Faculty Bibliography

A 67-yr-old woman with a 25-yr history of Crohn's disease, maintained on near-continuous corticosteroids (prednisone 10 mg daily) over a 6-yr period, underwent ileocolic resection for obstruction. Pathology revealed Crohn's disease, multiple nodules of Kaposi's sarcoma, and cytomegalic inclusion bodies with confirmation of cytomegalovirus by shell vial immunofluorescence. Testing for HIV serum antibody has been repeatedly negative. Crohn's disease, Kaposi's sarcoma, and cytomegalovirus have been clinically in remission for 5 yr

Establishing the presence of adenocarcinoma of the small bowel is exceedingly difficult. Survival is contingent on prompt diagnosis. We describe a patient with an atypical presentation of jejunal adenocarcinoma visualized via small bowel enteroclysis. She was referred with 'gastroparesis,' based on both a radionucleotide scan that revealed markedly delayed gastric emptying and a 'normal' small bowel series. A markedly abnormal scintigraphic study and a negative small bowel series does not exclude disease of the small intestine and should provide the impetus to further pursue the possibility of an obstructing lesion. The enteroclysis is a relatively safe and effective study in the preoperative diagnosis of small bowel tumors

OBJECTIVE: The etiology of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) enteropathy is unknown. This condition has been associated with malabsorption and villous atrophy. Other disorders with similar findings, including celiac disease, are characterized by altered intestinal permeability. Our objective was to confirm (or reject) our hypothesis that processes that cause increased permeability may occur in patients with AIDS, and thus be a cause of idiopathic diarrhea. METHODS: A lactulose-mannitol differential intestinal permeability test was performed in healthy controls, asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients, and AIDS patients with and without diarrhea. RESULTS: Asymptomatic HIV-positive patients lactulose and mannitol recoveries were no different than healthy control patients. AIDS patients without diarrhea had lactulose recovery similar to healthy controls and decreased mannitol recoveries; their mean lactulose:mannitol ratio was no different from that of controls, and less than that of AIDS patients with diarrhea. AIDS patients with diarrhea had increased lactulose recovery and decreased mannitol recovery; their mean lactulose:mannitol ratio was significantly greater than the ratios in all the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AIDS and diarrhea have altered intestinal permeability. The decreased absorption of mannitol suggests that the functional absorptive surface of the intestine decreases as HIV disease progresses.

This compassionate-use study examined the efficacy of foscarnet in patients with AIDS and cytomegalovirus (CMV) gastrointestinal disease who had failed ganciclovir induction. Nineteen male homosexuals with AIDS and biopsy-proven CMV gastrointestinal disease who had twice failed standard ganciclovir induction (defined as progression of clinical CMV disease) were studied. Foscarnet 60 mg/kg every 8 h was administered intravenously for 14 days, then maintenance was utilized at 90 or 120 mg/kg every day with 1 L normal saline daily. Endpoints included endoscopic appearance, blinded histopathologic analysis of biopsies for CMV inclusions, and changes in symptoms by 50% from baseline. Patients were evaluated before and 2-3 wk after foscarnet. Histopathologic improvement was seen in 67%, whereas 74% improved clinically after a median duration of 7.5 days (1-12). Among the nine with esophageal disease, six patients (68%) had a clinical response and six of eight (75%) had a pathologic response. Among the 10 with colonic disease, eight patients (80%) had a clinical response and six (60%) had a pathologic response. Reversible elevations in creatinine were seen in two of 17 (12%). Three patients with esophageal disease developed strictures late in therapy requiring dilation. Median survival after foscarnet induction was 5.0 months. Foscarnet appears to induce remission of CMV gastrointestinal disease in 67% of patients when ganciclovir induction has failed. Reversible nephrotoxicity occurred in 12%. Strictures may be a late complication of CMV esophagitis