American Gastroenterological Association medical position statement: Diagnosis and treatment of hemorrhoids

This document presents the official recommendations of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) on Hemorrhoids. It was approved by the Clinical Practice Committee on January 8, 2004, and by the AGA Governing Board on February 13, 2004.     

American Gastroenterological Association medical position statement: diagnosis and treatment of gastroparesis

This document presents the official recommendations of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) on Diagnosis and Treatment of Gastroparesis. It was approved by the Clinical Practice Committee on May 16, 2004, and by the AGA Governing Board on September 23, 2004.     

American Gastroenterological Association Institute technical review on the management of gastric subepithelial masses

This literature review and the recommendations therein were prepared for the American Gastroenterological Association Institute Clinical Practice and Economics Committee. The paper was approved by the Committee on January 19, 2006, and by the AGA Institute Governing Board on April 20, 2006.     

American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute technical review on obscure gastrointestinal bleeding

This literature review and the recommendations therein were prepared for the AGA Institute Clinical Practice and Economics Committee. The paper was approved by the Committee on March 12, 2007, and by the AGA Institute Governing Board on May 19, 2007.     

AGA technical review on perianal Crohn's disease

This literature review and the recommendations therein were prepared for the American Gastroenterological Association Clinical Practice Committee. The paper was approved by the Committee on May 18, 2003, and by the AGA Governing Board on July 25, 2003.     

American gastroenterological association institute technical review on the use of gastrointestinal medications in pregnancy

This literature review and the recommendations therein were prepared for the American Gastroenterological Association Institute Clinical Practice and Economics Committee. The paper was approved by the Committee on February 22, 2006 and by the AGA Institute Governing Board on April 20, 2006.     

Mexico: general Recommendation issued on school-based discrimination against HIV-positive children

In September 2004, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a General Recommendation responding to various discriminatory practices by federal and local education officials against children living with HIV/AIDS. The Recommendation reflects the general guidance provided by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its 2003 General Comments on HIV/AIDS and the Rights of the Child, and Adolescent Health.     

Standing Committee on Justice re-establishes Subcommittee on Solicitation Laws

On 24 November 2004, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness established a Subcommittee on Solicitation Laws to review the Criminal Code provisions relating to prostitution. A previous subcommittee with a similar mandate was disbanded when Parliament was prorogued in 2003.     

American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute technology assessment on image-enhanced endoscopy

This document presents the official recommendations of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Technology Assessment on "Image-Enhanced Endoscopy." It was approved by the Clinical Practice and Economics Committee on August 3, 2007, and by the AGA Institute Governing Board September 27, 2007.     

2004-2005年卫生部全国革兰阴性菌细菌耐药性监测

目的 建立全国性细菌耐药监测网,了解我国细菌耐药流行情况.方法 以标准平皿二倍稀释法测定抗菌药物最低抑菌浓度(MIC),并按国家临床实验室标准委员会2004年标准计算细菌敏感度与耐药率.结果 按照监测方案,收集2004年10月1日至2005年9月30日全国15座城市17家医院的4 075株临床分离致病菌,行MIC测定.其中革兰阴性菌3 150株,占77.3%.肠杆菌科细菌对碳青霉烯类抗生素保持较高敏感度,拉氧头孢、哌拉西林/他唑巴坦、头孢哌酮/舒巴坦和头孢吡肟等具有较好的抗菌活性,耐药率<10%.非发酵革兰阴性菌中铜绿假单胞菌和鲍曼不动杆菌对亚胺培南的耐药率分别为10.6%和10.4%,酶抑制剂复方制剂和氟喹诺酮类药物也有较强抗菌作用.结论 大肠埃希菌和鲍曼不动杆菌耐药率增长明显,喹诺酮及氨基糖苷类药物对肠杆菌科细菌抗菌作用并不高,应引起广泛关注.     

乙型肝炎病毒相关早期肝细胞癌影像学检查与诊断标准共识

早期肝细胞癌(eHCC)病理诊断标准已建立并于2009年更新,但目前国内外均未确定eHCC影像学诊断标准。中华医学会放射学分会传染病学组联合中国医师协会放射医师分会感染影像专业委员会、中国研究型医院学会感染与炎症放射学专业委员会、中国性病艾滋病防治协会感染(传染病)影像工作委员会、中国医院协会传染病分会传染病影像学组和北京影像诊疗技术创新联盟组织国内10余省市40多名专家共同努力形成本共识,旨在为相关专业医生诊断eHCC提供帮助。     

Guidelines for diagnosis of takotsubo (ampulla) cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: It is important to differentiate takotsubo cardiomyopathy from other types of transient ventricular dysfunction. These guidelines, resulting from a workshop sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy Research Committee, outline the steps necessary for diagnosis of takotsubo cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS: The survey was conducted by mailing a questionnaire to the researchers of the 203 institutions that had made presentations on this disease at scientific meetings of the Japanese Circulation Society from November 1989 to October 2002. The questionnaires were sent and collected on January 10, 2003. Based on the results of the questionnaire, the first edition of the guidelines for diagnosis of takotsubo cardiomyopathy was prepared and evaluated at the 2003 group meeting of the Research Committee. Out of 33 researchers in Japan who had published research papers on this disease, 21 responded to the request and provided their opinions. The guidelines were revised and were approved at the 2004 group meeting. CONCLUSIONS: This summary provides standard guidelines for patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy.     

HIV/AIDS, law, and discrimination in Guyana

In June 2004 the Guyanese National AIDS Committee completed a comprehensive national assessment on HIV/AIDS, law, ethics, and human rights - the first to be completed under the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) Project on Law, Ethics and Human Rights. In this article the author of the report, Arif Bulkan, reviews the application of Guyanese law to HIV/AIDS-related discrimination, and notes the considerable gap between law and practice.     

Alberta review panel recommendations threaten privacy of personal health information

In a report released in October 2004, the Alberta Select Special Health Information Act Review Committee has recommended increasing the situations under which custodians of health information can release such information. If these recommendations become law, people living with HIV/AIDS would have less control over the disclosure of their health information, including their HIV status.     

Diabetes Care Providers’ Manual for Disaster Diabetes Care

To ensure that experiences and lessons learned from the unprecedented 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake are used to improve future disaster planning, the Japan Diabetes Society (JDS) launched the “Research and Survey Committee for Establishing Disaster Diabetes Care Systems Based on Relevant Findings from the Great East Japan Earthquake” under the supervision of the Chairman of the JDS. The Committee conducted a questionnaire survey among patients with diabetes, physicians, disaster medical assistance teams (DMATs), nurses, pharmacists, and nutritionists in disaster areas about the events they saw happening, the situations they found difficult to handle, and the needs that they felt required to be met during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. A total of 3,481 completed questionnaires were received. Based on these and other experiences and lessons reported following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the 2004 Niigata‐Chuetsu Earthquakes, the current “Manual for Disaster Diabetes Care” has been developed by the members of the Committee and other invited authors from relevant specialties. To our knowledge, the current Manual is the world's first to focus on emergency diabetes care, with this digest English version translated from the Japanese original. It is sincerely hoped that patients with diabetes and healthcare providers around the world will find this manual helpful in promoting disaster preparedness and implementing disaster relief.     

Will screening colonoscopy disappear and transform gastroenterology practice? Threats to clinical practice and recommendations to reduce their impact: report of a consensus conference conducted by the AGA Institute Future Trends Committee

The AGA Institute Future Trends Committee (FTC) developed this report based on a consensus conference it convened on April 1-2, 2006, in Washington, DC. The report was prepared for the FTC by Carol Regueiro, MD, a medical writer under contract to the AGA Institute, and Michael Stolar, PhD, staff liaison to the FTC. It was approved by the FTC on July 12, 2006, and accepted by the AGA Institute Governing Board on July 22, 2006. This report reflects the panel's assessment of information available at the time of the conference. Readers should view this report in the context of data that will continue to accumulate and facts that may change after its creation.     

Computer-assisted personalized sedation

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) Technology Committee provides reviews of new or emerging endoscopic technologies that have the potential to have an impact on the practice of GI endoscopy. Evidence-based methodology is used, with a MEDLINE literature search to identify pertinent preclinical and clinical studies on the topic, and a MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience; U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health) database search to identify the reported complications of a given technology. Both are supplemented by accessing the "related articles" feature of PubMed and by scrutinizing pertinent references cited by the identified studies. Controlled clinical trials are emphasized but, in many cases, data from randomized, controlled trials are lacking. In such cases, large case series, preliminary clinical studies, and expert opinions are used. Technical data are gathered from traditional and Web-based publications, proprietary publications, and informal communications with pertinent vendors. For this review, the MEDLINE database was searched through January 2010 using the keywords "computer," "computerized," "computer-assisted," "sedation," "propofol." Reports on Emerging Technology are drafted by 1 or 2 members of the ASGE Technology Committee, reviewed and edited by the committee as a whole, and approved by the Governing Board of the ASGE. These reports are scientific reviews provided solely for educational and informational purposes. Reports on Emerging Technology are not rules and should not be construed as establishing a legal standard of care or as encouraging, advocating, requiring, or discouraging any particular treatment or payment for such treatment.     

Automated endoscope reprocessors

The ASGE Technology Committee provides reviews of existing, new, or emerging endoscopic technologies that have an impact on the practice of GI endoscopy. Evidence-based methodology is used, with a MEDLINE literature search to identify pertinent clinical studies on the topic and a MAUDE (U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health) database search to identify the reported complications of a given technology. Both are supplemented by accessing the "related articles" feature of PubMed and by scrutinizing pertinent references cited by the identified studies. Controlled clinical trials are emphasized, but in many cases data from randomized, controlled trials are lacking. In such cases, large case series, preliminary clinical studies, and expert opinions are used. Technical data are gathered from traditional and Web-based publications, proprietary publications, and informal communications with pertinent vendors. Technology Status Evaluation Reports are drafted by 1 or 2 members of the ASGE Technology Committee, reviewed and edited by the committee as a whole, and approved by the Governing Board of the ASGE. When financial guidance is indicated, the most recent coding data and list prices at the time of publication are provided. For this review, the MEDLINE database was searched through February 2010 for articles related to automated endoscope reprocessors, using the words endoscope reprocessing, endoscope cleaning, automated endoscope reprocessors, and high-level disinfection. Technology Status Evaluation Reports are scientific reviews provided solely for educational and informational purposes. Technology Status Evaluation Reports are not rules and should not be construed as establishing a legal standard of care or as encouraging, advocating, requiring, or discouraging any particular treatment or payment for such treatment.     

Fortbildung über die European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)

Standardization of training with an examination in cardiac electrophysiology represents a milestone in the unification and improvement in the quality of electrophysiological therapy within the member countries of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Since 2004 the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) has established an Educational Committee with the mission of improving training in device therapy and electrophysiology in the ESC with accredited materials and educational initiatives. The Educational Committee established Europe-wide courses for continuous medical education in 1. invasive electrophysiology and catheter ablation, 2. pacemaker, ICD and cardiac resynchronization therapy and 3. case-based tutorials to prepare for the EHRA examinations for electrophysiology/ablation and device therapy. Independent from participation in EHRA examinations these courses represent a useful aid for daily practice in cardiac electrophysiology and help to bring young and advanced European cardiologists with an interest in electrophysiology together.