Histological variants of colorectal adenocarcinoma and clinicomorphological association.

OBJECTIVE: Besides TNM staging system, some special histological features of colonic carcinomas are associated with variable clinicopathological parameters. The objective was to provide new information of correlation between various histomorphological parameters together with available clinical data and each special feature MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective study of 162 materials collected from subjects with first diagnosed as adenocarcinoma of colorectum in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital over a period of 2 years from 2002 to 2003. RESULT: One hundred and forty-seven cases of prominent cribiform feature are related to patient age (p = 0.025) and infiltrative margin (p = 0.006). Thirty-two cases with mucinous component are associated with patient age (p = 0.009) and tumor depth (p = 0.015). Thirteen cases with signet ring cell morphology are correlated with nodal and distant organ metastasis (p = 0.023 and p = 0.020, respectively) as well as angiolymphatic invasion (p = 0.015). In addition the size of signet ring cell containing carcinomas is also related to location (p = 0.036). It is larger in proximal site and smaller in distal counterpart. The authors did not find any statistical significance in 9 cases of medullary carcinoma. Notably, our 33 cases showed biphasic or triphasic feature. CONCLUSION: Each distinct histological variant of colorectal adenocarcinoma is associated with some different clinicopathological variables,' mostly effecting clinical outcome. Pathologists should be concerned with special histological subtypes of colorectal adeonocarcinomas and communicate with physicians for proper management.

Inflammatory bowel disease in Thai children: presentations and outcomes of treatment.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by idiopathic chronic intestinal inflammation, due to abnormalities in gastrointestinal immunoregulation. Pediatric IBD has been rarely reported in Thailand. We describe eight children, five girls and three boys, who were diagnosed with IBD at Ramathibodi Hospital during 1999-2005 and had a follow-up of more than one year. Four cases had Crohn's disease (CD) and four cases had ulcerative colitis (UC). The ages at diagnosis ranged from 3.5 to 15.5 years. Diagnosis of IBD was delayed for more than 12 months in five patients. Five out of eight patients had early onset of disease, before 6 years of age. The manifestations included chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, rectal bleeding and perianal lesions. The common extraintestinal manifestations were oral ulcer, anemia, weight loss and failure to thrive. Most patients had moderate to severe diseases and ileocolic fistula developed in one patient with CD. The disease was controlled with 5-aminosalicylic acid and corticosteroid in most patients. Four patients required additional therapy with azathioprine. Infliximab was used in two patients who were chronically steroid-dependent CD, one also had persistent ileocolic fistula and both patients responded well. During the follow-up period ranging from 1.1 to 5.8 years, three patients remained growth retardation; all had early onset of disease before 6 years of age, long duration of symptoms of more than 3 years before diagnosis and had multiple relapses. It is concluded that there is an increasing number of IBD in Thai children during the recent years. Most patients had moderate to severe diseases. Early onset of disease, delay in diagnosis and treatment are responsible for more complications, particularly persistent growth impairment. Early recognition of IBD and treatment are essential for a satisfactory long-term outcome.

A retrospective study of colonic polyps in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.

To evaluate and classify polyps from colon in Thai patients, the authors retrospectively analyzed the 776 polyps from 696 subjects in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital during the past five-year period from 1999 to 2003. All colonic polyps were included in the study. There were 461 (59%) male and 315 (410%) female with the mean age of 51 years. Non-neoplastic and neoplastic polyps were documented 50% each. Hyperplastic polyp was the most frequent diagnosis (39%), followed by tubular adenoma (36%). According to neoplastic polyp, 8%, 3%, and 14% cases were identified as high-grade dysplastic change, intramucosal carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma, respectively.

A germline mutation in a Thai family with familial multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, caused by the mutation in the MEN1 gene, is an autosomal dominant disorder with over 95% penetrance characterized by hyperparathyroidism, pancreatic endocrine tumor and pituitary tumor. The authors performed a molecular analysis to identify a mutation in a Thai man with MEN1. He was found to be heterozygous for IVS6 + 1G to A. Two of his three children were also found to carry this mutation. The newly available genetic test for patients with MEN1 in Thailand makes it possible to accurately DNA-based diagnose clinically suspected individuals and their presymptomatic members, which has important therapeutic impacts on them.

Gastrointestinal manifestations of cow's milk protein allergy during the first year of life.

BACKGROUND: Cow's milk protein sensitive enteropathy (CMPSE) is a common condition in the first year of life. Clinically CMPSE usually presents with symptoms like vomiting, chronic diarrhea, mucous bloody diarrhea and hematemesis. More unusual symptoms associated with CMPSE are infantile colic, gastroesophageal reflux and chronic constipation. The objective of this study was to assess the gastrointestinal manifestations and allergic march in CMPSE patients. METHOD: The authors reviewed the records of 10 CMPSE patients observed by the Gastrointestinal Unit at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital from 1997-2001 including patient characteristics, laboratory investigations, endoscopy and follow-up outcome. RESULTS: Of 10 CMPSE patients, the median age of CMPSE onset was 3.5 months. The gastrointestinal manifestations were hematemesis (n = 6), mucous bloody diarrhea (n = 3) and chronic watery diarrhea (n = 2). Exclusively breast-fed infants seemed to have more delayed onset of symptoms than those who were not. Anemia (n = 3), high serum IgE (n = 4) and positive skin prick test for cow's milk (n = 5) were found. Neither peripheral eosinophilia nor hypoalbuminemia was found. Endoscopy revealed acute and chronic gastritis. Treatment was successful by changing to soy or extensive hydrolysate formula with mean duration of cow's milk intolerance of 24 months. In 2-year follow-up, three of ten patients who had high serum IgE level developed allergic rhinitis and eczema. CONCLUSION: CMPSE can be manifested in various symptoms. Exclusive breast feeding for more than 4 months can postpone the onset of CMPSE. Serum IgE or specific IgE level to cow's milk protein may identify the atopic career of CMPSE individuals.

Effectiveness of ranitidine bismuth citrate based triple therapy for treating Helicobacter pylori.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy, safety and tolerance of a one week regimen of RBC, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin for H. pylori eradication in Thai patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Patients who were undergoing endoscopy for dyspeptic symptoms. On the day of endoscopy, three biopsies were taken for H. pylori diagnosis. The patients who had the presence of H. pylori infection by positive from rapid urease test or histologic examination were invited to take part in an open, prospective study. Patients received a combination of RBC 400 mg, clarithromycin 500 mg, and amoxicillin 1 g twice daily for 7 days. Repeated endoscopy was performed to evaluate H. pylori eradication at least 1 month after the end of treatment. Clinical symptoms, side effects and compliance were assessed by interview during the study and at follow-up. RESULTS: Thirty nine patients with H. pylori infection were included. Male and female rates was 27:12 with a mean age of 42.8 +/- 11.4 years (range 21-68). There was a 89.74 per cent eradication rate by intent-to-treat and 94.59 per cent by per-protocol analysis. There were no serious adverse events during the study. Two patients (5.13%) stopped the medication because of side effects. Two patients had failure to eradication after complete treatment. Subjective improvement of the clinical symptoms was found in 92.3 per cent. CONCLUSION: One week's regimen of RBC, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin triple therapy resulted in a relatively high efficacy, safety and tolerance for H. pylori eradication in Thai patients.

Duodenal Helicobacter pylori associated duodenal ulcer depend on gastric Helicobacter pylori status.

Gastric Helicobacter pylori (H. pylon) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer (DU), although not all H. pylori infected persons will develop disease. Duodenal H. pylori was supposed to be one of the factors related with DU. The aim of this study was to investigate whether H. pylori in the duodenum of patients with DU plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of DU regarding the gastric H. pylori status. Furthermore, it was to determine the prevalence of duodenal H. pylori infection in Thailand. Ninety three patients were included in the study. They underwent gastroscopic evaluation for dyspeptic symptoms and none of them had previous H. pylori eradication therapy. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed and two specimens were collected each form the antrum, midcorpus and duodenal bulb in order to diagnose H. pylori infection. The gold standard for H. pylori detection is a positive specimen culture or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the vac A gene or positive urease test plus H. pylori seen in the pathology. Ninety three dyspeptic patients (43 males and 50 females; mean age 48.2 years; range 22 to 79 years) were included in the study. Duodenal H. pylori was detected in 31/93 (33.33%) patients which included 15 (48.38%) patients with duodenal ulcer, 2 (6.45%) patients with gastric ulcer and 14 (45.16%) patients with NUD. Five of thirty one (16.21%) patients with duodenal H. pylori infection had negative gastric H. pylori. These five patients included 1 with DU, 1 with DU and 3 with NUD. Duodenal H. pylori was associated with DU dependent of the presence of gastric H. pylori (p<0.05) and there was no association between duodenal H. pylori with negative gastric H. pylori and duodenal ulcer (p>0.05). Duodenal H. pylori is associated with duodenal ulcer dependent on the presence of gastric H. pylori. These results suggest that transmission of gastric H. pylori to the duodenum was prerequisited for the formation of DU.