A study published in the October issue of Gastroenterology suggests a strong association between results of baseline screening colonoscopy and the rate of serious incident lesions during 5.5 years of surveillance. Reuters Health Information
In patients with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding, endoscopic clipping and thermocoagulation are superior to injection for producing definitive hemostasis, according to a report in the October issue of Gut. Reuters Health Information
Polyethylene glycol 3350 plus electrolytes (PEG+E) is effective and well tolerated in children with chronic constipation, UK researchers report in the November issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood Reuters Health Information
If given early, intravenous N-acetylcysteine, used to treat acetaminophen poisoning, is helpful for acute liver failure resulting from hepatitis B and drug-induced injury, among other causes. Medscape Medical News
A change in formulary policies that replaced levofloxacin with gatifloxacin at a VA hospital coincided with an increase in Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) there, but was not the cause. Reuters Health Information
Certain HIV patients presenting with variceal bleeding may have hepatoportal sclerosis as a noncirrhotic cause of portal hypertension, according to New York City-based researchers. They present case reports on four such patients in the November issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Reuters Health Information
In patients with cirrhosis, the reduction in portal pressure induced by propranolol is apparently enhanced by the addition of octreotide, a long-acting synthetic somatostatin analogue. The finding is reported by researchers from Argentina in the October issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Reuters Health Information
From outbreaks of acute HCV to reports of resistant TB, European AIDS meeting as chronicled by Dr. Vincent Soriano serves as warning to clinicians in other parts of the world, developed and developing. Medscape HIV/AIDS
Rowen K. Zetterman, MD, MACP, MACG, provides an in-depth clinical overview on current concepts in viral hepatitis and acute liver failure, as presented at ACG 2007. Medscape Gastroenterology
