The regimen of Group C is significantly better than the regimens of Groups A or B in bowel cleansing. Regimens of Groups A and B did not differ in efficacy of cleansing. It is the timing of taking NaPh in the regimen of Group C rather than its composition that is responsible for its superior cleansing ability compared with PEG. Overnight deposition of small intestinal material in the right colon is partly responsible for the inferior cleansing ability of regimens that involve taking the solution on the day before colonoscopy. Despite a higher incidence of minor side-effects from NaPh than from PEG, a significantly higher proportion of patients preferred NaPh.

No abstract

We have previously published two reports on acute infection with Helicobacter pylori, one of an adult male and one of a family of four. In the present study, we have isolated H. pylori from each of twin boys in the family and compared these by use of random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR. In addition, we have monitored the antibody response over time of the family and the adult male by Western blotting (immunoblotting) with two different strains of H. pylori as the antigen and by use of a commercial kit. The acutely infected twin boys were infected by an identical strain of H. pylori. The twin boys responded to antigens of 19, 26.5, and 29 kDa 30 days after the initial diagnosis, with recognition of 43-to 49-, 66-, 69-, and 87-kDa antigens by day 63. One twin responded to the CagA antigen on day 63, whereas the other responded on day 857. Antibody to the CagA antigen was not detected by use of the infecting strain, UNSW-RU1. Investigation of UNSW-RU1 revealed the presence of cagA. In two acutely infected adults (one, the father of the boys), the initial response to a 45-kDa antigen was later followed by responses to 19-, 29-, 49-, 60-, 77-, and 84-kDa antigens. Sera from the twins' younger sister, born 17 months after the twins acute episode, indicated that she also had become infected. This report supports intrafamilial transmission of H. pylori. Initial antibody responses in the children were to small-molecular-size antigens; in the adults, the initial responses were to larger-molecular-size antigens. The pattern of the serological response differs according to the antigen used. This has implications in regard to international data comparisons.

Oesophageal H. pylori infection is uncommon in patients with Barrett's IM, dysplasia, or adenocarcinoma, and may be restricted to non-intestinalized columnar epithelium. Gastric H. pylori infection may have a protective effect for the development of Barrett's oesophagus.

Urinary copper excretion was found to be increased in patients with cholestasis, hepatitis and cirrhosis, but the penicillamine-induced increment was normal. Wilson’s disease patients had increased copper excretion before and after penicillamine, especially in untreated cases.

The paper describes a method of estimating the false negative fraction of a multiple-screening test when individuals who test negatively on all "K" tests do not have their true disease status verified. The method proposed makes no explicit assumptions about the underlying heterogeneity of the population or about serial correlation of test results within an individual. Rather, it is based on estimating false negative fractions conditionally on observed diagnostic histories and extrapolating the observed patterns in these empirical frequencies by using logistic regression. The method is illustrated on, and motivated by, data on a multiple-screening test for bowel cancer. Copyright 2004 Royal Statistical Society.

This paper aims to estimate the false negative fraction of a multiple screening test for bowel cancer, where those who give negative results for six consecutive tests do not have their true disease status verified. A subset of these same individuals is given a further screening test, for the sole purpose of evaluating the accuracy of the primary test. This paper proposes a beta heterogeneity model for the probability of a diseased individual 'testing positive' on any single test, and it examines the consequences of this model for inference on the false negative fraction. The method can be generalized to the case where selection for further testing is informative, though this did not appear to be the case for the bowel-cancer data.

No abstract