Gastrointestinal amyloidosis in Australian indigenous patients.

This study documents the symptoms, racial distribution, pathological findings and outcomes of patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal amyloidosis in Alice Springs Hospital. In a 4 year retrospective survey. 9 patients, all indigenous, 7F/2M, had biopsy proven gastrointestinal amyloidosis. Four out of four patients tested were found to have AA amyloidosis. Presenting symptoms included diarrhoea, bloody in some, vomiting and abdominal pain. All but one had diabetes mellitus, type 2. Multiple infections were common and most patients had low serum albumin and transferrin concentrations but high serum ferritin concentrations. Five of the patients died, and the gastrointestinal symptoms of the remaining 4 remitted. Gastrointestinal amyloidosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of indigenous patients presenting with chronic diarrhoea, vomiting or abdominal pain. It carries a grave prognosis, is probably secondary to chronic infections but is potentially reversible.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in 160 patients with Barrett's oesophagus or Barrett's adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The role of Helicobacter pylori infection in the development of Barrett's oesophagus and its complications is uncertain. The aim of the present study was to determine the importance of H. pylori infection in this disease by comparing the frequency of oesophageal and gastric H. pylori infection in a group of patients with Barrett's oesophagus or adenocarcinoma, with the frequency of infection in a control group without Barrett's disease. METHODS: The study group included 160 patients (123 male, 37 female; mean age: 61.2 years) who were classified (according to the highest grade pathological lesion in the oesophagus) as having Barrett's intestinal metaplasia (IM; 88 patients), Barrett's oesophagus with low-grade dysplasia (LGD; 28 patients), high-grade dysplasia (HGD; five patients), Barrett's indefinite for dysplasia (n = 4), and Barrett's adenocarcinoma (33 patients). A total of 91 of these patients had gastric antral specimens available for study. The control group consisted of 214 consecutive, prospectively enrolled symptomatic patients (122 male, 92 female; mean age: 57.2 years) who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and in whom Barrett's oesophagus or Barrett's adenocarcinoma was not found. A modified Warthin-Starry method was used to detect H. pylori infection. RESULTS: Oesophageal H. pylori infection was found in eight of 160 (5%) patients with Barrett's oesophagus or Barrett's adenocarcinoma. Holicobacter pylori organisms in the oesophagus were found only on non-intestinalized cardiac or oxyntocardiac mucosa. All patients with oesophageal H. pylori infection and an antral biopsy available for study had antral H. pylori infection. Gastric antral H. pylori infection was significantly less prevalent in patients in the Barrett's study group (15/91, 16.5%) than in the non-Barrett's control group (67/214, 31.3%; Fisher's exact test, P = 0.01). Patients from the control group with an endoscopic diagnosis of duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, gastritis, or duodenitis had a significantly higher prevalence of infection compared with the Barrett's group, but there was no difference in the infection prevalence in patients in the Barrett's group and patients with reflux oesophagitis, hiatal hernia, no endoscopic abnormality, or any other diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Oesophageal H. pylori infection is uncommon in patients with Barrett's IM, dysplasia, or adenocarcinoma, and may be restricted to non-intestinalized columnar epithelium. Gastric H. pylori infection may have a protective effect for the development of Barrett's oesophagus.

Effect of immersion of biopsy forceps in formalin on tissue urease activity.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: It is routine practice to wash biopsy forceps that have been immersed in formalin solution before taking gastric biopsies to test for urease activity as formalin is thought to inactivate the urease enzyme. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of pre-immersion of biopsy forceps in formalin solution on the ability to detect Helicobacter pylori urease activity in biopsies obtained with the same forceps. METHODS: Two hundred consecutive patients undergoing gastroscopy who had macroscopic evidence of possible H. pylori infection had an initial antral biopsy taken using sterile forceps for determining biopsy urease activity. The same forceps were then used to obtain an antral biopsy for histological examination. The forceps were then used, without washing off any adherent formalin solution, to obtain a further antral biopsy for urease testing. RESULTS: The concordance rate for urease tests, with or without formalin exposure, was 100% (95% confidence interval (CI) 98.2-100%). Fifty-six of 200 patients (28%) were found to have urease-positive biopsies. Of these, 52/56 (92.9%) had identifiable H. pylori on histopathology. One hundred and forty-four of 200 patients (72%) were found to have urease-negative biopsies. Of these, seven (4.9%) had identifiable H. pylori on histopathology. Six of seven (85.7%) had only a small number of organisms identified. The sensitivity and specificity for the urease test compared with the histopathology as a reference standard was 88.1% (95% CI 79.9-96.4%) and 97.2% (95% CI 94.4-99.9%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Immersion of biopsy forceps in formalin did not reduce the ability to detect urease activity in gastric biopsies taken subsequently.

What's new in colorectal cancer screening?

There is now good evidence from case control studies and randomized controlled trials that screening average-risk subjects for colorectal cancer using faecal occult blood tests reduces mortality. There is limited data indicating that screening sigmoidoscopy can also achieve this. There is no evidence yet that screening by colonoscopy or double contrast barium enema can reduce mortality. Calculations of cost-effectiveness suggest that all of the above strategies should be economically worthwhile but there is no convincing evidence to suggest that one strategy is markedly more cost-effective than the others. Further data on several aspects of screening are required before any decisions are made on which form(s) of screening should be offered nationwide.

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater.

Sarcomatoid carcinomas (carcinosarcomas) are rare lesions in the gastrointestinal tract, where they are most commonly found in the esophagus. We present the first reported case of a sarcomatoid carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater. The tumor was composed of intermixed carcinomatous (adenocarcinoma plus squamous cell carcinoma) and sarcomatous elements. Cytokeratin immunoreactivity was demonstrated focally in the sarcomatoid component, although in other areas there was positive staining for desmin and smooth muscle actin. The possible histogenesis of such lesions is briefly discussed.

The estimation of sensitivity and specificity in colorectal cancer screening methods.

The sensitivity and specificity of three screening tests for colorectal cancer were evaluated using latent class analysis. This type of analysis is useful in situations where screening tests are performed on each person and follow-up diagnostic test results are not available for individuals with negative test results. Traditional methods of evaluation, which assume these individuals to be disease free, may be biased under these circumstances. In addition to providing the parameter estimates, the latent class technique gives standard errors and permits significance tests for differences in sensitivity and specificity. It was found that the radial immunodiffusion technique was significantly more sensitive (p less than 0.001) than either the rehydrated or nonrehydrated Hemoccult II tests for detecting occult blood in patients with cancer or adenoma. While comparable to the rehydrated Hemoccult II test in terms of specificity, the radial immunodiffusion technique was significantly less specific (p less than 0.01) than the nonrehydrated Hemoccult test. Similar results were observed when restricting the analysis to cancer only.

Acute presentation of Campylobacter pylori gastritis.

A 46-yr-old male was admitted to hospital with profuse vomiting, epigastric pain, and an infiltrative gastric lesion. Evidence is presented supporting the proposition that the symptoms were the product of an acute inflammatory response in the stomach induced by the bacterium Campylobacter pylori. The progress of the patient was monitored over a 2-yr period by endoscopic examination and serology for C. pylori. A significant rise in IgG antibody to C. pylori was seen only at 14 wk.

Improved screening for colorectal cancer by immunological detection of occult blood.

A radial immunodiffusion technique for detecting faecal haemoglobin and the Hemoccult II kit used with and without rehydration of the faecal sample were compared in a screening programme for bowel cancer, in which 1328 subjects took part. A positive result was obtained in 170 (13%) subjects. Nineteen of the 153 subjects investigated were found to have colorectal carcinomas and 52 had polyps (40 with adenomas). Radial immunodiffusion and Hemoccult II with and without rehydration detected bleeding in, respectively, all 19, 15, and 11 subjects with colorectal carcinoma. Hemoccult II with and without rehydration detected only seven and six, respectively, of 11 Duke's stage A carcinomas, whereas all 11 were detected with the immunological test. Hemoccult II with and without rehydration and radial immunodiffusion detected bleeding from adenomas in, respectively, 22, 14, and 34 of the 40 subjects. False positive results occurred in 55 out of 1302 subjects by Hemoccult II with rehydration, in 28 out of 1304 by Hemoccult II without rehydration, and in 50 out of 1304 by the immunological technique; true positive results were defined as bleeding from carcinomas and adenomas. Immunological detection of occult blood in faecal samples seems to show more adenomas and carcinomas (particularly early lesions) than the Hemoccult II kit and has a rate of false positive results that is acceptably low.

Urinary copper excretion and hepatic copper concentrations in liver disease.

Urinary copper excretion was found to be increased in patients with cholestasis, hepatitis and cirrhosis, but the penicillamine-induced increment was normal. Wilson's disease patients had increased copper excretion before and after penicillamine, especially in untreated cases. Hepatic copper concentrations correlated with urinary copper excretion in cholestasis and treated Wilson's disease, but not in hepatitis or cirrhosis. In treated Wilson's disease, measurement of urinary copper excretion should be valuable in estimating the degree of removal of copper from the body during therapy. Urinary copper clearances were raised in various liver conditions, maximally in untreated Wilson's disease. It is suggested that only part of the serum non-caeruloplasmin copper is available for excretion into urine.

Measurement of gastro-oesophageal reflux after antacid administration using a perfusion technique.

A study was carried out to measure gastro-oesophageal reflux in 6 asymptomatic and 9 heartburn subjects using a perfusion technique. Subjects swallowed a multi-lumen tube and the lower oesophageal sphincter pressure was measured. A phenol red solution was then infused through it into the stomach for 90 minutes whilst the oesophagus was aspirated continuously. The quantity of phenol red in oesophageal and gastric aspirates over 10-minutes periods was measured. In the heartburn subjects reflux was 1.27 +/- 0.37 ml/min and in the control subjects 0.23 +/- 0.07 ml/min, (p = 0.02). After 10 ml of an antacid combination, reflux in heartburn subjects was reduced to 0.59 +/- 0.18 ml/min and 0.68 +/- 0.16 ml/min in the second and third 30-minute period. Sphincter pressures increased from 8.9 to 11.8 mmHg. Control subjects showed little change in sphincter pressure or reflux after the antacid. Serum gastrin and secretin levels did not change in either group. This technique enables gastro-oesophageal flow rates to be easily measured. The results suggest that antacid administration tends to normalize lower oesophageal sphincter pressure and gastro-oesophageal reflux in patients with heartburn.

Cimetidine and acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding: a double-blind controlled trial.

Patients presenting with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding from a variety of lesions were admitted to a prospective double-blind controlled trial to determine if cimetidine reduces the severity of bleeding and/or the incidence of rebleeding. During the first 48 hours, the patients received intravenous cimetidine (200 mg four-hourly) or placebo, and for the following ten days, oral cimetidine (1 g/24 hr) or placebo. Eight-eight patients entered the trial of whom 45 (51%) were in the cimetidine-treated group. Six of the seven patients requiring surgery for life-threatening bleeding and four of the six patients who rebled were in the cimetidine-treated group. This study failed to demonstrate any advantage of using cimetidine routinely in the treatment of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Biliary copper excretion in man and the rat.

The form in which copper is bound in bile was studied in bile from patients with Wilson's disease, control subjects and rats. Bile was labelled with 64Cu. Sephadex column chromatography using gels G-200--G-10 showed a major 64Cu and protein peak of about 5,000 daltons and a minor peak of about 8,000 daltons. A high-molecular-weight peak (above 800,000 daltons) which was present when the eluting solution consisted of water or saline was shown to be an artefact which could be abolished by the addition of bile salt to the eluting solution. Bile from control subjects, Wilson's disease patients and from the rats behaved in the same manner binding copper to low-molecular-weight proteins. The relationship of these findings to the pathogenesis of copper retention in Wilson's disease is discussed.

Direct measurement of serum non-caeruloplasmin copper in liver disease.

The serum non-caeruloplasmin copper concentrations were measured in normal subjects and patients with various types of liver disease by a sensitive direct method involving complexing the copper and measurement by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In normal subjects the mean concentration (+/- S.D.) was 10.1 +/- 1.6 mug/100 ml, males having a slightly higher value (10.7 +/- 1.3 mug/100 ml) than females (9.2 +/- 1.8 mug/100 ml). In patients with various non-hepatic diseases concentrations were raised (15.8 +/- 8.9 mug/100 ml), as also in hepatitis (14.7 +/- 4.3 mug/100 ml), cholestasis (16.1 +/- 6.4 mug/100 ml) and cirrhosis (16.3 +/- 8.7 mug/100 ml). Heterozygotes for Wilson's disease and patients treated for Wilson's disease had concentrations (12.9 +/- 5.9 and 9.8 +/- 3.7 mug/100 ml, respectively) which did not differ significantly from normal whereas untreated patients had very significantly raised concentrations (22.9 +/- 4.5 mug/100 ml). Direct measurement of serum non-caeruloplasmin copper is more accurate than indirect measurement and may help in assessing the effect of treatment but it is concluded that measurement of this fraction of serum copper will not enable Wilson's disease to be differentiated from other forms of liver disease.

The healing of gastric ulcers by zinc sulphate.

A double-blind trial of zinc sulphate given by mouth (220 mg, three times a day) and placebo was undertaken in patients with benign gastric ulcers. The drug was given for a three-week period and the healing of the ulcers was estimated from results of barium-meal X-ray films taken immediately before and after this period. There were ten patients taking zinc sulphate and eight patients taking placebo. The two groups of patients were comparable in all respects, including initial ulcer size. Patients taking zinc sulphate had an ulcer healing rate three times that of patients treated with placebo. This difference was significant (P less than 0-05). Complete healing of ulcers occurred more frequently in the patients taking zinc sulphate than in patients treated with placebo. The placebo group contained more patients whose ulcers did not heal at all, than the group taking zinc sulphate. No side effects from zinc sulphate were noted. There was no evidence of zinc deficiency in any of the patients.