will be necessary in order to evaluate the risk of atherosclerosis in Korean patients with IBD.
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Antibiotic usage and increasingly aging populations have led to increased incidence of
Hospitalized patients diagnosed with CDI at Seoul Paik Hospital between January 2007 and December 2008 were included. Their medical records were retrospectively investigated. 'Delayed recurrence' was defined as a relapse 8 weeks after a successful initial treatment. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for the delayed recurrence. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze mortality rates.
A total of 120 patients were enrolled; among them, 87 were followed-up for at least 1 year, with a mean follow-up period of 34.1±25.1 months. Delayed recurrence was observed in 17 patients (19.5%), and significant risk factors were age (over 70 years,
Delayed recurrence of CDI was not rare, occurring in 19.5% of the study population. Although CDI-related mortality was not reported, 2-year (32.5%) mortality rate of CDI patients implies that a CDI diagnosis may predict severe morbidity and poor prognosis of the underlying disease.
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Given the characteristic procedures involved in the endoscopy unit, the spread of pathogens is much more frequent in this unit than in other environments. However, there is a lack of data elucidating the existence of pathogens in the endoscopy unit. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of possible pathogens in the endoscopy unit.
We performed environmental culture using samples from the endoscopy rooms of 2 tertiary hospitals. We used sterile cotton-tipped swabs moistened with sterile saline to swab the surfaces of 197 samples. Then, we cultured the swab in blood agar plate. Samples from the colonoscopy room were placed in thioglycollate broth to detect the presence of anaerobes. After 2 weeks of culture period, we counted the colony numbers.
The most commonly contaminated spots were the doctor's keyboard, nurse's cart, and nurse's mouse. The common organisms found were non-pathogenic bacterial microorganisms
Although the organisms detected in the endoscopy unit were mainly non-pathogenic organisms, they might cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, the environment of the endoscopy room should be managed appropriately; moreover, individual hand hygiene is important for preventing possible hospital-acquired infections.
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Providers may be hesitant to perform double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in the elderly because the increased number of co-morbidities in this population poses a greater risk of complications resulting from sedation. There are limited data on the use of DBE in the elderly. Here, we assessed the safety and efficacy of DBE in the elderly compared to those in younger patients.
We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 158 patients who underwent 218 DBEs. Patients were divided into an elderly group (age ≥65 years; mean 71.4±5.4; n=34; 41 DBEs) and a younger group (age <65 years; mean 39.5±13.5; n=124; 177 DBEs).
In both groups, the most common indication for DBE was obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. Mucosal lesions (33.3% vs. 60.9%;
DBE is safe and effective in the elderly, and has a high diagnostic yield and high therapeutic success rate.
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Peutz-Jeghers syndrome is an autosomal dominant inherited disease that manifests as a combination of mucocutaneous pigmentation and gastrointestinal hamartomatous polyps that usually cause intussusception and intestinal hemorrhage. We report the case of a 40-year-old male patient who was diagnosed 20 years ago and had previously undergone 3 intestinal resection surgeries. This time, with the use of combined operative and endoscopic polypectomy, more than 100 polyps were removed. This technique is useful for providing a "clean" small intestine that allows the patient a long interval between laparotomies and reduces the complications associated with multiple laparotomies and resections.
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Alimentary tract duplications are uncommon congenital abnormalities that usually have an anatomical connection with some part of the gastrointestinal tract and have a common blood supply with the adjacent segment of intestine. A completely isolated duplication cyst (CIDC) is a very rare type of gastrointestinal duplication that does not communicate with the normal bowel segment and possesses its own exclusive blood supply. Only 5 CIDC cases in adults have been reported in the English medical literature. Additionally, only 1 case of mucinous cystadenoma from an infected CIDC of the ileum has been reported. This report describes a 52-year-old male patient with a peritoneal CIDC, which upon curative excision was found to have given rise to an adenocarcinoma. The latter was lined internally with malignant glandular cells and contained a smooth muscular outer layer as determined by microscopic examination of the tissue. We believe that this is the first reported case of an adenocarcinoma originating from a CIDC in an adult.
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