Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) does not portend a poorer prognosis in elderly patients with dementia compared to those with preserved cognition, Japanese researchers report in the April issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Reuters Health Information
This summary from ASCO GI 2008 includes exciting new data on the relationship between KRAS mutation status and response to biologic therapies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
The authors aimed to document the epidemiologic and clinical significance of functional alterations of gut motility and sensitivity in patients with IBD. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Rectal compliance or distensibility is increased in adolescents with therapy-resistant functional constipation; however, it remains elevated after recovery in many patients, so it seems not to be the main underlying mechanism of constipation in this setting, according to a report in the May issue of Gut. Reuters Health Information
Black men are less likely than white men to undergo elective abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair, but are more likely to undergo urgent repair, according to a report in the Archives of Surgery for May. Reuters Health Information
A single-dose of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), administered rectally just prior to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, can reduce the risk of procedure-related pancreatitis by 64%, investigators announced over the weekend here as temperatures climbed to a record-high 100 degrees. Reuters Health Information
In previously untreated patients, sequential therapy with a proton-pump inhibitor and antibiotics is better at eradicating Helicobacter pylori infection than is standard therapy, which involves giving these agents all at once, according to a meta-analysis of trial data. Reuters Health Information
A team out of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland reports that it has successfully differentiated human embryonic stem cells into mature hepatocytes that produce adult levels of enzymes, proteins and other markers of fully differentiated liver cells. Reuters Health Information
