Cachexia and Invisible Stomach on Endoscopy: An Endoscopist's Enigma and a Surgeon's Axiom.

Gastroduodenal intussusception (GDI) is a very rare clinical entity in adults. GDI can present acutely or chronically in adults with varying spectrum of symptoms and signs. GDI can present acutely with abdominal pain, vomiting and palpable mass. In rare instances it can lead to anemia and cachexia. Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen can demonstrate GDI in majority of cases. However, endoscopy findings could lead to identifying etiological factor and tissue diagnosis. In majority of the cases endoscopy may show mucosal or submucosal lesion leading to GDI. We bring forward a case of GDI wherein patient presented with cachexia, intermittent vomiting along with anemia. Further workup including imaging has resulted in the rare diagnosis of GDI. Interestingly we encountered a rare of its kind, endoscopic presentation where there was total absence of stomach due to its complete invagination through the pylorus into the duodenum arising from a giant gastric hyperplastic polyp. We have successfully managed this patient with surgical intervention leading to positive clinical outcomes. On review of literature, we found that it is extremely rare to have a completely absent stomach on endoscopy in a patient with no previous surgical intervention. We would like to share our experience so that endoscopists are aware of such uncommon and interesting presentations. To the best of our knowledge, such a case has not been reported so far in literature.

Clostridioides difficile Infection and Liver Cirrhosis - A Retrospective, Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is one of the most common health care-associated infections in the United States. Studies revealed a higher mortality when CDI is associated with liver cirrhosis. We aim to present the outcomes of CDI among patients with and without liver cirrhosis and to analyze the association of Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Child-Pugh (CPT) scoring with the severity of CDI. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted in hospitalized patients with CDI diagnosed via a 2-step method - glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and toxin polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Patients with liver cirrhosis were identified based on ICD codes and chart review. MELD and CPT scores were calculated using laboratory parameters at the time of hospitalization. We compared CDI-related mortality in patients with and without cirrhosis and reviewed the CDI severity distribution in cirrhosis patients. RESULTS: A total of 526 patients were included in the study, of which 478 (90.87%) were non-cirrhotic and 48 (9.13%) were cirrhotic patients. Mortality rate was higher in cirrhosis group compared to the non-cirrhosis group (39.6% vs. 14.6%,P = 0.001). Among cirrhosis patients, those who survived had lower MELD score compared to the expired group (14.9 vs. 18.58, P = 0.106). There was no correlation of mortality based on CPT score in the cirrhosis group (P = 0.062). In post hoc analysis comparing the severity of CDI to liver cirrhosis, cirrhosis patients are more likely to present with severe-complicated disease. Multivariate logistic regression identified liver cirrhosis, severe-complicated CDI and serum albumin level as independent predictors of mortality. CONCLUSION: Our study noted a more severe disease presentation and higher mortality in patients with cirrhosis admitted with CDI. Further studies are required for better understanding of the clinical course of CDI in cirrhosis and to evaluate the need for early intervention in this patient group.

Predictors of acute gastrointestinal bleeding in diabetic ketoacidosis: a retrospective observational study in minority population.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a common acute complication of diabetes mellitus requiring aggressive medical management. We attempted to study the incidence and various clinical and laboratory variables associated with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (AGIB) and acute upper AGIB (AUGIB) in patients with DKA. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all the patients admitted to our hospital with DKA between January 2010 and December 2015. We collected demographic, clinical, laboratory, endoscopy and hospitalization details using an electronic medical-record database. Patients were divided into two groups based on the occurrence of gastrointestinal bleeding. RESULTS: A total of 234 patients with DKA were admitted during this period, of which 27 (11.5%) patients had documented AGIB. The majority of patients had hematemesis (n=22, 9.4%) except two had rectal and three had occult bleeding. We did not notice any difference in age, gender and ethnicity distribution between the two groups. There was no difference in the serum levels of electrolytes, anion gap, pH and hemoglobin A1C between the two groups. However, patients with AGIB had significantly higher initial blood glucose levels (738 vs 613 mg/dL, p =0.014). There was also increased mortality (7.4% vs 4.8%) in patients with AGIB, but this did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: We conclude that higher initial serum blood glucose was associated with increased incidence of AGIB in patients admitted with DKA. We also noted increased in-patient mortality in patients with DKA who had AGIB, even though statistically insignificant. More aggressive measures to correct blood glucose levels may result in decreased incidence of AGIB, thereby reducing mortality during hospitalization in patients with DKA.

Cystic Lymphangioma of the Colon: Endoscopic Removal beyond the Frontiers of Size.

Cystic lymphangiomas are benign colonic neoplasms arising from the submucosa. Traditionally, endoscopic resection has been described for smaller lesions, while surgery is reserved for larger symptomatic lesions. We present a case of a 69-year-old asymptomatic individual noted to have a cystic lymphangioma of the colon measuring 5 cm, which was successfully removed with endoloop endoscopic resection without any complications.

Colonic Endometriosis: Dig Deeper for Diagnosis.

Endometriosis is a common gynecological condition wherein there is an ectopic implantation of the uterine endometrial tissue. While several diagnostic modalities are described for the condition, laparoscopy remains the gold standard. There is still an undiscovered area to diagnose colonic endometriosis at an earlier stage. We present a case report of a reproductive age woman with cyclical rectal bleeding diagnosed with colonic endometriosis with colonoscopy and biopsy using saline injection lift and sampling technique. We in our report try to impress the fact that this differential should always be considered in the appropriate clinical setting, especially in women of childbearing age and in such cases, deeper tissue sampling techniques should be sought for, given better diagnostic yield. This may be clinically important given that it may aid in earlier diagnosis and thereby early initiation of appropriate therapy before the disease takes a complicated route. It may also be helpful in avoiding unnecessary surgery, along with the morbidity, complications and costs associated with same.

Lung cancer metastasis to the gastrointestinal system: An enigmatic occurrence.

Adenocarcinoma of the lung infrequently metastasizes to the gastrointestinal tract. We report a rare case of a 65-year-old male with no respiratory symptoms diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung by histopathological examination of metastatic sites which included an ulcer in the gastric body and a mass in the rectum. Metastatic disease also involved the liver as well. Patient was treated with systemic chemotherapy but unfortunately expired five months after the diagnosis was made.

Cervical Spinal Cord Compression: A Rare Presentation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of liver. Distant metastasis to various organs is well known. Skeletal metastasis is also reported to various locations. Vertebral metastasis has been reported mostly to thoracic spine. However, cervical spinal cord involvement leading to cord compression has been reported very rarely in literature. We present a case of 58-year-old male with liver cirrhosis presenting as neck pain. Further work-up revealed metastatic HCC to cervical spinal cord resulting in acute cord compression. Patient has been treated with neurosurgical intervention.

Cecal Leiomyoma: Can We Attempt Endoscopic Resection?

Gastrointestinal leiomyomas are smooth muscle tumors arising from the muscularis mucosae, muscularis propriae and possibly from smooth muscle of the vessel wall. Management depends on the size, location and the clinical scenario. Endoscopic snare cauterization with or without saline lift has been described in literature for tumors involving the left colon. To the best of our knowledge, endoscopic resection of right colon leiomyoma was never attempted in the past. We present a case of cecal leiomyoma which was resected endoscopically.