Lifestyle-related disease in Crohn's disease: relapse prevention by a semi-vegetarian diet.

AIM: To investigate whether semi-vegetarian diet (SVD) has a preventive effect against relapse of Crohn's disease (CD) in patients who have achieved remission, who are a high-risk group for relapse. METHODS: A prospective, single center, 2-year clinical trial was conducted. Twenty-two adult CD patients who achieved clinical remission either medically (n = 17) or surgically (n = 5) and consumed an SVD during hospitalization were advised to continue with an SVD and avoid known high-risk foods for inflammatory bowel disease. The primary endpoint was clinical relapse defined as the appearance of active symptoms of CD. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to calculate the cumulative proportion of patients who had a relapse. A 2-year analysis of relapse rates of patients who followed an SVD and those who did not (an omnivorous diet group) was undertaken. RESULTS: SVD was continued by 16 patients (compliance 73%). Remission was maintained in 15 of 16 patients (94%) in the SVD group vs two of six (33%) in the omnivorous group. Remission rate with SVD was 100% at 1 year and 92% at 2 years. SVD showed significant prevention in the time to relapse compared to that in the omnivorous group (P = 0.0003, log rank test). The concentration of C-reactive protein was normal at the final visit in more than half of the patients in remission who were taking an SVD, who maintained remission during the study (9/15; 60%), who terminated follow-up (8/12; 67%), and who completed 2 years follow-up (7/10; 70%). There was no untoward effect of SVD. CONCLUSION: SVD was highly effective in preventing relapse in CD.

Contrast-enhanced sonography of pancreatic ductal carcinoma using agent detection imaging.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the enhancement behavior of pancreatic ductal carcinoma by contrast-enhanced sonography with agent detection imaging (ADI), and to clarify the origin of microbubble signals by comparisons with histological findings of resected specimens. METHODS: The subjects were 21 patients with resectable pancreatic carcinoma. The final histological diagnosis was tubular adenocarcinoma in 20 cases, and anaplastic carcinoma in one case. Ultrasound examinations were performed using an Acuson Sequoia 512 series system, and the contrast agent (Levovist) was injected intravenously in doses of 7 ml (300 mg/ml). The ADI signals (in the tumor) were recorded continuously for 30 s after an injection of Levovist (vascular image) and then obtained intermittently (30 s time-intervals) until the signal had diminished in pancreatic tissue (perfusion image). RESULTS: Contrast enhancement of the tumor was observed in 71.4% of subjects on the vascular image and 76.3% of subjects on the perfusion image. Enhancement patterns on the vascular image were classified into three types: VI-1 (linear enhancement), VI-2 (spotty enhancement), and VI-3 (no enhancement). VI-1, VI-2, and VI-3 were seen in 9 (42.8%), 6 (28.6%), and 6 (28.6%) of the 21 cases, respectively. Enhancement patterns on the perfusion image were classified into four types: PI-1 (diffuse uneven enhancement), PI-2 (spotty enhancement), PI-3 (peripheral enhancement), and PI-4 (negative enhancement). The incidence of PI-1, PI-2, PI-3, and PI-4 was 4.8%, 42.9%, 28.6%, and 23.8%, respectively. With respect to resectable cases, these enhancement patterns were compared with histological findings, i.e., the distribution of blood vessels in the tumor, remaining pancreatic tissues in the tumor, differentiation of types of adenocarcinoma, volume of stroma, and invasion types of carcinoma. The enhanced patterns consequently corresponded to either the distribution of the blood vessels or the remaining pancreatic tissues in the tumor. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that pancreatic ductal carcinoma is frequently enhanced by microbubbles, and the signals seem to originate from fine blood vessels and the remaining pancreatic tissues in the tumor.