Recurrent Crohn's disease in the duodenum and jejunum following extensive small bowel resection and jejunocolonic anastamosis: radiologic findings in twenty-five patients.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the radiologic features of recurrent Crohn's disease after extensive enteric resection and jejunocolostomy. METHODS: We reviewed the small bowel studies of 25 patients with recurrent enteritis and less than 125 cm of jejunum following enteric resection and jejunocolostomy and the studies of 27 patients with jejunitis in an intact jejunum. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients with recurrences had neoterminal jejunitis, six under 10 cm, 10 over 10 cm and continuous, and seven with skip lesions (six jejunal, one duodenal). Two had isolated jejunitis or duodenitis. Three with continuous disease had lengthy recurrences. Enteritis showed only one or two abnormalities in 12 of 25 patients with recurrences and in two of 27 with disease in the intact jejunum. Recurrent jejunitis and jejunitis in the intact jejunum showed similar frequencies of mucosal thickening, strictures, ulceration and its complications, skip lesions, sacculation, obstructive dilatation, featureless mucosa, and polyps, and significantly different frequencies only of mesenteric masses. Recurrent jejunitis and terminal ileitis showed significantly different frequencies of mucosal thickening, strictures, ulceration and its complications, skip lesions, sacculation, obstructive dilatation, and mesenteric masses, and similar frequencies only of a featureless mucosa. CONCLUSIONS: The neoterminal jejunum is the most common site of recurrence and the only site in almost 25%. Jejunitis remote from the fecal stream is also frequent, but duodenitis is not. Recurrences are seldom extensive and often show only one or two radiographic findings. The frequencies of most lesions in recurrent jejunitis do not differ significantly from those in jejunitis in the intact jejunum but do differ from those in terminal ileitis.

Crohn's disease of the proximal small intestine: radiologic findings in 55 patients.

Radiographs of the upper gastrointestinal tract and the small bowel of 55 patients were reviewed to identify changes associated with proximal enteric Crohn's disease. Five patients had gastroduodenitis, 18 duodenitis, 14 jejunitis and 18 jejunoileitis. Nineteen had previously undergone ileocecal resection. The terminal ileum was spared in 11 of the 36 patients who had not undergone ileocecal resection; of these, 9 had jejunoileitis, 1 jejunitis and 1 jejunitis secondary to colitis with colojejunal fistulas. In just over 80% of the patients with jejunal disease and all the patients with primary jejunal disease in whom the terminal ileum was spared, the condition developed before the patients reached 30 years of age. Duodenal disease was not associated with any particular age group, and duodenitis was invariably a "skip" lesion in patients with disease of the terminal ileum. The diagnosis of proximal enteric Crohn's disease depended on the presence of one or more characteristic lesions in the jejunum or terminal ileitis associated with a duodenal or jejunal abnormality. Ulceration occurred in 88% of the patients with a diseased terminal ileum but was less common in patients with a diseased duodenum (occurring in 43%), jejunum (in 53%) or proximal ileum (in 57%). Fistulas in the terminal ileum complicate ulceration in 10% to 26% of patients, and sinuses complicate ulceration slightly more often, but proximal enteric fistulas or sinuses occurred in only four (7%) of the patients described here.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effect of dietary fiber on total carbohydrate losses in ileostomy effluent.

Studies were performed in three ileostomate subjects to determine the effect of intake of various carbohydrate-containing foods on the ileostomy losses of macronutrients. The percent recovery of available carbohydrate in ileostomy effluent varied between 1.09% and 22.63% for the various foods. Available carbohydrate recovery (%) was positively correlated with fiber (r = 0.91) and protein (r = 0.46) intake, but negatively with available carbohydrate intake (r = -0.66). Stepwise regression indicated that dietary fiber intake was the principal factor determining the amount of available carbohydrate in ileostomy effluent. Fiber intake was negatively correlated with water concentration of the effluent (r = -0.61). This study demonstrates that although fiber has been considered the chief substrate available for colonic fermentation, as the fiber intake increases, so the total fermentable load entering the colon is likely to increase due to losses of available carbohydrates in addition to fiber. Simple assessment of dietary fiber is likely to grossly underestimate the fermentable load on high-fiber, high-carbohydrate diets.

Azathioprine therapy in chronic ulcerative colitis.

We evaluated the efficacy of azathioprine (Az) therapy in chronic ulcerative colitis (CUC) retrospectively in a clinic population from 1977 to 1987. The study was an open one. Sixteen patients were treated with a total of 20 courses of Az. Mean dose of Az was 1.48 mg/kg/d (range 0.98-1.82). All patients were on oral prednisone at the initiation of Az therapy. Indications for Az were: inability to wean off steroids without symptoms of CUC (12/20), poor response to steroids (7/20), and steroid toxicity (1/20). Responses to Az occurred in 15/20 courses (12/16 patients). Two patients had side effects requiring Az discontinuation. The mean duration of follow-up was 52.6 months with no incidence of malignancies. We conclude that the use of Az in selected patients with CUC who are steroid resistant or steroid dependent may be both efficacious and safe.

5-ASA enemas for refractory distal ulcerative colitis. An open trial.

We conducted an open trial of 5-ASA enemas to determine the role of this drug in idiopathic distal ulcerative colitis resistant to conventional therapeutic approaches. Fifty-one such refractory patients were given 4 g 5-ASA enemas once nightly for 2 weeks, and the response was then assessed clinically and sigmoidoscopically. Overall, 29 patients (57%) had an excellent response, 11 (21%) had a satisfactory response, and a further 11 (21%) had a poor outcome. Two patients developed adverse reactions. Of the 11 patients with a poor response, nine remained dependent on oral prednisone for remission of their colitis. Although the role of 5-ASA enemas in the treatment of refractory distal ulcerative colitis remains to be determined, it appears that the drug appears to be beneficial for only a minority of patients dependent on systemic corticosteroids.

Ileal loss of available carbohydrate in man: comparison of a breath hydrogen method with direct measurement using a human ileostomy model.

The breath hydrogen technique has suggested that a considerable amount of available plus unavailable carbohydrate enters the large intestine after the consumption of starchy foods (white bread 11%, wholemeal bread 8%, and red lentils 18%). Direct measurement of the available carbohydrate in ileal effluent after the consumption of test meals by three individuals with ileostomies gave values similar to those determined by the breath hydrogen technique (white bread 10%, wholemeal bread 8%, and red lentils 22%). These studies confirm that considerable amounts of "available carbohydrate" may be lost to the small intestine and physiologically must be considered as dietary fiber. The implications of this with respect to metabolism and colonic disease remain to be investigated.

Cimetidine therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

In a Canadian multicenter trial, a new dosing regimen of cimetidine (Tagamet)-600 mg given twice a day-was compared with the standard regimen of 300 mg four times a day in 118 evaluable patients with endoscopically proved esophagitis. More than 90% of the patients evaluated had clinically moderate to severe esophagitis. After four weeks of therapy, both regimens had significantly reduced the number of episodes and the severity and duration of the worst episodes of daytime and nighttime heartburn, as evaluated by visual analogue scales. After eight weeks of therapy, this improvement persisted. There was no difference between the regimens. Healing was observed endoscopically in 57% of patients receiving cimetidine 300 mg four times a day and in 55% of those receiving 600 mg twice a day. Side effects were infrequent and minor.

Association between celiac disease and lung disease.

An association has been suggested between celiac disease and diffuse interstitial lung disease of the hypersensitivity pneumonitis type in several reports from Europe. The present report consists of a study of 18 North American, biopsy-proved celiac patients, who were compared with an equal number of control subjects balanced for age, sex, and smoking. The celiac patients showed no evidence of interstitial lung disease as assessed by chest roentgenograms and pulmonary function tests. However, a history of asthma or chronic cough was present in a higher proportion of the celiac than control subjects. Also the celiac patients showed objective evidence of airway obstruction, as demonstrated by differences between the two groups in FEV1 (P less than 0.05) and Vmax 50% and Vmax 25% (P less than 0.01 and less than 0.05, respectively). These results confirm a recent report questioning whether there is truly a relationship between celiac disease and interstitial lung disease. Nevertheless, our findings suggest an association between celiac disease and airway obstruction.

Nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver associated with macroglobulinemia. A clue to the pathogenesis.

Nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver is an infrequent condition characterized by transformation of the hepatic parenchyma into nodules with only mild fibrosis. Little is known about the etiology except that there is usually an underlying chronic disease, such as Felty's syndrome, which antedates the development of clinical liver disease. It is poorly understood how the associated diseases contribute to the pathogenesis of nodular regenerative hyperplasia. Presented are four cases of nodular regenerative hyperplasia in which macroglobulinemia was also present. This new association suggests to us a hypothesis for the pathogenesis of nodular regenerative hyperplasia. Histologic examination of the livers in these and other cases of nodular regenerative hyperplasia reveals widespread obliteration of the small portal veins. Postmortem angiography of one liver in the present series demonstrated that the nodules were well perfused and that the atrophic areas were poorly perfused with portal blood. This supports the view that atrophy of lobules results from a lack of portal blood supply and that nodules develop from lobules well supplied with portal blood. In each of the clinical conditions associated with nodular regenerative hyperplasia, including macroglobulinemia, inflammatory or thrombotic vascular lesions are found in many organs. Therefore, nodular regenerative hyperplasia may be the hepatic expression of a more widespread vascular disease.

Malabsorption syndrome with IgG(lambda) M component: response to chemotherapy.

A patient with malabsorption syndrome and steatorrhea was found to have IgG (lambda) M component in the blood and some extracellular deposition of IgG in the intestinal wall. There was no evidence of multiple myeloma. He responded favourably to intermittent courses of melphalan and prednisone.