Biomedical subjects

J S Collins

Publications and source records attributed to J S Collins.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Secretor status and Helicobacter pylori infection are independent risk factors for gastroduodenal disease.

The hypothesis that non-secretors of ABO blood group antigens, a group shown to be more susceptible to certain bacterial infections, may be at greater risk of gastroduodenal disease because of increased susceptibility to Helicobacter pylori infection was investigated. Of 101 patients with symptoms of dyspepsia who were undergoing endoscopy, 32% were non-secretors (determined from Lewis blood group phenotype), 36% had endoscopically visible gastroduodenal disease (antral gastritis, gastric ulcer, erosive duodenitis, duodenal ulcer or some combination), and 58% had H pylori detected in antral biopsy specimens. Non-secretors and patients with H pylori infection were significantly more likely to have gastroduodenal disease (p = 0.02 and p = 0.002 respectively). There was, however, no significant association between secretor status and H pylori infection, logistic regression analysis confirming that these were independently associated with gastroduodenal disease. Overall, the relative risk of gastroduodenal disease for non-secretors compared with secretors was 1.9 (95% confidence intervals 1.2, 3.2). Non-secretion of ABO blood group antigens is not related to H pylori infection but is independently and significantly associated with endoscopic gastroduodenal disease. The mechanism of this remains to be explained.

ABO Blood-Group System↗

PubMed1993

Audit of the role of oesophageal manometry in clinical practice.

This oesophageal laboratory serves a population of 1.5 million. The study aimed to review referral patterns and assess the cost effectiveness of oesophageal manometry in clinical practice. All 276 consecutive manometry studies performed between 1988 and 1991 were reviewed. Reasons for referral in the 268 first referrals were: dysphagia 50.4%, non-cardiac chest pain 23.1%, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease 14.2%, connective tissue disease 11.2%, and 'other' 1.1%. Manometry was normal in 49.3%, showed achalasia in 17.9%, diffuse oesophageal spasm in 13.4%, connective tissue disease in 7.8%, hypertensive lower oesophageal sphincter in 4.5%, nutcracker oesophagus in 2.6%, and 'other' in 4.5%. A positive diagnosis was significantly more common if dysphagia was the reason for referral (65.9% v 35.3%, p < 0.01). A positive diagnosis was established in 60% of patients referred with connective tissue disease, 30.6% with non-cardiac chest pain, and 21.1% with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. A positive diagnosis was significantly more common in connective tissue disease when symptoms were present (85% v 10%, p < 0.05). Management was changed in 48.9% of all patients because of manometry findings. The cost of each oesophageal manometry study was calculated to be 63.00 pounds: every change in patient management cost 129.00 pounds. In conclusion, oesophageal manometry changed management in over 20% of patients with non-cardiac chest pain or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and in over 60% of those with dysphagia. It is, therefore, a useful and cost effective test in patients with these symptoms.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

A comparison of esophageal motility in response to bread swallows and water swallows.

Studies of esophageal manometry during eating have demonstrated abnormal motility in patients with dysphagia in whom standard water-swallow manometry was normal. However, there have been few concurrent motility studies making a direct comparison of food swallows with water swallows. This paper presents the results of such a study in 20 healthy volunteers. A comparison of bread swallows with water swallows revealed that both peristaltic amplitude in the proximal esophagus and peristaltic duration throughout the esophagus were significantly increased (p < 0.05). Peristaltic propagation velocity was significantly decreased in the proximal and mid-esophagus (p < 0.05). Percentages of nonconducted and nonperistaltic contractions were significantly increased (p < 0.05-0.001) during bread-swallow manometry. Therefore, the response of the normal esophagus to food has been shown to be different from its response to water swallows. In particular, the high percentage of nonpropagated swallows in normal subjects when eating indicates that the results of food manometry in patients with dysphagia must include wider limits of normality.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Symptom index as a marker of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

Forty per cent of patients with heartburn may have no evidence of oesophagitis or of abnormal oesophageal acid exposure. The symptom index correlates symptoms that occur during pH monitoring with episodes of acid reflux, being the number of symptoms during reflux divided by the total number occurring during monitoring. This index was assessed in 61 patients with heartburn. In 39 patients with endoscopic evidence of oesophagitis or abnormal acid exposure times on pH monitoring, the symptom index had a sensitivity of 90 per cent. Of the 22 patients with no objective abnormality, the index was > or = 50 per cent in five (23 per cent) whose symptoms were presumably due to acid reflux despite results of other investigations being normal, suggesting an acid-sensitive oesophagus. The symptom index is a useful additional measure in the investigation of patients with suspected gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

Esophagitis↗

PubMed1992

Perendoscopic pneumatic dilatation in achalasia: assessment of outcome using esophageal scintigraphy.

Sixteen patients (nine male) underwent perendoscopic pneumatic dilatation for achalasia. The Witzel dilator was chosen as it allows placement of the balloon under endoscopic vision. Its efficacy was assessed using esophageal scintigraphy. Symptom score and esophageal transit values at 100 s and after a drink of water all improved significantly (P less than or equal to 0.014) after dilatation and there was a significant correlation between the improved symptom score and the change in transit values after 100 s (r = 0.586, P = 0.017). At follow-up at 8 (3-16) months [mean (range)], 15 of 16 patients (94%) are symptom free. The Witzel dilator is effective in the treatment of achalasia. Esophageal scintigraphy offers a quantitative assessment of esophageal function, helping the clinical investigator evaluate new forms of therapy.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Role of Helicobacter pylori in gastritis and duodenitis in man.

Although Helicobacter pylori is now accepted as the major aetiological factor in chronic gastritis in man, many of the factors which determine its pathogenicity are unknown. The organism has adapted to survive in the low-pH environment of the stomach, partly through its ability to buffer hydrogen ion by the hydrolysis of urea and by the presence of lectins on its surface, which bind to gastric mucosa and epithelial cells. After attachment, harmful toxins and enzymes have access to the gastric cells and cellular damage and an immune response ensues. In patients with duodenal ulceration, Helicobacter pylori-related gastritis predominantly affects the gastric antrum and has a high prevalence. Excessive gastrin production has been suggested as a potential aetiological factor linking infection with duodenal ulcer development. Perhaps more important is the association between gastric metaplasia of the duodenal epithelium, which is correlated with acid load and is more extreme in H. pylori positive patients with duodenitis. Organisms may subsequently spread from the gastric antrum into areas of gastric metaplasia in the duodenal bulb, leading to areas of chronic duodenitis and ultimately frank ulceration. It should not be overlooked, however, that other factors such as genetic predisposition, blood group, stress, drugs and smoking all have a role to play in the outcome, given the comparatively small number of patients in the general population infected with H. pylori who develop ulcer disease.

Duodenal Ulcer↗

PubMed1991

Grading of superficial antral gastritis: comparison of cell-counting and photographic-based methods.

A cell-counting technique and a photographic-based scoring system for assessing inflammatory cell infiltration were compared for agreement in 275 endoscopic gastric antral biopsies from 55 dyspeptic patients. Each biopsy was independently scored 0-5 for polymorphs and mononuclear cells using both methods, and a mean score was derived for each patient. There was a highly significant correlation between the mean patient scores obtained using each method (P less than 0.001). Agreement statistics showed that the mean score difference (cell-counting minus photographic score) was negative for polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells, indicating that the photographic method yielded higher mean patient scores. Scatterplots of difference versus mean by the two methods showed that only 3.6 per cent of scores fell outside +/- 2 SD of the mean difference. The use of standard photomicrographs to grade superficial antral gastritis therefore provides accurate results, comparable to those obtained by cell counting, yet is a faster and much cheaper technique.

Biopsy↗

PubMed1991

Changing patterns in presentation and management of the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome in Northern Ireland, 1970-1988.

The clinical features, diagnostic methods, management and survival in 16 cases of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome encountered in Northern Ireland between the years 1970 and 1988 are described. While the majority of patients in the first decade of the study period had surgical treatment, those presenting in the latter period have been managed with medical therapy in the form of H2-receptor antagonists or omeprazole. The increasing use of these agents seems to be altering the severe clinical features of this condition, reducing the indications for surgery and maintaining patients, with or without evidence of metastatic disease, in clinical remission.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

A comparison of symptoms between non-ulcer dyspepsia patients positive and negative for Helicobacter pylori.

The role of Helicobacter pylori infection in the symptom complex associated with non-ulcer dyspepsia is uncertain, despite the presence of the organism in a high proportion of these patients. In order to exclude physician bias in history taking, 18 patients (9 female) diagnosed as non-ulcer dyspepsia, after endoscopy and gallbladder ultrasonography, underwent computer interrogation using the Glasgow Diagnostic System for Dyspepsia (GLADYS). Five antral and 3 fundal endoscopic biopsies from these patients were also histologically examined for the presence of Helicobacter pylori and quantitatively analysed for polymorph and chronic inflammatory cell densities per mm2 of lamina propria using computer-linked image analysis. In the group of 9/18 patients who were positive for Helicobacter pylori, there were significantly higher antral and fundal inflammatory cell counts than in negative patients. However, analysis of the GLADYS interrogation data showed no significant positive relationships between Helicobacter pylori positivity and any gastrointestinal symptoms. These results confirm a significant association between Helicobacter pylori and superficial gastritis but suggest that non-ulcer dyspepsia in patients with Helicobacter pylori colonisation is probably not a clinically identifiable and distinct syndrome.

Biopsy↗

PubMed1990

Quantitative histological study of mucosal inflammatory cell densities in endoscopic duodenal biopsy specimens from dyspeptic patients using computer linked image analysis.

Inflammatory cell counting in endoscopic biopsy sections was carried out on duodenal mucosal samples from defined sites in patients with duodenal ulcer, duodenitis but no ulcer, non-ulcer dyspepsia, and asymptomatic controls using computer linked image analysis. The variables measured included polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells per mm of superficial epithelium and per mm2 lamina propria. Duodenal ulcer crater margin and mucosal biopsy specimens from endoscopically inflamed mucosa in the group with duodenitis but no ulcer showed significantly higher inflammatory cell counts than endoscopically normal non-ulcer dyspepsia and control mucosa. Biopsy specimens from non-ulcer dyspepsia patients showed significantly higher lamina propria polymorphs than control group mucosa. Endoscopically normal duodenal ulcer and duodenitis but no ulcer mucosa also showed significantly higher acute and chronic inflammatory cell counts than controls. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in duodenal biopsy specimens was low (0-22%) and unrelated to local inflammatory response. Despite histological appearances, duodenal biopsy specimens from non-ulcer dyspepsia patients showed significantly higher inflammatory cell infiltration than control specimens, suggesting that at least some represent part of a spectrum of subclinical peptic disease.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Aperistaltic oesophageal disorders unmasked by severe post-fundoplication dysphagia.

Two patients were referred because of persistent dysphagia which developed for the first time after Nissen fundoplication. Investigations, including oesophageal manometry, demonstrated the presence of achalasia in one case, confirmed histologically, and aperistaltic oesophagus associated with an underlying connective tissue disorder in the other case. Our observations highlight the importance of assessing oesophageal motility before referring patients for anti-reflux surgery and illustrate the effect of such surgery on patients in whom oesophageal dysmotility was not suspected.

Connective Tissue Diseases↗

PubMed1990

Sandostatin and the Belfast experience.

Twenty-four patients with 26 apudomas have been treated with Sandostatin (octreotide) in Belfast. The 2 patients with vipoma showed an excellent response clinically and biochemically. Of 15 patients with carcinoids, Sandostatin improved the diarrhoea in 70%, flush in 58%, and wheeze in 100% of patients. Patients with insulinoma and the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome were unresponsive to Sandostatin. In general, the response to Sandostatin appeared to decline as the tumour size increased and tumour markers rose. Side effects have not been a problem.

Apudoma↗

PubMed1989

Superficial gastritis and Campylobacter pylori in dyspeptic patients--a quantitative study using computer-linked image analysis.

The purpose of this study was the quantitative assessment of mucosal inflammation and its relationship to Campylobacter pylori in gastric antral and body biopsies from patients with dyspepsia and controls. The study groups comprised patients with duodenal ulcer (DU; n = 20), duodenitis (DUN; n = 20), non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD; n = 20). Using a semi-automatic, computer-linked image analyser (Kontron: MOP Videoplan), mucosal acute and chronic inflammatory cell densities were measured in defined gastric sites for each patient group and expressed as number per mm2 of lamina propria and number per mm length of epithelium. Measurements were also made on a group of asymptomatic controls (n = 9) who fulfilled strict exclusion criteria. All biopsies were analysed for the presence of Camplyobacter pylori (CP) with a Giemsa stain. Data between groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test. In the antrum and body, the mononuclear cell count was significantly higher in lamina propria in DU patients than in DUN, NUD and controls. In the body, DU laminia propria mononuclear cell counts were higher than those of DUN and controls. Prevalence rates for CP for DU, DUN, and NUD were 94, 89, and 50 per cent for antral and 88, 83, and 56 per cent for body biopsies. Significant differences were present between CP-positive and negative subjects in the NUD group. Antral and body inflammation within these clinical groups shows a wide variation. Higher inflammatory cell counts in the DU group may reflect the prevalence of CP colonization.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Investigation of the relationship between gastric antral inflammation and Campylobacter pylori using graphic tablet planimetry.

Gastric antral endoscopic pinch biopsies from a group of dyspeptic patients were analysed for acute and chronic inflammatory cell numbers in the lamina propria and surface epithelial layer using computer-linked graphic tablet planimetry, and independently graded for Campylobacter pylori (CP) infection using a visual scoring system with grade 1 assessed as patchy epithelial infection and grade 2 as a continuous layer of organisms on the mucosal surface extending into gastric pits. The study group consisted of 36 patients (18 duodenitis; 18 non-ulcer dyspepsia). Within the 140 biopsies analysed, grade 1 and 2 biopsies had significantly higher acute and chronic inflammatory cell counts than CP-negative biopsies (grade 0) in lamina and surface epithelium (P less than 0.001). Acute inflammatory cell counts were significantly higher in the surface epithelium in grade 1 (P less than 0.05) and grade 2 biopsies (P less than 0.001) but chronic inflammatory cells were only higher in grade 1 (P less than 0.01). No significant differences were present between grade 1 and grade 2 biopsies for any parameter. This study confirms that highly significant quantitative differences in the inflammatory status are related to the presence of CP.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1989

Assessment of oesophagitis by histology and morphometry.

Morphometric measurements of nuclear area, nuclear concentration and nucleolar dimensions in defined tissue zones of orientated oesophageal biopsy sections were compared between three patient groups--asymptomatic/normal endoscopy (n = 8); symptomatic reflux/normal endoscopy (n = 17); and symptomatic/endoscopic oesophagitis (n = 15). No significant differences could be shown for any mean parameter between clinical groups. In a further group of 16 patients, identical morphometric measurements were made in non-orientated grasp biopsies and correlated with prolonged ambulatory pH data. No significant correlations could be shown between nuclear parameters and acid reflux measurements. These results suggest that morphometric measurement cannot be recommended as a diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of oesophagitis, although it may be useful in the assessment of individual therapeutic response in clinical trials.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

The frequency of gastrointestinal endocrine tumours in a well-defined population--Northern Ireland 1970-1985.

The reported incidence of gastrointestinal endocrine tumours is variable. In Northern Ireland circumstances allowing such an assessment are favourable with a central diagnostic laboratory and register established to collect data on tumours from a well-defined population of 1.5 million people. From 1970 to 1985, 368 cases were recorded of which 85 per cent were carcinoid tumours. The annual incidence of carcinoid tumours was 1.3 per 100,000 of the population and the majority occurred in the appendix (61 per cent). No patients presented with the carcinoid syndrome. The annual incidence for other tumours was 0.12 per 100,000 for insulinomas; islet cell tumours of unknown type 0.07; Zollinger-Ellison syndrome 0.05; and multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) 0.05. There were two cases of VIPoma, one glucagonoma, one neurotensinoma and one tumour producing ACTH. It is possible that some tumours are more uncommon than others because of difficulty in diagnosis.

Adenoma, Islet Cell↗

PubMed1989

Outcome and benefits of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in the elderly.

Presenting symptoms, physical findings and treatment were reviewed in 70 patients over 65 years old who underwent oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, during an 18-month period. Most frequent indications for the procedure were epigastric pain, retrosternal pain or haematemesis. Physical signs were present in only 54%. Abnormal endoscopic findings were detected in 97%. The majority of patients responded to subsequent treatment. It was not possible to identify clinical features associated with major gastrointestinal pathology, which aided selection of those subgroups of elderly patients who would most benefit from endoscopy.

Aged↗

PubMed1986

Neuroendocrine tumors. A European view.

A center in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has established a register for tumors of the gastroenteropancreatic endocrine system. Carcinoid tumors occur most frequently. Of the non-carcinoid tumors, insulinomas, gastrinomas, and unknown types have the highest incidence, with other types being extremely rare. The potentially remediable nature of the tumors is stressed, and frequently a good quality of life can be experienced even in the presence of metastatic disease. The syndromes are probably underdiagnosed as they present with clinical features for which there are more common explanations, and appropriate diagnostic methods are therefore not used. The management of the syndromes is reviewed with particular emphasis on the treatment of patients with inoperable disease. Histamine (H2)-receptor antagonist therapy has made an impact in Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, and streptozotocin and somatostatin analogues can control tumor growth and endocrine syndromes, respectively.

Apudoma↗