[Clinical and epidemiological study of calcifying chronic pancreatitis in Goiânia, GO, Brazil]. / Estudo clínico-epidemiológico da pancreatite crônica calcificante em Goiânia, GO, Brasil.

The authors studied, prospectively, 102 cases of calcifying chronic pancreatitis in Goiânia, GO, Brazil, from 1985 to 1996. Alcohol was the major cause of calcifying chronic pancreatitis, responsible for 94.1% of the cases. In others 5.9% of the cases, not associated with alcohol, the etiologic diagnosis could not be confirmed. The average age of the patients was 39.8 +/- 9.8 years, and the first symptoms appeared with the average age of male sex in the proportion of 9.2/1. The average of alcoholic beverage ingested was 258 +/- 187.1 g/day of ethanol through an average period of 17.5 +/- years. The major complications found were: chronic diarrhea (malabsorption), pleural effusion, cysts, diabetes mellitus, jaundice and digestive hemorrhage. This study, when compared to others from other Brazilian cities, suggests that there are differences in the natural history of calcifying chronic pancreatitis among several regions of Brazil.

[Endoscopy in megaesophagus. Prospective study of 600 cases]. / Endoscopia no megaesôfago. Estudo prospectivo de 600 casos.

From 1977 to 1984 six-hundred non selected patients with megaesophagus were prospectively examined through 722 endoscopies. 347 (57.8%) were men and 253 (42.2%) women the age ranged from 11 to 87 years (mean 45.7). 499 (90.2%) out of 553 patients had positive serologic test for Chagas' disease. 480 were non treated patients and 120 were previously treated. The following endoscopic findings were found: stasis esophagitis--15 (2.5%), reflux esophagitis--41 (6.5%), stenosis of esophagus--8 (1.3%), cancer of esophagus--5 (0.8%), hiatal hernia--3 (0.5%), esophageal varices--2 (0.3%), leukoplasia--1 (0.2%), duodeno-gastric biliary reflux--173 (30.4%), chronic gastritis--109 (18.2%), gastric ulcer--10 (1.8%), gastric polyp--2 (0.4%), gastric cancer--1 (0.2%), megabulbus--9 (1.6%), duodenal ulcer--10 (1.8%) and duodenitis--5 (1.9%). The cancer of esophagus and megaesophagus association in our results was lower than those reported by others; this may be due to the inclusion of early cases of megaesophagus in our patients. The high incidence of duodeno-gastric biliary reflux in the chagasic megaesophagus is claimed by the authors to be due to an antrum-pyloric-duodenal dyskinesia secondary to intrinsic denervation caused by Chagas' disease. Finally the authors recommend the endoscopy as a routine procedure in the megaesophagus in order to detect these associated morbid conditions.