Unusual presentations of eosinophilic gastroenteritis: case series and review of literature.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EG) is an uncommon disease characterized by focal or diffuse eosinophilic infiltration of the gastrointestinal tract, and is usually associated with dyspepsia, diarrhea and peripheral eosinophilia. Diffuse gastrointestinal tract and colonic involvement are uncommon. The endoscopic appearance may vary from normal to mucosal nodularity and ulceration. Gastrointestinal obstruction is unusual and is associated with predominantly muscular disease. We present five unusual cases of EG associated with gastric outlet and duodenal obstruction. Two cases presented with acute pancreatitis and one had a history of pancreatitis. Four cases responded well to medical therapy and one had recurrent gastric outlet obstruction that required surgery. Four out of the five cases had endoscopic and histological evidence of esophagitis and two had colitis. Two patients had ascites. These cases reaffirm that EG is a disorder with protean manifestations and may involve the entire gastrointestinal tract. Gastric outlet and/or small bowel obstruction is an important though uncommon presentation of EG. It may also present as esophagitis, gastritis with polypoid lesions, ulcers or erosions, colitis and pancreatitis and may mimic malignancy.

Crohn's disease associated with Sweet's syndrome and Sjögren's syndrome treated with infliximab.

The association of Crohn's disease (CD) and Sweet's syndrome is rare and the presence of Sjögren's syndrome in Crohn's disease is even rarer, with only three reports found in the literature. We describe two cases of Crohn's disease associated with Sweet's syndrome, one of which is the first case of CD and Sweet's concomitantly associated with Sjogren's syndrome. Both cases responded rapidly to Infliximab therapy with complete resolution of the skin lesions.

Screening preferences for colorectal cancer: a patient demographic study.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death. Screening for colorectal cancer is a rational and cost-effective strategy for reducing the incidence of colorectal cancer and related mortality. Despite endorsement by academic and health care organizations, patient awareness and compliance with screening is low, partly because of patient-related barriers to screening. METHODS: A convenience sample of adults attending the internal medicine and family practice clinics of a community teaching hospital was studied. A description of fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy procedures was given in a packet along with a questionnaire. The questionnaire focused on screening procedures followed in our hospital (i.e., yearly FOBT and sigmoidoscopy every 5 years or colonoscopy every 10 years for average-risk individuals). RESULTS: Of the 193 patients who responded, 55% preferred sigmoidoscopy and FOBT, 29% chose colonoscopy, and 16% wanted no screening. Those with knowledge of someone with colon cancer or colon polyps reported a significantly higher preference for screening than those without such knowledge. Catholics were most likely to prefer no screening compared with non-Catholics. Ex-smokers (compared with all others) were more likely to want screening. Catholics were least likely to want colonoscopy. Patients with previous experience of colorectal screening preferred future screening. Those preferring no screening were significantly younger than those who expressed a preference for screening. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate diversity in patient choices for colorectal cancer screening. A focus on people's preferences rather than on the test itself may help develop and target appropriate intervention for prevention of colorectal cancer.

Correlation of Ki-67, p53, and Adnab-9 immunohistochemical staining and ploidy with clinical and histopathologic features of severely dysplastic colorectal adenomas.

Variations of Ki-67, p53, and Adnab-9 monoclonal antibody reactions in colonic adenomas may be associated with colonic cancer risk. We studied the predictive value of these markers for adverse behavior in severely dysplastic colorectal adenomas, such as an associated carcinoma, multiplicity of adenomas, and subsequent development of adenomas. For this purpose we compared theclinical, gross, and histologic characteristics of highly dysplastic index polyps in 42 patients with Ki 67, p53, and Adnab-9 immunostaining and other molecular markers. Polyps were removed endoscopically, and severely dysplastic polyps were stained immunohistochemically with Ki-67, Adnab-9, and p53 protein by the avidin biotin conjugate (ABC) technique. Quantitative DNA (QDNA) was analyzed by computer-assisted image analysis. Ki-67 immunohistochemistry showed reversal of normal distribution of nuclear staining from the normal basal position to the upper third of the colonic crypts. This abnormality of immunostaining in dysplastic adenomas was the earliest detected by the panel we used. A statistically significant correlation was seen between invasiveness of carcinoma in the index polyp and polyp size (P = 0.003), sessile morphology (P = 0.037), and villous or tubulovillous histology (P = 0.019). In the index adenoma, p53 positivity was correlated with multiplicity at initial examination (P = 0.053), villous histology (P = 0.053), invasiveness of carcinoma (P < 0.003), and recurrence of colorectal adenomas (P = 0.025). Although p53 positivity and aneuploidy were correlated with invasiveness of carcinoma in the index polyp (P = 0.025), Adnab-9 positivity was not. However, Adnab-9 positivity in the index polyp was associated with multiplicity of adenomas (P = 0.04) as well as recurrence of adenomas (P < 0.024). In conclusion, in addition to the morphologic and histologic markers already known, Ki-67, Adnab-9 antibody, and p53 protein may be prognostic indicators useful in follow-up of patients with severely dysplastic colorectal adenomas. Adnab-9 antibody may identify a field defect in above-average-risk adenoma-bearing patients.

Endoscopic evidence of mucosal injury in patients taking ticlopidine compared with patients taking aspirin/nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and controls.

BACKGROUND: Ticlopidine is a novel antiplatelet agent used alone or in combination with aspirin and anticoagulants in the treatment and prevention of various vascular diseases. Gastrointestinal side effects, including bleeding, have been reported with use of ticlopidine in most of the vascular prevention trials. We studied the endoscopic evidence of mucosal damage in patients taking ticlopidine compared with patients taking aspirin/nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and matched controls. STUDY: We performed a longitudinal review of gastrointestinal endoscopy, pharmacy databases, and medical records of patients referred to our service over a period of 6 months for endoscopic evaluation of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, unexplained anemia, or abdominal pain. Data were collected and analyzed for 55 patients taking ticlopidine, 77 age- and gender-matched patients taking aspirin or NSAIDs, and 560 age- and gender-matched control patients not taking any of these medications. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of ulcers was marginally higher in the aspirin/NSAID group than in the ticlopidine group (35% vs. 29%) and was significantly higher among patients taking aspirin, NSAIDs, or ticlopidine than among controls (15%). Gastritis was also noted more frequently in the aspirin/NSAID and ticlopidine groups than in the control group. Endoscopic evidence of esophagitis was significantly more frequent in the control group than in the aspirin/NSAID and ticlopidine groups. There was no significant difference across groups in the prevalence of ulcers, gastritis, or esophagitis. CONCLUSIONS: Patients taking ticlopidine are more likely to have endoscopic evidence of mucosal damage than matched control patients and are nearly as likely to have such damage as endoscopically evaluated patients taking aspirin or NSAIDs. However, these findings must be confirmed using prospective cohort data for patients in primary care settings, to avoid referral bias.

AIDS-related myopathy.

Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is often associated with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and wasting is one of the defining clinical features of AIDS. Muscular weakness due to myopathy may develop at any stage of HIV infection. We report two illustrative cases of HIV-associated myopathies. One was due to inflammatory myosits most likely directly related to the HIV infection, and the other was most likely the result of mitochondrial damage due to zidovudine, a nucleoside analogue commonly used in treating HIV infection. Biopsies from both patients showed alterations of myofiber structures, of varying severity, culminating in necrosis, lipid droplets, and lymphoplasmocytic inflammatory response. The zidovudine-treated patient also showed distinctive mitochondrial changes, predominantly enlargement, variation in shape and size, and disorganization of the cristae. These two types of HIV-associated inflammatory myopathies are reviewed, along with other HIV-associated myopathies, including HIV wasting syndrome, nemaline rod myopathy, pyomyositis, rhabdomyolysis, cardiomyopathy, and other miscellaneous myopathies associated with HIV infection.