1,720,965 research outputs found
Low levels of G17 and Barrett esophagus: A clinical relationship
No full textBackground & Aims: In clinical practice, most patients with symptoms suggestive of gastroesophageal reflux
disease (GERD) undergo esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (EGD), despite its low sensitivity in detecting reflux
stigmata. Gastrin 17 (G-17) has been proposed to be related with GERD, due to the negative feedback between
acid secretion and this hormone. We assessed the clinical usefulness of fasting G-17 serum determination for
a non-invasive diagnosis of GERD in patients with typical symptoms.
Methods: We consecutively enrolled patients complaining of typical GERD symptoms in two different settings:
a single referral center and a primary care setting. Control groups consisted of dyspeptic patients. All subjects
underwent assessment of serum levels of G-17 and EGD.
Results: At the academic hospital, 100 GERD patients (n=89 with erosive esophagitis and 11 with Barrett’s
esophagus) had statistically significant low levels of G-17 as compared with 184 dyspeptic patients (1.7±1.2
pg/L vs 8.9±5.7 pg/L p<0.0001). Similarly, in the primary care setting, 163 GERD patients had statistically
significant low levels of G-17 as compared with 132 dyspeptic patients (0.5±0.2 pg/L vs. 4.0±2.6 pg/L,
p<0.0001). Moreover, in the primary care setting, no statistically significant differences were found for G-17
levels between patients with erosive and non-erosive reflux pattern (0.4±0.2 vs 0.7±0.3; p=0.08). In primary
care, the accuracy of G-17 less than 1 pg/L to diagnose non-invasively GERD was 94.3%.
Conclusions: Low levels of G-17 were detected in patients with erosive esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus in a
referral center and in patients with typical GERD symptoms in a sample of patients from a primary care setting
Burning mouth syndrome and Reflux Disease: relationship and clinical implications
No full textBackground and aim: An association between reflux and burning mouth syndrome (BMS) has been proposed. Aims of this study were: 1) to investigate the frequency of BMS in a sample of GERD patients; 2) to measure G17, in a sample of BMS patients; 3) to assess the efficacy of different therapeutical schedules for GERD in BMS patients. Methods: We divided the study in 3 main steps. In step one, we analyzed 500 consecutive GERD patients' type and frequency of extraesophageal manifestations including BMS. In step two, we collected 124 consecutive BMS patients' symptoms and G17. In step three, we evaluate the efficacy of 3 different drugs on BMS. Results: In step one, 204 patients complained heartburn; 31 globus pharyngeus; 52 chronic cough; 54 pharyngitis; 31 postnasal drip; 56 burning mouth symptoms; 34 noncardiac chest pain; 17 asthma and 21 sleep apnea. In step two, 29 patients had G17 ≤ 1 pg/L; 64 patients between 1 and 3; and 31 patients ≥ 3. In step three, 49 patients reported slight benefit with PPI, 75 no benefit. 61 patients reported slight benefit with sodium alginate and sodium bicarbonate, 63 no benefit. 23 reported an almost complete remission with HYCHSA, 26 slight benefit, 33 no benefit. Conclusions: Prevalence of BMS in GERD patients was similar to that reported for chronic chough and pharyngitis. Low levels of G17 were found in the majority of BMS patients. Finally, we observed a greater benefit from barrier drugs therapy than from PPI therapy in BMS patients. (www.actabiomedica.it)
Coffee intake and gastroesophageal reflux: Relationship with clinical, endoscopic and functional features
No full textBackground and Aim: Coffee consumption seems to play a role in gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of coffee intake on GERD, in comparison with other clinical conditions. Methods: A total of 449 patients were distributed into three groups. Group 1 (GERD): 239 patients; Group 2 (cholelithiasis): 116 subjects; Group 3 (dyspeptic): 94 patients. In the GERD group symptoms were categorized and related to coffee intake. Serum pepsinogens I and II (PGI and PGII) were measured by immunoassay in group 1 and group 3. Results: All GERD patients showed erosive esophagitis at endoscopy. Cholelithiasis in group 2, was diagnosed by an abdominal ultrasound. Subjects of group 3 fulfilled the Rome III criteria for functional dyspepsia. All subjects filled out a questionnaire about their GI symptoms and coffee intake. Two hundred and ninety-two subjects consumed coffee daily, of which, 148 from group 1, 77 from group 2 and 67 from group 3. Coffee consumption was not different in the three groups. PG I level increased according to daily coffee consumption in GERD and dyspeptic patients. Symptoms of GERD patients worsened as the amount of coffee intake a day increased. Conclusions: Coffee intake was distributed in GERD and the other two control groups, without statistical significance. A relationship was found between coffee and PGI levels, both in GERD and dyspeptic patients. Accordingly, symptoms in GERD patients worsened as the amount of coffee consumed increased, particularly when consumption exceeded 4 cups per day. (www.actabiomedica.it)
Antiviral treatment for HCV recurrence after liver transplantation: when, how much and for how long?
No full textChronic HCV infection is one of the leading causes of end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide, and it constitutes one of the principal indications for liver transplant. However, recurrent HCV infection after liver transplant is nearly universal, and leads to decreased patient and graft survival in the long-term. Strategies to approach this problem that is commonly encountered in clinical practice include treating patients in order to obtain viral clearance before the transplant, pre-emptive treatment, which refers to therapy initiation before there is histological evidence of disease, and treatment for established recurrence. Therapy at these diverse time points poses varied challenges regarding the feasibility of the treatment, possibility of treatment completion, risk of adverse effects and different response rates. Furthermore, advances are being made in identifying prognostic markers of viral response, which could aid in decreasing the disease burden
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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