Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of Adalimumab and Vedolizumab in Treating Moderate to Severe Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Numerous patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) do not respond to conventional or biological therapy. Adalimumab (ADA) and vedolizumab (VDZ), according to certain research, may be a useful alternative treatment for these people. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness and safety of using ADA and VDZ to treat moderate to severe IBD: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: We searched PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Google Scholar, CINAHL, Clinicaltrials.gov, and WHO trials registry (ICTRP). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing ADA or VDZ with placebo in participants with active CD or UC were included. The primary outcomes were the clinical response and remission at induction and maintenance phases and mucosal healing. The secondary outcome was the incidence of profound negative events. The research used Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3 (Biostat Inc., USA). Results: Eighteen RCTs were incorporated, in which 11 studies described the usefulness and safeness of ADA or VDZ in CD patients, and seven studies investigated the efficacy and safety of ADA or VDZ in UC patients. The meta-analysis revealed that both ADA and VDZ treatments were superior to placebo for producing clinical remission and eliciting clinical response at induction and maintenance phases in individuals with moderately to severely active CD or UC. Interestingly, we found that ADA was superior to VDZ as first-line treatment for patients with CD, but not UC. Conclusion: ADA and VDZ are effective and safe in CD and UC patients. However, RCTs of a larger number of patients are still required for better assessing the safety profile of ADA and VDZ.

Cold versus hot snare resection with or without submucosal injection of 6- to 15-mm colorectal polyps: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cold snare resection of colorectal lesions has been found to be safe and effective for an expanding set of colorectal lesions. In this study, we sought to understand the efficacy of simple cold snare resection and cold EMR versus hot snare resection and hot EMR for colorectal lesions 6 to 15 mm in size. METHODS: At 3 U.S. centers, 235 patients with 286 colorectal lesions 6 to 15 mm in size were randomized to cold snaring, cold EMR, hot snaring, or hot EMR for nonpedunculated colorectal lesions 6 to 15 mm in size. The primary outcome was complete resection determined by 4 biopsy samples from the defect margin and 1 biopsy sample from the center of the resection defect. RESULTS: The overall incomplete resection rate was 2.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], .8%-7.5%). All 7 incompletely removed polyps were 10 to 15 mm in size and removed by hot EMR (n = 4, 6.2%), hot snare (n = 2, 2.2%), or cold EMR (n = 1, 1.8%). Cold snaring had no incomplete resections, required less procedural time than the other methods, and was not associated with serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Cold snaring is a dominant resection technique for nonpedunculated colorectal lesions 6 to 15 mm in size. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT03462706.).

Xylophagia (paper eating): A rare form of pica.

Xylophagia is a form of pica where patients have the unusual craving for ingestion of paper. After treating the underlying cause of pica, in this case treating iron deficiency anemia with iron replacement therapy, these unusual cravings resolve.

A Rare Presentation of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Presenting With Bleeding Esophageal Varices Secondary to a Malignant Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis.

A 60-year-old woman presented with six months of abdominal pain, weight loss and diarrhea for which she underwent bidirectional endoscopies that were unremarkable. Over the next two weeks, she developed non-cirrhotic portal hypertension and presented with esophageal variceal bleeding. A diffuse large B-cell lymphoma encircling her celiac axis with a tumor thrombosis of the superior mesenteric, splenic and portal veins was found to be the cause of her portal hypertension. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) was performed to control her variceal bleeding. She was started on R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone) chemotherapy and after three cycles her symptoms have subsided, and a CT scan has shown shrinking mesenteric lymphadenopathy.