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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a debilitating fibro-inflammatory disease with a profound impact on patients' quality of life (QOL). We investigated determinants of QOL in a large cohort of CP patients.METHODS: This was a multicentre study including 517 patients with CP. All patients fulfilled the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Questionnaire responses were compared to results obtained from a general reference population (n = 11,343). Demographic characteristics, risk factors (smoking and alcohol consumption), pain symptoms, disease phenotype (complications) and treatments were recorded. A multivariable regression model was used to identify factors independently associated with QOL scores.RESULTS: Included patients had a mean age of 56.3 ± 12.8 years, 355 (69%) were men and 309 (60%) had alcohol aetiology. Compared to the reference population, patients with CP had lower global health status (50.5 vs. 66.1; p < 0.001) as well as reduced scores for all functional scales (all p < 0.001). Additionally, CP patients reported a higher burden for all symptom items, with pain being the most prominent complaint (all p < 0.001). Constant pain (coefficient -11.3; p = 0.02), opioid based pain treatment (coefficient -19.7; p < 0.001) and alcoholic aetiology (coefficient -5.1; p = 0.03) were independently associated with lowered global health status. The final multivariable model explained 18% of the variance in global health status.CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CP have significantly lower QOL compared to a population-based reference population. Factors independently associated with a lowered QOL are constant pain, opioid based pain treatment and alcohol aetiology. However, these factors only explain a fraction of QOL and additional factors need identification.

PURPOSE: There is an unmet need for new systems with quantitative pancreatic imaging assessments to support better diagnosis and understand development of chronic pancreatitis (CP). The aims were to present such an approach for assessment of imaging features in CP, to apply this system in a multi-center cohort of CP patients (feasibility study), and to report inter-reader agreement between expert radiologists (validation study).METHODS: The feasibility study included pancreatic computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from 496 patients with definitive CP in the Scandinavian Baltic Pancreatic Club (SBPC) database. Images were assessed according to the new SBPC imaging system (quantitative assessments of ductal and parenchymal features). Inter-reader agreement of reported imaging parameters was investigated for 80 CT and 80 MRI examinations by two expert radiologists.RESULTS: Reporting of the imaging features into the imaging system was deemed feasible for > 80% of CT and > 90% of MRI examinations. Quantitative assessments of main pancreatic duct diameters, presence/number/diameter of calcifications, and gland diameters had high levels of inter-reader agreement with κ-values of 0.75-0.87 and intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.74-0.97. The more subjective assessments, e.g., irregular main pancreatic duct and dilated side-ducts, had poor to moderate agreement with κ-values of 0.03-0.44.CONCLUSION: The presented system provides a feasible mean for systematic assessment of CP imaging features. Imaging parameters based on quantitative assessment, as opposed to subjective assessments, have better reproducibility and should be preferred in the development of new grading systems for understanding pathophysiology and disease progression in CP.

Aim In a previous study, we found a positive association between statin use and polyneuropathy risk. Other studies reported equivocal results. The present study aimed to confirm our findings with a design similar to that used in our previous study but with a larger data set. Methods We searched medical registry data to identify patients diagnosed with incident polyneuropathy of no known cause (idiopathic polyneuropathy) between 1999 and 2013; we verified diagnoses through medical records. For each case, we recruited 20 general population controls with no previous history of polyneuropathy. Controls were matched to their respective case for age and gender. We ascertained the prior statin use of cases and controls through a prescription registry. Based on this information, exposure to statins was categorized into ‘ever use’ or ‘never use’. Ever use of statins was classified by how recently they had been used (‘current use’ or ‘past use’); current use was further classified into long-term use (5+ years) and high- or low-intensity use. We used conditional logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to examine associations between polyneuropathy and statin use. Results We included 370 validated cases and 7400 controls. Ever use of statins was not associated with an elevated risk of polyneuropathy (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.84, 1.54). Similarly, we found no associations between polyneuropathy risk and current use (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.79, 1.53), long-term use (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.66, 1.92) or high-intensity statin use (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.59, 1.84). Conclusion Statin use was not associated with an increased risk of idiopathic polyneuropathy.

A continuous increase in the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and indeterminate colitis (IC) has been suggested. Since Denmark provides excellent conditions for epidemiological research, we aimed to describe contemporary IBD incidence rates and patient characteristics in Copenhagen County and City.All patients diagnosed with IBD during 2003-2005 were followed prospectively. Demographic and clinical characteristics, such as disease extent, extraintestinal manifestations, smoking habits, medical treatment, surgical interventions, cancer, and death, were registered.Five-hundred sixty-two patients were diagnosed with IBD, resulting in mean annual incidences of 8.6/10(5) for CD, 13.4/10(5) for UC, and 1.1/10(5) for IC. Time from onset to diagnosis was 8.3 months in CD and 4.5 months in UC patients. A family history of IBD, smoking, and extraintestinal manifestations was significantly more common in CD than in UC patients. Only 0.6% of UC patients had primary sclerosing cholangitis. In CD, old age at diagnosis was related to pure colonic disease, whereas children significantly more often had proximal and extensive involvement. Twelve percent of CD patients and 6% of UC patients underwent surgery during the year of diagnosis, significantly less than earlier reported.The incidence of IBD in Copenhagen increased noticeably during the last decades. Time from onset of symptoms until diagnosis decreased markedly, extent of CD was related to age at diagnosis, and the risk of surgery was low in UC.

Background: Pancreaticoduodenectomy is the only potentially curative treatment for peripapillary pancreatic tumors. However, postoperative morbidity and mortality are high, and different approaches have been tried to improve results, such as preoperative biliary drainage in patients with jaundice. This meta-analysis investigated the effect on postoperative outcome of preoperative biliary drainage by endoscopic biliary stent placement in patients who are jaundiced and who have peripapillary pancreatic tumors. Methods: A Medline search for the period 1985 to 2001 was performed. Eight retrospective studies and 2 prospective randomized controlled trials were included. Selection criteria for the primary analysis were as follows: patients with peripapillary pancreatic cancer, endoscopic stent placement versus no stent, radical surgery, and assessment of postoperative morbidity and mortality. A secondary analysis included both radical and palliative surgery. Results: In the primary analysis, 337 patients underwent preoperative endoscopic biliary stent placement, and 412 patients had no endoscopic biliary stent placement (controls). The overall odds ratio for postoperative complications (stent vs. no stent) is estimated as 0.79: 95% CI [0.36, 1.73] and the estimated odds ratio for postoperative mortality is 0.81: 95% CI [0.33, 1.99]. In the secondary analysis, 1008 patients underwent preoperative EBS versus 720 control patients. The odds ratio for postoperative complications in this analysis was 0.93: 95% CI [0.65, 1.33] and for postoperative mortality is 1.12: 95% CI [0.62, 2.01]. Conclusion: No evidence was found of either a positive or adverse effect of preoperative endoscopic biliary stent placement on the outcome of surgery in patients with pancreatic cancer. (Gastrointest Endosc 2002;56:529-34.)

A 10-year follow-up study of 61 cases of choledochoduodenostomy for benign biliary tract disease is presented. Twenty-three percent of the patients had previously had a cholecystectomy. The operative

This study evaluated the incidence of inappropriate use of bed days in Danish medical wards using the European Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP). Several European countries have used the AEP to assess the appropriateness of hospitalisation days.The study was carried out in four Danish medical wards from October 2004 to January 2005. On pre-selected days a doctor and nurse performed case record analyses of all hospitalised patients with registration of the AEP criteria. To assess activities during the entire day, the screening comprised activities from the previous day.Altogether, 738 patients were reviewed. On average, 32.1% of hospitalisation days on the four wards were assessed as inappropriate (range 19.2-39.2%). Lack of alternative facilities (different outpatient services, rehabilitation, home nursing, etc.) and internal waiting time for diagnostic tests were the most common causes of inappropriate bed use. 6.4% of bed days were considered appropriate from a clinical point of view even though no AEP criteria were met.In order to reduce the number of inappropriate hospital days, it is necessary to optimise the cooperation with the primary health care sector and ensure immediate availability of diagnostic tests.

For many years cooperative design was primarily concerned with the development of IT supported systems for professional users. However, the cooperative design approach can embrace other social practices such as children’s everyday life. At a methodological level there is no difference in designing with adults or children. However there is a need for new methods to support communication and collaboration between designers and children. This article proposes a new method for understandings children’s appropriation of new technology in an interactive workshop setting. The method, which we call the Networking News workshop, offers an opportunity to make first hand studies of children’s IT supported social activities in an informal classroom setting.