Case Report: An Outbreak of Food-Borne Typhoid Fever Due to Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhi in Japan Reported for the First Time in 16 Years.

For the first time in 16 years, a food-borne outbreak of typhoid fever due to Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi was reported in Japan. Seven patients consumed food in an Indian buffet at a restaurant in the center of Tokyo, while one was a Nepali chef in the restaurant, an asymptomatic carrier and the implicated source of this outbreak. The multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis showed 100% consistency in the genomic sequence for five of the eight cases.

Retrieval of Retained Capsule Endoscopy at Small Bowel Stricture by Double-Balloon Endoscopy Significantly Decreases Surgical Treatment.

GOALS: The aim is to elucidate the efficacy and safety of double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) for small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) retrieval from small bowel stricture and to follow the outcome of the stricture where the SBCE was entrapped. BACKGROUND: The retention of SBCE is a serious adverse event and most retained capsules are retrieved by surgery. There is still no report analyzing the follow-up of patients with stricture after retrieval of entrapped SBCEs by DBE. METHODS: This study was designed a retrospective cohort study. Subjects were 12 consecutive patients with small bowel stricture where retrieval of entrapped SBCE was attempted using DBE. Success rate of the SBCE retrieval by DBE, surgical rate of the small bowel stricture, adverse events of DBE, and outcomes in the follow-up period were evaluated. RESULTS: Diagnoses were Crohn's disease, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-induced enteropathy, ischemic enteritis, and carcinoma in 8, 2, 1, and 1 patients, respectively. SBCE was successfully retrieved in 11 of the 12 patients (92%). No adverse events were encountered in all endoscopic procedures such as retrieval of SBCEs and dilation of the strictures. Nine of the 12 patients (75%) did not undergo surgical treatment for the stricture where SBCE was entrapped through the follow-up period (mean, 1675±847 d). CONCLUSIONS: Retrieval of SBCEs using DBE was safe, had a high success rate, and was useful to evaluate the need for surgery. Seventy-five percent of patients with small bowel stricture where the SBCE was entrapped did not require surgery through approximately 5 years.

Rebamipide has the potential to reduce the intensity of NSAID-induced small intestinal injury: a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial evaluated by capsule endoscopy.

BACKGROUND: A study reported that rebamipide was effective at reducing short-term nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced enteropathy. The purpose of this study was to re-evaluate the effect of the co-administration of rebamipide on small intestinal injuries induced by short-term NSAID treatment. METHODS: Eighty healthy male volunteers were randomly assigned to two study groups: a control group (N = 40), which received NSAID (diclofenac sodium, 75 mg/day) and omeprazole (20 mg/day) treatment along with a placebo; and a rebamipide group, which received NSAID, omeprazole and rebamipide (300 mg/day). Small intestinal injuries (mucosal breaks plus denuded areas) were evaluated by capsule endoscopy before and after 14 days of treatment. RESULTS: A total of 38 control subjects and 34 rebamipide subjects completed the treatment and were evaluated by capsule endoscopy. NSAID therapy increased the mean number of mucosal injuries per subject from a basal level of 0.1 ± 0.3 to 16 ± 71 and 4.2 ± 7.8 in the control and rebamipide groups, respectively, but the difference was not significant. The difference in the percentage of subjects with at least one mucosal injury post-treatment was also not significant (control 63%; rebamipide 47%). Limiting our analysis to subjects with mucosal injuries, rebamipide co-treatment had the tendency to reduce the mean number of mucosal injuries per subject from 25 in the control group to 8.9 in the rebamipide group (multiple comparisons test; p = 0.088, Mann-Whitney U test; p = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Rebamipide co-therapy had the potential to reduce the intensity of small intestinal injury induced by 2-week administration of diclofenac.

[Carcinoma of the small intestine diagnosed by double balloon endoscopy].

There are no specific symptoms of patients with carcinoma of the small intestine. Therefore, it is difficult to diagnose in the early stage by imaging modalities such as radiological enteroclysis, computed tomography, and classical endoscopy. However, double balloon endoscopy makes it possible to diagnose the carcinoma of the entire small bowel by taking tissue samples for pathological assessment. The characteristic of endoscopic findings is irregular ulcerated tumor with malignant stricture. It is still difficult to find carcinoma of small intestine in patients without symptoms and most cases are advanced when diagnosis is achieved. We should try to diagnose in early stage by combining images modalities, capsule endoscopy and double balloon endoscopy safely and efficiently, resulting in improving the patients' prognosis.

Prevention of traditional NSAID-induced small intestinal injury: recent preliminary studies using capsule endoscopy.

Capsule endoscopy and balloon endoscopy, advanced modalities that now allow for full investigation of the entire small intestine, have revealed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can cause a variety of abnormalities in the small intestine. Traditional NSAIDs can induce small intestinal injuries in over 50% of patients. Several studies have shown that the preventive effect of proton pump inhibitors does not extend to the small intestine, suggesting that concomitant therapy may be required to prevent small intestinal side effects associated with traditional NSAIDs use. Recently, several randomized controlled trials used capsule endoscopy to evaluate the preventive effect of certain drugs on NSAID-induced small intestinal injuries. These studies show that misoprostol and rebamipide have a preventive effect for NSAID-induced small intestinal mucosal injuries. However, these studies included only a small series of healthy volunteers and tested short-term NSAID treatment. Therefore, further extensive studies are clearly required to ascertain the beneficial effect of these drugs.

Distribution of small intestinal mucosal injuries as a result of NSAID administration.

BACKGROUND: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) induce small intestinal mucosal injuries. The concentrations of NSAIDs, bile acids and intestinal flora may differ in the proximal and distal parts of the small intestine. This study aimed to analyse types and distributions of NSAID-induced small intestinal injuries. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In total 55 healthy male volunteers were examined using baseline capsule endoscopy (CE). Subjects then undertook a 14-day regimen of NSAID medication (diclofenac sodium, 75 mg day(-1)) with proton-pump inhibitors (omeprazole 20 mg day(-1)) as gastroprotection. After 14 days, subjects underwent post-treatment CE and were assessed for three types of small intestinal injuries: denuded areas, erosions and ulcers. The proximal and distal parts of the small intestine were arbitrarily classified according to CE transit time from the duodenal bulb. RESULTS: Baseline CE revealed six mucosal lesions in 6 of 55 subjects (11%), consisting of three denuded areas and three erosions. Post-treatment CE identified 636 lesions in 32 of 53 subjects (60%); including 115 denuded areas in 16 subjects, 498 erosions in 22 subjects and 23 ulcers in 8 subjects. The distribution of small intestinal injuries differed according to type; denuded areas (90%: 103/115) were predominantly located in the proximal part, erosions throughout the small intestine and all ulcers in the distal part. The location of ulcers and denuded areas differed statistically (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The impact of short-term NSAID medication on the small intestine differed according to intestinal site, with most denuded areas identified in the proximal part and all ulcers in the distal part.

Rare cause of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding due to pyogenic granuloma in the ileum detected by capsule endoscopy and treated with double balloon endoscopy.

Pyogenic granuloma is a lobular capillary hemangioma that occurs mostly on the skin, and occasionally on the mucosal surface of the oral cavity, but very rarely in the gastrointestinal tract. We report the case of a 63-year-old woman who suffered from palpitations, and iron deficiency anemia for 5 years. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy could not reveal significant bleeding focus. She had not received medical treatment except for oral iron. Capsule endoscopy revealed a bleeding focus in the small intestine. Afterwards, we carried out double balloon endoscopy to treat the lesion. We found a subpedunculated polyp in the small intestine at 100 cm away from ileocecal valve by double balloon endoscopy and resected it endoscopically. The histological features of the polyp were consistent with pyogenic granuloma. Anemia had improved gradually without giving oral iron after polypectomy.

Role of double-balloon endoscopy in the diagnosis of small-bowel tumors: the first Japanese multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The early diagnosis of small-bowel tumors (SBT) was a difficult task until the advent of capsule endoscopy (CE) and double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) allowed access to the disease site. However, although CE and DBE have greatly simplified the task, DBE studies have yet to provide sufficient data on the diagnosis and outcome of patients with SBTs. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of DBE examination in the detection and diagnosis of SBT. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of cross-sectional case series. SETTING: Seven major medical centers in Japan. PATIENTS: The first 1035 consecutive DBE cases at these major Japanese centers since the introduction of DBE. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The percentage of subjects with SBT and a diagnosis of SBT, their indications for DBE, and diagnostic and therapeutic DBE procedures carried out for SBT. RESULTS: SBTs were identified in 144 of 1035 subjects (13.9%) who underwent DBE between September 2000 and December 2005. For subjects with SBT, the most common indication for DBE was the suspected presence of a SBT (61/144 [42.4%]). For subjects without SBT, the most common indication was obscure GI bleeding (OGIB) (419/891 [47.0%]). Malignant lymphoma and GI stromal tumor (GIST) were the most frequent (31/144 [21.5%]) and the second-most frequent SBTs (27/144 [18.8%]), respectively, in this database. We also performed 85 biopsies and 45 therapeutic procedures for the evaluation and treatment of SBTs in 144 patients. Although complications were encountered in 5.3% of cases (14/266 sessions), none of these were life threatening in the present study. CONCLUSION: DBE proved a valuable tool for the detection and diagnosis of SBTs, especially when tumors were suspected. Biopsies and therapeutic procedures were also possible in most of these patients, which directed our management of the disease.

Prevention of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced small-intestinal injury by prostaglandin: a pilot randomized controlled trial evaluated by capsule endoscopy.

BACKGROUND: There is no known preventive agent against nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) induced small-intestinal injury. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate by capsule endoscopy whether coadministration of prostaglandin (PG) can prevent small-intestinal damage induced by short-term NSAID treatment. DESIGN: Single-blind, randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: All procedures were performed at Nippon Medical School. SUBJECTS: Thirty-four healthy male volunteers. METHODS: All subjects were randomly assigned to 2 groups: an NSAID-control group, who underwent NSAID (diclofenac sodium, 25 mg 3 times daily) and omeprazole (20 mg once daily) treatment, and an NSAID-PG group, who received PG (misoprostol, 200 microg 3 times daily) in addition to the same NSAID-omeprazole treatment. Eligible subjects, 15 per group, underwent capsule endoscopy before and 14 days after treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The number of mucosal breaks at capsule endoscopy. RESULTS: NSAID treatment significantly increased the mean (SD) number of mucosal breaks per subject, from a basal level of 0.1 +/- 0.3 up to 2.9 +/- 6.3 lesions in the NSAID-control group (P = .012). In contrast, there was no significant change in the mean number of mucosal breaks before and after PG cotreatment (P = 0.42). Thus, the mean number of posttreatment mucosal breaks per subject was significantly higher in the NSAID-control group than in the NSAID-PG group (P = .028). There was a significant increase in the percentage of subjects in the NSAID-control group, with at least 1 mucosal break after treatment (from 6.7% to 53.3%), whereas there was no change in the incidence of mucosal breaks in the NSAID-PG group, which remained at 13.3%. (P = .002). LIMITATIONS: Single-center, open-label study. CONCLUSIONS: PG cotherapy reduced the incidence of small-intestinal lesions induced by a 2-week administration of diclofenac sodium.

[Primary small intestinal malignant tumors].

Small intestinal primary adenocarcinomas, carcinoids, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) were cleared up inadequately because it was hard to examine for small intestine by modalities in the 20th century. Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) is often caused by these tumors. In future, these tumors will be more diagnosed in patients with OGIB by new modalities such as capsule endoscopy and double balloon endoscopy. We attempt to present these small intestinal malignant tumors using by capsule endoscopy and double balloon endoscopy.

Diagnostic yield of double-balloon endoscopy in patients with obscure GI bleeding.

BACKGROUND: Double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) is a new method that allows visualization, tissue sampling, and therapeutic intervention of a variety of pathologies throughout the small-intestinal tract. OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we evaluated the diagnostic yield of DBE and its impact on the final diagnosis, treatment, and clinical outcome of patients with obscure GI bleeding (OGIB). DESIGN AND SETTING: A hospital-based cross-sectional, follow-up study. PATIENTS: We studied 108 consecutive patients (66 men and 42 women) referred to our hospital from July 2003 to February 2007 for the evaluation of OGIB: 13 patients with overt-ongoing bleeding, 76 with overt-previous bleeding, and 19 with occult OGIB. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Diagnostic yield, a final diagnosis, treatment, and clinical outcome were all analyzed in each group. RESULTS: DBE diagnostic rates for patients with overt-ongoing, overt-previous, and occult bleeding were 100.0%, 48.4% and 42.1%, respectively. The difference in diagnostic yields between the overt-ongoing group and the 2 other groups was statistically significant (P < .005). The most common sources of bleeding were ulcers and tumor lesions. Small-intestinal lesions were identified in 52 of 108 patients; of which 36 patients (69.2%) were biopsied and 49 patients (94.2%) received treatment. Eight patients (7.4%) had recurrent bleeding during the mean follow-up period of 28.5 months. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of DBE in the diagnoses of small-intestinal lesions in patients with OGIB were 92.7%, 96.4%, 98.1%, and 87.1%, respectively. No serious complications were encountered. CONCLUSIONS: DBE was proven to be a very useful diagnostic tool and had a therapeutic impact in the majority of patients with OGIB. The best candidates for the procedure were patients with overt-ongoing bleeding.

Current status of double balloon endoscopy--indications, insertion route, sedation, complications, technical matters.

BACKGROUND: The recent development of double balloon endoscopy (DBE) has revolutionized enteroscopy. This system allows for endoscopic scrutiny and treatment of the entire small bowel, but general consensus has not yet been reached regarding procedural guidelines. METHODS: We have been using the DBE system since June 2003, at Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, where 163 patients have undergone 265 DBE examinations. This study presents a detailed analysis of the current status of DBE examination at our institution, with particular focus on indications, contraindications, sedation, choice of insertion route, complications, and relevant technical points. OBSERVATIONS: The most common indication for DBE was obscure GI bleeding. Patients were placed under conscious or deep sedation and their vital signs were monitored throughout the examination. The choice of either an oral or anal insertion route was determined on the basis of clinical symptoms or any previous examination data. When analyzing the entire small bowel, we began via the anal route and marked the intestine with India ink at the furthest insertion point lying closest to the oral route. We then switched our approach to the oral route, and confirmed total enteroscopy when the enteroscope reached the India-ink mark. With regard to complications, we encountered 1 case of acute pancreatitis and 2 cases of aspiration pneumonia after examination. CONCLUSIONS: The DBE system allows for full investigation of the pathology of the small intestine and timely endoscopic treatment. However, for the DBE system to achieve more widespread acceptance, it is critical that we establish a universal method for its safe and efficient use.

High dose probiotic and prebiotic cotherapy for remission induction of active Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials of probiotic treatment for Crohn's disease (CD) have yielded conflicting results. This study assessed the clinical usefulness of combined probiotic and prebiotic therapy in the treatment of active CD. METHOD: Ten active CD outpatients without history of operation for CD were enrolled. Their mean (+/-SD) age was 27 +/- 7 years and the main symptoms presented were diarrhea and abdominal pain. Patients' initial therapeutic regimen of aminosalicylates and prednisolone failed to achieve remission. Patients were thus initiated on a synbiotic therapy, consisting of both probiotics (75 billion colony forming units [CFU] daily) and prebiotics (psyllium 9.9 g daily). Probiotics mainly comprised Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. Patients were free to adjust their intake of probiotics or prebiotics throughout the trial. Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI), International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) score and blood sample variables were evaluated and compared before and after the trial. RESULTS: The duration of the trial was 13.0 +/- 4.5 months. By the end of therapy, each patient had taken a 45 +/- 24 billion CFU daily probiotic dose, with six patients taking an additional 7.9 +/- 3.6 g daily psyllium dose. Seven patients had improved clinical symptoms following combined probiotic and prebiotic therapy. Both CDAI and IOIBD scores were significantly reduced after therapy (255-136, P = 0.009; 3.5-2.1, P = 0.03, respectively). Six patients had a complete response, one had a partial response, and three were non-responders. Two patients were able to discontinue their prednisolone therapy, while four patients decreased their intake. There were no adverse events. CONCLUSION: High-dose probiotic and prebiotic cotherapy can be safely and effectively used for the treatment of active CD.