Coeliac disease and collagenous colitis

We describe a case of collagenous colitis in a young man with coeliac disease who had responded clinically and histologically to a gluten-free diet three years previously. The collagenous colitis responded initially to oral corticosteroid therapy and he is now asymptomatic (and with normal rectal mucosa) on oral mesalazine. Collagenous colitis should be considered in the coeliac patient with diarrhoea despite adherence to a gluten-free diet.     

Successful treatment of collagenous sprue with combination of prednisolone and gluten-free diet

A case is described of adult coeliac disease with subepithelial collagen in a jejunal biopsy (‘collagenous sprue’) which responded well to treatment with prednisolone in addition to a gluten-free diet. The indications for corticosteroid treatment in adult coeliac disease are discussed in the light of the findings. It is suggested that collagenous sprue may represent the most severe form of adult coeliac disease, and the presence of sub-epithelial collagen in a jejunal biopsy may be the strongest indication for treatment with the combination of a gluten-free diet and corticosteroids.     

Effectiveness of antigliadin antibodies as a screening test for celiac disease in children

OBJECTIVE: To test the effectiveness of serologic antigliadin antibody (AGA) testing in predicting celiac disease in children. DESIGN: Prospective clinical assessment. SETTING: Hôpital Sainte-Justine, montreal. PATIENTS: A total of 176 children with possible celiac disease who were referred for duodenal biopsy between January 1992 and June 1995. OUTCOME MEASURES: IgA and IgG AGA titres, as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); duodenal biopsy; clinical outcome on a gluten-free diet. RESULTS: Of the 176 children 30 were found to have celiac disease according to the criteria of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (ESPGAN). The sensitivity and specificity of the IgA AGA titre, as well as its positive and negative predictive values, were 80%, 92%, 67% and 96% respectively; the corresponding values for the IgG AGA titre were 83%, 79%, 45% and 96%. The respective values for IgA and IgG AGA titres combined were 93%, 71%, 43% and 98%. Only 2 of the 30 patients with celiac disease had false-negative results for both IgA and IgG AGA titres. The IgA and IgG AGA titres decreased significantly (p < 0.005) in all 11 patients after being on a gluten-free diet for at least 10 months and reached normal values in 8. CONCLUSION: AGA screening for celiac disease permits better selection of patients for duodenal biopsy and adds specificity to the histologic diagnosis. Such screening cannot replace intestinal biopsy, which remains the gold standard for diagnosis.     

乳糜泻治疗进展

乳糜泻是一种独特的自主免疫性疾病。目前认为可发生于各个年龄段,可以影响多个种族,临床表现也各不相同。乳糜泻的治疗以饮食营养治疗为主,例如去谷蛋白饮食治疗,但去谷蛋白治疗具有很大的局限性和弊端。随着对乳糜泻研究的深入,替代终生去谷蛋白饮食疗法和非饮食疗法等其他方法使乳糜泻患者的治疗有了新的进展。     

Increased incidence of malignancy in dermatitis herpetiformis

A retrospective study of 109 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis showed that malignant tumours had developed in seven patients, the expected incidence being 2.93, giving a relative risk of 2.38. In three of the seven patients the malignancy was a lymphoma, giving a relative risk of 100 for this tumour (expected incidence 0.03). In six of the seven patients who developed malignancies small-intestinal biopsy specimens were macroscopically abnormal, giving a relative risk of 4.22 in this group, which is similar to that reported in adult coeliac disease. Patients treated with a gluten-free diet appeared to have a reduced risk of developing malignancy compared with those taking a normal diet (relative risk with gluten-free diet 1.01 and with normal diet 3.09). A small subgroup of eight patients with linear IgA dermatitis herpetiformis were also studied: three developed malignant disease and in one the tumour was a lymphoma.     

Celiac disease diagnosis and management: a 46-year-old woman with anemia

Celiac disease is one of the most prevalent autoimmune gastrointestinal disorders, but as the case of Ms J illustrates, diagnosis is often delayed or missed. Based on serologic studies, the prevalence of celiac disease in many populations is estimated to be approximately 1% and has been increasing steadily over the last 50 years. Evaluation for celiac disease is generally straightforward and uses commonly available serologic tests; however, the signs and symptoms of celiac disease are nonspecific and highly heterogeneous, making diagnosis difficult. Although celiac disease is often considered a mild disorder treatable with simple dietary changes, in reality celiac disease imparts considerable risks, including reduced bone mineral density, impaired quality of life, and increased overall mortality. In addition, a gluten-free diet is highly burdensome and can profoundly affect patients and their families. For these reasons, care of individuals with celiac disease requires prompt diagnosis and ongoing multidisciplinary management.     

Coeliac disease with mild mucosal abnormalities: a report of four patients.

In a routine adult gastroenterological practice, seventeen (15%) of 123 patients had small-intestinal biopsies which were neither normal nor were completely flat as found in classical coeliac disease. Some of these had a possible cause for the mild mucosal abnormality, but in six there was no other apparent cause and all four of these who were treated with a gluten-free diet responded morphologically and symptomatically. It is concluded that at least these four patients have coeliac disease in a mild form and that the classical flat biopsy is not a prerequisite for the diagnosis of coeliac disease.     

Celiac disease presenting as severe osteopenia

The authors describe a unique presentation of celiac disease as multiple non-traumatic fractures in a young male without gastrointestinal complaints. A 29-year-old man presented with back pain and was found to have a non-traumatic compression fracture of the lumbar and thoracic spine on plain X-ray. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) confirmed osteoporosis at the L3/L4 vertebral bodies. Parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, and vitamin D levels were normal. He had no gastrointestinal complaints, but serologic studies were positive to include an elevated gliadin IgA Ab, gliadin IgG Ab, and an elevated tissue transglutaminase IgA Ab. He was treated with a gluten-free diet, calcium, and vitamin D supplementation as well as teriparatide. Follow up bone density showed improvement and has no further fractures to date. Primary care physicians, gastroenterologists, and endocrinologists must have a high index of clinical suspicion for celiac disease in any patient who presents with low bone density regardless of the serum 25-OH vitamin D levels or presence of gastrointestinal complaints.     

Collagenous colitis as a possible cause of toxic megacolon

Collagenous colitis is a microscopic colitis characterized by normal appearing colonic mucosa on endoscopy. It is regarded as a clinically benign disease which rarely results in serious complications. We report a case of toxic megacolon occurring in a patient with collagenous colitis. This is the first reported case of toxic megacolon occurring in this subset of patients.     

Mean platelet volume could be a promising biomarker to monitor dietary compliance in celiac disease

Background

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease that develops in patients with a genetic predisposition, incurring a susceptibility to gluten-containing foods such as barley, wheat, and rye. The elimination of gluten from the diet is the main therapeutic approach and usually leads to clinical and laboratory improvement. There are no ideal markers that objectively assess dietary compliance in CD patients.

Materials and methods

Sixty newly diagnosed CD patients (male/female: 43/17) and 40 healthy subjects (male/female: 23/17) were enrolled in this study. The diagnosis of CD was established by both histological findings of duodenum biopsy (total villous atrophy and lymphocytic infiltration) and positive antibodies against endomysium or gliadin.

Results

A significantly higher mean platelet volume (MPV) was observed in the CD group compared with healthy subjects (8.45 ± 0.96 fL versus 7.93 ± 0.63 fL; p = 0.004). After introduction of a gluten-free diet, the MPV of CD patients in the dietary adherent group was significantly lower than that of the non-adherent group (8.09 ± 0.6 fL versus 8.9 ± 1.08 fL; p = 0.001). Overall dietary adherence rate was 71.6% (43/60 CD patients). In the dietary compliant group, initiation of gluten-free diet was associated with a significant decrease in MPV from base-line values (8.56 fL versus 8.25 fL; p = 0.008). In the non-adherent group, MPV on 3-month follow-up was higher than at base-line (8.05 fL versus 8.91 fL; p = 0.001).

Conclusion

MPV could be a promising and easily available biomarker for monitoring of dietary adherence in CD patients at a low cost in comparison with other modalities.     

Dietary Management of the Malabsorption Syndrome

The purpose of this report is to emphasize the importance of strict dietary control of patients suffering from the malabsorption syndrome and to announce the availability of a gluten-free bread-substitute, called “Unimix”, from the Scientific Development Committee, Room 14, Medical Building, University of Toronto. Science a gluten-free diet is difficult to follow because of the widespread use of wheat flour and other cereals in the production of many common foods, a suggested gluten-free meal pattern is presented, which conforms with Canada's Food Guide and permits a number of choices of menu within certain limits.     

Dermatitis herpetiformis and rheumatoid arthritis

Dermatitis herpetiformis DH is a rare, intensely pruritic, chronic, recurrent, papulovesicular disease. The disease can be clearly distinguished from the other subepidermal blistering eruptions by histologic, immunologic, and gastrointestinal criteria. Most patients have an associated gluten-sensitive enteropathy GSE that is usually asymptomatic. Both enteropathy and the dermatologic findings disappear with a gluten-free diet, therefore, DH is thought to be the specific dermatologic finding of celiac disease CD. An association between CD and autoimmune disease has been documented in several studies. Similar associations have been reported in DH. We report a 46-year-old man with DH diagnosed more than 10 years previously who developed GSE, pernicious anemia, and rheumatoid arthritis in the following years.     

Clinical presentation of coeliac disease in adult gastroenterological practice

Clinical features, complications and results of investigations are analysed in 50 patients diagnosed by jejunal biopsy as having coeliac disease at the Adult Gastroenterology Unit, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, between 1969 and 1983. Only one patient was entirely asymptomatic, but 22% had no disturbance of bowel habit, and 50% had not lost weight. There were relatively few physical abnormalities on clinical examination. Screening tests using standard haematological and biochemical methods were positive only in between 8% and 52% of patients. More specific tests for malabsorption were positive in between 54% and 84% of patients. Jejunal biopsy remains the definitive procedure to identify patients with coeliac disease.     

肠道T细胞淋巴瘤临床病理及影像学特点

目的：了解原发性肠道T细胞淋巴瘤的临床特点.方法：10年来收治恶性淋巴瘤173例,其中胃肠道淋巴瘤68例,占39.3%.而原发性肠道T细胞淋巴瘤11例占16.2%,现对其病史资料进行回顾性分析.结果：本组原发性肠道T细胞淋巴瘤患者年龄31～75岁,男女比例为8：3.病变多位于空、回肠,可有结肠累及.临床表现以腹痛、腹泻、发热、消瘦为主,部分患者并发肠穿孔、肠梗阻、消化道出血,无患者伴有乳糜泻.内镜下3例患者表现为溃疡病灶,术中见溃疡6例,肿块4例.4例曾被误诊为炎症性肠病.淋巴瘤细胞的免疫表型为白细胞共同抗原（LCA）（＋）、CD45RO（＋）、CD3（＋）、CD30（-）.所有患者均接受手术治疗,部分结合术后化疗.3例患者于术后3个月内死亡.结论：不伴有乳糜泻是本组原发性肠道T细胞淋巴瘤的特点之一.患者的临床表现以一些非特异性症状为主,常被误诊为炎症性肠病.内镜活检和手术标本的病理学检查是目前确诊原发性肠道T细胞淋巴瘤的主要依据.该病预后极差.     

2018年英国胃肠病学会《成人慢性腹泻的调查指南》解读

2018年4月英国胃肠病学会（BSG）在Gut上发表了第3版《成人慢性腹泻的调查指南》，对2003年第2版指南进行了更新，新版指南对慢性腹泻的临床评估流程、肿瘤和炎症评估、吸收不良的检测，以及常见病因、结构性/手术病因、少见病因的管理等方面进行阐述。本文结合此指南更新内容探讨成人慢性腹泻诊疗中的常见误区，包括：病史采集不全面，病因诊断困难；未把胆汁酸性腹泻作为慢性腹泻的常见病因考虑；乳糜泻诊治延迟；结肠镜检查不取活检；年轻慢性腹泻患者中漏诊结直肠癌；对老年人溢出性腹泻不识别；对小肠细菌过度生长检测方法的临床意义认知不足，针对这些误区给出相应的应对策略。     

Does patient knowledge affect the colorectal cancer risk in ulcerative colitis?

Objectives: Formal efforts to improve patient education are associated with fewer disease complications in a number of conditions. The possible relationship between knowledge about ulcerative colitis and its cancer risk, and the development of colorectal cancer using a previously developed and validated instrument—the Crohn''s and colitis knowledge (CCKNOW) score—were investigated. Methods: The 24 item CCKNOW questionnaire was mailed to patients known to have developed colorectal cancer as a complication of ulcerative colitis (cases) and to colitics from the Leicestershire inflammatory bowel disease patient database who had not developed cancer (controls). Results: The mean (SD) CCKNOW scores for cases was 8.21 (3.02) and for controls was 8.27 (4.3). These scores did not differ significantly between cases and controls (difference 0.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.7 to 1.5, p=0.9). There were four times as many members of the National Association of Crohn''s and Colitis (NACC) in the control group compared with the cancer group and patients who are members of NACC achieve statistically significantly higher scores than non-members (11.6 v 7.8, p=0.05, 95% CI -0.1 to 7.6). However, after adjusting for NACC membership, the CCKNOW score did not appear to be associated with having developed cancer (odds ratio 1.04, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.18, p=0.5). Conclusions: The CCKNOW scores were comparable in cases and controls. Thus, in a retrospective study, no evidence has been demonstrated of an association between patient knowledge and the risk of developing colorectal cancer in patients with ulcerative colitis. However, knowledge may have been increased in cases as a direct result of having had colorectal cancer as a complication of ulcerative colitis.     

Coeliac disease: the great imitator

Coeliac disease (CD) is caused by a complex immunological response provoked by grain protein in susceptible people. The majority of people with CD are symptom-free adults; the remainder are prone to a bewildering variety of signs and symptoms, ranging from infertility to type 1 diabetes. Many patients with undiagnosed CD spend years seeking help for complaints such as chronic tiredness or mild abdominal symptoms. In primary care, an appropriate target group to test for CD is people with anaemia (especially women), chronic tiredness, non-specific abdominal symptoms (including so-called "irritable bowel syndrome"), or a family history of CD. The response to an appropriate gluten-free diet is often life-transforming for symptomatic patients. Positive serological tests for CD require confirmation by duodenal biopsy and, if confirmed, referral to a dietitian and a coeliac society, followed by a life-long gluten-free diet.     

Differentiating amoebic ulcero-haemorrhagic recto-colitis from idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease: still a diagnostic dilemma

The colon responds monomorphically to a variety of insults thus making it difficult to differentiate invasive amoebic colitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The authors present a case with chronic dysentery, haematochezia, anaemia and hypoproteinaemia. The endoscopic findings were suggestive of IBD. The stool examination was negative for trophozoites or cysts of parasites. The recto-colonic biopsy specimens showed mucosal inflammation with exudates containing amoebic trophozoites. The patient was successfully treated with metronidazole and iodoquinol. He recovered within two weeks and repeat colonoscopy four weeks after the treatment showed a normal rectum and colon. Clinicians should have a high level of suspicion for amoebic colitis in cases of colitis especially in regions where amoebiasis is still present. Efforts should be made to find the amoebic trophozoites in multiple stool and colonic biopsy specimens.     

斯堪的纳维亚胃肠病学杂志

胶原性结肠炎结肠黏膜的撕裂;通过清除细胞抑制异常隐窝细胞灶的唯一缓泻剂：聚乙二醇;对散发性结肠直肠腺瘤患进行的3项随机长期监测试验;S型支架治疗慢性胰腺炎患主胰管狭窄的效果;假性胰腺囊肿的治疗和结果     

Small bowel biopsy for malabsorption: comparison of the diagnostic adequacy of endoscopic forceps and capsule biopsy specimens

Biopsy specimens of the small bowel were obtained from 40 patients suspected of having malabsorption. Four different techniques were used at a single session--namely, endoscopic biopsy of the descending duodenum using paediatric and standard size forceps and suction capsule biopsy of the descending duodenum and the proximal jejunum. Specimens were compared for size, adequacy, and ability to confirm or exclude mucosal abnormality. Fourteen patients had villous atrophy. In all patients four biopsy specimens were obtained with paediatric endoscopic forceps and four with standard endoscopic forceps. No capsule biopsy specimen was retrieved from the duodenum in three patients and from the jejunum in five patients. Specimens were considered to be adequate in 36 patients when paediatric forceps were used, in 39 when standard forceps were used, in 28 on duodenal capsule biopsy, and in 32 on jejunal capsule biopsy. This study indicates that the most reliable method for diagnosing or excluding villous atrophy is endoscopic forceps biopsy of the descending duodenum, provided that at least four specimens are obtained with standard size forceps.