Metastasis to the gastrostomy site in a patient with pharynx cancer after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy: a case report

A stenosing tumour in the throat region is a common indication for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), which may be used for enteral nutrition in palliative cases or placed prior to curative treatment (surgery, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy) and removed when the patient has recovered and has a reliable and adequate oral intake. Major complications related to PEG are rare, but their treatment poses a challenge. We are presenting a case of the transmission of metastasis to the gastrostomy site in a patient with pharynx cancer after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

Gut Barrier Dysfunction-A Primary Defect in Twins with Crohn's Disease Predominantly Caused by Genetic Predisposition

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The aetiology of Crohn's disease is poorly understood. By investigating twin pairs discordant for Crohn's disease, we aimed to assess whether the dysregulated barrier represents a cause or a consequence of inflammation and to evaluate the impact of genetic predisposition on barrier function.

METHODS

Ileal biopsies from 15 twin pairs discordant for Crohn's disease [monozygotic n = 9, dizygotic n = 6] and 10 external controls were mounted in Ussing chambers to assess paracellular permeability to 51Chromium [Cr]-EDTA and trancellular passage to non-pathogenic E. coli K-12. Experiments were performed with and without provocation with acetylsalicylic acid. Immunofluorescence and ELISA were used to quantify the expression level of tight junction proteins.

RESULTS

Healthy co-twins and affected twins displayed increased 51Cr-EDTA permeability at 120 min, both with acetylsalicylic acid [p < 0.001] and without [p < 0.001] when compared with controls. A significant increase in 51Cr-EDTA flux was already seen at 20 min in healthy monozygotic co-twins compared with controls [p≤0.05] when stratified by zygosity, but not in healthy dizygotic co-twins. No difference in E. coli passage was observed between groups. Immunofluorescence of the tight junction proteins claudin-5 and tricellulin showed lower levels in healthy co-twins [p < 0.05] and affected twins [p < 0.05] compared with external controls, while ELISA only showed lower tricellulin in Crohn's disease twins [p < 0.05].

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that barrier dysfunction is a primary defect in Crohn's disease, since changes were predominantly seen in healthy monozygotic co-twins. Passage of E. coli seems to be a consequence of inflammation, rather than representing a primary defect.

Microscopic colitis in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease: a retrospective observational study and review of the literature

OBJECTIVES

Onset of microscopic colitis (MC) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD), or vice versa, has been reported occasionally but the subject is not well described. We therefore report a retrospective observational study of such patients and review the literature.

METHODS

Forty-six Swedish gastroenterology clinics were contacted about patients with diagnoses of both inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and MC. Publications were searched on PubMed.

RESULTS

We identified 31 patients with onset of MC after a median (range) of 20 (2-52) years after diagnosis of IBD, or vice versa; 21 UC patients developed collagenous colitis (CC) (n = 16) or lymphocytic colitis (LC) (n = 5); nine CD patients developed CC (n = 5) or LC (n = 4); one CC patient developed CD. Of the 21 UC patients, 18 had extensive disease, whereas no consistent phenotype occurred in CD. Literature review revealed 27 comprehensive case reports of patients with diagnoses of both IBD and MC. Thirteen MC patients developed IBD, of which four required colectomy. Fourteen IBD patients later developed MC. There were incomplete clinical data in 115 additional reported patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Altogether 173 patients with occurrence of both IBD and MC were found. The most common finding in our patients was onset of CC in a patient with UC. Although these are likely random associations of two different disorders, MC should be considered in the patient with UC or CD if there is onset of chronic watery diarrhoea without endoscopic relapse of IBD.

[Endoscopic surveillance after colorectal polypectomy]

Endoscopic surveillance after colorectal polypectomy These guidelines for endoscopic surveillance after colorectal polypectomy are based on the recommendations published by European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) in 2013. A precondition for the guidelines is that patients have undergone a high-quality colonoscopy, including complete removal and histopathological evaluation of all detected neoplastic lesions. Current research has made it possible to stratify patients into a low-risk and a high-risk group in terms of metachronous cancer. Low-risk group patients (1-2 tubular adenomas <10 mm in size) are recommended a surveillance colonoscopy 10 years after the index colonoscopy if the patient is less than 50 years old, otherwise not. High-risk group patients (adenomas with villous histology or high grade dysplasia or ≥10 mm in size, or ≥ 3 adenomas), should undergo a repetition colonoscopy 3 years after the index colonoscopy. If high-risk adenomas are detected at first or subsequent surveillance colonoscopy, a 3-year repetition of the next endoscopic examination is recommended. If a high-risk patient has no high-risk adenomas at the first surveillance colonoscopy, a 5-year period is recommended until the second surveillance colonoscopy. ESGE recommends termination of the follow-up at 80 years of age although individualised recommendations should consider general health and co-morbidity of the patients as well as findings at previous colonoscopies.

Microscopic colitis: a descriptive clinical cohort study of 795 patients with collagenous and lymphocytic colitis

OBJECTIVE

Microscopic colitis is a common cause of chronic diarrhoea in the Scandinavian countries. This report comprises demographic data, clinical and endoscopic features, and occurrence of coeliac and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a large urban cohort of patients with lymphocytic colitis (LC) and collagenous colitis (CC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 795 patients with microscopic colitis from two hospitals in Stockholm were included. Medical records were reviewed and clinical data, including endoscopic and histological findings, were compiled.

RESULTS

Forty-three percent had CC (female:male ratio 3.7:1) and 57% had LC (female:male ratio 2.7:1). The mean age at diagnosis of CC was 63 years and of LC was 59 years (p = 0.005). Clinical features were similar in both entities, but the intensity of symptoms differed. Watery diarrhoea was reported in 55% in CC patients versus in 43% in LC patients (p = 0.0014), and nocturnal diarrhoea in 28% versus 18% (p = 0.002). Subtle endoscopic mucosal findings were reported in 37% of the CC patients and in 25% of the LC patients (p = 0.0011). Colorectal adenomatous polyps were found in 5.3% of all patients. Coeliac disease occurred in 6% and IBD occurred in 2.1% of all patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical features of LC and CC are similar but not identical. CC seems to be a more severe type of bowel inflammation and LC tends to occur earlier in life. Both forms might indeed feature endoscopic findings despite the designation 'microscopic'. Our study confirms the strong association with coeliac disease.

Diagnostic yield of endomicroscopy for dysplasia in primary sclerosing cholangitis associated inflammatory bowel disease: a feasibility study

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS

Primary sclerosing cholangitis associated inflammatory bowel disease (PSC-IBD) is characterized by a high risk of colorectal dysplasia. Surveillance colonoscopies with random biopsies have doubtful power for dysplasia detection. Our aim was to prospectively investigate the feasibility and efficacy of pCLE in surveillance colonoscopies in patients with PSC-IBD.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Sixty-nine patients with PSC-IBD underwent colonoscopy in 2 steps. On the way from rectum to cecum, the mucosa was inspected with high definition endoscopy (HDE) and random biopsies were taken according to the standard routine. On the way from cecum to rectum, fluorescein-enhanced pCLE and chromoendoscopy were performed. Regions where random biopsies had been taken, as well as visible lesions, were examined with pCLE and targeted biopsies were taken of lesions suspicious for dysplasia. Two investigators, blinded to histology and endoscopy results, analyzed all pCLE videos off-line.

RESULTS

Nineteen biopsies obtained in 13 patients (17 targeted biopsies, 2 random biopsies) revealed the presence of low-grade dysplasia. Thirteen lesions with dysplasia were endoscopically visible but by using pCLE-targeted biopsies, additional endoscopically invisible dysplasias in 4 biopsies obtained from 3 patients were detected. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of pCLE in predicting dysplasia were respectively 89 % (95 % CI: 65 - 98), 96 % (95 % CI: 94 - 97), and 96 % (95 % CI: 94 - 97). pCLE showed a good performance for differentiating neoplastic from non-neoplastic mucosa with negative predictive value of 99 %.

CONCLUSIONS

pCLE in PSC-IBD surveillance is feasible and may be a good complement to HDE. Future research should aim at elucidating whether real-time pCLE is applicable in PSC-IBD surveillance.

Low-dose budesonide for maintenance of clinical remission in collagenous colitis: a randomised, placebo-controlled, 12-month trial

OBJECTIVE

This 1-year study aimed to assess low-dose budesonide therapy for maintenance of clinical remission in patients with collagenous colitis.

DESIGN

A prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled study beginning with an 8-week open-label induction phase in which patients with histologically confirmed active collagenous colitis received budesonide (Budenofalk, 9 mg/day initially, tapered to 4.5 mg/day), after which 92 patients in clinical remission were randomised to budesonide (mean dose 4.5 mg/day; Budenofalk 3 mg capsules, two or one capsule on alternate days) or placebo in a 12-month double-blind phase with 6 months treatment-free follow-up. Primary endpoint was clinical remission throughout the double-blind phase.

RESULTS

Clinical remission during open-label treatment was achieved by 84.5% (93/110 patients). The median time to remission was 10.5 days (95% CI (9.0 to 14.0 days)). The maintenance of clinical remission at 1 year was achieved by 61.4% (27/44 patients) in the budesonide group versus 16.7% (8/48 patients) receiving placebo (treatment difference 44.5% in favour of budesonide; 95% CI (26.9% to 62.7%), p<0.001). Health-related quality of life was maintained during the 12-month double-blind phase in budesonide-treated patients. During treatment-free follow-up, 82.1% (23/28 patients) formerly receiving budesonide relapsed after study drug discontinuation. Low-dose budesonide over 1 year resulted in few suspected adverse drug reactions (7/44 patients), all non-serious.

CONCLUSIONS

Budesonide at a mean dose of 4.5 mg/day maintained clinical remission for at least 1 year in the majority of patients with collagenous colitis and preserved health-related quality of life without safety concerns. Treatment extension with low-dose budesonide beyond 1 year may be beneficial given the high relapse rate after budesonide discontinuation.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01278082) and http://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu (EudraCT: 2007-001315-31).

Nitric oxide and endothelin-1 release after one-lung ventilation during thoracoabdominal esophagectomy

One-lung ventilation (OLV) is applied during esophagectomy to improve exposure during the thoracic part of the operation. Collapse of lung tissue, shunting of pulmonary blood flow, and changes in alveolar oxygenation during and after OLV may possibly induce an ischemia-reperfusion response in the lung, which may affect the pulmonary endothelium. Such a reaction might thereby contribute to the frequently occurring respiratory complications among these patients. In this small trial, 30 patients were randomized to either OLV (n= 16) or two-lung ventilation (TLV, n= 14) during esophagectomy. Central venous and arterial plasma samples were taken before and after OLV/TLV for analysis of nitrite and a metabolite of nitric oxide (NO), and also during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 10th postoperative day for analysis of endothelin, another endothelium-derived vasoactive mediator. Lung biopsies were taken before and after OLV or TLV, and analyzed regarding immunofluorescence for isoform of NO synthase, a protein upregulated during inflammatory response and also vascular congestion. No changes in lung isoform of NO synthase immunofluorescence or vascular congestion were registered after neither OLV nor TLV. Plasma nitrite and endothelin levels were similar in the two study groups. We conclude that OLV does not seem to have any influence on key regulators of pulmonary vascular tone and inflammation, i.e. NO and endothelin. From this perspective, OLV seems to be a safe method, which defends its clinical position to facilitate surgical exposure during thoracoabdominal esophagectomy.

Colitis-associated DNA aneuploidy and dysplasia in Crohn's disease and risk of colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

There is uncertainty about how patients with Crohn's colitis should be monitored for colorectal cancer (CRC). By analogy to ulcerative colitis, regular colonoscopy with biopsies for dysplasia has been used. We describe the occurrence of dysplasia and DNA aneuploidy in a cohort of patients with Crohn's colitis.

METHODS

In all, 245 patients with extensive colitis (225 with a firm diagnosis of Crohn's disease, and 20 diagnosed as indeterminate colitis) at Stockholm Söder Hospital and Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge were included. They were followed with regular colonoscopies with biopsies both for dysplasia and DNA aneuploidy. The cumulative occurrence of DNA aneuploidy and dysplasia was estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves. Time sequences and interactions between DNA aneuploidy, dysplasia, and CRC were studied using Cox regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, and age at diagnosis.

RESULTS

During a median follow-up time of 9.2 person-years, DNA aneuploidy was found in 53 patients (22%), with 10 patients having multifocal aneuploidy and high S-phase values. Dysplasia was found in 42 patients (17%), 10 having multifocal dysplasia. Relative risk (RR) of dysplasia given DNA aneuploidy was 5.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3-12). RR of CRC given dysplasia was 10 (95% CI 2-50), and RR of CRC given aneuploidy was 1.5 (95% CI 0.3-9.3).

CONCLUSIONS

Dysplasia and DNA aneuploidy including S-phase analysis may complement stratification of patients with Crohn’s