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The digestion and absorption of three sugar alcohols, consumed chronically in three identical daily postprandial doses, were evaluated in six volunteers during three 11-day periods. Each period included a 3-day adaptation period during which sugar alcohol doses were increased, a 4-day equilibration period, a 2-day stool collection period, and a 2-day intubation period. From day 4, the daily administered amounts were either 30 g pure sorbitol, 57 g maltitol containing 30 g sorbitol, or 69 g Lycasin 80/55 (Roquette, Lestrem, France), which is a hydrogenated glucose syrup also containing 30 g sorbitol. The distal ileal output of sugar alcohols and their components was determined by aspiration after a single meal. The mean percentage of sorbitol absorbed in the small intestine was significantly higher in pure sorbitol doses than in those containing maltitol and Lycasin 80/55 (79% +/- 4% vs. 64% +/- 4% and 64% +/- 5%, mean +/- SEM). The mean percentage of total maltitol digested was not different for pure maltitol and maltitol contained in Lycasin 80/55 (90% +/- 2% vs. 86% +/- 2%). Stool excretion of sugar alcohols was negligible, indicating that the sugar alcohols reaching the colon were almost completely digested by the colonic flora. The mean estimated energy values of the sugar alcohols ingested in kcal/g were 3.58 +/- 0.08 for sorbitol, about 3.50 +/- 0.07 for maltitol, and between 3.11 +/- 0.08 and 3.54 +/- 0.08 for Lycasin 80/55. Because the experimental conditions of this study mimicked the usual way of consumption of the three sugar alcohols, little calorie saving can be expected from the chronic consumption of these sugar alcohols in so-called sugar-free products.

Extracorporeal lithotripsy was performed in 5 patients whose stones in the main bile duct could not be extracted despite wide endoscopic sphincterotomy, conventional extraction techniques (basket and balloon catheter) and attempts at mechanical lithotripsy. Fragmentation of the stones was obtained in one session in 4 patients. The fragments were spontaneously expelled in 2 patients, while additional endoscopic manoeuvres (mechanical lithotripsy, extraction after installation of a temporary prosthesis) were necessary in the other 2 patients. Failure in the 5th patient was due to the impossibility to focus the point of convergence of the shock wave on the stones. No complication related to the technique was observed.

One hundred and sixteen patients aged from 65 to 80 years (first group including 39 previously cholecystectomized patients) and 161 patients aged over 80 years (second group, including 31 previously cholecystectomized patients) underwent endoscopic papillotomy for choledocholithiasis. We compared clinical, biochemical and morphological features of choledocolithiasis with early results of endoscopic papillotomy. Clinical symptoms were not different between the old and very old patients, cholecystectomized or not. Charcot's triade was observed in one third of patients. Biochemical data just before endoscopic retrograde cholangiography were not different according to groups: 21 p. 100 of the 277 patients had a biological cholestasis without elevation of bilirubin and 10 p. 100 of the patients had no abnormality of the liver function. Diagnosis of choledocholithiasis was accurately suspected in 90 p. 100 of patients. Complete removal of gallstones after endoscopic papillotomy was obtained in 95 p. 100 of patients in the first group and 93 p. 100 of patients in the second group. Morbidity and mortality rates related to endoscopic papillotomy were not different between the 2 groups (6.9 and 0.8 p. 100 in the first group and 8.7 and 3.1 p. 100 in the second group, the first group and 8.7 and 3.1 p. 100 in the second group, respectively). These results suggest that clinical and biochemical features of choledocholithiasis, and early results of endoscopic treatment do not present any particularities in the elderly.

A 22 year old woman was diagnosed as having a Fitz-Hugh and Curtis syndrome (FHCS) or venereal perihepatitis during laparoscopy for investigation of pain in right hypochondrium and fever. Abdominal ultrasonography images presented an unusual appearance suggestive of a perihepatic effusion and of thickening of Glisson's capsule, lesions that were confirmed on laparoscopy. This ultrasound image could not be formally distinguished from a normal variant, but ultrasonography is still a valid method of diagnosis of FHCS. An acute cholecystitis in a young woman should suggest the diagnosis; absence of a right renal, hepatic or gallbladder anomaly should lead to investigation by ultrasound of the possible presence of an abdominal effusion of fluid and pelvic inflammation. Perihepatitis is confirmed on laparoscopy, which also allows sampling for bacteriologic and serologic tests to identify the causal germ: gonococcus and particularly Chlamydia trachomatis. Treatment consists of administration of specific antibiotics (ampicillin or doxycycline).

Using clustering analysis, we sought to identify groups of patients on the basis of the disease course among a population of 177 patients with Crohn's disease and followed for 3 years or more, starting from the first frank exacerbation of the disease. The first 36 values of a monthly clinical score represented the active variables of the clustering analysis. This method yielded 2 course groups, A and B, of 95 and 82 patients respectively. The unfavorable course in group A was characterized by the persistence of the clinically active disease at 3 years, whereas group B individuals achieved complete clinical remission within 2 years of onset on the average. Among the initially known clinical data which could explain the course, only the incidence of an occlusive syndrome was higher in group B, which showed a more favorable course. Although we applied clustering analysis to a patient sample over a period of only 3 years, our results do suggest the existence or 2 primary course groups within the population of patients with Crohn's disease. It would appear that the disease course cannot be predicted from the clinical parameters present at the time of onset, but rather becomes apparent during the course of the first 2 years.

Digestive tolerance of sorbitol in man varies according to whether it is taken in an empty stomach or during the meal. This suggests a regulatory step in the absorption of sorbitol in the small intestine. The mechanism of intestinal transport of sorbitol was studied in vitro in jejunal fragments obtained by endoscopy or by surgery. The intracellular concentration (C) of sorbitol was measured at stationary state in the presence of 10 mmol sorbitol in the incubation medium (M). The ratio C/M was less than 1 (0.66 +/- 0.04, mean +/- SEM) and was not modified by phloridzin (0.63 +/- 0.06) or metabolic inhibitors (0.59 +/- 0.03) but was diminished by ouabain (0.5 +/- 0.05, p less than 0.05). The influx of sorbitol across the luminal membrane increased linearly with increasing concentration of sorbitol in the medium and was more pronounced in the presence of glucose (p less than 0.01). Unlike glucose, addition of sorbitol to the mucosal side did not enhance the absorption of sodium as monitored by the increase in short circuit current in Ussing chambers. A net absorption of sorbitol stimulated by glucose was observed. The absorption of sorbitol can be explained by a simple diffusional component dependent on the concentration gradient of sorbitol and by another yet unidentified mechanism stimulated by glucose.