Iron deficiency: From diagnosis to treatment

Iron deficiency is the most frequent cause of anaemia worldwide. It impairs quality of life, increases asthenia and can lead to clinical worsening of patients. In addition, iron deficiency has a complex mechanism whose pathologic pathway is recently becoming better understood. The discovery of hepcidin has allowed a better clarification of iron metabolism regulation. Furthermore, the ratio of concentration of soluble transferrin receptor to the log of the ferritin level, has been developed as a tool to detect iron deficiency in most situations. The cause of iron deficiency should always be sought because the underlying condition can be serious. This review will summarize the current knowledge regarding diagnostic algorithms for iron deficiency anaemia. The majority of aetiologies occur in the digestive tract, in men and postmenopausal women, and justify morphological examination of the gut. First line investigations are upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy, and when negative, the small bowel should be explored; newer tools such as video capsule endoscopy have also been developed. The treatment of iron deficiency is aetiological if possible and iron supplementation whether in oral or in parenteral form. New parenteral formulations are available and seem to have promising results in terms of efficacy and safety.     

大肠癌初筛阳性人群健康素养对肠镜检查依从性的影响研究

背景 近年来，大肠癌的防治引起了全社会的广泛重视。肠镜作为大肠癌早期诊断的必要手段，在大肠癌高危人群中提高其检查率是大肠癌防治工作的关键所在。研究表明，个人做健康选择与决策的能力与其获取并理解信息的能力密切相关。 目的 探讨大肠癌初筛阳性人群健康素养水平对其肠镜检查依从性的影响。 方法 2020年1—3月，选择上海市杨浦区某社区卫生服务中心2017—2018年普查中大肠癌初筛阳性人群作为调查对象。采用一般资料调查表、健康素养管理量表（HeLMS）对其进行调查。 结果 共计发放问卷337份，回收有效问卷329份，问卷有效回收率为97.6%。329例大肠癌初筛阳性人群中，77例接受肠镜检查（接受肠镜组），252例未接受肠镜检查（拒绝肠镜组），肠镜检查依从率为23.4%。329例大肠癌初筛阳性人群HeLMS总平均得分为（103.77±3.78）分，信息获取能力、交流互动能力、改善健康意愿、经济支持意愿维度平均得分分别为（44.50±1.70）、（36.34±2.10）、（15.83±2.01）、（7.09±1.37）分。接受肠镜组和拒绝肠镜组大肠癌初筛阳性人群婚姻状况、初筛阳性类型、健康素养总分及信息获取能力、交流互动能力、改善健康意愿维度得分比较，差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。Logistic回归分析结果显示，婚姻状况、改善健康意愿及交流互动能力维度得分是大肠癌初筛阳性人群肠镜检查依从性的影响因素（P<0.05）。 结论 社区大肠癌初筛阳性人群中，有配偶的居民、改善健康意愿更强及交流互动能力更强的居民，肠镜检查依从性更高。提高大肠癌初筛阳性居民肠镜检查依从性，应注重对居民健康素养水平的培养。     

Improved high-quality colon cleansing with 1L NER1006 versus 2L polyethylene glycol + ascorbate or oral sulfate solution

Background & aimsColonoscopy requires bowel cleansing for gut mucosa visualization; high-quality cleansing facilitates lesion detection. NER1006 is a 1L polyethylene glycol (PEG) bowel preparation. This post hoc analysis of two randomized trials investigated cleansing efficacy assessed, as in clinical practice, by site endoscopists.MethodsPatients received NER1006, 2L PEG + ascorbate (2LPEG), or oral sulfate solution (OSS) as a 2-day evening/morning regimen (N2D) or NER1006 morning-only dosing (N1D). Treatment-blinded site endoscopists assessed cleansing using the Harefield Cleansing Scale (HCS). Analyses were conducted in a modified full analysis set, including (mFAS; n = 1378) or excluding (mFAS2; n = 1319) imputed failures, and in patients with 100% treatment adherence (mFAS100; n = 1047). Overall cleansing success (HCS grade A/B), overall high-quality cleansing (HCS grade A), and high-quality segments (HCS 3–4) per treatment population were analyzed.ResultsOverall cleansing success was higher with N2D than 2LPEG (92.7–97.5% vs. 87.9–93.0%), and more patients had overall high-quality cleansing with N2D and N1D than 2LPEG (68.0–72.1% and 64.0–68.4% vs. 50.7–56.0%). Without imputed failures, N2D delivered more overall high-quality cleansing than OSS (74.5–77.3% vs. 67.8–69.8%). More high-quality segments were demonstrated with N2D and N1D versus 2 LPEG (82.5–87.1% and 79.4–84.4% vs. 70.4–76.3%) and with N2D versus OSS (82.7–89.5% vs. 78.1–84.4%).ConclusionWhen assessed by site endoscopists, NER1006 delivers greater high-quality cleansing than 2LPEG or OSS.     

Complications of diagnostic colonoscopy,upper endoscopy,and enteroscopy

Endoscopy is an inherent and an invaluable tool in every gastroenterologist's armamentarium. The prerequisite for quality and safety remains foremost. Adverse events should be minimized and proactive steps should taken before, during and after the endoscopic procedure.Upper endoscopy and colonoscopy are part of basic endoscopy and their major complications will be reviewed here, together with those of enteroscopy. The most common of all endoscopy related complications are cardiopulmonary and thus they will be addressed in detail first.Colonoscopy's major complications are bleeding and perforation. Their epidemiology, mechanisms/risk factors, diagnosis, treatment and prevention will be addressed. The incidence of both of these complications increases significantly with polypectomy. Thus clinical judgment and experience in both polypectomy techniques and the ways to treat these complications, especially with the advanced endoscopic options advanced in the last decade, are of paramount importance. Post-polypectomy syndrome, infection and gas explosion are less frequent and will be reviewed briefly.Bleeding and perforation are upper endoscopy's major complications as well. Advances in endoscopic techniques in recent years offer endoscopic treatment instead of directly resorting to surgery, as was used to be the case and still is if the first fails.Enteroscopy is generally a more advanced procedure and overall complication rate is often quoted as 1%, most of them have been attributed to the passage of the overtube. Perforation and bleeding are the major complications, and a unique upper enteroscopy-associated complication is pancreatitis.