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Unlabelled: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at risk of having vitamin D deficiency (25-OHD) and low bone mineral density (BMD)., Objectives: To measure 25OHD in a young group of IBD patients submitted to a clinical evaluation, routine biochemistry and BMD measurement (lumbar spine and proximal femur)., Results: 39 Crohn disease (CD) and 37 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients had lower serum levels of 25OHD compared to the control group (CD p = 0.003; UC p < 0.001), and 48.5% of the UC patients were 25OHD deficient. Lumbar spine BMD was lower in patients than controls (CD p = 0.001; UC p = 0.008). In CD patients, serum levels of 25OHD were significantly correlated with total femur (r = 0.391; p = 0.027) and femoral neck (r = 0.384; p = 0.03) BMD., Conclusion: It was found lower levels of 25OHD and BMD in young IBD patients compared to normal controls, suggesting an important role of 25OHD deficiency in the pathogenesis of the IBD bone disease.

Background: The portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients is the main cause of this illness complication, that are clinically translated to visible collateral circulation in the abdominal wall, ascites and esophageal varices., Aim: To evaluate if the portal system echodoppler is able to estimate the presence of esophageal varices, gastric varices and congestive gastropathy in patients with hepatic cirrhosis., Patients and Methods: One hundred and eighty six patients of the gastroenterology and hepatology ambulatory of the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil, had been selected for evaluation. Of those, 145 had completed all the stages of the evaluation and 133 had been enclosed in the final analysis. All had been submitted to high digestive endoscopy for evaluation of esophagogastric varices and congestive gastropathy and then to Doppler ultrasound of the portal system with study of the systolic peak speed of the portal vein, diameter of the portal and splenic vein and spleen size, presence of the umbilical vein recanalization and hepatofugal flow., Results: The patients with esophagogastric varices had significant difference of the spleen size when compared to patients without these change. However, none of the Doppler ultrasound parameters showed good accuracy and specificity in this group of cirrhotic patients. Congestive gastropathy patients had their diagnosis predict with significant manner not only by the portal and splenic vein diameter but also by the spleen size. Similarly to that described above, they do not have a good accuracy and specificity. These evaluations were validated by the construction of ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves, whose areas below the curves had always been less than 0,8., Conclusion: There was not a good correlation of the Doppler ultrasound parameters of the portal system to the presence of the main endoscopic alterations (esophagogastric varices and congestive gastropathy) in patients with hepatic cirrhosis.

Celiac disease (CD) is a permanent condition of gluten intolerance and a number of autoimmune diseases have been associated with it. In the past few years, a relation between CD and dilated cardiomyopathy (CM) was described in Europe and United States. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of CD among south Brazilian precardiac transplant patients with advanced CM. A total of 74 patients on a list for heart transplantation were evaluated for the presence CD. The presence of anti-endomisial antibody (IgA-EmA) was determined by indirect immunofluorescence and for the anti-transglutaminase antibody (IgA anti-h-tTG) by ELISA. Serologically positive patients were submitted to upper endoscopy with intestinal biopsy. Two individuals (2.63%) were positive for IgA-EmA and 5 (6.75%) for IgA anti-h-tTG; 1 (1.35%) had both tests positive. Histologic confirmation of CD occurred only in the IgA-EmA positive patients. In conclusion, data from the present study allows recommend the screening for CD in patients with CM using IgA-EmA test as the method of choice.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease patients have shown greater reduction of the bone mineral density compared to healthy people., Aim: To evaluate the bone mineral density in a population of patients with inflammatory bowel disease., Methods: Ninety patients from 20 to 50 years old, of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Ambulatory of the Gastroenterology Service of the Clinics Hospital, Curitiba, PR, Brazil, were selected for the evaluation. From those, 76 completed all the stages of the evaluation. The densitometry was made from lumbar column and right femur with a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (Hologyc QDR 1000/W) device., Results: The inflammatory bowel disease patients had a significant reduction of the bone mineral density in all the evaluated parts, femur neck, total femur and lumbar column. The analysed variables, disease activity index, usage of corticoids, the lack of physical activities, the index body mass and previous surgeries did not have influence in the results., Conclusion: Reduced bone mineral density was founded in inflammatory bowel disease patients of the Clinics Hospital, mainly in the Crohn's disease patients, as described in literature. None analyzed variables had significant correlation to the bone mineral density.

Background: The sustained response rates of chronic hepatitis C therapy to interferons alpha 2A and 2B associated to ribavirin are described as approximately 40%. Nevertheless, studies on the sustained response rates in a setting of frequent changes of type of interferon as well as of supplies of interferons and ribavirin are lacking., Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of sustained response and to determine the predictors of response to chronic hepatitis C therapy, in a cohort of outpatients at Curitiba, PR, south Brazil, in a setting of heterogeneous therapy regarding type and supply of the medications., Population and Methods: A cohort of 87 chronic hepatitis C patients submitted to therapy with interferon alpha 2 and ribavirin were followed from August 1999 to August 2002. The prevalence of sustained response and the influence of gender, age, genotype and severity of liver fibrosis in the response were evaluated., Results: A sustained response prevalence of 32.1% was found, positively associated to genotypes 2 and 3., Conclusions: Despite the frequent changes on product type and/or procedence, the sustained response prevalence rate found in this study was similar to that described in the literature.

Background: Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which the normal stratified squamous epithelium of the esophagus is replaced by specialized intestinal metaplasia, that carries an increased risk for the development of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Dysplasia and initial stage carcinoma generally precede this neoplasm; the increased risk has led to attempts at early detection of these lesions through periodic upper endoscopy and biopsies. The continued rise in the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus has fueled resurgent interest in the use of a variety of endoscopic techniques, like methylene blue chromoendoscopy, to improve the diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus and associated complications., Aim: To determine if methylene blue chromoendoscopy directed biopsies offer advantage over the conventional technique in the detection of Barrett's esophagus., Material and Method: Forty-five patients with previous diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus were enrolled in this study; all of them underwent upper endoscopy with random biopsies and upper endoscopy with methylene-blue directed biopsies within 4 weeks, in the period between April and October, 2002., Results: Results of histologic examination of random biopsies and those of methylene blue directed biopsies were compared. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 62,5%, 15,4%, 57,7% and 18,2%, respectively. No significant differences were found in the total number of biopsy specimens. Differences were found in the total amount of time spent during each procedure (chromoendoscopy x conventional technique), with chromoendoscopy being significantly longer., Conclusion: We concluded that methylene blue chromoendoscopy offered no advantage over the conventional method in the diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus.

Background: Literature data have shown high specificity of antiendomysial antibodies (EmA IgA) in celiac disease. The scarcity of Brazilian reports concerning this subject motivated the present study., Objectives: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of antiendomysial IgA antibodies in Brazilian celiac patients at diagnosis and after treatment, to confirm patient adherence to a gluten-free diet and to screen first-degree relatives., Methods: An extensive clinical and serological study was performed by investigating the presence of these antibodies in 392 individuals from Southern Brazil. Indirect immunofluorescence using human umbilical cord as substrate was employed and the total levels of IgA were determined by turbidimetry in all groups. The study was conducted on 57 celiac patients (18 at diagnosis, 24 who adhered to a gluten-free diet and 15 with marked or slight transgression of the diet), 115 relatives of celiac patients (39 families), 94 patients with other gastrointestinal diseases, and 126 healthy individuals from the general population., Results: The results demonstrated 100% positivity for the recently diagnosed patients and for those consuming gluten, in contrast to the patients who complied with the diet (0%). In the control group one individual was positive, but refused to undergo a biopsy. In the group of other gastrointestinal diseases, one positive patient presented ulcerative colitis, Down's syndrome and epilepsy, and the intestinal biopsy was diagnostic for celiac disease. These data showed 99.3% specificity for the test. Eighteen relatives were positive for antiendomysial antibodies IgA (15.65%), and comparison with the healthy population revealed a significant difference. An intestinal biopsy was obtained from seven subjects (one with total villous atrophy and six without alterations in the mucosal architecture, but all with a high number of intra-epithelial lymphocytes)., Conclusions: The method revealed 100% sensitivity and 99.3% specificity. Because it is not an invasive method it can be used for the screening of atypical and latent forms of celiac disease to avoid serial biopsies and to control adherence to a gluten-free diet with implications in the prevention of malignancy in celiac disease.

Sensibility to gluten is a condition with high immunological reaction against gluten proteins from wheat, barley, rye and oats in individuals genetically susceptible. Celiac disease is its most frequent expression with various forms of clinical presentation. The treatment consists in gluten free diet. Although the biopsy of proximal small bowel is necessary, the importance of serological tests is increasing in the screening, diagnosis and monitoring of gluten free diet in celiac patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of antiendomysium (EmA-IgA) and anti-reticulin (ARA-IgA) antibodies in 56 celiac patients (17 at diagnosis, 24 adherent to the diet and 15 with transgression to the diet). The antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence, using human umbilical cord as substrate for the EmA-IgA and rat liver and kidney for the ARA-IgA. In the patients at diagnosis and in the group with transgression to the diet the total positivity was 100% for EmA-IgA and 59.4% for ARA-IgA. Antibodies were not detected in gluten-free diet patients. Among the 32 positive patients, the concordance of both tests was of 59.4% (19/32), being 40.6% (13/32) negative to ARA-IgA and positive to EmA-IgA. No patient was positive for ARA-IgA and negative for EmA-IgA. Thus, the sensitivity for EmA-IgA was of 100% and 59.4% for ARA-IgA. The association of the two tests did not improve the positivity in the samples. In conclusion, EmA-IgA can be considered the best serological test for diagnosis and follow up of celiac patients, because it presents high predictive value, high specificity and sensibility and is not expensive if using human umbilical cord as substrate.