C-reactive protein for simple prediction of mortality in patients with acute non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding: A retrospective analysis.

ABSTRACT: In upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB), scoring systems using multiple variables were developed to predict patient outcomes. We evaluated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) for simple prediction of patient mortality after acute non-variceal UGIB.The associated factors for 30-day mortality was investigated by regression analysis in patients with acute non-variceal UGIB (N = 1232). The area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve was analyzed with serum CRP in these patients and a prospective cohort (N = 435). The discriminant validity of serum CRP was compared to other prognostic scoring systems by means of AUROC curve analysis.Serum CRP was significantly higher in the expired than survived patients (median, 4.53 vs 0.49; P < .001). The odds ratio of serum CRP was 4.18 (2.10-9.27) in multivariate analysis. The odds ratio of high serum CRP was higher than Rockall score (4.15 vs 1.29), AIMS65 (3.55 vs 1.71) and Glasgow-Blatchford score (4.32 vs 1.08) in multivariate analyses. The AUROC of serum CRP at bleeding was 0.78 for 30-day mortality (P < .001). In the validation set, serum CRP was also significantly higher in the expired than survived patients, of which AUROC was 0.73 (P < .001). In predicting 30-day mortality, the AUROC with serum CRP was not inferior to that of other scoring systems.Serum CRP at bleeding can be simply used to identify the patients with high mortality after acute non-variceal UGIB.

Factors Affecting Endoscopic Curative Resection of Gastric Cancer in the Population-Based Screening Era.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Since population-based screening for gastric cancer in Korea was implemented, endoscopic treatment of early gastric cancer has become increasingly popular. This study investigates factors affecting endoscopic curative resection of early gastric cancer in population-based screening for gastric cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data of patients with newly diagnosed gastric cancer who underwent treatment at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. All patients completed questionnaires about clinical information, including interval between surveillance tests for gastric cancer. RESULTS: Of 469 gastric cancer patients, 147 (31.3%) had undergone curative endoscopic resection, 260 (55.4%) had undergone curative surgical resection, and 62 (13.3%) underwent non-curative resection or were in an inoperable state. Patients with curative endoscopic resection had fewer alarm symptoms/signs than other groups. In multivariate analysis, regular surveillance endoscopy was the only factor predicting curative endoscopic resection (odds ratio [OR], 6.099; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.532-14.933). In addition, patients undergoing gastric cancer screening had a significantly higher rate of endoscopic curative resection compared with subjects who had never been screened. (1-year interval: OR, 49.969; 95% CI, 6.340-393.827, 2-year interval: OR, 15.283; 95% CI, 1.833-127.406, over 2-year interval: OR, 10.651; 95% CI, 1.248-90.871). Shorter screening test intervals were associated with higher rates of endoscopic curative resection. CONCLUSION: Regular surveillance testing was the independent factor predicting curative endoscopic resection of gastric cancer.

[A Case of Pylephlebitis with Pseudomonas aeruginosa Sepsis and Liver Abscess Secondary to Diverticulitis].

Pylephlebitis, or suppurative thrombophlebitis of the portal venous system, is a rare condition occurring secondary to abdominal infections such as diverticulitis. Pylephlebitis can be diagnosed via ultrasonography or CT scan, and is characterized by the presence of a thrombus in the portal vein and bacteremia. However, the diagnosis may be delayed due to the vague nature of the clinical symptoms, causing morbidity and mortality due to pylephlebitis to remain high. Early diagnosis and immediate antibiotic therapy are important for favorable prognosis. Therefore, pylephlebitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis for cases of nonspecific abdominal pain and fever. We report a case of pylephlebitis secondary to diverticulitis, associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis. Such cases have not been widely reported.