Risk factors for major complications after surgical treatment of primary ileocecal Crohn's disease. A multicenter Latin American experience / Factores de riesgo para complicaciones mayores posteriores al tratamiento quirúrgico de la enfermedad de Crohn con afectación ileocecal. Trabajo retrospectivo, multicéntrico en América Latina

Introduction: Complications after ileocecal resection for Crohn's disease (CD) are frequent. The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors for postoperative complications after these procedures. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients treated surgically for Crohn's disease limited to the ileocecal region during an 8-year period at 10 medical centers specialized in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Latin America. Patients were allocated into 2 groups: those who presented major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo>II), the “postoperative complication” (POC) group; and those who did not, the “no postoperative complication” (NPOC) group. Preoperative characteristics and intraoperative variables were analyzed to identify possible factors for POC. Results: In total, 337 patients were included, with 51 (15.13%) in the POC cohort. Smoking was more prevalent among the POC patients (31.37 vs 17.83; p=0.026), who presented more preoperative anemia (33.33 vs 17.48%; p=0.009), required more urgent care (37.25 vs 22.38; p=0.023), and had lower albumin levels. Complicated disease was associated with higher postoperative morbidity. POC patients had a longer operative time (188.77 vs 143.86min; p=0.005), more intraoperative complications (17.65 vs 4.55%; p<0.001), and lower rates of primary anastomosis. In the multivariate analysis, both smoking and intraoperative complications were independently associated with the occurrence of major postoperative complications. (AU)

Introducción: Las complicaciones posteriores a resección ileocecal por enfermedad de Crohn (EC) son frecuentes. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar los factores de riesgo para presentar complicaciones postoperatorias después de estos procedimientos. Materiales y métodos: Se realizó un análisis retrospectivo de los pacientes operados por EC limitada a la región ileocecal durante un período de 8 años en 10 centros especializados en enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal (EII) de América Latina. Los pacientes fueron divididos en 2 grupos, los que presentaron complicaciones postoperatorias mayores (Clavien-Dindo>II) (denominado grupo de complicaciones postoperatorias [POC]) y los que no (grupo sin complicaciones postoperatorias [NPOC]). Se analizaron las características preoperatorias y las variables intraoperatorias para identificar posibles factores relacionados con las POC. Resultados: Se incluyeron 337 pacientes, 51 (15,13%) en el grupo con POC. El grupo POC presentó mayor índice de tabaquismo (31,37 vs. 17,83; p=0,026), quienes presentaron más anemia preoperatoria (33,33 vs. 17,48%; p=0,009), urgencias (37,25 vs. 22,38; p=0,023) y menores niveles de albúmina. Los procedimientos por enfermedad complicada se asociaron con una mayor morbilidad postoperatoria. Los pacientes con POC tuvieron un tiempo operatorio más largo (188,77 vs. 143,86min; p=0,005), más complicaciones intraoperatorias (17,65 vs. 4,55%; p<0,001) y menores tasas de anastomosis primaria. En el análisis multivariado, tanto tabaquismo como complicaciones intraoperatorias se asociaron de forma independiente con la aparición de complicaciones mayores postoperatorias. (AU)

Risk factors for major complications after surgical treatment of primary ileocecal Crohn's disease. A multicentric Latin American experience.

INTRODUCTION: Complications after ileocecal resection for Crohn's disease (CD) are frequent. The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors for postoperative complications after these procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients treated surgically for Crohn's disease limited to the ileocecal region during an 8-year period at 10 medical centers specialized in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Latin America. Patients were allocated into 2 groups: those who presented major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo > II), the "postoperative complication" (POC) group; and those who did not, the "no postoperative complication" (NPOC) group. Preoperative characteristics and intraoperative variables were analyzed to identify possible factors for POC. RESULTS: In total, 337 patients were included, with 51 (15.13%) in the POC cohort. Smoking was more prevalent among the POC patients (31.37 vs. 17.83; P = .026), who presented more preoperative anemia (33.33 vs. 17.48%; P = .009), required more urgent care (37.25 vs. 22.38; P = .023), and had lower albumin levels. Complicated disease was associated with higher postoperative morbidity. POC patients had a longer operative time (188.77 vs. 143.86 min; P = .005), more intraoperative complications (17.65 vs. 4.55%; P < .001), and lower rates of primary anastomosis. In the multivariate analysis, both smoking and intraoperative complications were independently associated with the occurrence of major postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: This study shows that risk factors for complications after primary ileocecal resections for Crohn's disease in Latin America are similar to those reported elsewhere. Future efforts in the region should be aimed at improving these outcomes by controlling some of the identified factors.

Impaired nutritional status in outpatients in remission or with active Crohn's disease - classified by objective endoscopic and imaging assessments.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease consisting of alternated periods of relapse and remission. The disease is associated with altered body composition and micronutrient deficiencies. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status of Crohn's disease outpatients in remission and activity of the disease. METHODS: Patients were classified according to Crohn's Disease Endoscopic Index of Severity or Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan. Anthropometric and biochemical analysis was performed for nutritional status evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients were evaluated of which 31 were in endoscopic remission (mean Crohn's Disease Endoscopic Index of Severity: 1.76) and 29 in activity (mean Crohn's Disease Endoscopic Index of Severity: 7.88). Regarding markers of fat and lean mass, lower values were observed in the activity group when compared to the remission group (p < 0.05). There was a positive correlation regarding the duration of the disease and the anthropometric parameters in patients with active disease. Interestingly, the prevalence of overweight/obese patients was 55% in remission group and 28% in activity group according to the Body Mass Index classification. In addition, lower levels of iron, folic acid and albumin were also observed in Crohn's disease activity group. CONCLUSIONS: We observed important differences in nutritional markers between patients in remission and activity phases, with higher prevalence of overweight/obese in patients with remission of the disease.

Web System Prototype based on speech recognition to construct medical reports in Brazilian Portuguese.

The overall purpose of automatic speech recognition systems is to make possible the interaction between humans and electronic devices through speech. For example, the content captured from user's speech using a microphone can be transcribed into text. In general, such systems should be able to overcome adversities such as noise, communication channel variability, speaker's age and accent, speech speed, concurrent speeches from other speakers and spontaneous speech. Despite this challenging scenario, this study aims to develop a Web System Prototype to generate medical reports through automatic speech recognition in the Brazilian Portuguese language. The prototype was developed by applying a Software Engineering technique named Delivery in Stage. During the conduction of this technique, we integrated the Google Web Speech API and Microsoft Bing Speech API into the prototype to increase the number of compatible platforms. These automatic speech recognition systems were individually evaluated in the task of transcribing the dictation of a medical area text by 30 volunteers. The recognition performance was evaluated according to the Word Error Rate measure. The Google system achieved an error rate of 12.30%, which was statistically significantly better (p-value <0.0001) than the Microsoft one: 17.68%. Conducting this work allowed us to conclude that these automatic speech recognition systems are compatible with the prototype and can be used in the medical field. The findings also suggest that, besides supporting medical reports construction, the Web System Prototype can be useful for purposes such as recording physicians' notes during a clinical procedure.

Plasma Lipidomic Signature of Rectal Adenocarcinoma Reveals Potential Biomarkers.

BACKGROUND: Rectal adenocarcinoma (RAC) is a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract and survival is highly dependent upon stage of disease at diagnosis. Lipidomic strategy can be used to identify potential biomarkers for establishing early diagnosis or therapeutic programs for RAC. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the lipoperoxidation biomarkers and lipidomic signature in the plasma of patients with RAC (n = 23) and healthy controls (n = 18). METHODS: Lipoperoxidation was evaluated based on malondialdehyde (MDA) and F2-isoprostane levels and the lipidomic profile obtained by gas chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-q-TOF) associated with a multivariate statistical technique. RESULTS: The most abundant ions identified in the RAC patients were those of protonated phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. It was found that a lisophosphatidylcholine (LPC) plasmalogen containing palmitoleic acid [LPC (P-16:1)], with highest variable importance projection score, showed a tendency to be lower in the cancer patients. A reduction of n - 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was observed in the plasma of these patients. MDA levels were higher in patients with advanced cancer (stages III/IV) than in the early stages groups and the healthy group (p < 0.05). No differences in F2-isoprostane levels were observed among these groups. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the reduction in plasma levels of LPC plasmalogens associated with an increase in MDA levels may indicate increased oxidative stress in these patients and identify the metabolite LPC (P-16:1) as a putatively novel lipid signature for RAC.

Free peritoneal perforation in a patient with Crohn's disease - Report of a case.

INTRODUCTION: Bowel perforation with free peritoneal air is a rare complication of Crohn's disease (CD). PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of a 36 year-old male patient, with history significant for CD and he presented to the emergency room with a free peritoneal perforation, which was diagnosed by abdominal X-ray and confirmed by CT scan. The patient underwent a laparotomy surgery; however, no site of perforation was identified. The surgical approach was to clean the cavity, close the abdominal wall and administer antibiotic therapy. He demonstrated good early and late postoperative outcomes. DISCUSSION: We report a rare case of free perforation to the peritoneum in a patient with CD. The most likely hypothesis is that it was a micro-colonic perforation. Antibiotic therapy and a conservative surgical approach without colon resection can be performed and it is reported in the literature. CONCLUSION: Emergency conditions in CD may result in significant morbidity, but are normally associated with low mortality, if identified and treated properly.