FUNCTIONAL AND ANATOMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ANORECTUM OF FEMALE SCLERODERMA PATIENTS AT A CENTER FOR PELVIC FLOOR DISORDERS

Gastrointestinal Tract Considerations: Part II: How Should a Rheumatologist Best Manage Common Lower Gastrointestinal Tract Complaints in Systemic Sclerosis?

Lower gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are a frequently encountered problem for clinicians managing patients with systemic sclerosis. The current management practices are focused on the treatment of symptoms with little information available on how to use GI investigations in daily practice. This review demonstrates how to integrate the objective assessment of common lower GI symptoms into clinical care with the aim of guiding clinical decision making. Understanding the type of abnormal GI function that is affecting a patient and determining which parts of the gut are impacted can help clinicians to target therapy more precisely.

The Involvement of Smooth Muscle, Striated Muscle, and the Myocardium in Scleroderma: A Review

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by heterogeneous changes involving numerous organs and systems. The currently available data indicate that muscle injury (both smooth and striated muscles) is widespread and leads to significant morbidity, either directly or indirectly. From the consequences of smooth muscle involvement in the tunica media of blood vessels or at the level of the digestive tract, to skeletal myopathy (which may be interpreted strictly in the context of SSc, or as an overlap with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies), muscular injury in scleroderma translates to a number of notable clinical manifestations. Heart involvement in SSc is heterogenous depending on the definition used in the various studies. The majority of SSc patients experience a silent form of cardiac disease. The present review summarizes certain important features of myocardial, as well as smooth and skeletal muscle involvement in SSc. Further research is needed to fully describe and understand the pathogenic pathways and the implications of muscle involvement in scleroderma.

Pelvic floor dysfunctions in women with systemic lupus erythematosus: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS

As a result of the impairment of the musculoskeletal system, the pelvic floor muscles are likely compromised in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We hypothesized that women with SLE would report more symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) and there will be an association between SLE and PFD.

METHODS

An online cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data were collected on demographic and anthropometric characteristics, PFD (urinary incontinence, nocturia, anal incontinence, genital-pelvic pain/penetration disorder and pelvic organ prolapse) and obstetric history using a web-based questionnaire. The groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney test for quantitative variables and the chi-squared test for categorical variables. The association between SLE and PFD was tested using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 196 women answered the questionnaire (102 with SLE and 94 healthy controls). Women with SLE reported significantly more urinary incontinence, nocturia, anal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and genital-pelvic pain/penetration disorder than the healthy controls (p ≤ 0.05). Women with SLE were 2.8- to 3.0-fold more likely to report genital-pelvic pain/penetration disorder than healthy women.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of PFD was significantly higher in women with SLE compared to healthy women. Thus, PFD seems to be an important problem in women with this disease. An in-depth investigation of these disorders could contribute to the understanding of how SLE impacts pelvic floor function.

Fecal incontinence and scleroderma: Pathogenesis and unmet needs

Scleroderma is a chronic autoimmune disorder involving multiple organs and very commonly the gastrointestinal (GI) system; nevertheless, data on the involvement of the anal sphincter and consequent faecal incontinence (FI) are inadequate. FI in scleroderma was first reported in 1994 by Engel and colleagues, but its impact of added health care costs and declining quality of life (QoL) is poorly determined. Up to 40% of patients with GI involvement complain of FI, however, the quality of data available is poor owing to majority of the studies being retrospective and case reports or series of small study size. A direct involvement of internal anal sphincter muscularis propria has been demonstrated on anorectal ultrasound imaging suggesting a thin, atrophic or scarred internal sphincter. Treatment guidelines for incontinence in scleroderma are mainly symptomatic, with radical surgeries burdened by poor outcomes. Sacral neuromodulation is being used with good outcomes in a subgroup of patients, but larger, controlled studies are required to assess its efficacy on symptoms and prognosis.

Evaluation of polypropylene and polyglactin sutures in primary sphincteroplasty for the treatment of anal fistula in rats

Rationale Fistulotomy followed by primary sphincteroplasty is one of the therapeutic options in transsphincteric fistulae; however, it was not known which suture would present a better result.

Objective To compare polypropylene and polyglactin sutures in primary sphincteroplasty in rats subjected to fistulotomy.

Method Thirty Wistar rats were subjected to peritoneal anesthesia with ketamine and xylazine, followed by transfixation of the anal sphincter with steel thread, which remained for 30 days to develop the anal fistula. After this period, the steel thread was removed and four groups were formed: A – Control (n = 5), without treatment; B – Fistulotomy (n = 5), performed fistulotomy only; C – Polypropylene (n = 10), in which fistulotomy was performed followed by primary sphincteroplasty with polypropylene suture; D – Polyglactin (n = 10), in which fistulotomy was performed followed by primary sphincteroplasty with polyglactin suture; after 30 days the animals were anesthetized again and submitted to euthanasia by deepening the anesthetic plane to remove the specimens, analyzing fistula closure, muscle fiber distance, and inflammatory process.

Results The fistula persisted in all animals of the control group and in none of the other groups; the distances between the muscle fibers were 1620 μm, 4665 μm, and 2520 μm, respectively in Groups B, C, and D (p = 0.067); in relation to fibrosis, the means were 2.4, 2.8, and 3.6, respectively in Groups B, C, and D, showing greater fibrosis in the latter group (p = 0.041).

Conclusion There was no persistence of the fistula in any of the treated animals; there was no difference in the distance between the muscle fibers between the groups subjected to primary sphincteroplasty with polypropylene or polyglactin, or between these groups and the one treated only by fistulotomy. There was greater fibrosis in animals treated with primary sphincteroplasty with polyglactin.

[Anorectal manifestations in systemic diseases]

Numerous systemic diseases (vasculitis, connective tissue disease or sarcoidosis) can display an involvement of the perianal skin, the rectum and/or the anus. Such knowledge is important in order to treat these complications specifically when possible. Lesions of the anorectum arising from systemic diseases can sometimes cause perforations in the peritoneal cavity (if concerning the higher portion of the rectum) and/or fistulization to the anal margin. Differential diagnosis, mostly infectious or inflammatory (Crohn's disease) must be ruled out in every case. Other systemic diseases can display specific manifestations as this is the case in scleroderma which can lead to anal incontinence. Despite the relative rarity of these manifestations, their ignorance would forbid global management of these complex diseases. It should thus be detected in each consultation and a regular follow-up must be provided with a proctologist and/or a gastroenterologist when needed.