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The present evidence-based guidelines are focused on the use of device-assisted enteroscopy in the management of small-bowel diseases. A panel of experts selected by the Spanish and Portuguese small bowel study groups reviewed the available evidence focusing on the main indications of this technique, its role in the management algorithm of each indication and on its diagnostic and therapeutic yields. A set of recommendations were issued accordingly.Estas recomendações baseadas na evidência detalham o uso da enteroscopia assistida por dispositivo no manejo clínico das doenças do intestino delgado. Um conjunto de Gastrenterologistas diferenciados em patologia do intestino delgado foi selecionado pelos grupos de estudos Espanhol e Portugués de intestino delgado para rever a evidência disponível sobre as principais indicações desta técnica, o seu papel nos algoritmos de manejo de cada indicação e sobre o seu rendimento diagnóstico e terapêutico. Foi gerado um conjunto de recomendações pelos autores.

Background Capsule endoscopy (CE) is the first-line investigation in cases of suspected Crohn's disease (CD) of the small bowel, but the factors associated with a higher diagnostic yield remain unclear. Objective Our aim is to develop and validate a scoring index to assess the risk of the patients in this setting on the basis of biomarkers. Patients and methods Data on fecal calprotectin, C-reactive protein, and other biomarkers from a population of 124 patients with suspected CD of the small bowel studied by CE and included in a PhD study were used to build a scoring index. This was first used on this population (internal validation process) and after that on a different set of patients from a multicenter study (external validation process). Results An index was designed in which every biomarker is assigned a score. Three risk groups have been established (low, intermediate, and high). In the internal validation analysis (124 individuals), patients had a 10, 46.5, and 81% probability of showing inflammatory lesions in CE in the low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk groups, respectively. In the external validation analysis, including 410 patients from 12 Spanish hospitals, this probability was 15.8, 49.7, and 80.6% for the low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk groups, respectively. Conclusion Results from the internal validation process show that the scoring index is coherent, and results from the external validation process confirm its reliability. This index can be a useful tool for selecting patients before CE studies in cases of suspected CD of the small bowel.

Background: Capsule endoscopy was primarily designed for the investigation of the small bowel. However, it may also identify lesions in other segments of the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the incidence of gastroduodenal abnormalities during small bowel capsule endoscopy and its impact on patient diagnosis and management. Patients and methods: This study is a retrospective analysis of data from 2,217 consecutive capsule endoscopy procedures performed at a single tertiary-care center between January 2008 and February 2016. Patient baseline characteristics, gastroduodenal lesions, diagnosis and management before and after capsule endoscopy were recorded and a descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Two thousands and two hundred seventeen patients were finally included in the analysis. One thousand and seventy patients were male (48.2%) and the mean age was 56.1 ± 19.5 years (range: 12-93). Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (52.3%) and inflammatory bowel disease (18.3%) were the main procedure indications. Gastroduodenal abnormalities were detected by capsule endoscopy in 696 (31.4%) of 2,217 patients. The most common types of missed gastric and duodenal lesions found were gastric erosions (35.4%), findings suggestive of chronic gastritis (22.9%), duodenal erosions (28.1%) and duodenal erythema (23.5%). This information had a clinical or diagnostic impact of 26.2% and a therapeutic impact of 15.5%. Conclusion: Capsule endoscopy detects not only small bowel lesions but also some gastroduodenal lesions that may be overlooked during an initial gastroscopy. Therefore, all gastroduodenal images should be read during small bowel capsule endoscopy as it may provide relevant information that result in changes in patient management.

Background: Nowadays, capsule endoscopy is the first-line procedure to assess the small bowel. During small bowel procedures, other segments of the gastrointestinal tract may be visualized. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the incidence of colonic abnormalities in patients undergoing small bowel capsule and its impact on patient management. Patients and methods: This study is a retrospective analysis of data from 526 consecutive capsule endoscopy procedures performed at a single tertiary-care centre between 2008 and 2011. Patients with incomplete procedures were excluded from the analysis. Patient baseline characteristics, colonic lesions, diagnosis and management before and after capsule endoscopy were recorded and a descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Four hundred and sixty four patients were finally included in the analysis. Two hundred and ninety three patients were male (57.3%) and the mean age was 61.3 ± 20.03 years (18-86). Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (59%) and inflammatory bowel disease (19%) were the main indications for the procedure. Colonic abnormalities were detected by capsule endoscopy in 47 (9%) of 464 patients. The most common types of missed lesions were vascular lesions (34%) and colonic ulcers (32%). This information had a clinical or diagnostic impact of 7.55% and a therapeutic impact of 6.03%. Conclusion: All images of the colon should be evaluated during small bowel capsule endoscopy as they may provide relevant information that may result in changes in patient management.

We read with great interest the paper by Martinez-Sanchez et al. entitled Diagnostico atipico mediante capsula endoscopica: enfermedad de Whipple and we support their conclusions.

Capsule endoscopy is a safe and well-tolerated procedure allowing the direct, non-invasive mucosal investigation of the small bowel. There are, however, few limitations.

AIM To analyze the diagnostic yield (DY), therapeutic impact (TI) and safety of capsule endoscopy (CE). METHODS This is a multi-centre, observational, analytical, retrospective study. A total of 163 patients with suspicion of celiac disease (CD) (mean age = 46.4 ± 17.3 years, 68.1% women) who underwent CE from 2003 to 2015 were included. Patients were divided into four groups: seronegative CD with atrophy (Group- ?, n = 19), seropositive CD without atrophy (Group- ?, n = 39), contraindication to gastroscopy (Group-?, n = 6), seronegative CD without atrophy, but with a compatible context (Group-?, n = 99). DY, TI and the safety of CE were analysed. RESULTS The overall DY was 54% and the final diagnosis was villous atrophy (n = 65, 39.9%), complicated CD (n = 12, 7.4%) and other enteropathies (n = 11, 6.8%; 8 Crohn's). DY for groups ? to ? was 73.7%, 69.2%, 50% and 44.4%, respectively. Atrophy was located in duodenum in 24 cases (36.9%), diffuse in 19 (29.2%), jejunal in 11 (16.9%), and patchy in 10 cases (15.4%). Factors associated with a greater DY were positive serology (68.3% vs 49.2%, P = 0.034) and older age (P = 0.008). On the other hand, neither sex nor clinical presentation, family background, positive histology or HLA status were associated with DY. CE results changed the therapeutic approach in 71.8% of the cases. Atrophy was associated with a greater TI (92.3% vs 45.3%, P < 0.001) and 81.9% of the patients responded to diet. There was one case of capsule retention (0.6%). Agreement between CE findings and subsequent histology was 100% for diagnosing normal/other conditions, 70% for suspected CD and 50% for complicated CD. CONCLUSION CE has a high DY in cases of suspicion of CD and it leads to changes in the clinical course of the disease. CE is safe procedure with a high degree of concordance with histology and it helps in the differential diagnosis of CD. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved. Yes

Anorectal malignant melanoma (AMM) is most common primary melanoma of gastrointestinal tract, accounting for 0.05% and 1% of all colorectal and anal cancers. We reported an 85 year-old woman with no significant past medical history who presented two-month period of rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, tenesmus and 2kg weight-loss. Laboratory markers were unremarkable, although rectal examination revealed two small haemorrhoids and a firm, non-obstructing mass in the lower rectum. Colonoscopy confirmed presence of an ulcerated pigmented neoplasm arising at dental line [A,B]. No distant metastases were found on computed tomography [C] although presented metastatic regional lymph nodes on pelvic MRI [D]. Therefore, abdominoperineal resection was performed, confirming loco-regional disease. Histopathology showed malignant melanoma with positive stains in immunohistochemistry for protein S100, HMB-45 and Melan-A [E,F,G,H] and stained negative for c-Kit.