GI

Should patients with Anemia and a Normal Ferritin Undergo Colonoscopy?

February 16, 2007
Should patients with Anemia and a Normal Ferritin Undergo Colonoscopy?

Commentary By: Joshua Olstein PGY-3

Second only to lung cancer, colon cancer claimed an estimated 55,000 lives in the United States in 2006. In an effort to reduce colon cancer morbidity and mortality, multiple screening tests have been developed to detect early disease among asymptomatic individuals. The 2003 American Gastroenterology Associations guidelines for screening asymptomatic individuals recommended colonoscopy as a preferred method of screening.

Due to a higher risk of colonic neoplasm, patients with unexplained iron-deficiency anemia are not included in these…

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How Should You Approach A Patient with an Incidental Finding of a Portal Vein Thrombosis?

February 7, 2007
How Should You Approach A Patient with an Incidental Finding of a Portal Vein Thrombosis?

A  70 year old man  with a history of prostate cancer, status post radiation treatment in August 2003, a history of abdominal surgery for unknown reasons, and a history of heavy alcohol use was seen at the VA.   The patient was referred for a complaint of bright red blood per rectum and was incidentally noted to have elevated liver enzymes. 

Colonoscopy revealed blood in the rectosigmoid, dilated vessels in the rectum and angioectasia, thought to be secondary to the radiation…

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A drug for NASH that may work?

January 24, 2007
A drug for NASH that may work?

Commentary By: Sandra D'Angelo, PGY-3

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a disease in which patients have features of alcoholic hepatitis on liver biopsy without a prior history of significant alcohol consumption and negative hepatitis serologies. It is unclear how prevalent this disease is because most patients with liver function abnormalities do not undergo liver biopsy.  In those that have had a liver biopsy, the prevalence is estimated to be 7-9%.  It is most common in women between the ages of 40-60 and…

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To Lavage or Not to Lavage?

January 10, 2007
To Lavage or Not to Lavage?

Case and Commentary by Minisha Sood PGY-3 and Ilseung Cho Fellow, Division of Gastroenterology

The patient is a 57 year-old man with a past history of hypetension, hyperlipidemia, hepatitis B/C cirrhosis and coronary artery disease status/post a non-st-elevation mi in August 2006, during which time he was on a heparin drip and developed an upper gastrointestinal bleed. Upper endoscopy at that time revealed non-bleeding esophageal varices and he was discharged on a beta blocker. He again presented to Tisch hospital in December 2006 with complaints…

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A Bad Break for the Purple Pill…

January 8, 2007
A Bad Break for the Purple Pill…

Commentary By Josh Remick, PGY-2

In the December 27th 2006 issue of JAMA, Yang et al. reported the results of a nested case-control study of United Kingdom patients entitled “Long-term Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy and Risk of Hip Fracture.” Using the General Practice Research Database (GPRD), a computerized medical record system used by several of the general medical practices in the UK, new hip fracture cases were found in patients at least 50 years old (n=13,556) and matched them with…

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Do Statins Get Along With Hepatitis C?

January 4, 2007
Do Statins Get Along With Hepatitis C?

A 53 year old male with chronic hepatitis C and type 2 diabetes is found to have a moderately elevated cholesterol.

1. Is it safe to start a statin?

2. Do statins have any effect on viral replication?

Comentary By Ed Bini, M.D. Associate Professor/Director Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research

The many benefits of statins far outweigh the risks associated with this class of medications. However, statins are known to have the potential to cause hepatotoxicity. The most common form of…

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How Frequently Should You Perform a Follow-Up Colonoscopy-A multiple choice quiz

January 2, 2007
How Frequently Should You Perform a Follow-Up Colonoscopy-A multiple choice quiz

Commentary By Michael Poles, M.D. Gastroenterologist, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Mircrobiology and Pathology.

Every once in a while I will be feeding this new blorganism (or is it bloganism?) with content from the world of gastroenterology. Today I would like to review an article of importance to both gastroenterologists and internists. There is likely no topic in gastroenterology more important than that of colorectal cancer screening. Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the U.S., and it takes up…

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Diagnostic Dilemma #1-Faculty Response

November 8, 2006

Commentary By Michael Poles, M.D. Gastroenterologist, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Mircrobiology and Pathology.

Welcome blog readers to this inauguration of the NYU medicine blog. If the future cases are as interesting as this one, I am sure we will be having a lot of fun, and hopefully some learning.

OK, lets dive right in. We have the case of a young-ish guy who developed abnormal LFTs after starting a statin. Fortunately, the case is more interesting than just that…

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Diagnostic Dilemma #1

November 7, 2006
Diagnostic Dilemma #1

The first in our series of clinical cases with difficult management questions… Question: 59 y.o. male with pmh notable for hyperlipidemia. Pt had normal lft's, which increased mildly when he was put on a statin. His basic hepatitis screen including A, B and C were all negative, but an iron/tibc was 61% with a nl ferritin. A hemochromatosis gene analysis was sent which revealed a single mutation c282y-and he was designated a carrier. U/s showed a midly heterogeneous hepatic echotexture with no discrete lesions.
Questions
1:…

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