Intrapulmonary vascular dilatations with hypoxemia in extrahepatic portal vein obstruction.

Several mechanisms have been suggested for the development of hypoxemia in cirrhosis. A few patients of portal hypertension due to non cirrhotic liver disease with cyanosis have also been reported earlier. We report probably the first documented case of portal hypertension with portal cavernoma and a normal liver, who had intrapulmonary vascular dilatations leading to hypoxemia and cyanosis. Our case suggests that changes leading to hypoxemia can occur due to portal hypertension alone, in the presence of a normal liver.

Colloidal bismuth subcitrate in non-ulcer dyspepsia.

The effect of colloidal bismuth subcitrate (De-Nol) on symptoms, Helicobacter pylori status and histological features was studied in 35 patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia. Pain (34 cases) and gas bloat (18) were the predominant symptoms. H pylori was present in 26 (74.3%) patients. Gastritis and duodenitis were present in 29 of 32 and 22 of 31 cases respectively in whom biopsies were available. Relief in symptoms after treatment was seen in 29 (82.8%) cases. Improvement in gastritis and duodenitis was noted in 60.8% and 58.8% respectively; over 70% of H pylori positive patients cleared the organism. These changes did not correlate with the relief in symptoms. We conclude that colloidal bismuth subcitrate is effective in the short term treatment of non-ulcer dyspepsia. It also clears H pylori infection and results in improvement of histological features.

Scintigraphic right-to-left liver lobe ratio and liver-to-spleen ratio in cirrhosis and non cirrhotic liver diseases.

Various criteria are used together for the scintigraphic diagnosis of cirrhosis as no single criterion may be reliable. However, low right-to-left hepatic lobe uptake ratio has been reported to be sensitive and specific for alcoholic cirrhosis. A low liver-to-spleen uptake ratio has also been reported in various hepatocellular disorders. We tested these ratios in patients with cirrhosis and non cirrhotic causes of portal hypertension. The right-to-left lobe uptake ratio was significantly lower (1.59 +/- 1.23 vs 2.36 +/- 0.63 in normals; p = 0.037) in only Child's C alcoholic cirrhosis, but the sensitivity of this ratio was low (40%) even in this subgroup of cirrhosis (mean +/- SD 1.72 +/- 1.08) as against 1 of 10 patients with non cirrhotic portal hypertension (3.57 +/- 1.33; p = 0.0005). We conclude that the right-to-left hepatic lobe uptake ratio is not a discriminatory scintigraphic sign in liver disease. A low liver-to-spleen uptake ratio can distinguish cirrhosis from non cirrhotic causes of portal hypertension.

Determinants of acid secretion.

Acid secretion is regulated by hormonal factors acting peripherally and centrally, as well as neural factors. Gastrin and histamine are the two most important peripheral hormonal stimulants, while the vagus is the predominant nerve affecting acid secretion. Meal related acid secretion occurs in three phases: cephalic, gastric and intestinal. Acid secretion is stimulated in the first two phases while it is inhibited in the intestinal phase. Proteins are potent acid stimulants but carbohydrates and fats are inhibitors. Tea, coffee, milk and alcohol are acid stimulants; on the other hand the damaging influence of spices on the stomach may not be related to increased acid secretion. Psychological stress has a variable effect. The effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on acid secretion is being elucidated. Many drugs modifying acid secretion are available and are useful in the treatment of acid peptic disease.

Evaluation of a modified medium for the one hour urease test for Helicobacter pylori infection.

The biopsy urease test is a simple and rapid method for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection; results are obtained within 4 h to 24 h. Various modifications of the media used in this test have been tried, to improve the accuracy and speed of the test. We compared the yield obtained with two media: the standard Christensen's urea medium and a modified plain urea medium (without the nutrients glucose and peptone); the result was read upto 1 h. In the first 53 cases, culture was obtained when either of the media gave a negative result. There was no difference in false positives in the two media, while there were more false negatives with the plain urea medium (4) compared to the Christensen's medium (1). In the latter 69 patients, we determined the accuracy of the two media by obtaining culture in all cases. The Christensen's medium had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 92.1%, while the plain urea medium had a sensitivity of 96.7% and a specificity of 92.1%. The speed of reaction in both media was similar. We conclude that the Christensen's urea medium gives accurate results even when read at 1 h; the plain urea medium gives similar results.