Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H D Janowitz

Publications and source records attributed to H D Janowitz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Treatment responses in collagenous colitis.

OBJECTIVE: In the nearly 20 yr since collagenous colitis was first recognized, the results of therapies have not been systematically described in substantial numbers of patients. We have therefore conducted a retrospective analysis of 26 patients treated in this institution during the years 1991-1994. METHODS: Twenty-nine cases of collagenous colitis were obtained by review of biopsy specimens collected between 1991 and 1994 at The Mount Sinai Hospital. Each chart was reviewed for patient demographics, symptoms, coexisting conditions, specific therapies, and therapeutic outcomes. Additional data were obtained from telephone calls to patients when deemed necessary. Three patients were exeluded from the study because of lack of follow-up. Therapeutic outcomes were defined as follows: Complete Remission (CR): normalization of bowel function; Partial Remission (PR): 50% reduction in frequency of bowel movements; Failure: <50% reduction in frequency of bowel movements; or Relapse: return of symptoms after cessation of treatment. Median follow-up was 58 wk from time of diagnosis, with a range of 22-376 wk. RESULTS: The 26 patients (25 women, one man) had a mean age of 62 yr (range, 22-85 yr) at diagnosis. Of 26 patients, 22 responded to some form of therapy and one had spontaneous remission. Six of the responders ultimately remained in CR with no therapy. Twelve are maintained on 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) and or antidiarrheals to control symptoms. An additional six required prednisone throughout the follow-up period to remain in CR or PR. Two patients failed all therapy. CONCLUSION: Collagenous colitis is a treatable condition in most patients. We recommend initial therapy with antidiarrheals, followed by a trial of 5-ASA agent. A trial of 5-ASA in combination with prednisone should be attempted in patients refractory to 5-ASA alone, with subsequent attempts in the responders to taper prednisone and maintain remission with no therapy, if possible, or with 5-ASA and/or antidiarrheal agents if necessary.

Adult↗

Inflammatory bowel disease after 1932.

The clinical diseases of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) were defined by 1932-1933. After that, the major conceptual developments were the recognition that regional enteritis could clearly involve the colon, and that cancer and toxic megacolon could occur in both CD and UC. In the last half of the 20th century the main thrust of gastroenterology at The Mount Sinai Hospital has been in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with contributions to extra-intestinal manifestations, measurement of clinical activity in CD, the natural history of the placebo arm of controlled trials, complications and therapy with corticosteroids, 5-ASA, 6-mercaptopurine, immunomodulators and cyclosporine. Actuarial life tables were introduced for postoperative recurrence and re-operation rates, as well as for quality of life analysis. Two forms of CD were defined, perforating and non-perforating, and the role of the fecal stream was explored in light of the higher risk of recurrence after operations with anastomosis as compared with ileocolostomy.

Gastroenterology↗

A gastroenterological list for the millennium.

To determine the 10 most significant advances in gastroenterology during this century as we approach the millennium, the authors polled 50 distinguished active clinicians and leading researchers in the field, including workers in liver disease and the pathology of the gut and its associated glands. Forty-five persons (90%) responded and listed 58 different items. These were then organized into four groups: group A, with 10 categories that received between 42 and 11 votes; group B, with 10 categories that received between 10 and 3 votes; group C, with 3 items receiving 2 votes each; and group D, with the remaining 14 items receiving 1 vote each. The respondents did not indicate their choices in rank order. The top 10 leading choices (group A, containing between 42 and 11 votes) included Helicobacter pylori, fiberoptic endoscopy, gastrointestinal imaging by radiograph and computed tomographic scan, Australia antigen including vaccines for hepatitis A and B, the molecular basis of colon cancer, liver transplantation, laparoscopic-assisted surgery, therapy for peptic ulcer disease including H2-receptor antagonists and proton pump inhibitors, the discovery of gastrointestinal hormones beginning with secretin, and lastly the discovery of the role for gluten in celiac disease.

Data Collection↗

Systemic amyloidosis and the gastrointestinal tract.

Systemic amyloidosis is caused by a variety of different diseases and frequently involves the gastrointestinal tract. Each type of amyloid affects the gastrointestinal tract differently. This article reviews the unique pathogenesis, pattern of gastrointestinal disposition, diagnosis, and treatment of the five systemic amyloidoses, and discusses the gastrointestinal diseases that cause systemic amyloidosis: inflammatory bowel disease and familial Mediterranean fever.

Amyloidosis↗

The role of the fecal stream in Crohn's disease: an historical and analytic review.

Since 1939, a series of clinical reports and laboratory investigations have suggested that the intestinal fecal stream may play a significant part in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD). The beneficial effect of exclusion of the stream by ileostomy was followed by improvement in patients with CD of the ileum and colon despite little change in the histopathology of the excluded loop, even to the point of allowing restoration of intestinal continuity in some patients. End ileostomy lowers the risk of recurrence of CD compared with anastomotic operations. Ileostomy effluent can reactivate the clinical activity of quiescent bypassed bowel and some of its biochemical processes, and may be related to an ultrafilterable constituent > 5 microns. Experimental models of inflammatory bowel disorders in immunologically altered rodents (transgenic, knockout, or spontaneous) require the presence of normal luminal bacteria, especially of the Bacteroides species, and respond to antibiotic (metronidazole) therapy. Thus, many but not all of the well-recognized clinical features of CD are compatible with a pathogenetic role of the fecal stream. Although difficult to quantitate, this concept opens the way to a variety of testable research lines, and allows some speculation regarding its clinical implications.

Anastomosis, Surgical↗

A decade's experience with a preceptorship. A model for gastroenterologic education.

I have conducted an experiment in medical subspecialty education during the last 10 years in the division of gastroenterology of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the form of 3-month preceptorships during the second year of the fellowship. I recognized that our training program, along with other subspecialty training programs, was no longer a purely hospital affair, but its future lay as well in the outpatient setting. I wanted to have the fellows participate in the daily care of patients in the realistic setting of practice. I hoped to offer them the excitement, as well as the problems, of daily gastroenterology practice. By seeing new and established patients with gastrointestinal problems in four daily sessions, and caring for hospitalized patients, including those being operated on, the fellows were to participate in every aspect of a busy office. The flavor of reality was to be heightened by their exposure to the preceptor's uncensored discussions with the patient, the family, the radiologists, endoscopists, and referring physicians. Here I report what the fellows and I have learned from experience, and I address the problems we all must face in the era of managed care, with the ongoing reduction in the number of specialists. I also consider who will do the teaching and who will pay them to protect the time they need.

Education, Medical, Graduate↗

Gastric ulcers.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗