Endometrial tuberculosis: hysteroscopic findings of a clinical case / Tuberculose endometrial: Achados histeroscópicos de um caso clínico

Abstract Endometrial tuberculosis is a rare diagnosis in the postmenopausal period, and it can mimic a carcinoma. The present article describes the case of a 54-year-old female patient with weight loss, abdominal pain, and ascites. An ultrasonography showed endometrial thickening, and a video hysteroscopy revealed a uterine cavity with formations with cotton aspect covering the entire endometrial surface and the tubal ostia. An anatomopathological evaluation diagnosed endometrial tuberculosis. The treatment was with a standardized therapeutic scheme (ethambutol, isoniazid, pyrazinamide and rifampicin), and the patient evolved with clinical improvement and normal uterine cavity at hysteroscopy. Considering the lack of pathognomonic hysteroscopic findings of the disorder, it is important to disclose the images of the case.

Resumo A tuberculose endometrial é um diagnóstico raro na pós-menopausa e podemimetizar um carcinoma. O presente artigo descreve o caso de uma paciente de 54 anos com perda de peso, dor abdominal e ascite. A ultrassonografia mostrou espessamento endometrial, e a histeroscopia por vídeo revelou uma cavidade uterina com formações que apresentavam aspecto de algodão cobrindo toda a superfície endometrial e os óstios tubários. Uma avaliação anatomopatológica diagnosticou tuberculose endometrial. O tratamento foi com esquema terapêutico padronizado (etambutol, isoniazida, pirazinamida e rifampicina), e a paciente evoluiu com melhora clínica e cavidade uterina normal na histeroscopia. Considerando a falta de achados histeroscópicos patognomônicos do distúrbio, é importante divulgar as imagens do caso.

The Prevalence of Yersinia Infection in Adult Patients with Acute Right Lower Quadrant Pain / 대한소화기학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Clinical manifestations of intestinal yersiniosis include enterocolitis, mesenteric adenitis, and terminal ileitis presenting with fever, right lower quadrant pain, and leukocytosis. According to a previous Korean study in 1997, Yersinia was revealed in two among 15 adult patients with mesenteric adenitis (13%). However, recent reports on the prevalence of Yersinia infection in adult patients are few. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Yersinia infection in adult patients with acute right lower quadrant pain. METHODS: Adult patients (>18 years) who visited Eulji medical center, due to acute right lower quadrant pain were enrolled prospectively from December 2007 to July 2009. Abdominal CT, stool culture, serologic test for Yersinia, and Widal test were performed. RESULTS: Among 115 patients, 5 patients were excluded due to positive Widal test or salmonella culture. In 110 patients, abdominal CT showed right colitis in 20 (18.2%), terminal ileitis in 16 (14.5%), mesenteric adenitis in 13 (11.8%), acute appendicitis in 10 (9.1%), acute diverticulitis in 7 (6.4%), non specific mucosal edema in 36 (32.7%) and no specific lesion in 8 (7.3%). Two (1.8%) of the 110 patients had antibodies to Yersinia. One patient showed acute enteritis and the other patient was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and underwent appendectomy. No Yersinia species were grown on stool or tissue culture. CONCLUSIONS: Nowadays, among adult Korean patients presenting with acute right lower quadrant pain, there have been few incidences of Yersinia infection.

Helicobacter pylori infection in Iranian children with recurrent abdominal pain.

OBJECTIVES: Helicobacter pylori infection may be a cause of recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) in children. However, this relationship between H. pylori infection and RAP has not yet been confirmed. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of H. pylori infection as a cause of RAP in Iranian children. METHODS: Demographic characteristics and clinical information of 40 children with RAP and mean age of 12.7 +/- 1.0 year and 60 healthy children (as control group) matched for sex and age were collected by self-administered questionnaires and physical examination. The stool antigen test was performed using HpSA ELISA in both study groups. RESULTS: In the RAP group, 16 of the 40 patients were positive for H. pylori infection on HpSA, whereas this test was positive in 15 of the 60 healthy children. No relationship was found between RAP and positive HpSA ELISA for H. pylori (p = 0.112). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of H. pylori infection in children with RAP and in healthy children in the age range of 12 to 15 years was similar.

Enteric fever: diagnostic value of clinical features.

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the diagnostic value of clinical symptoms and signs in enteric fever and to propose a clinical diagnostic criterion. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Kathmandu Medical College, Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: febrile patients with clinical diagnosis of enteric fever were included in the study with the aim of confirming diagnosis with blood culture, or bone marrow culture and evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of various clinical signs and symptoms. RESULTS: 64% of the clinically diagnosed cases had blood/ bone marrow culture positive. The diagnostic accuracy of the various symptoms and signs excluding fever was between 42%-75.5%. Majority of the symptom and sign did not have very high diagnostic accuracy. Hence a diagnostic criterion was proposed and clinical features with diagnostic accuracy more than 50% were taken into consideration. Major criteria included fever with diagnostic accuracy of 64%, headache with accuracy of 75.5% and relative bradycardia with an accuracy of 66%. Minor criteria included vomiting, diarrhoea, Splenomegaly, chills and abdominal pain /discomfort with diagnostic accuracy of 57%, 55%, 55%, 53% and 51% respectively. Finally after combination of various major and minor criteria a final diagnostic criterion was proposed having an accuracy of 66% and including both major and minor clinical symptom and sign. CONCLUSION: clinical diagnosis of enteric fever will be very helpful in a country like ours. Though none of the clinical symptoms and sign have very high diagnostic accuracy a diagnostic criteria may be helpful. Criteria including both major and minor signs and symptoms would be the most appropriate diagnostic tool as it includes the important abdominal symptoms and signs of enteric fever.

Dos casos de enteritis con bacteriemia por Campylobacter jejuni / Two cases of enteritis with bacteremia due to Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter es un importante agente causante de enfermedad en el ser humano en nuestro medio. Los casos de bacteriemia ocurren principalmente en pacientes inmunosuprimidos y sondebidos frecuentemente a C. fetus. Sin embargo la bacteriemia es un episodio que también se ha observado enpacientes con enteritis por C. jejuni. Referimos dos pacientes con enteritis grave y bacteriemia, ambos con enfermedades concomitantes compatibles con inmunodepresión: uno con síndrome nefrótico de larga data y otro con hepatopatía crónica con cirrosis. Destacamos que los dos casos presentaron hematemesis y uno de ellos,enterorragia. Sugerimos prestar atención a la coloración de Gram durante el subcultivo de los caldos conhemocultivos, en busca de formas características de esta especie, y en ese caso emplear medios de cultivo enmicroaerofilia a 37 y 42 °C

Campylobacter is an importantagent of illness in human beings. Bacteremia occurs principally in the immunocompromissed host and is frequently due to C. fetus. Nevertheless bacteremia also has been observed in patients with enteritis due to C. jejuni. We refer two cases of patients with severe enteritis and bacteremia, both of them with immunosupressive concomitant diseases such as nephrotic syndrome and chronic cirrotic hepatopathy. Both patients presented hemathemesis

Suggestive parameters for eradication therapy in children with Helicobacter pylori gastritis.

The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and recurrent abdominal pain in children is still controversial. H. pylori-infected children with recurrent abdominal pain generally do not require treatment. However, benefit of treatment has been known to produce dramatic improvements in some patients. Furthermore, H. pylori-infected is associated with growth retardation, iron deficiency anemia and thrombocytopenia. The objective of this study was to find suggestive parameters for eradication of H. pylori gastritis. From 1992 to 2004, medical records of 42 children diagnosed as having H. pylori infection by endoscopy were retrospectively reviewed. Of those 42 patients, there were 36 patients with H. pylori gastritis without gastric or duodenal ulcer (85.7%), and 6 patients with ulcers (14.3%). Children with H. pylori gastritis were divided into 2 groups: responsive and unresponsive. Data including the duration of abdominal pain, endoscopic finding, histology, treatment, outcome and final diagnosis were collected. Additional data were obtained by telephone and letters. Of 36 patients, there were 24 and 12 patients in responsive and unresponsive groups, respectively. Three patients with anemia were all presented in the responsive group. Those experiencing abdominal pain less than 3 months more commonly belonged to the responsive group (P = 0.21). Marked erythema of gastric mucosa was only seen in the responsive group (P = 0.136). All cases of chronic moderate-active gastritis appeared in the responsive group (p = 0.03). In conclusion, iron deficiency anemia and chronic moderate-active gastritis should be the suggestive parameters for eradication therapy in children with H. pylori gastritis.

Is Q fever an emerging infection in Turkey?

Between 4 May and 8 August 2002,46 cases of acute fever were reported near the Black Sea region in northern Turkey. The infection was treated rapidly and successfully with tetracyclines, so clinical diagnosis of rickettsial or ehrlichial infection was considered. Analysis of serum and blood samples taken from 19 patients identified the causative organism as Coxiella burnetii; 7 cases were reported as acute Q fever and 8 as seropositive for past infection. The most common clinical symptoms among the acute cases were vomiting [100.0%], nausea [85.7%], diarrhoea [57.1%], fever [42.9%], abdominal pain [42.9%] and headache [42.9%]. Liver enzymes were elevated in all patients. It is considered that epidemiological investigation for Q fever will be essential in the affected region in future

Abdominal mass secondary to actinomyces infection: an unusual presentation and its treatment.

Abdominal actinomycosis may appear as an abdominal mass and/or abscess. This mass can mimic a malignant tumour. The diagnosis and management of abdominal actinomycosis will be discussed through a review of the literature and a case report from our own institution. The patient was a 17-year-old boy who presented with abdominal discomfort and a palpable right lower quadrant mass defined on CT scan. He underwent en bloc resection of the mass for a presumed diagnosis of tumour of uncertain type with intestinal involvement. The diagnosis was reversed, when histology revealed filamentous organisms consistent with actinomyces. He was treated with high dose penicillin for several weeks and was discharged from the hospital taking penicillin orally. Preoperative diagnosis of abdominal actinomycosis is difficult. An accurate diagnosis is always obtained in a histological or microbiological examination, often requiring surgical resection. Recognition is important because successful treatment requires combined surgery and prolonged penicillin treatment.

Antibody response in typhoid fever in endemic Indonesia and the relevance of serology and culture to diagnosis.

Culture and serology were performed on blood and serum samples collected at or shortly after admission from 473 patients presented with suspected clinical typhoid. Clinical symptoms at first presentation including confusion, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, abdominal pain, anemia, and gastrointestinal bleeding were non-specific as they were observed even more often in non-typhoid patients. Culture confirmed the diagnosis in 65.3% of the patients with typhoid fever as the final diagnosis. The sensitivity (58%) and specificity (98.1%) of a rapid dipstick assay for the detection of S. typhi-specific immunoglobulin M were somewhat lower than those of culture but higher than those of the Widal test. The dipstick assay thus may well be used in the serodiagnosis of typhoid in situation where culture facilities are not available. Combination of test results of dipstick and culture improved sensitivity to 82.5%. In laboratories that perform blood culture the dipstick assay may be used as a rapid screening tests to facilitate a rapid diagnosis. Sensitivity of the dipstick assay strongly increased with duration of illness and was higher for culture positive than for culture negative patients. Duration of illness, and different pathogen and host factors including dose of infection, pathogenicity and antigenicity, and prior antibiotic use are likely to influence the immune response, therefore the result of the dipstick assay. Duration of illness and presence of S. typhi in the blood are major factors that determine severity of disease.

Bacterial enteric pathogens in children with acute dysentery in Thailand: increasing importance of quinolone-resistant Campylobacter.

Current data on pathogen prevalence and drug resistance patterns are important for treatment and vaccine-development strategies. An etiologic study of acute bacterial dysentery was conducted in children up to 12 years of age in 2 major hospitals in and around Bangkok. Stool samples or rectal swabs and clinical data were collected. Standard microbiological methods were used to detect Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, Vibrio, Aeromonas and Plesiomonas. Pathogenic E. coli (ETEC, EIEC, STEC) was identified by digoxigenin-labeled probes. A total of 623 cases were enrolled: median age 11.0 months (range 1 month-12 years). At least one bacterial pathogen was isolated in 55% of cases. Campylobacter was the most common pathogen found (28%), whereas Salmonella, Shigella and ETEC were isolated from 18%, 9% and 6% respectively. EIEC, Vibrio and Plesiomonas were isolated from <1% and no STEC was detected. C. jejuni serotypes 36, 4 and 11 were the most common. The mean age of cases with Campylobacter was significantly lower than with Shigella (17.9 vs 52.8 months, p<0.001). Clinical presentations of Campylobacter and Shigella infections were compared: fever (28% vs 37%), abdominal colic (62% vs 80%, p<0.05), vomiting (38% vs 70%, p<0.001) and bloody stools (52% vs 48%). The Campylobacter isolates (80% C. jejuni, 20% C. coli) were 90% resistant to ciprofloxacin but sensitive to macrolides. All the Shigella isolates (70% S. sonnei) were sensitive to quinolones. Our study illustrates the increasing importance of quinolone-resistant Campylobacter and the decline of Shigella in the etiology of dysentery in Thailand. The clinical presentation of campylobacteriosis is similar to that of shigellosis, except that the patients may be younger and there may be less association with colic and vomiting; having fecal leukocytes will be >10/HPF. The use of macrolide antibiotics rather than quinolones would be reasonable in children <24 months of age; fluoroquinolones will be ineffective in at least half of culture-positive cases.

Endoscopic, histologic and microbiologic evaluation of upper abdominal pain with special reference to Helicobacter pylori infection.

OBJECTIVE: To study children with significant upper abdominal pain of unidentifiable etiology and evaluate: (a) the relationship of pain to inflammatory esophago-gastro-duodenal lesions and Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, and (b) the response to specific therapy. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Pediatric section of a tertiary referral gastroenterology center. SUBJECTS: Thirty three consecutive children with significant upper abdominal pain [mean age 9.9 +/- 2.7, range 4-15 years; 20 males] were subjected to upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopy and antral mucosal biopsies obtained for rapid urease test (RUT), Gram's staining of impression/crush smears and culture for HP and histologic examination. Patients with HP gastritis were treated with triple therapy, colloidal bismuth subcitrate, amoxycillin and metronidazole, for two weeks. At 8 weeks from the initiation of therapy, patients were re-evaluated for symptoms and HP eradication by repeat endoscopy and antral biopsies. Patients with esophagitis, gastritis and duodenitis without HP infection were treated with ranitidine for 6 weeks. All the patients were followed up for 6 months. RESULTS: Histology revealed antral gastritis in 28/33 (85%) patients. HP infection was present in 12/28 (43%) patients with antral gastritis. Symptomatic improvement with triple therapy was observed in 10/12 (83%) patients with HP gastritis and eradication of HP in 5/7. Improvement on ranitidine therapy was observed in 12/16 (75%) patients with HP negative gastritis. On follow-up, no patient with initial improvement with therapy had relapse of symptoms. CONCLUSION: Symptomatic children with HP related gastritis should be treated with triple therapy and HP negative gastritis with H2-receptor antagonist.

Helicobacter Pylori: causa de dolor abdominal recurrente en niños / Helicobacter Pylori: cause of recurrent abdominal pain in children

En 1950 J.Apley realiza un estudio en niños en edad escolar y define por primera vez el dolor abdominal recurrente (DAR). Basado en sus experiencias lo define como el dolor abdominal que se presenta por lo menos tres veces en un período no menor de tres meses, que es capaz de alterar la actividad del niño, que se manifiesta en la etapa escolar, con períodos entre las crisis totalmente asintomáticos. Apley formula algunas reglas para el encare de estos niños así como "factores de riesgo" que orientarían hacia la existencia de una patología orgánica. El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es establecer una relación entre la colonización por Helicobacter pylori (HP) y DAR. En la policlínica de gastroenterología del hospital Pereira Rossell del Servicio B y C, durante los años 1993-1995, se estudiaron niños entre 2 y 15 años de edad con DAR con los factores de riesgo mencionados por Apley. En ellos se aplica una metodología de estudio preestablecida, se realiza ficha anamnésica, exámen clínico, radiología, endoscopía digestiva, test de la ureasa, histología, cultivo y serología para HP. Hasta el momento actual se han encontrado 19 niños con DAR atípico en los cuales se demuestra la presencia de HP. Basados en estos hallazgos y frente a la poca frecuencia de estudios dirigidos en este sentido, pensamos que es de importancia la realización de estudios programados y multicéntricos, con el fin de determinar la incidencia del HP en el origen del DAR y de la patología gastroduodenal en general

Eliminacion de Helicobater Pylory en pacientes con dolor abdominal recurrente con la administracion simultanea de ranitina, subsalicilato de bismuto y claritromicina / Elimination of Helicobacter pylori in patients with recurrent abdominal pain simultaneous administration of ranitidine, bismuth subsalicylate and claritromycin

Objetivo: Evaluar la eliminación de Helicobacter pylori, así como la mejoría clínica en niños con gastritis asociada; cuando se les administró en forma simult nea claritromicina, ranitidina y subsalicilato de bismuto. Antecedentes: Diversos esquemas de tratamiento se han utilizado para la eliminación de Helicobacter pylori en niños con gastritis, con diferentes resultados. Método: Se estudiaron 22 pacientes que acudieron al servicio de Gastroenterología, del Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, durante el período comprendido entre enero de 1992 y junio de 1993. Se incluyeron todos los niños con dolor abdominal recurrente en quienes se identificó Helicobacter pylori en las biopsias de antro g strico. El tratamiento consistió en la administración simult nea de claritromicina durante 15 días y ranitidina y subsalicilato de bismuto durante un mes. Resultados: en 14 de 22 niños se logró mejoría clínica, así como la eliminación de Helicobacter pylori. Conclusiones: La eliminación de Helicobacter pylori y la mejoría clínica se obtuvieron en el 63.7 por ciento de los niños, con buena tolerancia al tratamiento.