Abstracts

DIETITIANS could provide outpatient medical gastroenterology clinics for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Evidence for this was presented on 3rd October 2021 at the virtual UEG Week by Christian Shaw, Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, UK.

BARIATRIC surgery is a safe and long-term treatment for weight loss; however, the rapid weight loss it induces is a major risk factor for the formation of cholesterol gallstones. The causal link between weight-loss and gallstone formation is not fully understood, but an important factor is the consequential imbalance in biliary lipids. Cholecystectomy at the time of bariatric surgery is the current standard treatment for gallstones, the evidence for the use of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) prophylaxis is still under debate. Research led by Sylke Haal, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was conducted to provide evidence for whether UDCA reduces the occurrence of gallstone disease after bariatric surgery.

OESOPHAGEAL cancer (OAC) is the seventh most common cancer in the world. Patients with this cancer are commonly treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery. Unfortunately, over half of tumours are resistant to neoadjuvant therapy and survival rates are poor. A novel study, shared at the UEG Week Virtual, aimed to understand the genetic and transcriptomic changes in OAC.

DETERMINING the timing of surgery remains a challenge for patients with adenomatous polyposis, an inherited autosomal dominant condition. This abstract was presented by Isabel Martin, St Mark’s Hospital, London, UK, at UEG Week Virtual, who noted: “Ideally intervention takes place before cancer is diagnosed, as afterwards the outcomes are very poor.” Upper gastrointestinal endoscopic surveillance was recommended following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or pancreas-sparing duodenectomy (PSD). This review is of importance in a field where long-term data is lacking.

Since December 2019, the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) from Wuhan, China, has been the aetiological agent of COVID-19 disease, an infectious disease that has evolved into a global pandemic.1 Androgenetic alopecia (AGA), the most common type of alopecia,2 is an androgen-dependent condition, the main androgen responsible for the follicular pathology being dihydrotestosterone.3

One year after the identification of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Wuhan, China, and the outbreak of the virus worldwide, the pandemic state persists, and the management of COVID-19 remains burdensome, with the number of people infected daily increasing progressively in most countries and the death rate being alarmingly elevated.1

During the COVID-19 outbreak, many countries imposed restrictive measures that resulted in unprecedented modifications in healthcare services.1 In several countries, including Greece, most of the public hospitals were practically transformed into COVID-19 units. In addition, public and health authorities repeatedly advised the population to avoid visiting hospitals during the pandemic outbreak. Moreover, social and sexual behaviour dramatically altered as a result of the strict social distancing measures.

Leishmaniasis is a widespread protozoan zoonosis transmitted by sandflies that can cause a wide range of clinical manifestations. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common form, usually presenting as a small papule on an exposed skin area that enlarges and finally ulcerates. Therapies for CL are limited, and the systemic treatments available are hampered by toxicity and parasite resistance. As an alternative, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been reported to be a safe and effective treatment for CL.1,2