NEW ORLEANS — In this video exclusive, Jonathan D. Leffert, MD, talks with Scott D. Isaacs, MD, FACP, FACE, and Sangeeta Kashyap, MD, about nomenclature for liver disease and how endocrinologists should approach screening and treatment. Leffert is managing partner at North Texas Endocrine Center, a past president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology and a Healio | Endocrine Today Editorial Board Member. Isaacs is adjunct associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and president-elect of AACE. Kashyap is assistant chief of clinical affairs in ..read more

Oral samples taken from patients with gastric cancer and premalignant gastric conditions exhibited “stark differences” in bacterial composition compared with controls, suggesting that oral bacteria could serve as a biomarker. “In the United States, there are no formal screening guidelines for gastric cancer and more than half of patients with gastric cancer did not receive a diagnosis until their cancer is already at an advanced stage,” Shruthi Reddy Perati, MD, a general surgery resident at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said during the Digestive Disease ..read more

Endoscopists are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollutants when performing smoke-producing gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures — “comparable to smoking a cigarette” during a single procedure, according to researchers. “Recent developments in endoscopy have resulted in new tools and techniques becoming available across the field,” Christopher C. Thompson, MD, principal study investigator and director of endoscopy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said during the Digestive Disease Week media briefing. “We are now performing more procedures that ..read more

A delayed diagnosis of appendicitis was associated with an increase in hospital care costs in a cohort of adults who underwent appendectomy, particularly among non-Hispanic Black patients, according to data in JAMA Network Open. “Delayed diagnoses have resulted in increased appendectomy length of stay and 30-day readmissions,” Dinushi A. Kulasekere, BS, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “And while delayed diagnosis has been commonly observed among non-Hispanic Black patients, hospitals that serve a higher proportion of non-Hispanic ..read more

A dual-ring plastic wound protecter reduced the risk for surgical site infection by 46.81% compared with conventional surgical gauze during open abdominal gastrointestinal surgery, according to study results. “In the intraoperative period, the use of a wound protector device is recommended to reduce the rate of [surgical site infection (SSI)] in clean-contaminated, contaminated and dirty abdominal surgical procedures,” Nina Yoo, MD, PhD, of the department of surgery at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital at The Catholic University of Korea, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Surgery. “However ..read more

Tumor necrosis factor inhibitor use was independently associated with a greater risk for progressive kidney function decline but not risk for all-cause mortality among patients with new-onset inflammatory bowel disease, according to data. “To date, a number of studies have reported favorable effects of anti-TNF therapy on the extraintestinal manifestations of IBD,” Keiichi Sumida, MD, MPH, PhD, of the division of nephrology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Network Open. “Despite this, studies investigating the effect of ..read more

Healio is accepting submissions for its third annual peer-recognition program, Healio Honors. The goal of the program is to celebrate health care professionals who go above and beyond through patient care, advocacy and mentorship. This year’s theme is “Igniting Medical Excellence” and will honor health care professionals who are elevating medicine in their daily practice. All health care professionals in the U.S. are eligible to be nominated. Submissions can be made online and will be accepted through June 30, 2024. Healio Honorees will be announced this fall. “Every day ..read more

New testing options for colorectal cancer will likely expand access to screening, but they are not as reliable as a colonoscopy, according to experts. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death and the third most common cause of cancer in the United States, Robert Smith, PhD, senior vice president of early cancer detection science at the American Cancer Society (ACS), told Healio. The ACS has estimated that, in 2024, there will be about 46,220 new cases of rectal cancer and 106,590 new cases of colon cancer in the U.S. The organization also anticipates CRC to be ..read more

The FDA has approved Geneoscopy Inc.’s ColoSense multitarget stool RNA test for adults aged 45 years or older at average-risk for developing colorectal cancer, according to a company press release. Previously granted FDA breakthrough device designation in January 2020, ColoSense is the “first noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test to provide a dynamic view of disease activity by using RNA biomarkers,” Geneoscopy noted in the release. “Securing FDA approval for ColoSense marks a significant milestone for Geneoscopy and demonstrates that our patented RNA technology ..read more

A pharmacy-based, multicomponent intervention program reduced proton pump inhibitor use overall and also when appropriate for gastroprotection, with little evidence of either clinical harms or benefits, according to a study in BMJ. “PPIs are one of the most commonly prescribed classes of drugs, but an estimated 25% to 70% of PPI users may not have an appropriate indication, depending on the clinical setting,” Jacob E. Kurlander, MD, MS, of Michigan Medicine and Ann Arbor VA Center for Clinical Management Research, and colleagues wrote. “For such patients, PPIs cause ..read more