Diego Garcia-Compean

Prevalence of eosinophilic esophagitis in patients with refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms: A prospective study

BACKGROUND Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is not routinely considered in the differential diagnosis of refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). AIMS To prospectively evaluate the prevalence of EoE and describe the clinical features and predictors of EoE in patients with refractory symptoms of GERD. METHODS Esophageal biopsies were obtained in patients with symptoms of GERD refractory to 8 weeks of conventional antisecretory therapy. Diagnosis of EoE was defined as at least 20 eosinophils × high power field and clinical unresponsiveness to proton pump inhibitors. Clinical and manometric features were compared. Independent risk factors predicting EoE were identified. RESULTS Six out of 150 included patients (4%) met the diagnostic criteria for EoE. Patients with EoE were significantly younger, had significantly more dysphagia, atopy, ineffective esophageal peristalsis, esophageal rings and esophageal strictures than patients without EoE. Independent predictors of EoE were: age under 45 years (OR 4.8, 95% CI 2.4-8.6), dysphagia (OR 12.2, 95% CI 4.3-19.4), and atopy (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.5-7.4). CONCLUSIONS EoE is an uncommon condition (4%) in patients with refractory symptoms of GERD. Age under 45 years, atopy or dysphagia may warrant suspicion of EoE in this subset of patients.

Prevalence of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Patients with Extraesophageal Symptoms Referred from Otolaryngology, Allergy, and Cardiology Practices: A Prospective Study

Aim: To investigate the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as well as the clinical, endoscopic, and manometric characteristics in 57 adult patients with otolaryngeal symptoms, asthma, or noncardiac chest pain referred from specialized services. Methods: The following evaluations were performed: (1) upper endoscopy, (2) 24-hour ambulatory esophageal pH monitoring, and (3) esophageal manometry. The prevalence of GERD was determined, and demographic, clinical, endoscopic, and manometric characteristics of patients with or without GERD were evaluated. Results: Thirty-four out of 57 patients (60%) had GERD. The 95% confidence interval ranged from 48 to 72%. There was no statistical difference between patients with or without GERD regarding gender, age, or time of evolution of symptoms. Cough was more frequent in the subjects with GERD (75 vs. 25%, p<0.05). Nevertheless, cough was observed in only 53% of the patients with GERD. Patients suffering from laryngitis had a greater proximal and distal esophageal acid exposure time than those without. Conclusions: The prevalence of GERD was 60%. There is not a definite demographic or clinical profile that permits us to distinguish between patients with and without GERD among those with ear, nose, and throat and pulmonary symptoms or chest pain.

Endoscopic injection of botulinum toxin in the gastric antrum for the treatment of obesity: Results of a pilot study

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to observe the effects of endoscopic injections of botulinum toxin (BT) in the gastric antrum on body weight and gastric emptying in obese patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS Obese patients were selected for the study. By endoscopy, 100 U of BT type A was injected into the prepyloric antral gastric wall. Before and after treatment body weight and solid gastric emptying were evaluated. RESULTS Twelve patients were included into this study. Four and twelve weeks after the treatment median values of body weight and gastric emptying did not show significant changes compared to baseline values: body weight: (- 0.5 kg and - 1.0 kg respectively, P > 0.05) and gastric retention for solids at 90 min (+ 4.5% and +10.5% respectively, P > 0.05). Abnormal gastric emptying (solid gastric retention at 90 min > 50%) was observed in 22% of patients after 4 weeks and in 25% after 12 weeks. CONCLUSIONS BT injected into the gastric antrum does not seem to significantly reduce body weight or delay gastric emptying in obese patients.

Predictors of in-hospital mortality in patients with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding

OBJECTIVE to determine the independent predictors of in-hospital death of Hispanic patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGB). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN prospective and observational trial. PATIENTS in a period between 2000 and 2009, all patients with NVUGB admitted to our hospital were studied. Demographical and clinical characteristics, endoscopic findings and laboratory tests were evaluated χ² and Mann-Whitney U analyses were per-formed for comparisons, and binary logistic regression was employed to identify independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. RESULTS 1,067 patients were included, 65% male with a mean age of 58.8 years. Mean number of comorbidities per patient was 1.6 ± 0.76. The most frequent cause of bleeding were gastric and duodenal ulcers (55.4%); 278 patients (25.8%) received endoscopic treatment of which 69.1% had combined therapy. Rebleeding occurred in 36 patients (3.4%) of which 50% died. In-hospital mortality was 10.2%, of which only 3.1% was associated to bleeding. When comparing causes of death among patients with and without comorbidities, only hypovolemic shock was found significative (48.3 vs. 25%; p = 0.020). Binary logistic regression found that the number of comorbidities, Rockall scale score; serum albumin < 2.6 g/dL on admission; rebleeding and length of hospital stay were independent risk factors of in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSION the number of comorbidities, the Rockall scales core, an albumin level < 2.6 g/dL, the presence of rebleeding and hospital stay were predictors of in-hospital mortality in patients with NVUGB.

The treatment of diabetes mellitus of patients with chronic liver disease.

About 80% of patients with liver cirrhosis may have glucose metabolism disorders, 30% show overt diabetes mellitus (DM). Prospective studies have demonstrated that DM is associated with an increased risk of hepatic complications and death in patients with liver cirrhosis. DM might contribute to liver damage by promoting inflammation and fibrosis through an increase in mitochondrial oxidative stress mediated by adipokines. Based on the above mentioned the effective control of hyperglycemia may have a favorable impact on the evolution of these patients. However, only few therapeutic studies have evaluated the effectiveness and safety of antidiabetic drugs and the impact of the treatment of DM on morbidity and mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis. In addition, oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin may produce hypoglycemia and lactic acidosis, as most of these agents are metabolized by the liver. This review discusses the clinical implications of DM in patients with chronic liver disease. In addition the effectiveness and safety of old, but particularly the new antidiabetic drugs will be described based on pharmacokinetic studies and chronic administration to patients. Recent reports regarding the use of the SGLT2 inhibitors as well as the new incretin-based therapies such as injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and oral inhibitors of dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) will be discussed. The establishment of clear guidelines for the management of diabetes in patients with CLD is strongly required.

Impact of therapeutic interventions induced by capsule endoscopy on long term outcome in chronic obscure GI bleeding.

BACKGROUND The diagnostic yield and the clinical impact of capsule endoscopy (CE) in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) are well known. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of therapeutic interventions induced by CE findings on long term outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with chronic OGIB referred to our center from September 2003 to June 2005 for CE were included. Treatment of intestinal lesions was prescribed according to the clinical characteristics of patients and the nature of the lesions. RESULTS Forty patients were included, 18 females and 22 males. Median age was 54 yrs (range: 5-87) with a median follow-up of 13 months (range: 6-22). The diagnostic yield of CE was 75% (30/40). From 30 patients with positive CE, 16 received treatment (Group I) and 14 did not (Group II). Thus clinical impact was 40%. Ten patients had negative CE (Group III). During follow-up, bleeding recurrence was observed in only 1 patient from Group I (6%), 5 from Group II (36%) and 1 from Group III (10%). There were only significant differences between Group I vs Group II (P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS CE results had a favorable influence in patient outcome allowing for specific treatment as they showed significantly reduced recurrent bleeding.

Subclinical abnormal glucose tolerance is a predictor of death in liver cirrhosis

AIM To determine if subclinical abnormal glucose tolerance (SAGT) has influence on survival of non-diabetic patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS In total, 100 patients with compensated liver cirrhosis and normal fasting plasma glucose were included. Fasting plasma insulin (FPI) levels were measured, and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. According to OGTT results two groups of patients were formed: those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and those with SAGT. Patients were followed every three months. The mean follow-up was 932 d (range of 180-1925). Survival was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meyer method, and predictive factors of death were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. RESULTS Of the included patients, 30 showed NGT and 70 SAGT. Groups were significantly different only in age, INR, FPI and HOMA2-IR. Patients with SAGT showed lower 5-year cumulated survival than NGT patients (31.7% vs 71.6%, P = 0.02). Differences in survival were significant only after 3 years of follow-up. SAGT, Child-Pugh B, and high Child-Pugh and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores were independent predictors of death. The causes of death in 90.3% of cases were due to complications related to liver disease. CONCLUSION SAGT was associated with lower survival. SAGT, Child-Pugh B, and high Child-Pugh and MELD scores were independent negative predictors of survival.

Hepatogenous diabetes: Is it a neglected condition in chronic liver disease?

Diabetes mellitus (DM) that occurs because of chronic liver disease (CLD) is known as hepatogenous diabetes (HD). Although the association of diabetes and liver cirrhosis was described forty years ago, it was scarcely studied for long time. Patients suffering from this condition have low frequency of risk factors of type 2 DM. Its incidence is higher in CLD of viral, alcoholic and cryptogenic etiology. Its pathophysiology relates to liver damage, pancreatic dysfunction, interactions between hepatitis C virus (HCV) and glucose metabolism mechanisms and genetic susceptibility. It associates with increased rate of liver complications and hepatocellular carcinoma, and decreased 5-year survival rate. It reduces sustained virological response in HCV infected patients. In spite of these evidences, the American Diabetes Association does not recognize HD. In addition, the impact of glucose control on clinical outcomes of patients has not been evaluated. Treatment of diabetes may be difficult due to liver insufficiency and hepatotoxicity of antidiabetic drugs. Notwithstanding, no therapeutic guidelines have been implemented up to date. In this editorial, authors discuss the reasons why they think that HD may be a neglected pathological condition and call attention to the necessity for more clinical research on different fields of this disease.

Lack of consistency with the consensus recommendations for the diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in published prevalence studies. A clinical and systematic review.

According to consensus recommendations, the presence of esophageal symptoms, >15 eosinophils/high‐power field and unresponsiveness to proton pump inhibitors are required for a diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Nevertheless, inconsistency in using these guidelines has been reported in recent publications. The objective of this study was to assess compliance with EoE diagnostic guidelines in published studies on EoE prevalence and to evaluate other clinical and methodological parameters.

Hipoalbuminemia en el desenlace clínico de pacientes con sangrado de tubo digestivo alto no variceal

INTRODUCTION AND AIM The role of serum albumin level in patients with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGB) has not been extensively studied. Our aim was to evaluate the role of serum albumin on admission in terms of in-hospital mortality in patients with NVUGB. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients admitted with NVUGB during a 4-year period were prospectively included. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected. ROC curve analysis was used to determine the cutoff value for serum albumin on admission that made a distinction between deceased patients and survivors with respect to serum albumin on admission, as well as its overall performance compared with the Rockall score. RESULTS 185 patients with NVUGB were evaluated. Men predominated (56.7%) and a mean age of 59.1±19.9 years was found. Mean serum albumin on admission was 2.9±0.9g/dl with hypoalbuminemia (< 3.5g/dl) detected on admission in 71.4% of cases. The ROC curve found that the best value for predicting hospital mortality was an albumin level of 3.1g/dl (AUROC 0.738). Mortality in patients with albumin ≥ 3.2g/dl was 1.2% compared with 11.2% in patients with albumin<3.2g/dl (P=.009; OR 9.7, 95%CI 1.2-76.5). There was no difference in overall performance between the albumin level (AUORC 0.738) and the Rockall score (AUROC 0.715) for identifying mortality. CONCLUSIONS Patients with hypoalbuminemia presenting with NVUGB have a greater in-hospital mortality rate. The serum albumin level and the Rockall score perform equally in regard to identifying the mortality rate.