Practice Patterns for Eosinophilic Esophagitis Patients in Busan and Gyeongnam: A Korean Multicenter Database Study

Background/Aims@#The prevalence of eosinophilic esophagitis is increasing in Korea and there are few single-center studies regarding eosinophilic esophagitis in Korea. In particular, data about management for eosinophilic esophagitis are lacking. We aim to evaluate the practice patterns, including initial treatment and response, in the Busan city and Gyeongnam province area. @*Methods@#We retrospectively reviewed medical records to gain data on patient characteristics, medication, endoscopic images, and esophageal biopsy results. From January 2009 to December 2019, a total of 42 patients were diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis. @*Results@#The mean age was 50.7 (from 22 to 81) years and the cohort was predominantly male (78.6%, 33/42). The proton pump inhibitor was the preferred treatment as an initial trial for 64.3% (27/42) of patients, followed by swallowed topical steroids (16.7%, 7/42).Clinical improvement after proton pump inhibitor therapy was achieved in 88.9% (24/27) of patients. Two patients who did not achieve improvement showed a clinical and endoscopic response after swallowed topical steroids treatment. No patient received diet elimination or balloon dilatation therapy. @*Conclusions@#The treatment response of eosinophilic esophagitis was good in Busan city and Gyeongnam province area in Korea. Proton pump inhibitor therapy was the preferred and most effective treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis as the initial therapy.

Pneumothorax Following Gastric Endoscopic Mucosal Resection / 대한소화기학회지

An endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is used widely as an alternative treatment to a surgical resection for early gastric neoplasticlesions. Among the unusual complications of gastric EMR, perforation is usually manifested as a pneumoperitoneum. Thispaper reports a patient with a left-side pneumothorax without pneumoperitoneum as a complication of gastric EMR. The patientdeveloped a left side pneumothorax after gastric EMR in the gastric fundus and recovered without further complications afterconservative treatment, including endoscopic clipping.

Acquired Hemophilia A with Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Peptic ulcer disease is the most common cause of acute gastrointestinal bleeding, followed by variceal bleeding, Mallory–Weiss syndrome, and malignancy. On the contrary, acquired hemophilia A is a very rare hemorrhagic disease, which usually manifests with musculocutaneous bleeding, caused by autoantibodies against coagulation factor VIII. A 78-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department with melena. Dieulafoy’s lesions were observed on esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and endoscopic cauterization was performed. However, the patient complained of back pain and symptoms indicative of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Abdominopelvic computed tomography was performed, and hematoma in the psoas muscle was detected. Antibodies against coagulation factor VIII were confirmed with a blood test, and the diagnosis of acquired hemophilia A was made. Here, we report a case of acquired hemophilia A presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding symptoms and present a brief review of literature.

Endoscopic Diagnosis of Aortoesophageal Fistula Not Presenting Hematemesis / 대한소화기학회지

Aortoesophageal fistula (AEF) is an extremely rare but lethal cause of massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Characteristic symptoms are mid-thoracic pain, sentinel minor hemorrhage, and massive hemorrhage after a symptom-free interval. Prompt diagnosis and immediate treatments are necessary to reduce mortality. However, AEF is difficult to diagnose because it is uncommon and often leads to death with massive bleeding before proper evaluation. We report a case of endoscopic diagnosis of AEF that did not present with hematemesis; it was treated with thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) and surgery. A 71-year-old female presented to the emergency department with epigastric discomfort. Endoscopy demonstrated a submucosal tumor-like protrusion and pulsating mass with blood clots. Contrast-enhanced chest CT confirmed AEF due to descending thoracic aortic aneurysm. The patient immediately underwent TEVAR to prevent massive bleeding and subsequently underwent surgery. Endoscopists should consider AEF if they see a submucosal tumor-like mass with a central ulcerative lesion or a pulsating protrusion covered with blood clots in mid-esophagus during an endoscopy.

Association between Oral Health and Gastric Neoplastic Lesions

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although several studies have suggested that tooth loss is associated with the risk of gastric cancer, the association between oral health and gastric cancer remains a controversial issue. Thus, we investigated whether oral health is associated with the risk of gastric neoplastic lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 391 patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopic examination between March 2010 and February 2013. The tooth number and the age-related periodontal bone loss score (ArB score) were investigated as parameters of oral health. Gastric neoplastic lesions included adenomas and cancer detected on biopsy examination. RESULTS: We identified 10 patients (2.6%) with neoplastic lesions. Older age, a higher body mass index, and the presence of Helicobacter pylori infection were significantly associated with neoplastic lesions. However, there was no significant correlation about Kimura-Takemoto classification, ArB score, and tooth number. Multivariate analyses showed that age was significantly associated with neoplastic lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that oral health (assessed using parameters such as tooth number and ArB score) may not be significantly associated with gastric neoplastic lesions.

Three cases of glycogenic hepatopathy mimicking acute and relapsing hepatitis in type I diabetes mellitus

Glycogenic hepatopathy (GH) is an uncommon cause of serum transaminase elevation in type I diabetes mellitus (DM). The clinical signs and symptoms of GH are nonspecific, and include abdominal discomfort, mild hepatomegaly, and transaminase elevation. In this report we describe three cases of patients presenting serum transaminase elevation and hepatomegaly with a history of poorly controlled type I DM. All of the cases showed sudden elevation of transaminase to more than 30 times the upper normal range (like in acute hepatitis) followed by sustained fluctuation (like in relapsing hepatitis). However, the patients did not show any symptom or sign of acute hepatitis. We therefore performed a liver biopsy to confirm the cause of liver enzyme elevation, which revealed GH. Clinicians should be aware of GH so as to prevent diagnostic delay and misdiagnosis, and have sufficient insight into GH; this will be aided by the present report of three cases along with a literature review.

A Case of Sustained Cholestasis Caused by Acute A Viral Hepatitis in Dubin-Johnson Syndrome / 대한소화기학회지

Dubin-Johnson syndrome is a rare clinical entity. It shows intermittent symptoms such as chronic or intermittent jaundice, abdominal pain, weakness, nausea, vomiting, anorexia and diarrhea. Symptoms are precipitated or aggravated by pregnancy, alcoholism, surgical procedures and intercurrent disease. Chronic idiopathic jaundice is typical of Dubin-Johnson syndrome and its prognosis is good. We describe a case of prolonged cholestasis for more than 10 months caused by acute A viral hepatitis in a patient with Dubin-Johnson syndrome. It is a first report of cholestasis complicated by acute A viral hepatitis in a patient with Dubin-Johnson syndrome.