Protective loop-ileostomy in ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis - advantages and disadvantages. A retrospective study.

AIM: The aim was to investigate the overall postoperative complication rate within 90 days following ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA), with or without a diverting stoma, together with complications 30 days after stoma closure and overall pouch failure rate. METHOD: This was a retrospective chart review including IPAA patients with or without a diverting loop-ileostomy for ulcerative colitis (1 January 1983 to 31 December 2015). Demographic data and postoperative complications were retrieved and recorded. RESULTS: A total of 434 patients were included. A diverting loop-ileostomy was performed in 348 patients (80%). Baseline data were similar in the two groups except for body mass index (BMI) and the ratio of women, which were significantly higher in the group without a protective ileostomy. Overall 90-day complication rate after IPAA [Clavien-Dindo (CD) > 2] was similar in the two groups. Clinical anastomotic leaks (CD > 2) were higher in patients without a diverting stoma (9.3% vs 1.7%) (P = 0.002). The odds ratio for leakage after adjustments (age, gender, immune-modulating medicine and BMI) was 5.0 for omitting a diverting stoma (P = 0.004). Complications (CD > 2) after loop-ileostomy closure were seen in 61 cases (14.1%). Omitting a diverting stoma at IPAA demonstrated a non-significant odds ratio of 1.04 (0.46, 2.38) (P = 0.924) for pouch failure after adjustments (age, gender, immune-modulating medicine, BMI, time from pouch formation and clinical leakage). CONCLUSION: The overall postoperative surgical and medical complication rate within 90 days after IPAA was similar in the group with and without diverting stoma. Postoperative complication rate after reversal was 14%. Omitting a diverting stoma at IPAA demonstrated an increased risk of leaks but no significant risk of long-term pouch failure.

Non-cancer mortality in workers in the meat and delicatessen departments of supermarkets (1950-2006).

We studied non-cancer mortality in 10,701 workers in the meat and delicatessen departments of supermarkets because they have increased exposure to a variety of microorganisms that infect and cause disease in food animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and poultry, to which subjects in the general population are also exposed, albeit to a lesser degree. These workers were also exposed to fumes from the wrapping machine. Standardized mortality ratios were estimated in the cohort as a whole and in race/sex subgroups, using the US population for comparison. Study subjects were followed up from January 1950 to December 2006. Significantly increased deaths from diabetes, ischemic heart disease, pulmonary embolism, chronic bronchitis, peritonitis, intracranial and intraspinal abscess, other bacterial diseases, and significantly decreased deaths from diffuse diseases of connective tissue, functional diseases of the heart, intracerebral hemorrhage, occlusion/stenosis of the precerebral and cerebral arteries, and various types of accidents were observed in certain race/sex subgroups or in the cohort as a whole. The observed increased risks of several infectious conditions suggest that the increased occupational exposure to microorganisms may be responsible for at least some of the observed excess deaths, while exposure to fumes may also contribute to the excess of chronic bronchitis. The findings are important not only for supermarket workers and other workers in the meat and poultry industries, but also because the general population is exposed to these microorganisms found in food animals and their products. Nested case-control studies within cohorts that include both workers in supermarkets and other sectors of the meat and poultry industries, are now needed to examine specific risks from occupational exposures while adequately controlling for confounding factors, so that the role of these infectious agents in the occurrence of these diseases in workers and in general population subjects can be adequately assessed.

A pilot case-cohort study of brain cancer in poultry and control workers.

We conducted an exploratory study to investigate which exposures (including poultry oncogenic viruses) are associated with brain cancer in poultry workers. A total of 46,819 workers in poultry and nonpoultry plants from the same union were initially followed for mortality. Brain cancer was observed to be in excess among poultry workers. Here we report on a pilot case-cohort study with cases consisting of 26 (55%) of the 47 brain cancer deaths recorded in the cohort, and controls consisting of a random sample of the cohort (n = 124). Exposure information was obtained from telephone interviews, and brain cancer mortality risk estimated by odds ratios. Increased risk of brain cancer was associated with killing chickens, odds ratio (OR) = 5.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.2-28.3); working in a shell-fish farm, OR = 13.0 (95% CI, 1.9-84.2); and eating uncooked fish, OR = 8.2 (95% CI, 1.8-37.0). Decreased risks were observed for chicken pox illness, OR = 0.2 (95% CI, 0.1-0.6), and measles vaccination, OR = 0.2 (95% CI, 0.1-0.6). Killing chickens, an activity associated with the highest occupational exposure to poultry oncogenic viruses, was associated with brain cancer mortality, as were occupational and dietary shellfish exposures. These findings are novel.

The incidence of hepatitis E virus infection in the general population of the USA.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is as an emerging disease of global importance because it is one of the major causes of acute hepatitis worldwide. There are few reports on the incidence of HEV in the USA. For better assessing the burden of primary HEV infection as well as understanding the epidemiology of HEV in the US population this analysis was conducted to estimate the force of infection of HEV in the USA. HEV force of infection in the general US population was calculated using catalytic models as cumulative markers of past infection from HEV seroprevalence data from the NHANES Survey. In the US population the force of infection was seven infections per 1000 susceptible persons per year. This study shows that in the USA HEV can be acquired locally and from developing countries. HEV is circulating more frequently in the non-Hispanic White racial/ethnic group and those who consume fish more frequently.

Non-malignant disease mortality in meat workers: a model for studying the role of zoonotic transmissible agents in non-malignant chronic diseases in humans.

BACKGROUND: Current research efforts have mainly concentrated on evaluating the role of substances present in animal food in the aetiology of chronic diseases in humans, with relatively little attention given to evaluating the role of transmissible agents that are also present. Meat workers are exposed to a variety of transmissible agents present in food animals and their products. This study investigates mortality from non-malignant diseases in workers with these exposures. METHODS: A cohort mortality study was conducted between 1949 and 1989, of 8520 meat workers in a union in Baltimore, Maryland, who worked in manufacturing plants where animals were killed or processed, and who had high exposures to transmissible agents. Mortality in meat workers was compared with that in a control group of 6081 workers in the same union, and also with the US general population. Risk was estimated by proportional mortality and standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and relative SMR. RESULTS: A clear excess of mortality from septicaemia, subarachnoid haemorrhage, chronic nephritis, acute and subacute endocarditis, functional diseases of the heart, and decreased risk of mortality from pre-cerebral, cerebral artery stenosis were observed in meat workers when compared to the control group or to the US general population. CONCLUSIONS: The authors hypothesise that zoonotic transmissible agents present in food animals and their products may be responsible for the occurrence of some cases of circulatory, neurological and other diseases in meat workers, and possibly in the general population exposed to these agents.

Cancer mortality in the meat and delicatessen departments of supermarkets (1950-2006).

Meat cutters and meat wrappers in the meat department of supermarkets are exposed to oncogenic viruses present in raw meat from cattle, pigs, sheep, and poultry, and their products (unpasteurized milk and raw eggs). Up to the mid 1970s, meat wrappers were also exposed to carcinogens present in fumes emitted from the machine used to wrap meat. Because of this we studied cancer mortality in a cohort of 10,701 workers in the meat and delicatessen departments of supermarkets, and we report here the findings after the third follow-up. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were estimated in the cohort as a whole and in race/sex subgroups, using the US population for comparison. Study subjects were followed up from January 1950 to December 2006. Significantly increased SMRs of 1.3 (95% CI, 1.2-1.5), and 2.7 (95% CI, 1.2-5.3) were recorded for cancers of the lung, and tonsils/oropharynx, respectively, in the entire cohort, affecting nearly all race/sex subgroups. SMRs of 4.6 (95% CI, 1.0-13.6) for cancer of the floor of the mouth, and 2.8 (95% CI, 1.3-5.3) for cancer of the gall bladder and biliary tract were recorded only in White male meatcutters. Significantly decreased SMRs were observed for a few cancers. It is not known if the observed excess of cancers is a result of occupational exposures. However, substantial evidence points to fumes from the wrapping machine as a possible candidate for explaining the excess in female meat wrappers. Nested case-control studies that can examine risks from occupational exposures in greater detail, and adequately control for confounding factors are now needed, to permit specifically investigate the role of the oncogenic viruses, fumes and non-occupational risk factors in the occurrence of these cancers. The findings are important, not only occupationally but also because the general population may also experience these exposures, albeit to a lesser degree.