Alaska is the most expensive state to get a GI upper endoscopy in a hospital outpatient department, while Iowa is the most affordable, according to data from Sidecar Health’s care calculator. The cost of GI upper endoscopy by state:Alabama: $1,490Alaska: $2,016Arizona: $1,686Arkansas: $1,477California: $1,850Colorado: $1,628Connecticut: $1,782Delaware: $1,731District of Columbia: $1,716Florida: $1,636Georgia: $1,533Hawaii: $1,551
Author: Abhay Panchal
The article discusses the Mayo Clinic’s recent initiatives to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) in cancer care, specifically for colon and breast cancer. Here are the key points: Collaboration with Aiforia: The Mayo Clinic has teamed up with Aiforia, a Finnish AI software developer, to create an AI model that analyzes pathology slides and data from colorectal cancer patients. This collaboration, dating back to 2020, has led to the development of a model capable of identifying over a dozen specific tissue characteristics. These characteristics help estimate the likelihood of cancer recurrence. The AI model aims to optimize the use of chemotherapy…
The Medscape article titled “AI Shows Potential for Detecting Mucosal Healing in UC” discusses a systematic review and meta-analysis that highlights the high potential of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in detecting mucosal healing in ulcerative colitis (UC). The key points of the article are as follows: AI Performance in Diagnosing UC: AI algorithms demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in evaluating images and videos for mucosal healing in UC, closely replicating expert opinions. This suggests that AI could be a valuable tool in overcoming the challenge of low-to-moderate interobserver agreement among human endoscopists. Heterogeneity in AI Training: Despite the promising results,…
The article from Nature, presents a study on the relationship between endoscopic healing (EH) and the effectiveness of biologic treatments in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. The study was retrospective and involved 52 UC patients who started biologic treatment and underwent follow-up colonoscopies within two years. Key findings of the study include: Endoscopic Healing and Treatment Continuation: Among the 52 patients, 33 achieved EH, defined as a Mayo endoscopic subscore of 0 or 1. All these patients continued the same treatment without loss of response (LOR) during the observation period. In contrast, 20 patients did not achieve EH, and 8 of…
Irritable bowel syndrome may share a more similar genetic basis with psychiatric disorders than with gastrointestinal ones, according to new research. The investigators said these connections reinforce the disease’s standing as a disorder of gut–brain interaction and that their research could aid providers in more fully understanding disease phenotypes and potential treatment targets. The researchers used statistics from a recent genome-wide association study that included 53,400 cases and 433,201 controls, as well as psychiatric and GI phenotypes, to identify shared loci (Genome Med 2023;15[1]:60). The genetic architecture of IBS shows “a high degree of polygenicity” with 12,000 common variants, according…
In patients with inflammatory bowel disease, neither biologics nor small molecule targeted therapies increase the risk for major adverse cardiac events, according to the largest study to address this question. Biologics were associated with a reduced risk for both major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) relative to no biologics. Small molecule therapies, such as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, were associated with a neutral effect. “Hopefully these data comfort us,” said investigator Miguel Regueiro, MD, the chair of the Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. Dr. Regueiro also expressed hope these data might change…
The article on Healio discusses the new clinical guideline published by the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) in the American Journal of Gastroenterology for the management of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). Key points from the guideline include: Avoidance of Alcohol Consumption: The guideline emphasizes that individuals with underlying obesity or chronic hepatitis C and B virus infection should avoid alcohol consumption. Additionally, those who have undergone or have a history of gastric bypass surgery should avoid heavy alcohol use. Screening and Treatment Recommendations: It recommends screening adults with suspected unhealthy alcohol use using tools like the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification…
The platform is a comprehensive biorepository containing over 150,000 samples collected from more than 10,000 patients, with over five years of clinical follow-up. It is designed to address unmet medical needs in liver disease, gastroenterology, and immune-mediated inflammatory conditions. The TARGET-NASH registry, a part of this platform, has alone gathered over 80,000 biospecimen samples. The platform focuses on diseases with high unmet medical needs and emerging therapies, particularly in areas like liver disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and immune-mediated inflammatory conditions in dermatology and gastroenterology. The collected bio samples, including serum, whole blood, plasma, and skin tape strips, are obtained…
The evidence from various studies is mixed but general consensus is that AI devices can enhance adenoma detection rates (ADR) during colonoscopy, benefiting endoscopists at all levels of experience. Key Points: Clinical Trials vs. Real-World Results: While randomized clinical trials worldwide show an increase in ADR with AI use during colonoscopy, real-world results are varied. Some studies indicate improvement, while others do not. This discrepancy may be due to differences in study designs and implementation methods. Impact on Surveillance and Procedure Quality: AI use in colonoscopy has led to an increase in the proportion of patients requiring intensive surveillance, potentially…
A trio of studies presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology add support for the role of single-use duodenoscopes in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. High Overall Success Rates in Meta-Analysis A systematic literature review revealed that single-use duodenoscopes are associated with a high success rate and promising safety profile in performing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedures (abstract P3717). Data from the 634 patients included in the meta-analysis showed an adjusted pooled procedural completion rate of 94%, which was statistically significant and higher than the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy threshold of 90% (P<0.001). Of note, there were…