Mysterious aspects of the long presumed to be well-known hepatitis E virus (HEV) have recently surfaced that distinguish it from other hepatotropic viruses. It is a cause of chronic hepatitis in immunosuppressed patients. It has human to human transmission through blood and mantains high seroprevalence in blood donors. HEV has also been found to occur more frequently in the West in those without a history of travel to endemic countries. It has varied extrahepatic manifestations and has multiple non-human reservoirs including pigs and rats. Considering these recent discoveries, it appears odd that HEV is not sought more frequently when working up acute and chronic hepatitis patients. The disease is particularly severe among pregnant women and has a high attack rate in young adults. What adds to its ambiguity is the absence of a well-established diagnostic criteria for its detection and that there is no specific antiviral drug for hepatitis E, except for isolated cases where ribavirin or pegylated interferon alpha has been used with occasional success. This review paper discusses the recent advances in the knowledge of the virus itself, its epidemiology, diagnostic approach and prevention, and the treatment options available.
Background and Aims Oral sodium sulfate (OSS) solution and low‐volume polyethylene glycol‐based solutions are two of the more common low‐volume purgatives used as colonoscopy preparations. Data on how these different low‐volume solutions compare are mixed. Our aim was to conduct a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to compare OSS with low‐volume polyethylene glycol solutions (PEG) plus ascorbic acid (PEG + Asc) solution with respect to (i) satisfactory bowel preparation, (ii) excellent bowel preparation, and (iii) tolerability. Methods Studies were identified by searching 10 medical databases for reports published from 1974 until 2019. Only fully published RCTs comparing OSS and low‐volume PEG‐based products with regard to overall satisfactory bowel preparation were included. Pooling was conducted by both fixed‐effects and random effects models; results are presented from the random effects model when heterogeneity was significant. Results Seven studies (involving 2049 subjects) met the inclusion criteria. There was no difference between OSS and PEG + Asc with respect to adequate bowel preparation (risk ratio [RR] 1.02 [0.99–1.06]; P = 0.16). OSS did result in a higher chance of excellent bowel preparation (RR 1.18 [1.06–1.31]; P = 0.03). OSS was associated with a 30% increased risk of nausea (RR 1.35 [1.03–1.77]; P = 0.03) and more than double the risk of vomiting (RR 2.30 [1.63–2.23]; P < 0.05) compared with PEG + Asc. Begg's funnel plot indicated low probability of publication bias. Conclusions Individuals at low risk of inadequate bowel preparation who use OSS for bowel preparation are more likely to achieve excellent bowel preparation, but are more likely to experience nausea and vomiting than are individuals using low‐volume PEG‐based solutions.
We present a case of a 71-year-old Vietnamese man with chronic kidney disease secondary to adult polycystic kidney disease. He had been a prisoner of war before undergoing a successful cadaveric renal transplant in the United States. He presented to clinic one year after the transplant with gross hematuria, productive cough, intermittent chills, and weight loss. Long standing peripheral eosinophilia of 600–1200/μL triggered further evaluation. A wet mount of stool revealed Strongyloides stercoralis larvae. A computed tomography (CT) of chest showed findings suggestive of extension of the infection to the lungs. The patient was treated with a three-week course of ivermectin with complete resolution of signs, symptoms, peripheral eosinophilia, and the positive IgG serology. Strongyloides infection in renal transplant patient is very rare and often presents with hyperinfection, associated with high mortality rates. The American Transplant Society recommends pretransplant screening with stool examination and Strongyloides stercoralis antibody in recipients and donors from endemic areas or with eosinophilia. It is imperative that healthcare professionals involved in the care of these individuals be cognizant of these recommendations as it is a very preventable and treatable entity.
Background: Straight leg raise (SLR) is a provocative maneuver that assesses esophagogastric junction (EGJ) barrier function during high-resolution manometry (HRM). We evaluated the value of SLR in symptomatic reflux patients undergoing ambulatory reflux monitoring. Methods: Adult patients being evaluated for reflux symptoms with esophageal physiologic testing off antisecretory therapy over a 12 month period were studied. Demographics, clinical presentation, HRM studies, and reflux monitoring studies were analyzed. Intra-abdominal and intra-esophageal pressures were extracted at baseline and during SLR from HRM studies. Acid exposure time (AET) was derived from reflux monitoring studies, and EGJ morphology and tone from HRM studies. SLR pressure metrics predicting abnormal AET were evaluated. Key Results: Of 122 patients, 70 (57.4%) had ≥50% peak intra-abdominal pressure increase during SLR (58.0 ± 1.4 years, 75.7% female). Peak intra-esophageal pressure gradient between baseline and SLR predicted pathologic AET when ≥100% (AUC 0.78, sensitivity 71%, specificity 75%, P < .001), seen in 60.7% with AET > 6%, but only 23.7% with AET < 4% (P = .01). Peak intra-esophageal pressure gradient ≥100% was most discriminative in identifying abnormal acid burden in type 1 EGJ morphology (P = .005) but trended toward significance in type 2 and type 3 morphology (P = .1). Normal and abnormal EGJ contractile integral did not associate with peak intra-esophageal pressure gradient either collectively or when subdivided by EGJ morphology (P ≥ .2). Conclusions & Inferences: Analysis of intra-esophageal pressure gradients during SLR, a simple HRM maneuver, may augment evaluation of symptomatic GERD, and provide adjunctive evidence supporting GERD.
Intramural hematomas have rarely been associated with pancreatitis, and to date there is only 1 case report of an intramural hematoma occurring with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. We describe a patient who presented with gastric outlet obstruction secondary to a spontaneous intramural duodenal hematoma and was found to have a pancreatic adenocarcinoma on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) after it was not visualized by computed tomography (CT).
INTRODUCTION: The American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) Bridges to Excellence (BTE) Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Care Recognition program encourages clinicians to develop a superior quality of care in the management of IBD. The compliance to AGA quality metrics has been historically low in general gastroenterology (GI) clinics. We evaluated adherence to BTE measures in the care of IBD patients seen at a tertiary care hospital gastroenterology fellows' clinic, and developed a provider-friendly template to further increase compliance. METHODS: Patients with diagnosis of IBD (Crohn's disease (CD), Ulcerative Colitis (UC), or indeterminate colitis (IC)) were identified in the gastroenterology continuity clinic using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Gastroenterology fellow's clinic. Baseline patient characteristics and 8 BTE measures were recorded. Based on compliance with quality metrics, a simple, provider-friendly template was added to GI initial and return clinic notes. Overall adherence to BTE measures and average scores as per the AGA 100 point scale were evaluated and compared pre- and post-intervention. RESULTS: 50 patients were seen in GI fellows' clinic over 6-month period in the pre-intervention phase, and 35 were seen in the post-intervention phase. Baseline characteristics for both groups were similar. Overall adherence to BTE measures was 54%, and average BTE score was 58.8 (3 star) in the pre-intervention phase. Overall adherence to BTE measures was 42.4%, and average BTE score was 53 (3 star) (P > 0.05) in the post-intervention phase. On sub-group analysis, it was found that only half of the patients had had the intervention implemented for their care (18/35). Sub-group analysis of patients where template was implemented, adherence to BTE measures was 98.4% and average BTE score was 98.5 (5 star) (P = 0.02). When compared to the group of patients where template was not used, the overall adherence was 42.4%, and average BTE score of 53 (3 star). This was found to be statistically insignificant when compared to pre-intervention group (P = 0.60). CONCLUSION: The care for IBD patients continues to be a multi-disciplinary, complex approach. Using template increased compliance to vaccination and tobacco screening/counselling in our cohort. Using a provider-friendly template may improve compliance with AGA quality metrics for the care of IBD patients in outpatient settings.
IntroductionMultiple studies have shown the efficacy of the new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) with a cure rate of over 90% in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. Some recently published studies have suggested an increased incidence of de novo and recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients in sustained virological response (SVR) after completing therapy. A possible mechanism is the breakdown of immune surveillance after starting DAAs. We report a retrospective analysis on a population of chronic HCV infected patients, with and without a prior history of HCC, who developed HCC after receiving DAAs in the hope of adding to existing literature and in pursuit of greater clarity into this emerging concern with DAAs. MethodsWe analyzed 497 HCV-infected patients who were treated with DAAs, or a combination of DAA with interferon, from January 2014 to April 2017 at the Veterans Medical Center, Oklahoma City. Descriptive analysis, including the mean and standard deviation for different variables, was used. The cohort was divided into two groups: cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic. The analysis was run in the cirrhotic group between the subgroups who developed HCC and who did not. ResultsData from a total of 233 cirrhotic patients were analyzed. We further subdivided these patients into those who eventually were diagnosed with HCC (group 1) and those who were not (group 2). These subgroups were comparable in regards to race, gender, baseline serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), platelets, sodium, HCV genotypes, and pretreatment viral load. All patients completed therapy. The rate of SVR was much lower in group 1 compared to group 2 (62.5% vs 88.94%, p = 0.002), respectively. Model End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score were higher in the group that developed HCC. The average time period (weeks) from DAA therapy to HCC diagnosis was 48.2 weeks. The remaining 264 non-cirrhotic patients had no reported cases of HCC. ConclusionFrom a total of 497 treated HCV-infected patients, 233 (46.88 %) had cirrhosis, out of which 16 (6.86%) were reported to develop HCC during or after DAA therapy was initiated. The remaining 217 (93.1%) cirrhotic patients did not develop HCC. As per our comparison, achieving SVR in cirrhotic patients should not preclude HCC screening, and more studies are needed to assess the risk of HCC in patients who achieve SVR but have a high FIB-4 score. In fact, patients who do not achieve SVR may be at a higher risk of eventually developing HCC and may be candidates for closer surveillance.
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