The role of capsule endoscopy combined with double-balloon enteroscopy in diagnosis of small bowel diseases / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The diagnosis of small bowel diseases remains relatively inefficient using traditional imaging techniques. Capsule endoscopy (CE) and double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) are two novel methods of enteroscopy for examining the entire small bowel. The aim of this study was to evaluate the detection rate and diagnostic accuracy of CE and DBE in patients with suspected small bowel diseases and to investigate the clinical significance of combined use of these two novel modalities.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Two hundred and eighteen patients were evaluated for suspected small bowel disease, including 116 with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding and 102 with obscure abdominal pain or chronic diarrhea. One hundred and sixty-five out of these patients underwent CE first and 53 patients underwent DBE (under anesthesia with propofol) first. DBE was recommended after negative or equivocal evaluation on CE and vise versa. Introduction of the endoscope during DBE was either orally or anally and the patients were referred for a second procedure using the opposite route several days later when no abnormalities were found on the first procedure. The detection rates, diagnostic accuracy, tolerance and frequency of adverse events of these two modalities were then analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Failure of the procedure was seen in one patient with CE and in two patients with DBE. Sixty-four DBE procedures were carried out in 51 patients; by the oral route in 34 cases, the anal route in 4 and both routes in 13 cases. The overall detection rate of small bowel diseases using CE (72.0%, 118/164) was superior to that with DBE (41.2%, 21/51); chi(2) = 16.1218, P < 0.0001. The diagnostic rate (51.8%, 85/164) was also higher than that with the latter procedure (39.2%, 20/51), but was not significantly different (chi(2) = 2.4771, P > 0.05). Furthermore, the detection rate of small bowel diseases in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding using CE (88.0%, 88/100) was superior to that of DBE (60.0%, 9/15); chi(2) = 7.7457, P = 0.0054. Lesions were detected by DBE in 1 out of 4 patients in whom CE had a negative result. Suspected findings by CE were confirmed by DBE combined with biopsy in 12 out of 15 patients. On the other hand, small bowel lesions were identified by CE in all 3 patients after negative evaluations by DBE. There were no severe complications during or after either of the two procedures.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The detection rate of small bowel diseases by CE is very high. CE should be selected for the initial diagnosis in patients with suspected small bowel diseases, especially in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. DBE appears to be inferior to CE in the diagnosis of small bowel diseases. However, it was shown that abnormalities could still be identified by DBE in patients with normal images or used to confirm suspected findings from CE. DBE can also serve as a good complementary approach after an initial diagnostic imaging using CE.</p>

Clinical application of wireless capsule endoscopy in pediatric and adolescent patients / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Capsule endoscopy (CE) has been demonstrated to be safe and well tolerated in adults. However, its value in pediatric patients has not been well studied. The present study aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of CE in pediatric patients with suspicious small bowel disorders.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifteen children and adolescents (less than 18 years) were referred to our study for suspected small bowel diseases from Aug. 2002 to May 2005. They aged from 3 to 18 years. Among them, 5 patients were less than 10 years old. The range of weight was from 17 to 83 kg and height was from 49 to 176 cm. Clinical indications included obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 12) and abdominal pain (n = 3). All the patients had normal results on upper and lower gastrointestinal examinations before they underwent CE. The procedures for capsule placement, gastric transit time, small bowel transit time, the average time of the elimination of the capsule, capsule findings, and complications were recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All the patients described that the capsule was easy to swallow except 3 youngest children. Finally the capsule was delivered via gastroscopy with overtube for these three children under intravenous anesthesia. No capsule retention occurred during the study. Median recording time was (464 +/- 40) min. In 5 patients, the capsule did not pass the ileal valve by the end of the recording time. Median gastric transit time was (85 +/- 90) min. Median small bowel transit time was (283 +/- 106) min. The average time of the elimination of the capsule was (34.3 +/- 21.8) h. The detective yield of CE was 80%. These positive findings included Crohn's disease (5), hemangioma (2), angiodysplasia (2), Meckel diverticulum (1), polyp (1), and granulomatous lesions (1).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CE was performed safely in pediatric patients after ingestion or endoscopic placement of the capsule. The high yield of abnormal findings was comparable to those of adult patients.</p>

Capsule endoscopy and push enteroscopy in the diagnosis of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>In obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, it is often difficult to detect the bleeding sites located in the small bowel with conventional radiological, scintigraphic or angiographic techniques. Push enteroscopy and capsule endoscopy are currently considered to be the most effective diagnostic procedures. The aim of this study was to compare the detection rates between capsule endoscopy and push enteroscopy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From May 2002 through January 2003, we prospectively examined by capsule endoscopy 39 patients with suspected small bowel diseases, in particular GI bleeding of unknown origin in Renji Hospital. Among them, 32 complained of obscure recurrent GI bleeding. Between January 1993 and October 1996, we used push enteroscopy on 36 patients who suffered from unexplained GI bleeding. All patients had prior normal results on gastroscopy, colonoscopy, small bowel barium radiography, scintigraphy and/or angiography.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>M2A capsule endoscopy disclosed abnormal small bowel findings in 26 (82%) out of 32 patients. Twenty-one of them had significant pathological findings explaining their clinical disorders. Diagnostic yield was therefore 66% (21 of 32 patients). Definite bleeding sites diagnosed by capsule endoscopy in 21 patients included angiodysplasia (8), inflammatory small-bowel (5), small-bowel polyps (4), gastrointestinal stromal tumour (2), carcinoid tumour and lipoma (1), and hemorrhagic gastritis (1). Push enteroscopy detected the definite sources of bleeding in 9 (25%) of the 36 patients. Patients with definite bleeding sources included angiodysplasias (2), leiomyosarcoma (2), leiomyoma (1), lymphoma (1), Crohn's disease (1), small-bowel polyps (1) and adenocarcinoma of ampulla (1). Suspected bleeding sources were shown by push enteroscopy in two additional patients (6%), and in other five patients (16%) by capsule endoscopy.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The present study of patients with obscure GI bleeding showed that capsule endoscopy significantly superior to push enteroscopy in detecting GI bleeding (P < 0.001). Capsule endoscopy is safe and painless, and should become the initial diagnostic choice for patients with obscure GI bleeding.</p>