Clinical Characteristics of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease with Esophageal Injury in Korean: Focusing on Risk Factors / 대한소화기학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recent studies suggest that the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is increasing in Korea. However, studies on risk factors for GERD have yielded inconsistent results. The aims of this study were to compare clinical features between symptomatic syndromes without esophageal injury (=non-erosive disease [NED]) and syndromes with esophageal injury (=erosive disease [ED]), and to determine risk factors associated ED. METHODS: A total of 450 subjects who visited gastroenterology clinics of six training hospitals in Daegu from March 2008 to April 2010 were consecutively enrolled. The subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire which inquired about gastroesophageal reflux symptoms. The questionnaire also included questions about smoking, alcohol drinking, consumption of coffee, use of drugs, exercise, and other medical history. The subjects were subdivided into NED and ED groups. RESULTS: The proportion of subjects in each NED and ED group was 172 (38.2%) and 278 (61.8%). Male gender, smoking, alcohol drinking, consumption of coffee, large waist circumference, infrequent medication of antacids, aspirin and NSAIDs, infrequent and mild GERD symptoms were all significantly associated with ED on univariate analysis. Age, hiatal hernia, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, change in weight during 1 year, and number of typical GERD symptoms were not independent risk factors for ED. However, the association between ED and alcohol drinking, infrequent medication of antacids, mild typical GERD symptoms remained as strong risk factors after adjustments on multivariate logistic analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Independent risk factors associated with ED were alcohol drinking, infrequent medication of antacids and mild typical GERD symptoms.

Is Endoscopic Resection Currently Available in Non-tertiary or Non-academic Hospitals? / 대한소화기내시경학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) has been gaining popularity with the advances in the technique and the accumulating experience. The objectives of this study are to assess the current situation of endoscopic resection (ER) in primary clinics and community-based hospitals and to suggest an affordable training program. METHODS: A questionnaire about the indications to perform ER for gastric or colonic lesions was sent to the doctors working in the non-tertiary hospitals by mail. RESULTS: The responders who were performing EMR or polypectomy for gastric lesions accounted for 43% (31/72) and 44.8% (47/101), respectively, of the total responders. The percentage of responders who had experience with performing EMR or polypectomy for colonic lesions accounted for 56.6% (30/53) and 87.3% (62/71), respectively, of the total responders. The indication for ER for treating gastric and colonic lesions was restricted to the size of 1~2 cm irrespective of the type or location of lesion. Most of the responders assumed that ER should be performed in their clinics and they wanted to have a chance to improve these techniques. CONCLUSIONS: The infrastructure for therapeutic endoscopy, such as ER, should be progressively expanded. Therefore, well designed schematic training programs are currently needed to advance using ER more commonly in clinical practice.

A Case of Crohn's Disease Associated with Turner Syndrome / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Turner syndrome is a chromosomal disorder in which of all or part one of the X chromosomes is absent, and this syndrome affects females. The syndrome leads to a constellation of physical findings that often includes congenital lymphedema, a short stature and gonadal dysgenesis. The prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases in the general population is estimated to be 150~250 per 100,000 population. A 2-fold increase in the risk of developing inflammatory bowel diseases has been reported in women with Turner syndrome. We describe here a case of Turner syndrome with Crohn's disease.

A Case of Infected Biloma due to Spontaneous Intrahepatic Biliary Rupture

A "biloma" is a loculated collection of bile located outside of the biliary tree. It can be caused by traumatic, iatrogenic or spontaneous rupture of the biliary tree. Prior reports have documented an association of biloma with abdominal trauma, surgery and other primary causes, but spontaneous bile leakage has rarely been reported. A spontaneous infected biloma, without any underlying disease, is a very rare finding. We recently diagnosed a spontaneous infected biloma by abdominal computed tomography and sonographically guided percutaneous aspiration. The patient was successfully managed with percutaneous drainage and intravenous antibiotics. We report here a case of infected biloma caused by spontaneous rupture of the intrahepatic duct, and review the relevant medical literature.

Reappraisal of the predictive factors for postoperative pulmonary complications after general anesthesia / 대한내과학회지

BACKGROUND: As our population in Korea ages, more postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) have recently developed. There have been several studies about the predictive factors for PPC, but any consensus has not been established. In this study, we reappraised the predictive factors for PPC after general anesthesia in a population from Gyeong-ju, which was composed of elderly people. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the incidence and predictive factors for PPC in 84 patients who underwent general anesthesia. We investigated gender, age, height, weight, BMI, smoking, underlying disease, underlying respiratory disease, malignancy, the laboratory findings (hemoglobin, albumin, arterial O2 saturation) and the pulmonary function tests of the patients. RESULTS: 84 patients were initially enrolled into the study, and PPC developed in 31 (36%) patients. The mean age of the enrolled patients was 66.515.1 years-old, so it shows the trend of an aging society. Three predictive factors were revealed that are independently associated with the PPC: site of operation (OR, 8.3), underlying disease (OR, 9.9) and serum albumin (OR, 4.0). CONCLUSIONS: Among the statistically meaningful predictive factors, underlying disease and operation site are well known from previous studies, but the albumin level<3.5 g/dL is also meaningful, which is higher than the previous reference level. It implies that the patient with a albumin level 3.0~3.5 g/dL can be classified into the high risk group. Therefore, we should recognize that it is necessary to apply more strict reference levels in an aging population to reduce the incidence of PPC.