Usefulness of fecal lactoferrin and hemoglobin in diagnosis of colorectal diseases

AIM:To evaluate prospectively usefulness of fecal lactoferrin(Lf)and fecal hemoglobin(Hb)in the diagnosis of colorectal diseases.METHODS:Fecal Lf and Hb were measured using ELISA in 872 patients before they underwent colorectal endoscopy.RESULTS:Lf was positive in 18(50%)of 36 patients with colorectal cancer,25(15.9%)of 157 with colorectal polyps,29(46.8%)of 62 with ulcerative colitis,and 25(62.5%)of 40(62.5%)with Crohn's disease.The Hb-positive rates were 50%,12.1%,41.9% and 32.5%,respectively.Of the 318 patients free of abnormalities by colorectal endoscopy,Lf was positive in 29(9.1%)and Hb was positive in 15(4.7%).Among patients with Crohn's disease,the Lf-positive rate was significantly higher than the Hb-positive rate.If either high Lf or Hb levels were considered positive,the positive rates rose to 61.1%,51.6%,and 67.5% in the colorectal cancer group,ulcerative colitis group,and Crohn's disease group,respectively.If both high Lf and Hb levels were rated positive,the positive predictive values(PPV)were 21% for colorectal cancer,33% for ulcerative colitis,and 17% for Crohn's disease,and PPV of high Hb level alone was 18%,25% and 13%,respectively.CONCLUSION:Fecal Lf and Hb were found useful in the detection of colorectal diseases,and the combination of the two measurements appears to increase the sensitivity and efficacy of diagnosis.

Systematic review of emergent laparoscopic colorectal surgery for benign and malignant disease

Laparoscopic surgery has become well established in the management of both and malignant colorectal disease.The last decade has seen increasing numbers of surgeons trained to a high standard in minimallyinvasive surgery.However there has not been the same enthusiasm for the use of laparoscopy in emergency colorectal surgery.There is a perception that emergent surgery is technically more difficult and may lead to worse outcomes.The present review aims to provide a comprehensive and critical appraisal of the available literature on the use of laparoscopic colorectal surgery(LCS)in the emergency setting.The literature is broadly divided by the underlying pathology;that is,inflammatory bowel disease,diverticulitis and malignant obstruction.There were no randomized trials and the majority of the studies were case-matched series or comparative studies.The overall trend was that LCS is associated with shorter hospital stay,par or fewer complications but an increased operating time.Emergency LCS can be safely undertaken for both benign and malignant disease providing there is appropriate patient selection,the surgeon is adequately experienced and there are sufficient resources to allow for a potentially more complex operation.

A totally mini-invasive approach for colorectal laparoscopic surgery

AIM:To study the short-term outcome of patients treated with laparoscopic right colectomy and how intracorporeal anastomosis has improved the outcome.METHODS:We retrospectively examined all patients affected by colorectal cancer who underwent a laparoscopic right colectomy between January 2006 and December 2010 in our department.Our evaluation criteria were:diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma at presurgical biopsy,elective surgery,and the same surgeon.We excluded:emergency surgery,conversions from laparotomic colectomy,and other surgeons.The endpoints we examined were:surgical time,number of lymph nodes removed,length of stay(removal of nasogastric tube,bowel movements,gas evacuation,solid and liquid feeding,hospitalization),and major complications.Seventy-two patients were divided into two groups:intracorporeal anastomosis(39 patients)and extracorporeal anastomosis(33 patients).RESULTS:Significant differences were observed between intracorporeal vs extracorporeal anastomosis,respectively,for surgical times(186.8 min vs 184.1 min,P < 0.001),time to resumption of gas evacuation(3 d vs 3.5 d,P < 0.001),days until resumption of bowel movements(3.8 d vs 4.9 d,P < 0.001),days until resumption of liquid diet(3.5 d vs 4.5 d,P < 0.001),days until resuming a solid diet(4.6 d vs 5.7 d,P < 0.001),and total hospitalization duration(7.4 d vs 8.5 d,P < 0.001).In the intracorporeal group,on average,19 positive lymph nodes were removed;in the extracorporeal group,on average,14 were removed P < 0.001).Thus,intracorporeal anastomosis for right laparoscopic colectomy improved patient outcome by providing faster recovery of nutrition,faster recovery of intestinal function,and shorter hospitalization than extracorporeal anastomosis.CONCLUSION:Short-term outcomes favor intracorporeal anastomosis,confirming that a less traumatic surgical approach improves patient outcome.

Colorectal cancer in inflammatory bowel disease:What is the real magnitude of the risk?

The association between inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) and colorectal cancer(CRC) has been recognised since 1925 and still accounts for 10%-15% of deaths in IBD.IBD-associated CRC(IBD-CRC) affects patients at a younger age than sporadic CRC.The prognosis for sporadic CRC and IBD-CRC is similar,with a 5-year survival of approximately 50%.Identifying at risk patients and implementing appropriate surveillance for these patients is central to managing the CRC risk in IBD.The increased risk of colorectal cancer in association with IBD is thought to be due to genetic and acquired factors.The link between inflammation and cancer is well recognised but the molecular biology,immune pathobiology and genetics of IBD-CRC are areas of much ongoing research.This review examines the literature relating to IBD-CRC,focusing on the incidence of IBD-CRC and examining potential risk factors including age at diagnosis,gender,duration and extent of colitis,severity of inflammation,family history of sporadic CRC and co-existent primary sclerosing cholangitis(PSC).Confirmed risk factors for IBD-CRC are duration,severity and extent of colitis,the presence of co-existent PSC and a family history of CRC.There is insufficient evidence currently to support an increased frequency of surveillance for patients diagnosed with IBD at a younger age.Evidence-based guidelines advise surveillance colonoscopy for patients with colitis 8 to 10 years after diagnosis,with the interval for further surveillance guided by risk factors(extent of disease,family history of CRC,post-inflammatory polyps,concomitant PSC,personal history of colonic dysplasia,colonic strictures).There is a move away from using random colonic biopsies towards targeted biopsies aimed at abnormal areas identified by newer colonoscopic techniques(narrow band imaging,chromoendoscopy,confocal microendoscopy).

New genes emerging for colorectal cancer predisposition

Colorectal cancer(CRC)is one of the most frequent neoplasms and an important cause of mortality in the developed world.This cancer is caused by both genetic and environmental factors although 35%of the variation in CRC susceptibility involves inherited genetic differences.Mendelian syndromes account for about5%of the total burden of CRC,with Lynch syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis the most common forms.Excluding hereditary forms,there is an important fraction of CRC cases that present familial aggregation for the disease with an unknown germline genetic cause.CRC can be also considered as a complex disease taking into account the common diseasecommom variant hypothesis with a polygenic model of inheritance where the genetic components of common complex diseases correspond mostly to variants of low/moderate effect.So far,30 common,low-penetrance susceptibility variants have been identified for CRC.Recently,new sequencing technologies including exomeand whole-genome sequencing have permitted to add a new approach to facilitate the identification of new genes responsible for human disease predisposition.By using whole-genome sequencing,germline mutations in the POLE and POLD1 genes have been found to be responsible for a new form of CRC genetic predisposition called polymerase proofreading-associated polyposis.

Castor oil as booster for colon capsule endoscopy preparation reduction: A prospective pilot study and patient questionnaire

BACKGROUND Preparation for colon capsule endoscopy(CCE)requires a large liquid laxative volume for capsule excretion,which compromises the procedure's tolerability.AIM To assess the safety and utility of castor oil-boosted bowel preparation.METHODS This prospective cohort study including 20 patients(age range,16-80 years;six men and 14 women)suspected of having colorectal disease was conducted at Kindai University Hospital from September 2017 to August 2019.All patients underwent CCE because of the following inclusion criteria:previous incomplete colonoscopy in other facility(n=20),history of abdominal surgery(n=7),or organ abnormalities such as multiple diverticulum(n=4)and adhesion after surgery(n=6).The exclusion criteria were as follows:Dysphagia,history of allergic reactions to the drugs used in this study(magnesium citrate,polyethylene glycol,metoclopramide,and castor oil),possibility of pregnancy,possibility of bowel obstruction or stenosis based on symptoms,or scheduled magnetic resonance imaging within 2 wk after CCE.The primary outcome was the capsule excretion rate within the battery life,as evaluated by the total large bowel observation rate,large bowel transit time,and bowel creasing level using a fivegrade scale in different colorectal segments.The secondary outcomes were complications,colorectal lesion detection rates,and patients’tolerability.RESULTS The castor oil-based regimen was implemented in 17 patients.Three patients cancelled CCE because they could tolerate castor oil,but not liquid laxatives.The capsule excretion rate within the battery life was 88%(15/17).The mean large bowel transit time was 236 min.Approximately 70%of patients had satisfactory colon cleansing levels.CCE detected colon polyps(14/17,82%)and colonic diverticulum(4/12,33%).The sensitivity,specificity,and diagnostic accuracy rates for detecting colorectal polyps(size≥6 mm)were 76.9%,75.0%,and 76.4%,respectively.The sensitivity,specificity,and diagnostic accuracy rates for detection of diverticulum were 100%each.Twelve patients(71%)rated CCE as more than“good”,confirming the new regimen’s tolerability.No serious adverse events occurred during this study.CONCLUSION The castor oil-based regimen could reduce bowel preparation dose and improve CCE tolerability.

AI based colorectal disease detection using real-time screening colonoscopy

Colonoscopy is an effective tool for early screening of colorectal diseases.However,the application of colonoscopy in distinguishing different intestinal diseases still faces great challenges of efficiency and accuracy.Here we constructed and evaluated a deep convolution neural network(CNN)model based on 117055 images from 16004 individuals,which achieved a high accuracy of 0.933 in the validation dataset in identifying patients with polyp,colitis,colorectal cancer(CRC)from normal.The proposed approach was further validated onmulti-center real-time colonoscopy videos and images,which achieved accurate diagnostic performance on detecting colorectal diseases with high accuracy and precision to generalize across external validation datasets.The diagnostic performance of the model was further compared to the skilled endoscopists and the novices.In addition,our model has potential in diagnosis of adenomatous polyp and hyperplastic polyp with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.975.Our proposed CNN models have potential in assisting clinicians in making clinical decisions with efficiency during application.