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 31,184 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To investigate whether the clinical history and basic laboratory test results can differentiate between an organic or functional cause of chronic diarrhea and thus avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and invasive procedures, we reviewed the charts of 58 adult patients admitted during 6 years because of chronic diarrhea who had normal stool and colonic examinations. The final diagnoses were irritable bowel syndrome in 34 patients, organic diarrhea in 21, and unknown cause in three. The following clinical data did not help in the differential diagnosis: age, sex, duration of diarrhea, presence of continuous diarrhea, abdominal pain, stool frequency or volume, and presence of stool mucus. Significant weight loss, nocturnal diarrhea, and the absence of tenesmus were associated with an organic cause. One or more laboratory alterations (increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anemia, hypokalemia, and low serum albumin level) were found in 62% of patients with organic diarrhea but in only 3% of those with functional disease; p less than 0.001. In 20 of 21 patients with organic diarrhea, an syndromic diagnosis (fat malabsorption, n = 13; inflammatory bowel disease, n = 4; and secretory diarrhea, n = 3) could be obtained with three simple tests (stool fat, rectal biopsy, and fecal water osmolality and electrolyte determination, respectively). Our study confirms that a detailed history and a few simple laboratory data can help to distinguish between functional and organic diarrhea and so avoid extensive investigation. The syndromic diagnosis of organic diarrhea can also be approximated with relatively easy tests.
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PMID:Chronic diarrhea with normal stool and colonic examinations: organic or functional? 174 88

In Nazi-occupied Europe (1939-1945), Jews were submitted to extreme mental and physical hardships (the Holocaust). This study was designed to investigate the impact of the severe protracted suffering on the development of chronic functional gastrointestinal symptoms. Thus, we studied 623 consecutive patients of Eastern European origin who had been admitted for nongastrointestinal complaints. They filled out detailed questionnaires, and were divided into the following two groups: A) Holocaust survivors [237 subjects who had been for at least 6 months in either German concentration/extermination camps (95 subjects), ghetto and/or underground movements (65 subjects), labor camps not directly supervised by Germans (79 subjects)], and B) a control group (384 subjects from the same demographic background, who had not been exposed to Nazi persecutions). The symptoms investigated were the following: abdominal pain, irregular bowel habits, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal distension, heartburn, flatulence, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, mucus in stool, tenesmus, and aerophagia. Patients were defined as having functional symptoms after these had been present for at least 5 yr and relevant organic disease had been excluded. The prevalence, duration of suffering, and frequency of appearance of most symptoms were significantly higher in the group of Holocaust survivors. This study supports the clinical observations that severe and protracted suffering contributes to the development of chronic functional gastrointestinal symptomatology.
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PMID:Chronic functional gastrointestinal symptoms in Holocaust survivors. 201 42

In this retrospective analysis we searched for a constellation of signs or symptoms attributable to childhood lymphonodular hyperplasia (LNH). Of 147 children with documented LNH reviewed, 43% had lesions in the small bowel, and 57% in the large bowel. Children in this study presented with complaints of abdominal pain (58%) and bright red blood per rectum (32%). Physical examination revealed little except right lower quadrant (RLQ) abdominal tenderness and "fullness" in 35%. The pain was periumbilical, dull-cramping, rarely acute, and nonradiating. The hematochezia was most commonly streaky red in mucoid strands adhering to the stools, with no associated tenesmus. Three clinical patterns emerged: (a) Under 1 year of age most patients were male, with painless bleeding and pancolonic LNH. (b) Between 2 and 6 years, although the LNH was predominantly colonic, pain and bleeding occurred equally. (c) From 7 years old on, the main symptom was abdominal pain, but LNH distribution was nearly equal between the small bowel and the colon. To date, our long-term follow-up of the children with isolated LNH has revealed no sequelae.
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PMID:Intestinal lymphonodular hyperplasia of childhood: patterns of presentation. 203 23

Data from studies of 916 children with diarrhea, including 122 from whom shigellae were isolated, and data on patients affected in an epidemic due to Shigella dysenteriae type I were analyzed to determine whether a diagnostic clinical profile of shigellosis could be identified. Blood and/or mucus in stool, increased frequency of stool, abdominal pain, rectal tenesmus, and fever were noted more frequently in patients with shigellosis. The diagnostic confirmation of shigellosis depends on the isolation of the organism, but in the clinical situation early initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy can be based on clinical judgment that utilizes local perceptions regarding dysentery.
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PMID:Intestinal manifestations of invasive diarrheas and their diagnosis. 204 55

The protozoon Blastocystis hominis may cause episodes of diarrhoea with abdominal pain, tenesmus, fever and eosinophilia. We have observed 5 cases of blastocystosis in male subjects with symptomatic HIV infection. All patients had a complete response to metronidazole. This report confirms that Blastocystis hominis may be responsible for HIV-related diarrhoea.
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PMID:Blastocystosis: a new disease in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome? 209 90

Blastocystis hominis may sometimes be found in feces in sufficient quantities to cause symptoms of diseases such as diarrhea abdominal pain, nausea, tenesmus, fever, itching and slight acidocytosis. Three cases of blastocysosis observed in patients with LAS are reported.
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PMID:[Blastocystis hominis infection in AIDS and correlated pathologies]. 221 46

Ten hospitalized patients with severe diarrhea associated with intestinal Candida overgrowth are reported. Candida-associated diarrhea is predominantly of the secretory type, characterized by frequent watery stools, usually without blood, mucus, tenesmus, or abdominal pain. The patients were elderly, malnourished, and critically ill, or suffered from chronic debilitating illness. Their hospital stays were prolonged, and the majority were being treated with multiple antibiotics or chemotherapeutic agents. Diarrhea often led to dehydration, prerenal azotemia, hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis, and electrolyte imbalance. Stool culture most frequently isolated Cand. albicans in association with decreased normal flora. Colonoscopy showed no evidence of colitis. Diagnosis was made based on the absence of diarrhea-producing medications, the continuation of diarrhea despite fasting, the exclusion of other infections, inflammatory conditions and other causes of secretory diarrhea, and a dramatic response to a short course of nystatin.
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PMID:Candida-associated diarrhea in hospitalized patients. 229 77

The authors describe one case of rectal stenosis complicating chronic salpingitis in a patient carrying an intrauterine device. This observation is peculiar in that the inflammatory fibrous reaction is very intense, spreading all over the pelvis and forming a pseudotumoral mass sheathing the rectum. The clinical signs were mainly digestive, including a rectal syndrome: cramplike pelvic pain before defecation, tenesmus, constipation, abdominal pain and induration of the anterior aspect of the rectum observed during the clinical examination. Radiological examinations (barium enema, ultrasound, CT) show a tissue mass within the pelvis, with considerable thickening of the rectal wall. Ultrasound-guided biopsy in the pelvis yielded only nonspecific inflammatory signs with dominant fibrosis. The diagnosis of rectal stenosis caused by chronic salpingitis complicating the presence of an IUD was made only during surgery.
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PMID:[Rectal stenosis. A rare complication of chronic salpingitis caused by an intrauterine device]. 231 25

Cases of endometriosis of the colon were examined in a retrospective fashion to illustrate the problems in diagnosis and management of this disease entity. Nine patients were identified from 1956 to 1988; their average age was 41 years. Common presenting symptoms were abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, tenesmus, small caliber stools, abdominal distention, and blood per rectum. Bowel symptoms were cyclic in four of the nine patients, and seven had a history of gynecologic complaints. Barium enema was performed in six patients and endoscopy in five patients. All cases involved the sigmoid or rectosigmoid colon. In no case was the diagnosis established endoscopically. Surgical procedures included resection with primary anastomosis (6 patients), and resection with sigmoid endcolostomy and Hartmann's pouch (3 patients). In only one case was full-thickness colonic wall involvement noted. One patient had an adenocarcinoma of the colon adjacent to the area of endometriosis. Our data indicate that the diagnosis of endometriosis of the colon should be considered in women with colonic symptoms, especially with an associated history of dysmenorrhea or cyclic changes in bowel habits. Surgical resection offers the best chance for relief of symptoms.
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PMID:Endometriosis of the colon. Its diagnosis and management. 233 65

Forty-five of 47 patients with distal ulcerative colitis completed a two-week double-blind, randomized, controlled trial to determine if 4-aminosalicylic acid (4-ASA) enemas, 1 g bid or 2 g bid, were therapeutically effective compared to placebo. Forty-one patients enrolled because they were refractory to or had side effects during conventional therapy with sulfasalazine or corticosteroids. Proctoscopic examination was done before and after two weeks of treatment. Patients kept daily diaries assessing: blood in stools, mucus in stools, tenesmus, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, weight loss, and malaise. Severity of each symptom ranged from 0 (absent) to 3 (severe). A total severity score was calculated from the above for each patient. At the end of the two-week study, 35 patients elected to take 4-ASA in an open-label trial for one year. 4-ASA enemas in the 1-g bid but not the 2-g bid dosage were significantly more effective in improving symptoms than placebo: P less than or equal to 0.05. Neither dose of 4-ASA enema was better than placebo in improving the sigmoidoscopic appearance at the end of two-weeks. Forty-six percent of patients had complete resolution of all signs and symptoms in the open-label trial and 31% were better but still had sigmoidoscopic evidence of disease, a total response rate of 77%. Side effects were similar in the placebo and 4-ASA groups. We conclude that 4-ASA enemas in a dose of 1 g bid are safe and effective in the treatment of distal ulcerative colitis.
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PMID:4-Aminosalicylic acid retention enemas in treatment of distal colitis. 329 74


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