High resolution vs conventional esophageal manometry in the assessment of esophageal motor disorders in patients with non-cardiac chest pain.

BACKGROUND: High-resolution esophageal manometry (HREM) has become a leading tool in the assessment of esophageal motor disorders, replacing conventional manometry. However, there is limited data about the contribution of HREM as compared with conventional manometry to the assessment of esophageal motor disorders in patients with non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP). The aim of the study was to compare the distribution of esophageal motor disorders in patients with NCCP using HREM as compared with conventional manometry and to determine if HREM improved diagnosis of these disorders. METHODS: In this study, we included 300 consecutive patients with NCCP who underwent either HREM or conventional manometry over a period of 10 years. A total of 150 patients had conventional manometry and the other 150 patients HREM. The Chicago 3.0 classification and the Castell and Spechler classification were used to determine the esophageal motor disorder of NCCP patients undergoing HREM and conventional manometry, respectively. KEY RESULTS: In both HREM and the conventional manometry groups, normal esophageal motility was the most frequent finding (47% and 36%; respectively, P = .054). Hypotensive lower esophageal sphincter was the most common motility disorder identified by conventional manometry (27.3%), while ineffective esophageal motility was the most common esophageal motor disorder identified by HREM (25.3%). CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: There is a discrepancy in the type of esophageal motor disorders identified by HREM as compared with conventional manometry in NCCP patients. Hypotensive motility disorders are the most commonly diagnosed by both manometric techniques.

Utilisation of surgical fundoplication for patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in the USA has declined rapidly between 2009 and 2013.

BACKGROUND: Surgical fundoplication has been considered to be one of the leading therapeutic modalities for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) during the last several decades. AIM: To determine the trend of surgical fundoplication utilisation in GERD patients during the last decade in the United States. METHODS: Population-based study using a large nationwide database, the Explorys database system, to identify patients diagnosed with GERD and those who underwent surgical fundoplication. Using a quadratic regression model, we determined and compared the trends of surgical fundoplication utilisation annually from 2004 to 2013. RESULTS: We identified 4 059 060 patients with the diagnosis of GERD, of whom 2343 (0.05%) underwent surgical fundoplication between 2004 and 2013. There was a significant decline in the number of surgical fundoplications performed over the last 5 years from 0.062% in 2009 to 0.047% in 2013 (P < 0.05). Female patients accounted for the majority of those who underwent fundoplication (62.52%). Caucasian patients between the ages of 18 and 65 years were the most likely group to undergo surgical fundoplication (66.28%). The number of overweight patients undergoing surgical fundoplication has been significantly increasing over the last decade (P < 0.05). Importantly, 80% of surgical patients were treated with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) post surgical fundoplication by 2013 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Utilisation of surgical fundoplication in GERD patients has been steadily declining over the past 5 years. The vast majority of patients will resume PPI treatment after surgical fundoplication.

Predictive value of early improvement in bipolar depression trials: a post-hoc pooled analysis of two 8-week aripiprazole studies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of early improvement to predict treatment outcome in patients with bipolar depression. METHODS: Data were pooled from two aripiprazole, 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in patients with bipolar depression without psychotic features to determine whether early improvement (≥20% reduction in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) Total score at Week 2 or 3) predicts later response (≥50% MADRS Total score reduction at Week 8) or remission (MADRS Total ≤10 at Week 8). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated (LOCF). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate early improvement and baseline demographic/clinical characteristics as predictors of response/remission. RESULTS: In total, 311 patients were randomized to placebo and 306 to aripiprazole. Predictive values of early improvement (≥20% MADRS Total score reduction) for remission with aripiprazole at Week 2/3, respectively, were: sensitivity 83%/94%; specificity 41%/33%; PPV 44%/45%; NPV 81%/91%. The corresponding values with placebo were as follows: sensitivity 70%/84%; specificity 60%/51%; PPV 50%/51%; NPV 77%/84%. Univariate linear regression showed that early improvement (≥15%, ≥20%, ≥25%, ≥30% at Week 3) was a significant potential predictor of remission. CONCLUSION: Absence of early improvement after 3 weeks of treatment reliably predicted non-response/non-remission at study endpoint with high sensitivity and NPV. In patients with <20% improvement after 21 days of aripiprazole monotherapy, treatment should be modified, as continued use is unlikely to result in response/remission. Clinical decision-making to optimize treatment course in bipolar I depression may be appropriate after as little as 2 weeks and certainly within the first 3 weeks of treatment.

Comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders associated with a lower use of mood stabilisers in patients with rapid cycling bipolar disorder: a descriptive analysis of the cross-sectional data of 566 patients.

OBJECTIVE: To study mood stabiliser treatment in patients with bipolar disorder with or without anxiety disorders (ADs) and/or substance use disorders (SUDs). METHODS: Extensive clinical interview and Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview were used to ascertain DSM-IV diagnoses of rapid cycling bipolar I (RCBDI) or II (RCBDII), SUDs and ADs. Previous treatment statuses with a mood stabiliser after the first onset of mania/hypomania (unmedicated, mismedicated and correctly medicated) were retrospectively determined in patients enrolled into four similar clinical trials. T-test and chi-square/Fisher's exact were used wherever appropriate. RESULTS: Of 566 patients (RCBDI n = 320, RCBDII n = 246), 46% had any lifetime AD, 67% had any lifetime SUD and 40% had any recent SUD. Overall, 12% of patients were unmedicated, 37% were mismedicated at the onset of first mania/hypomania and 51% were correctly medicated. Presence of lifetime ADs and recent SUDs was associated with fewer mood stabiliser treatments. Patients with RCBDI were more likely correctly medicated than those with RCBDII (OR = 3.64) regardless of the presence (OR = 2.6) or absence (OR = 4.2) of ADs, or the presence (OR = 2.8) or absence (OR = 3.13) of recent SUDs. Presence of lifetime ADs and recent SUDs increased the risk for mismedicated in RCBDI with odds ratios of 1.8 and 1.9, respectively, but not in RCBDII. CONCLUSION: In this multi-morbid cohort of patients with RCBD, 51% of patients (64% of RCBDI and 33% with RCDBII) were correctly medicated with a mood stabiliser after the onset of first mania/hypomania. The presence of ADs and SUDs was associated with an increased risk of mismedicated in patients with RCBDI, but not with RCBDII.