Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 Patients With Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Northern Italy: A Single-Center Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: The most typical presentation of COVID-19 is an acute respiratory syndrome whose most common symptoms include fever, cough, and dyspnea. However, gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea and nausea/vomiting, are increasingly reported in patients affected by COVID-19. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and time of onset of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients affected by COVID-19 and to find potential associations between gastrointestinal symptoms and clinical outcomes. METHODS: We performed a prospective single-center cohort study, enrolling patients who received diagnosis of COVID-19 at our institution between March 23, 2020, and April 5, 2020. We collected patient demographics and medical history, laboratory data, and clinical outcomes. Furthermore, we used a specifically designed questionnaire, administered to patients at time of diagnosis, to obtain data on the presence and time of onset of fever, typical respiratory symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, and other symptoms (fatigue, headache, myalgia/arthralgia, anosmia, ageusia/dysgeusia, sore throat, and ocular symptoms). RESULTS: In our cohort, 138 (69%) of 190 patients showed at least 1 gastrointestinal symptom at diagnosis; if excluding hyporexia/anorexia, 93 patients (48.9%) showed at least 1 gastrointestinal symptom. Gastrointestinal symptoms, in particular diarrhea, were associated with a lower mortality. At multivariate analysis, diarrhea was confirmed as independent predictive factor of lower mortality. DISCUSSION: Gastrointestinal symptoms are very frequent in patients with COVID-19 and may be associated with a better prognosis. These data suggest that, in some patients, the gastrointestinal tract may be more involved than the respiratory system in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, and this could account for the less severe course of disease.

Improvement in appropriateness and diagnostic yield of fast-track endoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Italy.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, only fast-track endoscopic procedures have been performed; nevertheless, a significant drop in their number has been reported. We evaluated whether the pandemic has impacted the appropriateness and diagnostic yield of fast-track endoscopic procedures compared with those performed in 2019. METHODS: This retrospective study involved endoscopy services in Northern Italy. We compared data regarding endoscopic procedures performed in March and April 2020 with those performed during the same period in 2019. RESULTS: In 2020, there was a 53.6 % reduction in the number of fast-track endoscopic procedures compared with 2019. Patients undergoing endoscopy in 2020 were younger than in 2019. Both appropriate referral and diagnostic yield increased in 2020 for both upper and lower endoscopy. A higher rate of cancer was diagnosed in 2020 by upper endoscopy (3.6 % vs. 6.6 %; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The high level of inappropriate endoscopy referrals registered in 2019 significantly improved during the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020, with an increase in the diagnostic yield.

Adipopenia Is the Rapid Screening Tool that Best Predicts Mortality in Patients with Decompensated Cirrhosis: Results of a Prospective Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) often have malnutrition (MN), which can be associated with decompensation, infection, and death. The aims were to determine: the prevalence of MN in patients with LC and ascites, its impact on mortality, and the relationship between MN and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). METHODS: Nutritional status (NS) was analysed in cirrhotic patients, experiencing their first episode of ascites, who were consecutively admitted at two clinical liver centres between November 2014 and October 2016. The participants underwent diagnostic paracentesis and were followed up to assess their outcomes. RESULTS: 110 participants underwent NS assessment in addition to routine clinical procedures. The prevalence of MN was 30.9% according to corrected body mass index, 67.3% according to upper mid-arm muscle area (UMA) and 40% according to upper mid-arm fat area (UFA). The percentages of the participants remaining alive were 68.1% at 3 months, 59.3% at 6 months, 45.1% at 12 months and 24.2% at the end of the study. Univariate analysis showed that SBP, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), UFA, UMA and age were significantly associated with mortality. Multivariate analysis showed that only SBP, MELD and UFA (hazard ratio 2.2) were independently associated with mortality. There was a correlation between adipopenia, but not sarcopenia, and SBP. CONCLUSIONS: Adipopenia, as assessed by UFA, was present in 40% of the cirrhotic patients, and it was independently associated with mortality.

Inflammatory bowel disease in a colorectal cancer screening population: Diagnosis and follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is usually diagnosed in subjects with gastrointestinal symptoms, but may also be asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally. AIMS: to determine the prevalence of IBD in asymptomatic adults. METHODS: we identified subjects who underwent colonoscopy between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2019 in a regional colorectal cancer screening program with endoscopic findings suggestive of IBD, and retrieved their clinical, histological and therapeutic information. RESULTS: 5116 subjects underwent colonoscopy, and 4640 persons were considered assessable. Of these, 54 (1.16%) had endoscopic findings suggestive of IBD, including 40 of Crohn's disease (CD) and 14 of ulcerative colitis (UC). A definite diagnosis of IBD was made in 19 patients, for an overall IBD prevalence of 0.41%, with 13 cases of CD (0.28%) and 6 of UC (0.13%). The mean follow-up was 26.8 months after the first colonoscopy. Therapy was started in 5 of 13 CD patients and all UC patients. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic findings suggestive of IBD are not infrequent in an asymptomatic colorectal cancer screening population. Visualization of the terminal ileum is recommended in this setting. A definite diagnosis of IBD was made in about 1 out of 3 subjects with endoscopic lesions. Most IBD patients had a mild form of disease, but some needed biologic therapy.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided gallbladder drainage in pancreatic cancer and cholangitis: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Head pancreatic cancers often present with clinical challenges requiring biliary drainage for chemotherapy or palliative scope. If usual endoscopic modalities fail or if percutaneous approach is not feasible, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided biliary drainage can be considered. Here we describe and discuss an interesting clinical case in which EUS-guided gallbladder drainage (EUS-GBD) was chosen to treat acute severe cholangitis in a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer. CASE SUMMARY: An 84-year-old female with a previous EUS-biopsy proven diagnosis of head pancreatic cancer presented with clinical signs of acute cholangitis. In September 2018 she had positioned a biliary and duodenal stent to relieve jaundice and an initial duodenal substenosis. In the emergency ward, an abdominal computed tomography scan showed proximal biliary stent occlusion due to neoplastic progression, but endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was impossible because of worsening duodenal stenosis and the absence of a chance to reach the Vater's papilla area. EUS-guided choledocoduodenostomy was not technically feasible but because the cystic duct was free of neoplastic infiltration, an EUS-GBD using an Axios™ stent was successfully performed. The patient started to feed after 48 h and was discharged 1 wk later. No other hospitalizations due to cholangitis or symptoms of Axios™ stent occlusion/dysfunction were observed up until her death 6 mo later due to underlying disease. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrated how different EUS therapeutic approaches could have a key role to treat critical and seemingly unsolvable situations and that they could play a more fundamental role in the next future.

Light Alcohol Drinking and the Risk of Cancer Development: A Controversial Relationship.

BACKGROUND: In accordance with the scientific literature heavy alcohol consumption (>50g per day) represents a risk factor for several diseases development, including cancer. However, the oncogenic role of light alcohol drinking (<12.5g per day) is still unknown. OBJECTIVE: To assess the scientific knowledge about light alcohol consumption and the risk of malignancy onset. METHODS: To collect the scientific evidences regarding this topic the keywords "light alcohol drinking", "light alcohol consumption" and "cancer", were used. Papers published during the last 15 years were analyzed, in order to select the most recent evidence. Meta-analyses with well-defined levels of alcohol intake were included in the present review. Other studies that focused on biochemical, molecular and genetic aspects, as well as duplicate articles, were excluded. RESULTS: Twenty-nine large, meta-analyses were included in this review. Light alcohol drinking was not associated with an increased risk of cancer occurrence, with the exception of breast and prostate cancer and melanoma. Furthermore, a possible protective role of light alcohol consumption on the development of bladder, kidney and ovarian cancer and Non Hodgkin Lymphoma was observed. CONCLUSION: Light alcohol drinking was not associated with the development of several malignancies, except for a light increase of melanoma, breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.

Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation of Dietary Intake in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis.

There are very few reports about the intake of nutrients for the development or progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The aim of this study was to identify the dietary habits and the nutrient intake in patients with NASH, in comparison to chronic hepatitis C (HCV)-related patients. We prospectively evaluated the intake of macronutrients and micronutrients in 124 NAFLD and 162 HCV patients, compared to 2326 subjects as a control group. We noticed major differences in macro- and micronutrients intakes in NASH and HCV patients compared to controls. Proteins, carbohydrate (glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose and amide), saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), folic acid, vitamin A and C (p < 0.0001), and thiamine (p < 0.0003) ingestion was found to be higher in patients with NASH, while total lipids, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), riboflavin and vitamin B6 daily intake were lower compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Similarly, NASH patients had significantly reduced carbohydrate intake (p < 0.0001) and an increased intake of calcium (p < 0.0001) compared to HCV positive patients. Finally, we showed in NASH males an increase in the intake of SFA, PUFA, soluble carbohydrates (p < 0.0001) and a decrease in the amount of fiber (p < 0.0001) compared to control males. In NASH female population, we showed an increase of daily total calories, SFA, MUFA, soluble carbohydrates, starch and vitamin D ingested (p < 0.0001) with a reduction of fibers and calcium (p < 0.0001) compared to control females. This study showed how NASH patients' diets, in both male and females, is affected by a profound alteration in macro- and micronutrients intake.