Perceptions and Behaviors of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease during the COVID-19 Crisis.

Background/Aims: This study aimed to investigate the perceptions and behaviors of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during the early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the major epidemic area in Korea. Methods: Between April and May 2020, a cross-sectional survey was performed at two tertiary hospitals in Daegu, South Korea, on patients' experiences, coping strategies and perceptions. Results: Most of the 544 patients participating in the survey strictly adhered to personal protection guidance against COVID-19. In the early COVID-19 crisis, many patients canceled or postponed hospital visits (57.5%) and rescheduled biologics administrations (26.4%). Although 13.6% utilized telemedicine, the frequency of individuals leaving their homes remained unchanged. Although 50.4% were concerned about their susceptibility to COVID-19, 72.2% adhered to their treatment for IBD. In patients taking biologics or Janus kinase inhibitors, 86.8% disagreed that they should discontinue their medication as a preventative measure against COVID-19, but 21.9% actually discontinued their medications. Of those with discordance between the perception of IBD drug adherence and active behaviors, 5.4% of all and 39.4% of biologics or Janus kinase inhibitors withheld drugs specifically due to fear of COVID-19. Only 7% of all patients discussed drug safety with their physicians. The level of concern for COVID-19 depended on the type of drug used. Conclusions: Patients with IBD showed concerns about the increased risk of COVID-19 due to IBD or their medications, and a considerable number of patients withheld their medications without consulting medical staff. Enhanced active communications with patients with IBD and appropriate health-related education should be provided.

Predictive risk factors of perforation in gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer: a large, multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Although endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is standard therapy for early gastric cancer, the complication rate is unsatisfactory, with perforation as the major complication during ESD. There have been several reports regarding the complications of ESD for gastric tumor especially perforation; however, little is known about the predictors for complications in patients undergoing ESD. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the risk factors for perforation in patients with early gastric cancer during ESD. METHODS: Between February 2003 and May 2010, we performed ESD for 1,289 lesions in 1,246 patients at six tertiary academic hospitals in Daegu, Kyungpook, Korea. Patient-related variables (age, sex, and underlying disease), endoscopic-related variables (indication of ESD, lesion size, location, type, and mucosal ulceration), procedure-related variables (operation time, complete resection, and invasion of submucosa/vessel/lymph node), and the pathologic diagnosis were evaluated as potential risk factors. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 64 years. The mean size of the endoscopic lesion was 19.4 mm. The overall en bloc resection rate was 93.3 %. Perforation (microperforation and macroperforation) was seen in 35 lesions. The location of the lesion (long axis: body/short axis: greater and lesser curvature) and piecemeal resection were associated with perforation (p = 0.01/0.047 and p = 0.049). Upon multivariate analysis, the location (body vs. antrum) of the lesion (odds ratio (OR) 2.636; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.319-5.267; p = 0.006) and piecemeal resection (OR 2.651; 95 % CI 1.056-6.656; p = 0.038) were significant predictive factors for perforation. CONCLUSIONS: The result of this study demonstrated that the location of the lesion (body) and piecemeal resection were related to perforation during ESD.

[The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korean patients with inflammatory bowel disease, a multicenter study].

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has been reported to be lower in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in some Western countries. We investigated H. pylori infection in Korean patients with IBD and any possible associations of H. pylori infection with drug therapy for IBD and the phenotype of Crohns disease (CD). METHODS: We studied 316 unselected patients with IBD, including 169 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 147 with CD, and the control group consisted of 316 age- and gender-matched healthy people who received a comprehensive medical examination for a regular checkup purpose. Infection rates of H. pylori as detected by the urea breath test were compared between the IBD patients and the controls. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in H. pylori infection rate was noticed between the IBD patients (25.3%) and the controls (52.5%; p<0.001), and between UC (32.0%) and CD patients (17.7%; p=0.04). Among the IBD patients, the age group of <60 and individuals with a history of taking metronidazole (13.0%; p=0.038) or ciprofloxacin (6.7%; p=0.001) were found to have a meaningfully lower infection rate, but those who did not take antibiotics still showed H. pylori infection rate significantly lower than the controls (CD 22.0% vs. UC 33.8% vs. Control 52.5%, p<0.001). With an exception of age, phenotypic characteristics showed no significant relations with H. pylori infection rate in CD patients. CONCLUSIONS: Korean patients with IBD, particularly CD, were found to have a significantly lower H. pylori infection rate than the controls. This association was more evident in those <60 years old, which suggested that H. pylori infection might be deemed to lower possible risks of IBD in younger adults.

Comparison of postpolypectomy bleeding between epinephrine and saline submucosal injection for large colon polyps by conventional polypectomy: a prospective randomized, multicenter study.

AIM: To evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes of prophylactic submucosal saline-epinephrine injection and saline injection alone for large colon polyps by conventional polypectomy. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted from July 2003 to July 2004 at 11 tertiary endoscopic centers. Large colon polyps (> 10 mm in diameter) were randomized to undergo endoscopic polypectomy with submucosal saline-epinephrine injection (epinephrine group) or normal saline injection (saline group). Endoscopic polypectomy was performed by the conventional snare method, and early (< 12 h) and late bleeding complications (12 h-30 d) were observed. RESULTS: A total of 561 polyps in 486 patients were resected by endoscopic polypectomy. Overall, bleeding complications occurred in 7.6% (37/486) of the patients, including 4.9% (12/244) in the epinephrine group, and 10.3% (25/242) in the saline group. Early and late postpolypectomy bleeding (PPB) occurred in 6.6% (32/486) and 1% (5/486) of the patients, respectively, including 4.5% (11/244), 0.4% (1/244) in the epinephrine group, and 8.7% (21/242), 1.7% (4/242) in the saline group. No significant differences in the rates of overall, early and late PPB were observed between the 2 groups. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that large size (> 2 cm) and neoplastic polyps were independently and significantly associated with the presence of PPB. CONCLUSION: The prophylactic submucosal injection of diluted epinephrine does not appear to provide an additional advantage over the saline injection alone for the prevention of PPB.

[Two cases of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy].

Metronidazole is a 5-nitroimidazole compound known as an antimicrobial agent widely used for the treatment of protozoal infection, anaerobic infection, Helicobacter pylori infection and hepatic encephalopathy. It may produce a number of neurologic side effects including peripheral neuropathy, seizure, encephalopathy, ataxic gait and dysarthritic speech. There have been ten or more reports of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy in the literatures including a few reports of brain imaging changes by magnetic resonance images (MRI). However, none of the case of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy in patients with hepatic encephalopathy has been reported yet. Recently, we experienced two cases of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis B, which were diagnosed by brain MRI and MR spectroscopy. In this report, we present 2 cases of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy with MR imaging and MR spectroscopic changes including follow-up imaging performed after the discontinuation of the metronidazole with a review of the literatures.

[Clinical characteristics of pancreatic cancer according to the presence of diabetes mellitus].

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Pancreatic cancer is fatal with a dismal 6-month median survival from diagnosis. Diabetes mellitus is reported to be present up to 33.3 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer. The reason for the high frequency of diabetes is unknown. We studied the prevalence and duration of diabetes in patients with pancreatic cancer and the relationship between the two diseases. METHODS: A total of 152 patients with pancreatic cancer diagnosed at Yeungnam University Hospital from January 1999 to December 2001 were enrolled in this study. Clinical features, family history, smoking history, and characteristics of the tumor were compared between diabetic and non-diabetic groups. RESULTS: Among 152 patients with pancreatic cancer, 43 patients (28.3%) had diabetes. In diabetic group, mean age of diagnosis was significantly younger than non- diabetic group (62.0 +/- 7.2 vs. 65.0 +/- 8.8, p<0.05). Most of the patients with diabetes had non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and did not have family history. Diabetes was diagnosed within 2 years after the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in 35 patients (74.3%) of the diabetic group. There were no differences in the location and stage of tumor, chief complaints, presence of weight loss, and body mass index between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes mellitus occurs frequently in patients with pancreatic cancer and does not influence clinical features of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer should be suspected in patients with recent onset diabetes, especially in patients without family history of diabetes and with type of NIDDM.