Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a well-established association with the development of colorectal cancer, with both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease known to increase the risk for this malignancy. Guidelines have consistently recommended colonoscopic surveillance beginning at 8 years after the onset of IBD symptoms in order to determine the extent of disease and to establish surveillance intervals. Historically, it has been the standard recommendation while the patient has quiescent disease for four-quadrant biopsies to be performed, randomly taken every 10 cm, with additional targeted biopsies of focal mucosal lesions suspect for dysplasia. Until recently, the identification of dysplasia in…
Author: Praveen Suthrum
Private equity involvement in gastroenterology is skyrocketing, with groups such as Miami-based Gastro Health adding four practices in Ohio and Central and Southern Florida in the past three months. Rami Abbass, MD, a gastroenterologist at University Hospitals in Mentor, Ohio, joined Becker’s to discuss what gastroenterology practices should consider when weighing the pros and cons of private equity investment. Editor’s note: This response was lightly edited for clarity and brevity. Dr. Rami Abbass: The current most controversial trend in gastroenterology is the growing role of private equity in the acquisition of practices. This trend has seen growing momentum in the…
The ACG updated guidelines for GERD to include pharmacologic, lifestyle, surgical and endoscopic management. The changes were published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. “The ethos of the new GERD guidelines is to synthesize the highest quality, yet still practical, recommendations for the diagnosis and management of patients with GERD,” Philip O. Katz, MD, MACG, professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, told Healio Gastroenterology. “They have been developed for the clinician to enhance their opportunity to provide the best possible evidence-based patient care, using the full menu of diagnostic tests and therapeutic interventions for these…
Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) today announced an agreement with Jefferson Health (Jefferson) to conduct research on a new blood-based, multi-cancer earlier detection (MCED) test. This unique effort will engage primary care and specialty providers, care coordinators, and patients from diverse populations across the Jefferson enterprise in research that aims to evaluate MCED test safety and efficacy and help determine how to facilitate the implementation of effective MCED testing in the future. “We share in Jefferson’s deep commitment to building a patient and provider experience that addresses the needs of all populations, including the underserved and vulnerable, so that earlier…
Medtronic — known for making complicated medical devices that often require a surgeon to implant them — is partnering with Amazon.com to deliver pill-sized cameras to patients’ doorsteps. At home, the patient swallows the “PillCam,” which then performs a video tour of the small intestine, collecting data along the way. The distribution partnership, disclosed earlier this week, opens new opportunities for access to care — particularly in rural areas — and marks another strategic step by Amazon into the lucrative health business. Medtronic, which has its operational headquarters in Fridley, first secured emergency authorization for in-home use of its PillCam…
“When a phone can recognize my face, why can’t software recognize a polyp?” – Interview with Dr. Sravanthi ParasaEvery so often an interview reminds me yet again that the future is coming at us faster — much faster. I’m still wrapping my head around what gastroenterologist and AI researcher Dr. Sravanthi Parasa told me: there would be a “1,000 algorithms” in 3 years in GI.This is big implications for the business of gastroenterology. The AI will indeed operate and guide us like a self driving car. In such a world, how would your role evolve as the endoscopist? What would…
BackgroundThere is a growing armamentarium for the treatment of moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis. We aimed to compare the relative efficacy and safety of biologics and small molecule drugs for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis.MethodsIn this systematic review and network meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials without language restrictions for articles published between Jan 1, 1990, and July 1, 2021. Major congresses’ databases from Jan 1, 2018, to July 3, 2021, were reviewed manually. Phase 3, placebo-controlled or head-to-head randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy and safety of biologics or small…
BackgroundGastrointestinal dysmotility may exist without concomitant symptoms. We hypothesize that asymptomatic individuals with diabetes have altered gastrointestinal function associated with age, cardiac vagal tone and glycaemic control. MethodsOne hundred fifty-four asymptomatic participants (61 with type 1 diabetes (T1D), 70 type 2 diabetes (T2D) and 23 healthy volunteers (HV)) underwent wireless motility capsule investigation. Transit times, motility indices and pH were retrieved. Age, cardiac vagal tone, glucose and haemoglobin A1c levels were collected.
Brian Dooreck, MD, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., explains why gastroenterologists can–and must–do a better job of communicating with their patients about a new diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), such as inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatic conditions, have a reduced serologic response to a two-dose vaccination regimen with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, according to the findings of a meta-analysis. “These results suggest that IMID patients receiving mRNA vaccines should complete the vaccine series without delay and support the strategy of providing a third dose of the vaccine,” wrote study authors Atsushi Sakuraba, MD, of the University of Chicago Medicine, and colleagues in Gastroenterology.