Confocal Laser Endomicroscopic Findings of Refractory Erosive Reflux Disease versus Non-Erosive Reflux Disease with Anti-Reflux Mucosectomy: An in vivo and ex vivo Study

Background/Aims@#To date, there is no standard tool to diagnose gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Typically, GERD is a non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) that does not present endoscopic abnormalities. Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) has been shown to be an effective tool to identify and diagnose GERD. We aimed to investigate the cellular and vascular changes in vivo and ex vivo through CLE in patients with GERD. @*Methods@#Patients with refractory GERD who underwent mucosectomy were recruited. The distal esophagus was observed in vivo using CLE. Mucosectomy tissue was stained with acriflavine and CLE image was obtained ex vivo. We compared cellular and vascular changes in CLE between erosive reflux disease (ERD), NERD, and a control group. @*Results@#Eleven patients who underwent anti-reflux mucosectomy and five control patients were enrolled in the study. Patients with ERD and NERD presented greater dilated intercellular space than patients in the control group on CLE image. The diameter, number, and cross-sectional area of the intra-papillary capillary loops (IPCLs) were significantly larger in the ERD group than in the NERD group. The irregular shape of the IPCLs were observed in both patients with ERD and NERD. @*Conclusions@#The irregular shape of the IPCLs were significantly correlated with a positive diagnosis of GERD. CLE may diagnose NERD with high sensitivity and accuracy.

Effectiveness of Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma for the Healing of Ulcers after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used for wound healing in various medical fields. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of local PRP injections after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). METHODS: Patients were non-randomly divided into the following two groups: (1) control group in which patients were administered only an intravenous proton pump inhibitor (PPI), and (2) a study group in which patients were administered an intravenous PPI and a topical PRP injection. We assessed the reduction in the ulcer area and stage of the ulcer after the procedure (24 hours, 48 hours, and 28 days after endoscopic surgery). RESULTS: We enrolled 7 study and 7 control patients. In the study group, the rate of ulcer reduction was 59% compared to 52% in the control group (p=0.372), 28 days after ESD. There were 5 patients in the S stage and 2 patients in the H stage in the study group compared to no patient in the S stage and 7 patients in the H stage in the control group (p=0.05), 28 days after ESD. There were no serious complications in either group. CONCLUSIONS: The local injection of PRP is a safe and effective procedure for ulcer healing after ESD.

Photoacoustic spectroscopy that uses a resonant characteristic of a microphone for in vitro measurements of glucose concentration.

Glucose measurements using photoacoustic spectroscopy have been highlighted to be a modality for non-invasive glucose monitoring. Previous photoacoustic spectroscopy for glucose measurements have used a resonant acoustic cell with a broadband capacitive microphone to increase sensitivity. However, a resonant characteristic of a microphone has not been investigated yet due to the working frequency range much lower than the resonance frequency of the microphone membrane. We, here, present a photoacoustic spectroscopy system that utilizes an ultrasound resonance of a microphone to increase sensitivity. We found that matching the resonance of a photoacoustic cell with the resonance of a microphone can increase signal-to-noise ratio and our system can distinguish the glucose concentration in liquid.

Anti-Rods and Rings Autoantibodies in a Patient With Hepatitis C Virus Infection

No abstract available.