Critical Review Two-Years Thereafter of the Effectiveness of the Revolutionary Changes in a Gastroenterology Division at A Medical School Teaching Hospital in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Medical School, Residency, and Gastrointestinal Fellowship Education and Clinical Practice of Gastroenterology Attendings and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Profound and pervasive GI divisional changes maximized clinical resources devoted to COVID-19-infected patients and minimized risks of transmitting infection. Academic changes degraded by massive cost-cutting while offering institution to about 100 hospital systems and eventually "selling" institution to Spectrum Health, without faculty input.

A Critical Review from the Perspective of 2 Years Thereafter of the Effectiveness of Revolutionary Changes in a Gastroenterology Division at a Medical School Teaching Hospital due to the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic: Gastrointestinal Physician Clinical Practice and Emotional Stresses, Gastrointestinal Graduate Medical Education, Gastrointestinal Professional Societies, and Pandemic Control.

AIM: Critically review approximately 2 years afterward the effectiveness of revolutionary changes at an academic gastroenterology division from coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic surge at the metropolitan Detroit epicenter from 0 infected patients on March 9, 2020, to >300 infected patients (one-quarter of) in-hospital census in April 2020 and >200 infected patients in April 2021. SETTING: GI Division, William Beaumont Hospital which had 36 GI clinical faculty who used to perform >23,000 endoscopies annually with a massive plunge in endoscopy volume during the past 2 years; fully accredited GI fellowship since 1973; employs >400 house staff annually since 1995; predominantly voluntary attendings; and primary teaching hospital, Oakland-University-Medical-School. METHODS: Expert opinion, based on: Hospital GI chief >14 years until September 2019; GI fellowship program director, at several hospitals for>20 years; author of 320 publications in peer-reviewed GI journals; and committee-member Food-and-Drug-Administration-GI-Advisory Committee for >5 years. Original study exempted by Hospital Institutional Review Board (IRB), April 14, 2020. IRB approval is not required for the present study because this opinion is based on previously published data. Advantageous changes: Division reorganized patient care to add clinical capacity and minimize risks to staff of contracting COVID-19. Affiliated medical school changes included: changing "live" to virtual lectures, meetings, and conferences. Initially, virtual meetings usually used telephone conferencing which proved cumbersome until meetings were changed to completely computerized virtual meetings using Microsoft Teams or Google Zoom, which performed superbly. Some clinical electives were canceled for medical students and residents because of the need to prioritize car for COVID-19 infection during the pandemic, and medical students graduated on time despite partly missing electives. Division reorganized by changing "live" GI lectures to virtual lectures; by four GI fellows temporarily reassigned as medical attendings supervising COVID-19-infected patients; postponing elective GI endoscopies; and drastically reducing an average number of endoscopies from 100/weekday to a small fraction long-term! GI clinic visits were reduced by half by postponing nonurgent visits, and physical visits were replaced by virtual visits. Economic pandemic impact included a temporary, hospital deficit initially relieved by federal grants and hospital employee terminations. GI program director contacted GI fellows twice weekly to monitor pandemic-induced stress. Applicants for GI fellowship were interviewed virtually. Graduate medical education changes included weekly committee meetings to monitor pandemic-induced changes; program managers working from home; canceling annual ACGME fellowship survey, ACGME site visits, and national GI conventions changed from physical to virtual. Dubious changes: Temporarily mandated intubation of COVID-19-infected patients for EGD; temporarily exempted GI fellows from endoscopy duties during surge; fired highly respected anesthesiology group employed for 20 years during pandemic leading to anesthesiology shortages, and abruptly firing without warning or cause numerous senior respected faculty who greatly contributed to research, academics, and reputation. CONCLUSION: Profound and pervasive GI divisional changes maximized clinical resources devoted to COVID-19-infected patients and minimized risks of transmitting infection. Academic changes were degraded by massive cost-cutting while offering institutions to about 100 hospital systems and eventually "selling" institutions to Spectrum Health, without faculty input.

Diarrhea and Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection.

The global coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant morbidity and mortality, thoroughly affected daily living, and caused severe economic disruption throughout the world. Pulmonary symptoms predominate and account for most of the associated morbidity and mortality. However, extrapulmonary manifestations are common in COVID-19 infections, including gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, such as diarrhea. Diarrhea affects approximately 10% to 20% of COVID-19 patients. Diarrhea can occasionally be the presenting and only COVID-19 symptom. Diarrhea in COVID-19 subjects is usually acute but is occasionally chronic. It is typically mild-to-moderate and nonbloody. It is usually much less clinically important than pulmonary or potential thrombotic disorders. Occasionally the diarrhea can be profuse and life-threatening. The entry receptor for COVID-19, angiotensin converting enzyme-2, is found throughout the GI tract, especially in the stomach and small intestine, which provides a pathophysiologic basis for local GI infection. COVID-19 virus has been documented in feces and in GI mucosa. Treatment of COVID-19 infection, especially antibiotic therapy, is a common culprit of the diarrhea, but secondary infections including bacteria, especially Clostridioides difficile, are sometimes implicated. Workup for diarrhea in hospitalized patients usually includes routine chemistries; basic metabolic panel; and a complete hemogram; sometimes stool studies, possibly including calprotectin or lactoferrin; and occasionally abdominal CT scan or colonoscopy. Treatment for the diarrhea is intravenous fluid infusion and electrolyte supplementation as necessary, and symptomatic antidiarrheal therapy, including Loperamide, kaolin-pectin, or possible alternatives. Superinfection with C difficile should be treated expeditiously. Diarrhea is prominent in post-COVID-19 (long COVID-19), and is occasionally noted after COVID-19 vaccination. The spectrum of diarrhea in COVID-19 patients is presently reviewed including the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, evaluation, and treatment.

Gastrointestinal Bleeding in COVID-19-Infected Patients.

COVID-19 infection is an ongoing catastrophic global pandemic with significant morbidity and mortality that affects most of the world population. Respiratory manifestations predominate and largely determine patient prognosis, but gastrointestinal (GI) manifestations also frequently contribute to patient morbidity and occasionally affect mortality. GI bleeding is usually noted after hospital admission and is often one aspect of this multisystem infectious disease. Although the theoretical risk of contracting COVID-19 from GI endoscopy performed on COVID-19-infected patients remains, the actual risk does not seem to be high. The introduction of PPE and widespread vaccination gradually increased the safety and frequency of performing GI endoscopy in COVID-19-infected patients. Three important aspects of GI bleeding in COVID-19-infected patients are (1) GI bleeding is often from mucosal erosions from mucosal infalammation that causes mild GI bleeding; (2) severe upper GI bleeding is often from PUD or stress gastritis from COVID-19 pneumonia; and (3) lower GI bleeding frequently arises from ischemic colitis associated with thromboses and hypercoagulopathy from COVID-19 infection. The literature concerning GI bleeding in COVID-19 patients is presently reviewed.

Local COVID-19 Epicenter in Detroit Metropolitan Area Causing Profound and Pervasive Reorganization of Clinical, Educational, Research, and Financial Programs of a Large Academic Gastroenterology Division with a GI Fellowship and Primary Medical School Affiliation.

AIM: To report revolutionary reorganization of academic gastroenterology division from COVID-19 pandemic surge at metropolitan Detroit epicenter from 0 infected patients on March 9, 2020, to > 300 infected patients in hospital census in April 2020 and > 200 infected patients in April 2021. SETTING: GI Division, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, has 36 GI clinical faculty; performs > 23,000 endoscopies annually; fully accredited GI fellowship since 1973; employs > 400 house staff annually since 1995; tertiary academic hospital; predominantly voluntary attendings; and primary teaching hospital, Oakland-University-Medical-School. METHODS: This was a prospective study. Expert opinion. Personal experience includes Hospital GI chief > 14 years until 2020; GI fellowship program director, several hospitals > 20 years; author of > 300 publications in peer-reviewed GI journals; committee-member, Food-and-Drug-Administration-GI-Advisory Committee > 5 years; and key hospital/medical school committee memberships. Computerized PubMed literature review was performed on hospital changes and pandemic. Study was exempted/approved by Hospital IRB, April 14, 2020. RESULTS: Division reorganized patient care to add clinical capacity and minimize risks to staff of contracting COVID-19 infection. Affiliated medical school changes included: changing "live" to virtual lectures; canceling medical student GI electives; exempting medical students from treating COVID-19-infected patients; and graduating medical students on time despite partly missing clinical electives. Division was reorganized by changing "live" GI lectures to virtual lectures; four GI fellows temporarily reassigned as medical attendings supervising COVID-19-infected patients; temporarily mandated intubation of COVID-19-infected patients for esophagogastroduodenoscopy; postponing elective GI endoscopies; and reducing average number of endoscopies from 100 to 4 per weekday during pandemic peak! GI clinic visits reduced by half (postponing non-urgent visits), and physical visits replaced by virtual visits. Economic pandemic impact included temporary, hospital deficit subsequently relieved by federal grants; hospital employee terminations/furloughs; and severe temporary decline in GI practitioner's income during surge. Hospital temporarily enhanced security and gradually ameliorated facemask shortage. GI program director contacted GI fellows twice weekly to ameliorate pandemic-induced stress. Divisional parties held virtually. GI fellowship applicants interviewed virtually. Graduate medical education changes included weekly committee meetings to monitor pandemic-induced changes; program managers working from home; canceling ACGME annual fellowship survey, changing ACGME physical to virtual site visits; and changing national conventions from physical to virtual. CONCLUSION: Reports profound and pervasive GI divisional changes to maximize clinical resources devoted to COVID-19-infected patients and minimize risks of transmitting infection.

Pancreatic Ganglioneuroma Presenting in an Octogenarian.

Pancreatic ganglioneuromas occur mostly in children and rarely in young adults, with no cases reported in adults older than 60 years. An 86-year-old-woman, with active advanced multiple myeloma, presented with epigastric pain for 2 days. Abdominal and pelvic computed tomography demonstrated a distended gallbladder, mildly dilated biliary tree, and a 13 × 8-mm hypodense mass in pancreatic body, without extrapancreatic invasion at endoscopic ultrasound. Fine-needle endoscopic ultrasound-guided core biopsy revealed characteristic histopathology of ganglioneuroma, as confirmed by immunohistochemical positivity for S100, SOX-10, and synaptophysin. This demonstrates novel finding of pancreatic ganglioneuroma occurring in the elderly. Lesion inclusion in the differential diagnosis may mandate tissue for pathologic diagnosis and complete lesion resection.

A Comprehensive Review of Endoscopic Management of Sleeve Gastrectomy Leaks.

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery leaks result in significant morbidity and mortality. Experts report variable therapeutic approaches, without uniform guidelines or consensus. OBJECTIVE: To review the pathogenesis, risk factors, prevention, and treatment of gastric sleeve leaks, with a focus on endoscopic approaches. In addition, the efficacy and success rates of different treatment modalities are assessed. DESIGN: A comprehensive review was conducted using a thorough literature search of 5 online electronic databases (PubMed, PubMed Central, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Web of Science) from the time of their inception through March 2020. Studies evaluating gastric sleeve leaks were included. MeSH terms related to "endoscopic," "leak," "sleeve," "gastrectomy," "anastomotic," and "bariatric" were applied to a highly sensitive search strategy. The main outcomes were epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. RESULTS: Literature search yielded 2418 studies of which 438 were incorporated into the review. Shock and peritonitis necessitate early surgical intervention for leaks. Endoscopic therapies in acute and early leaks involve modalities with a focus on one of: (i) defect closure, (ii) wall diversion, or (iii) wall exclusion. Surgical revision is required if endoscopic therapies fail to control leaks after 6 months. Chronic leaks require one or more endoscopic, radiologic, or surgical approaches for fluid collection drainage to facilitate adequate healing. Success rates depend on provider and center expertise. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic management of leaks post sleeve gastrectomy is a minimally invasive and effective alternative to surgery. Their effect may vary based on clinical presentation, timing or leak morphology, and should be tailored to the appropriate endoscopic modality of treatment.

Clarithromycin-Associated Acute Liver Failure Leading to Fatal, Massive Upper Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage from Profound Coagulopathy: Case Report and Systematic Literature Review.

While erythromycin has caused numerous cases of acute liver failure (ALF), clarithromycin, a similar macrolide antibiotic, has caused only six reported cases of ALF. A new case of clarithromycin-associated ALF is reported with hepatic histopathology and exclusion of other etiologies by extensive workup, and the syndrome of clarithromycin-associated ALF is better characterized by systematic review. A 60-year-old nonalcoholic man, with normal baseline liver function tests, was admitted with diffuse abdominal pain and AST = 499 U/L and ALT = 539 U/L, six days after completing a 7-day course of clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily for suspected upper respiratory infection. AST and ALT each rose to about 1,000 U/L on day-2 of admission, and rose to ≥6,000 U/L on day-3, with development of severe hepatic encephalopathy and severe coagulopathy. Planned liver biopsy was cancelled due to coagulopathies. Extensive evaluation for infectious, immunologic, and metabolic causes of liver disease was negative. Abdominal computerized tomography and abdominal ultrasound with Doppler were unremarkable. The patient developed massive, acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding associated with coagulopathies. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy was planned after massive blood product transfusions, but the patient rapidly expired from hemorrhagic shock. Autopsy revealed a golden-brown heavy liver with massive hepatic necrosis and sinusoidal congestion. Rise of AST/ALT to about 1,000 U/L each was temporally incompatible with shock liver because this rise preceded the hemorrhagic shock, but the subsequent AST/ALT rise to ≥6,000 U/L each may have had a component of shock liver. The six previously reported cases were limited by failure to exclude hepatitis E (4), lack of liver biopsy (2), and uninterpretable liver biopsy (1) and by confounding potential etiologies including disulfiram, israpidine, or recent acetaminophen use (3), clarithromycin overdose (1), active alcohol use (1), and severe heart failure (1). Review of 6 previously reported and current case of clarithromycin-associated ALF revealed that patients had AST and ALT values in the thousands. Five patients died and 2 survived.

Two case reports of novel syndrome of bizarre performance of gastrointestinal endoscopy due to toxic encephalopathy of endoscopists among 181767 endoscopies in a 13-year-university hospital review: Endoscopists, first do no harm!

BACKGROUND: Although deficient procedures performed by impaired physicians have been reported for many specialists, such as surgeons and anesthesiologists, systematic literature review failed to reveal any reported cases of deficient endoscopies performed by gastroenterologists due to toxic encephalopathy. Yet gastroenterologists, like any individual, can rarely suffer acute-changes-in-mental-status from medical disorders, and these disorders may first manifest while performing gastrointestinal endoscopy because endoscopy comprises so much of their workday. CASE SUMMARIES: Among 181767 endoscopies performed by gastroenterologists at William-Beaumont-Hospital at Royal-Oak, two endoscopies were performed by normally highly qualified endoscopists who manifested bizarre endoscopic interpretation and technique during these endoscopies due to toxic encephalopathy. Case-1-endoscopist repeatedly insisted that gastric polyps were colonic polyps, and absurdly "pressed" endoscopic steering dials to "take" endoscopic photographs; Case-2-endoscopist repeatedly insisted that had intubated duodenum when intubating antrum, and wildly turned steering dials and bumped endoscopic tip forcefully against antral wall. Endoscopy nurses recognized endoscopists as impaired and informed endoscopy-unit-nurse-manager. She called Chief-of-Gastroenterology who advised endoscopists to terminate their esophagogastroduodenoscopies (fulfilling ethical imperative of "physician, first-do-no-harm"), and go to emergency room for medical evaluation. Both endoscopists complied. In-hospital-work-up revealed toxic encephalopathy in both from: case-1-urosepsis and left-ureteral-impacted-nephrolithiasis; and case-2-dehydration and accidental ingestion of suspected illicit drug given by unidentified stranger. Endoscopists rapidly recovered with medical therapy. CONCLUSION: This rare syndrome (0.0011% of endoscopies) may manifest abruptly as bizarre endoscopic interpretation and technique due to impairment of endoscopists by toxic encephalopathy. Recommended management (followed in both cases): 1-recognize incident as medical emergency demanding immediate action to prevent iatrogenic patient injury; 2- inform Chief-of-Gastroenterology; and 3-immediately intervene to abort endoscopy to protect patient. Syndromic features require further study.

Updated Systematic Review of Achalasia, with a Focus on POEM Therapy.

AIM: To systematically review clinical presentation, diagnosis, and therapy of achalasia, focusing on recent developments in high-resolution esophageal manometry (HREM) for diagnosis and peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for therapy. METHODS: Systematic review of achalasia using computerized literature search via PubMed and Ovid of articles published since 2005 with keywords ("achalasia") AND ("high resolution" or "HREM" or "peroral endoscopic myotomy" or "POEM"). Two authors independently performed literature searches and incorporated articles into this review by consensus according to prospectively determined criteria. RESULTS: Achalasia is an uncommon esophageal motility disorder, usually manifested by dysphagia to solids and liquids, and sometimes manifested by chest pain, regurgitation, and weight loss. Symptoms often suggest more common disorders, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), thus often delaying diagnosis. Achalasia is a predominantly idiopathic chronic disease. Diagnosis is typically suggested by barium swallow showing esophageal dilation; absent distal esophageal peristalsis; smoothly tapered narrowing ("bird's beak") at esophagogastric junction; and delayed passage of contrast into stomach. Diagnostic findings at high-resolution esophageal manometry (HREM) include: distal esophageal aperistalsis and integrated relaxation pressure (trough LES pressure during 4 s) > 15 mmHg. Achalasia is classified by HREM into: type 1 classic; type 2 compartmentalized high pressure in esophageal body, and type 3 spastic. This classification impacts therapeutic decisions. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy is required before therapy to assess esophagus and esophagogastric junction and to exclude distal esophageal malignancy. POEM is a revolutionizing achalasia therapy. POEM creates a myotomy via interventional endoscopy. Numerous studies demonstrate that POEM produces comparable, if not superior, results compared to standard laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM), as determined by LES pressure, dysphagia frequency, Eckardt score, hospital length of stay, therapy durability, and incidence of GERD. Other therapies, including botulinum toxin injection and pneumatic dilation, have moderately less efficacy and much less durability than POEM. CONCLUSION: This comprehensive review suggests that POEM is equivalent or perhaps superior to LHM for achalasia in terms of cost efficiency, hospital length of stay, and relief of dysphagia, with comparable side effects. The data are, however, not conclusive due to sparse long-term follow-up and lack of randomized comparative clinical trials. POEM therapy is currently limited by a shortage of trained endoscopists.

Stricter national standards are required for credentialing of endoscopic-retrograde-cholangiopancreatography in the United States.

Endoscopic-retrograde-cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is now a vital modality with primarily therapeutic and occasionally solely diagnostic utility for numerous biliary/pancreatic disorders. It has a significantly steeper learning curve than that for other standard gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopies, such as esophagogastroduodenoscopy or colonoscopy, due to greater technical difficulty and higher risk of complications. Yet, GI fellows have limited exposure to ERCP during standard-three-year-GI-fellowships because ERCP is much less frequently performed than esophagogastroduodenoscopy/colonoscopy. This led to adding an optional year of training in therapeutic endoscopy. Yet many graduates from standard three-year-fellowships without advanced training intensely pursue independent/unsupervised ERCP privileges despite inadequate numbers of performed ERCPs and unacceptably low rates of successful selective cannulation of desired (biliary or pancreatic) duct. Hospital credentialing committees have traditionally performed ERCP credentialing, but this practice has led to widespread flouting of recommended guidelines (e.g., planned privileging of applicant with 20% successful cannulation rate, or after performing only 7 ERCPs); and intense politicking of committee members by applicants, their practice groups, and potential competitors. Consequently, some gastroenterologists upon completing standard fellowships train and learn ERCP "on the job" during independent/unsupervised practice, which can result in bad outcomes: high rates of failed bile duct cannulation. This severe clinical problem is indicated by publication of ≥ 12 ERCP competency studies/guidelines during last 5 years. However, lack of mandatory, quantitative, ERCP credentialing criteria has permitted neglect of recommended guidelines. This work comprehensively reviews literature on ERCP credentialing; reviews rationales for proposed guidelines; reports problems with current system; and proposes novel criteria for competency. This work advocates for mandatory, national, written, minimum, quantitative, standards, including cognitive skills (possibly assessed by a nationwide examination), and technical skills, assessed by number performed (≥ 200-250 ERCPs), types of ERCPs, success rate (approximately ≥ 90% cannulation of desired duct), and letters of recommendation by program director/ERCP mentor. Mandatory criteria should ideally not be monitored by a hospital committee subjected to intense politicking by applicants, their employers, and sometimes even competitors, but an independent national entity, like the National Board of Medical Examiners/American Board of Internal Medicine.