SUMMARYBackground: On-demand treatment may be an alternative in the long-term treatment of non-severe gastrooesophageal reflux disease in patients with frequent symptomatic relapses. Aim: To compare the efficacy of on-demand treatment with rabeprazole 10 mg versus continuous treatment in the long-term treatment of patients with frequent symptomatic relapses of mild to moderate gastrooesophageal reflux disease. Methods: This randomized, open-label study enrolled patients diagnosed with non-erosive reflux disease or oesophagitis grade 1 or 2 (Savary-Miller classification) reporting frequent symptomatic relapses (requiring ‡2 courses of antisecretory therapy during the previous year), whose intensity is rated at least moderate (>2 on a 5-point Likert scale). After a 4-week selection phase with rabeprazole 10 mg once daily, patients reporting symptom relief (Likert score £ 2) were randomized to receive either rabeprazole 10 mg continuous treatment or on-demand treatment for 6 months. The main evaluation criterion was the rate of symptom relief (scored on the Likert scale) after 6 months.
Agreement among six physicians for 18 clinical signs in 50 alcoholic patients was prospectively studied. Twenty patients had alcoholic cirrhosis, 14 noncirrhotic alcoholic liver disease, and 16 alcoholics had no clinical or biochemical abnormalities. Agreement was assessed by kappa index for categorical variables and by intraclass correlation coefficient for the others. A good agreement was observed for ascites (r = 0.75) and splenomegaly (r = 0.75). It was fair for jaundice (r = 0.65), Dupuytren's contracture (r = 0.65), and vascular spiders (r = 0.64). However, it was poor for white nails (r = 0.27) and hepatic consistency (r = 0.11). Agreement was better among senior physician's than junior physicians. In order to assess which signs contributed to differentiate the three groups of patients, a stepwise discriminant analysis was realized; it identified three variables: vascular spiders (P less than 0.001), splenomegaly (P less than 0.001), and abdominal wall collateral veins (P less than 0.01). These results suggest that studies based on physical findings must be cautiously considered.
This work was designed to investigate the site of oxalate hyperabsorption in malabsorption syndromes. 1) Urinary oxalate excretion was measured in 27 patients with ileal resection (IR) and steatorrhea. Mean urinary oxalate excretion was high in 13 patients with IR and intact colon and in 9 subjects with IR and right hemicolectomy (90.2 +/- 11.9 and 108 +/- 18.6 mg per 24 hours; mean +/- S.E.M.), whereas it was normal in 5 patients with IR and ileostomy (21.9 +/- 4.4 mg per 24 hours). Steatorrhea was similar in the three groups. 2) On one patient of the last group in whom the colon had not been removed initially but excluded closure of the ileostomy resulted in the development of frank hyperoxaluria. 3) Intracolonic perfusion of calcium (1.93 g per day) abolished or greatly reduced the hyperoxaluria in 3 patients. These results indicate that the colon is the major site of oxalate hyperabsorption, and the right colon is not necessary for the development of hyperoxaluria in malabsorption syndromes.
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