Variations with age of immunoreactive serum trypsin: Higher reference ranges in “Healthy” elderly people

Summary According to the literature, the mean values of immunoreactive serum trypsin (IRT) (RIA-gnost Hoechst) in controls vary considerably between 150 and 283 ng/ml. The reasons for these variations are unknown. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the variations of IRT in relation to age in adults. We studied 124 hospital controls, who were without evidence of pancreatic disease or renal insufficiency and who varied in age between 17 and 84 years. Utilizing the kit of Hoechst, IRT was determined in fasting serum specimens. The mean (±SD) in patients over 60 years was 469.6±197.4 ng/ml, in contrast to 309.1±118.9 ng/ml (30–59 years) and 209.7±80.7 (<30 years). Of cases over 60 years 36.5% had elevated IRT levels above 500 ng/ml. In 25 cases over 60 years no correlation was found between IRT levels and creatinine clearance and in eight of ten cases of this group with high IRT (>500 ng/ml) the serum pancreatic isoamylase levels were normal. The data indicate that in the diagnosis of pancreatic disease the higher reference ranges in the elderly people have to be taken into account. The age-related higher reference ranges seem not to be due to subclinical renal disease nor to clinically evident pancreatic disease.The RIA-gnost Trypsin was kindly supplied by Hoechst Pharma, Frankfurt/M, and the Isoamylase Test by Pharmacia, Uppsala     

Therapie von Canaliculus-communis-Stenosen mittels Ballonkatheterdilatation

PURPOSE: To examine the clinical outcome of the balloon dilatation in stenosis of the canaliculus communis. METHOD: 18 nasolacrimal ducts with epiphora and proven obstruction of the canaliculus communis by dacryocystography (DCG) were treated with balloon dilatation in local anaesthesia. All patients were treated electively. RESULTS: In 16/18 cases the balloon dilatation was technically successful, in 2 patients the guide wire failed to pass the obstruction and the wire could not be placed in the nasal cavity. There were no complications. Over a mean follow-up of 6 months there were 2 reobstructions, one of these led to an occlusion of the canaliculus communis. 14/18 (77,8%) cases after DCP were treated successful, 11/18 cases were free of symptoms after DCP, in 4/18 cases the epiphora improved. CONCLUSIONS: Until recently in stenosis of the canaliculus communis the only therapeutic option was surgical procedure followed by silicone tube intubation. The results were often disappointing. In contrast to this balloon dacryocystoplasty is a minimally-invasive alternative in the therapy of stenosis of the canaliculus communis resulting in good clinical outcome during follow up.     

First-day step-down to oral outpatient treatment versus continued standard treatment in children with cancer and low-risk fever in neutropenia. A randomized controlled trial within the multicenter SPOG 2003 FN study

Background

The standard treatment of fever in chemotherapy‐induced neutropenia (FN) includes emergency hospitalization and empirical intravenous antimicrobial therapy. This study determined if first‐day step‐down to oral outpatient treatment is not inferior to continued standard regarding safety and efficacy in children with low‐risk FN.

Procedure

In a randomized controlled non‐blinded multicenter study, pediatric patients with FN after non‐myeloablative chemotherapy were reassessed after 8–22 hours of inpatient intravenous antimicrobial therapy. Low‐risk patients were randomized to first‐day step‐down to experimental (outpatient, oral amoxicillin plus ciprofloxacin) versus continued standard treatment. Exact non‐inferiority tests were used for safety (no serious medical complication; non‐inferiority margin of difference, 3.5%) and efficacy (resolution of infection without recurrence, no modification of antimicrobial therapy, no adverse event; 10%).

Results

In 93 (26%) of 355 potentially eligible FN episodes low‐risk criteria were fulfilled, and 62 were randomized, 28 to experimental (1 lost to follow‐up) and 34 to standard treatment. In intention‐to‐treat analyses, non‐inferiority was not proven for safety [27 of 27 (100%) vs. 33 of 34 (97%; 1 death) episodes; 95% upper confidence border, 6.7%; P = 0.11], but non‐inferiority was proven for efficacy [23 of 27 (85%) vs. 26 of 34 (76%) episodes; 95% upper confidence border, 9.4%; P = 0.045]. Per‐protocol analyses confirmed these results.

Conclusions

In children with low‐risk FN, the efficacy of first‐day step‐down to oral antimicrobial therapy with amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin in an outpatient setting was non‐inferior to continued hospitalization and intravenous antimicrobial therapy. The safety of this procedure, however, was not assessable with sufficient power. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2012;59:423–430. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Diagnosis and management of chronic pancreatitis: current knowledge

This paper reviews the current literature on chronic pancreatitis (CP). Despite marked progress in diagnostic tools, predominately imaging methods, no consensus has been reached on the nomenclature of CP, ie diagnosis, classification, staging, pathomechanisms of pain and its optimal treatment. A major problem is that no single reliable diagnostic test exists for early-stage CP except histopathology (rarely available). This stage is characterised typically by recurrent acute pancreatitis +/- necrosis (eg pseudocysts). Acute pancreatitis is a well-defined condition caused in 80% of cases by gallstones or alcohol abuse. Alcoholic pancreatitis, in contrast to biliary pancreatitis, progresses to CP in the majority of patients. However, a definite CP-diagnosis is often delayed because progressive dysfunction and/or calcification, the clinical markers of CP, develop on average 5 years from disease onset. The progression rate is variable and depends on several factors eg aetiology, smoking, continued alcohol abuse. Repeated function testing eg by the faecal elastase test, is the best alternative for histology to monitor progression (or non-progression) of suspected (probable) to definite CP. The pathomechanism of pain in CP is multifactorial and data from different series are hardly comparable mainly because insufficient data of the various variables ie diagnosis, classification, staging of CP, pain pattern and presumptive pain cause, are provided. Pain in CP is rarely intractable except in the presence of cancer, opiate addiction or extra-pancreatic pain causes. Local complications like pseudocysts or obstructive cholestasis are the most common causes of severe persistent pain which can be relieved promptly by an appropriate drainage procedure. Notably, partial to complete pain relief is a common feature in 50-80% of patients with late-stage CP irrespective of surgery and about 50% of CP-patients never need surgery (or endoscopic intervention). The spontaneous "burn-out" thesis of CP is in accordance with this observation although precise data of this phenomenon are scarce. Recent observations indicate that the progression to late-stage CP is markedly delayed in non-alcoholic compared to alcoholic CP. Therefore, spontaneous pain relief is also delayed but it occurs in close association with severe exocrine insufficiency suggesting that aetiology has a major impact on the duration of early-stage CP and that the "burn-out" thesis appears valid both in uncomplicated alcoholic and nonalcoholic late-stage CP. For treatment of steatorrhea and diabetes the reader is referred to recent reviews. Mortality and survival are closely related to aetiology with an increased death rate of about 50% within 20 years from onset in alcoholic CP compared to a markedly better prognosis in hereditary and idiopathic "juvenile" CP. The risk of pancreatic cancer is increased particularly in nonalcoholic CP based on the longer survival, whereas the risk of extra-pancreatic (smoking-related) cancer is about 12-fold higher in alcoholic CP.