Faculty Bibliography

Many people who live in rural areas face distance barriers to colonoscopy. Our previous study demonstrated the utility of mailing fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) to average risk patients overdue for colorectal cancer (CRC screening). The aims of this study were to determine if introductory and reminder telephone calls would increase the proportion of returned FITs as well as to compare costs. Average risk patients overdue for CRC screening received a high intensity intervention (HII), which included an introductory telephone call to see if they were interested in taking a FIT prior to mailing the test out and reminder phone calls if the FIT was not returned. This HII group was compared to our previous low intensity intervention (LII) where a FIT was mailed to a similar group of veterans with no telephone contact. While a higher proportion of eligible respondents returned FITs in the LII (92 vs. 45 %), there was a much higher proportion of FITs returned out of those mailed in the HII (85 vs. 14 %). The fewer wasted FITs in the HII led to it having lower cost per FIT returned ($27.43 vs. $44.86). Given that either intervention is a feasible approach for patients overdue for CRC screening, health care providers should consider offering FITs using a home-based mailing program along with other evidence-based CRC screening options to average risk patients. Factors such as location, patient population, FIT cost and reimbursement, and personnel costs need to be considered when deciding the most effective way to implement FIT screening.

Drug-eluting stent (DES) in-stent restenosis (ISR) can be treated by restenting using the same DES as previously placed (same stent strategy), versus switching to a stent that elutes a different drug (different stent strategy). To compare the efficacy of these strategies, a meta-analysis of controlled trials and observational studies evaluating patients with DES ISR was performed. The primary outcome was target lesion revascularization or target vessel revascularization, and secondary outcomes were major adverse cardiovascular events, death, and myocardial infarction. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) were calculated with the generic inverse variance method using a random-effects model. The chi-square test was used to evaluate heterogeneity. Ten studies (1,680 patients) were included. There was no significant heterogeneity among the studies for any end point. The different stent strategy was found to reduce the odds of target lesion revascularization or target vessel revascularization (OR 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55 to 0.96) and major adverse cardiovascular events (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.54 to 0.96). There was no difference between the 2 strategies in rates of death (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.49 to 2.16) or myocardial infarction (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.41). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that treatment of DES ISR by restenting with a different DES than previously placed may lead to improved outcomes compared with the use of the same DES. Further large-scale trials are needed to confirm this effect.

OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:To compare colorectal cancer screening rates in veterans receiving primary care (PC) in Veterans Administration (VA) community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) and VA medical centers (VAMCs). METHODS:The VA Outpatient Care Files were used to identify 2 837 770 patients ≥ 50 years with ≥ 2 PC visits in 2010. Veterans undergoing screening/surveillance colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, fecal-occult-blood testing (FOBT), and double-contrast barium enema (DCBE) were identified from ICD-9-CM/CPT codes. Patients were categorized as VAMC (n = 1 403 273; 49.5%) or CBOC (1 434 497; 50.5%) based on where majority of PC encounters occurred and as high risk (n = 284 090) or average risk (n = 2 553 680) based on colorectal cancer risk factors and validated ICD-9-CM-based algorithms. RESULTS:CBOC patients were older than VAMC (mean ages 69.3 vs 67.4 years; P < .001), more likely (P < .001) to be male (96.5% vs 95.1%), and white (67.8% vs 64.2%), but less likely to be high-risk (9.4% vs 10.5%; P < .001). Rates of colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and DCBE were all lower in CBOC (P < .001). Among high-risk veterans, rates in CBOC and VAMC, respectively, were 27.4% versus 36.8% for colonoscopy, 1.3% versus 0.8% for sigmoidoscopy, and 0.8% versus 0.5% for DCBE. Among average-risk veterans, these rates were 1.3% versus 1.9%, 0.2% versus 0.1%, and 0.2% versus 0.1%, respectively. The differences remained after adjusting for age/comorbidity. The adjusted odds of colonoscopy for CBOC were 0.73 (95% confidence interval = 0.64-0.82) for average risk and 0.76 (95% confidence interval = 0.67-0.87) for high risk. In contrast, the use of FOBT was relatively similar in CBOCs and VAMCs among both high risk (11.1% vs 11.2%) and average risk (14.3% vs 14.1%). Screening rates were similar between those younger than 65 years and older than 65 years. CONCLUSIONS:Veterans receiving PC in CBOCs are less likely to receive screening colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and DCBE than VAMC according to VA records. The lower use in CBOC was not offset by higher use of FOBT, including the degree to which CBOC patients may be more reliant to use non-VA services. The clinical appropriateness of these differences merits further examination.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:Distance from health care facilities can be a barrier to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, especially for colonoscopy. Alternatively, an improved at-home stool-based screening tool, the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), requires only a single sample and has a better sensitivity-specificity balance compared to traditional guaiac fecal occult blood tests. Our objective was to determine if FITs mailed to asymptomatic, average-risk patients overdue for screening resulted in higher screening rates versus mailing educational materials alone or no intervention (ie, usual care). METHODS:Veterans ages 51-64, asymptomatic, at average risk for CRC, overdue for screening and in a veterans administration (VA) catchment area covering a large rural population were randomly assigned to 3 groups: (1) education only (Ed) group: mailed CRC educational materials and a survey of screening history and preferences (N = 499); (2) FIT group: mailed the FIT, plus educational materials and survey (N = 500); and (3) usual care (UC) group: received no mailings (N = 500). FINDINGS/RESULTS:At 6 months postintervention, 21% of the FIT group had received CRC screening by any method compared to 6% of the Ed group (and 6% of the UC group) (P < .0001). Of the 105 respondents from the FIT group, 71 (68%) were eligible to take the FIT. Of those, 64 (90%) completed the FIT and 8 (12%) tested positive. CONCLUSIONS:This low-intensity intervention of mailing FITs to average risk patients overdue for screening resulted in a significantly higher screening rate than educational materials alone or usual care, and may be of particular interest in rural areas.

Liver cirrhosis is generally considered irreversible but there are reports in which there is documented reversal of fibrosis/cirrhosis in various clinical conditions like Wilson's disease, hemochromatosis, primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune hepatitis. The subgroup of patients with autoimmune hepatitis that will have reversal of cirrhosis is not known. We present two cases with documented liver cirrhosis that had reversal of cirrhosis after treatment with immunosuppressive agents. We postulate that patients presenting with acute hepatitis and no other fibrogenic factors have higher chances of reversal of liver cirrhosis as compared to those presenting as chronic liver injury.

AIM/OBJECTIVE:Acute diverticulitis in the young is considered to follow an aggressive course, but there is a paucity of data on factors that could determine a complicated course. METHOD/METHODS:All patients of 18-40 years of age diagnosed with acute diverticulitis from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2008 were identified. Patients were included if they had computed tomography (CT) evidence of acute diverticulitis and at least one clinical feature. Demographics, body mass index, presenting symptoms/signs, CT location of diverticulitis and complications were noted. Fisher's exact test and a multivariate logistic regression analysis model were used to detect possible associations between clinical variables and complications. RESULTS:There were 76 patients, of whom 23 (30.2%) had fever (>38°C) and 52 (68.4%) had leucocytosis (≥11000/mm(3)). The majority [48 (63.1%)] were obese. A total of 29 (38.1%) patients had complications, with perforation [18 (62%)] being the most common. Twelve (15.7%) required surgical or radiological intervention. Fever of ≥38.0°C and a body mass index of ≥25 were independently associated with complications (P=0.04 and P=0.03, respectively). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Fever (≥38°C) at presentation and a body mass index of ≥25 may help to predict a complicated course of acute diverticulitis in patients under 40 years of age.

BACKGROUND:There has been increasing interest in small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) after reports of a link with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), yet our understanding of this entity is limited. AIM/OBJECTIVE:Our aim was to estimate the yield of patients undergoing duodenal aspirate culture, and to identify symptoms and features that predict SIBO. METHODS:A medical chart review of patients who had undergone duodenal aspirate culture at an academic medical centre in 2003 was performed to record clinical characteristics and culture results. The associations between aspirate results and symptoms, medical diagnoses and medication use were assessed using logistic regression. RESULTS:A total of 675 patients had available aspirate results. Mean age of the sample was 53 (s.d. 17) and 443 (66%) were female patients. Overall, 8% of aspirates were positive for SIBO; 2% of IBS patients had SIBO. Older age, steatorrhoea and narcotic use were associated with SIBO (P < 0.05). PPI use was not associated with SIBO, but was associated with bacterial growth not meeting criteria for SIBO (P < 0.05). Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), small bowel diverticula and pancreatitis were positively associated with an abnormal duodenal aspirate (P < 0.05), but other conditions including IBS were not associated with SIBO. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Older age, steatorrhoea, narcotic use, IBD, small bowel diverticula and pancreatitis were associated with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth based on abnormal duodenal aspirate culture results. However, no clear associations of true small intestinal bacterial overgrowth with IBS or PPI use were detected, in contrast to recent speculation.