Is duodenal biopsy always necessary for the diagnosis of coeliac disease in adult patients with high anti-tissue transglutaminase (TTG) antibody titres?

Objective: Avoiding duodenal biopsy in adults for coeliac disease (CD) diagnosis is controversial. Some retrospective and prospective studies have shown that CD can be reliably diagnosed in adults with serology rather than duodenal biopsies. This study aimed to check the accuracy of a cut-off value of ≥10 upper limit of normal of anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody (anti-TTG IgA) titres for CD diagnosis in adult patients. Method: We retrospectively analysed adult patients (≥16 years) who underwent gastroscopy from 2013 to 2018 for positive coeliac serology. The relationship between titres and disease was determined by using linear models, whereas sensitivity and specificity were assessed by receiver operator curve. Results: We analysed 144 newly anti-TTG antibody-positive adult patients with a median age of 48.5 years (IQR 32-62); among them, 86 (60%) patients had CD (Marsh III: n=68 and Marsh II and I: n=18) with a higher prevalence in females (n=59 (69%)) and Europeans (n=60 (70%)). Fifty (58%) patients with CD had colonoscopy and five (6%) had imaging; only six patients were diagnosed with additional conditions. An anti-TTG IgA titre cut-off value of 150 U/L was 100% specific for CD in our dataset, with 70% (95% CI: 60% to 88%) sensitivity for this patient group. Conclusion: Coeliac serology using anti-TTG IgA with titres ≥10× normal value is an excellent predictor of CD, irrespective of age, gender and ethnicity. Duodenal biopsy may not be necessary in selected adult patients with CD, especially younger than 50 years of age without additional gastrointestinal red-flag signs and symptoms.

Efficacy and safety of TC-325 (HemosprayTM) for non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding at Middlemore Hospital: the early New Zealand experience.

AIMS: A case series to review early experiences with HemosprayTM for a variety of non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) at Middlemore Hospital. METHODS: HemosprayTM was administered therapeutically as first line or rescue at the discretion of the endoscopist. All cases of UGIB requiring HemosprayTM at Middlemore Hospital were identified to the investigator who undertook analysis of electronic and hard copy notes. RESULTS: Between October 2013 and July 2016, 36 patients were treated endoscopically with HemosprayTM. Source of bleeding was predominantly gastric in 17, 15 were duodenal and four oesophageal. The majority of lesions were peptic ulcer or post-intervention (78%), with others being Mallory Weiss tear (MWT), gastric mass, Dieulafoy lesion, portal hypertensive gastropathy and post-biopsy. Thirty-one were actively bleeding with mostly oozing haemorrhage (75%). Twenty-three patients were on antithrombotic therapy (ATT), two each on warfarin and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and 19 on antiplatelet agents. HemosprayTM was administered therapeutically in all cases, as first line or rescue. Acute haemostasis was achieved in all patients; four (11%) episodes of re-bleeding occurred within seven days, with average follow-up of 16 months. There were no instances of equipment malfunction or adverse events specific to use of HemosprayTM. CONCLUSIONS: Our early experience with HemosprayTM is very promising and there is clear role for HemosprayTM as a rescue therapy when standard methods have failed to achieve haemostasis and possibly as first line in cases of diffuse bleeding not amenable to standard interventions. However, HemosprayTM is not recommended as a standalone therapy for spurting haemorrhage due to the increased frequency of re-bleeding.

Type 2 diabetes: a risk factor for liver mortality and complications in hepatitis B cirrhosis patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) on morbidity and mortality among hepatitis B virus (HBV) cirrhosis patients is poorly defined. We assess the effect of DM on the HBV cirrhosis outcomes and survival. METHODS: A retrospective study of HBV cirrhosis patients who sought care at a sole public hospital in a geographically defined region, from year 2000 to 2012. Cirrhosis complications, liver transplantations, and mortality were reviewed. Primary outcome is the composite of liver-related and overall mortality or orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-three patients entered into the final analysis; 50 patients (22.4%) have DM at cirrhosis diagnosis. Seventy-two percent of DM patients have DM for more than 5 years at cirrhosis diagnosis. The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was 25.4 and 60.5 per 1000 patient-years for non-DM and DM patients, respectively (P = 0.006). In multivariate analysis, DM was a predictor of HCC (hazard ratio [HR] 2.36, [1.14-4.85], P = 0.02), hepatic complications (HR 2.04, [1.16-3.59], P = 0.01), liver mortality or OLT (HR 2.26, [1.05-4.86], P = 0.04), and overall mortality or OLT (HR 2.25, [1.96-4.22], P = 0.01). Insulin and/or sulphonylurea use and poor diabetic control (glycosylated hemoglobin ≥ 7.0%) were predictors of HCC and cirrhosis complications (all P < 0.05). The 5-year liver-related mortality or OLT rate was 23.4% for DM patients and 9.4% for non-DM patients, respectively (P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: The presence of DM and poor diabetic control at cirrhosis diagnosis significantly increase the rate of cirrhosis complications and reduced survival in patients with HBV cirrhosis. Improving diabetic control should be essential part of the cirrhosis care in these patients.

Hepatitis E in new zealand.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Locally acquired hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been described in a number of developed countries and is thought to be zoonotic from pigs. Little is known about hepatitis E in humans in New Zealand (NZ) but 90% of NZ pigs show evidence of HEV infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of hepatitis E infection in NZ by documenting HEV immunoglobulin (Ig) G seroprevalence in NZ blood donors, testing patients with unexplained hepatitis for HEV, and comparing genetic sequences of human HEV with local porcine isolates. METHODS: In total, 265 blood donors were tested for HEV IgG and 77 patients with unexplained hepatitis were tested for HEV. Viral sequences were compared with known HEV isolates including those from NZ pigs. RESULTS: The HEV IgG seroprevalence was 4%. HEV genotype 3 was isolated in four patients with unexplained hepatitis. Clinical and sequencing data suggest that two cases were acquired in Europe and two in NZ. All cases were in elderly patients, one of whom was asymptomatic and initially misdiagnosed as a drug reaction. The NZ-acquired cases were most similar to HEV from Japan, and bore little sequence homology to HEV isolated from NZ pigs. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatitis E does occur in NZ in patients who have not traveled to endemic areas and seems to affect the elderly. The seroprevalence data suggest that subclinical/unrecognized infection is common. Sequencing data suggest that some reservoir other than pigs could be the source of HEV in NZ. It is recommend that all patients with unexplained hepatitis, whatever their age or travel history, are tested for HEV.