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If you wish to receive credit for this activity, please refer to the Web site: http://www.acg.gi.org/journalcme/. Article Title: Drug Interactions in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

The prevalence of obesity has increased to epidemic proportions, making obesity and its comorbid conditions a major public health concern. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment, but it carries substantial morbidity. The subsequent gastrointestinal and nutritional complications are often not recognized or properly managed. As part of the multidisciplinary team taking care of obese patients, gastroenterologists should be familiar with the types of bariatric surgery and their associated complications. We review the most common gastrointestinal and nutritional complications after bariatric procedures and examine how gastroenterologists may best prevent, investigate, and treat them.

Background and Aims: A mailed survey to our readership expressed an interest in providing journal CME. In January 2006, following an assessment of the readership's educational needs and the development of educational objectives to span a 12-month program, two articles per issue were provided to participants to gain category 1 credit free of charge., Methods: Participants completed a mandatory electronic evaluation after each CME activity that they had completed. These prospective data were collected to determine participant demographics, satisfaction, and outcome results., Results: A total of 1,329 CME credits were provided during the 2006 volume year. Ninety-one percent of these participants were in private practice, 98% of the participants indicated a good to excellent overall satisfaction with the CME activity, 97% indicated their experience was good to excellent compared to other journals that they had participated for CME credit, and 97% of the participants indicated that they thought the CME activity increased their knowledge and/or skills related to patient care., Conclusion: The results of our 1-yr outcome analysis indicate that there is a need for continued journal-based CME and that our participants are very satisfied with the process. This CME activity format also appears to have improved the participants' knowledge and their delivery of patient care.

Objectives: Intestinal failure requiring either surgery or home parenteral nutrition (HPN) develops in approximately 5% of patients treated with radiation. The aim of the study was to determine survival, duration of HPN, and complications associated with HPN in patients with intestinal failure after radiation therapy., Methods: Fifty-four patients with radiation enteritis who received HPN were studied (39 women and 15 men with a mean age of 57.9 yr). Retrospective data were collected from the patients' medical records dated between 1975 and 1999. The probability of survival was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method., Results: HPN was initiated a median of 20 months (range = 2-432) from the start of radiation therapy. The mean number of intestinal operations for radiation-related complications was 2.2/patient (range = 0-6). The causes of intestinal failure resulting from radiation therapy were intestinal obstruction (27 patients), short bowel (17), malabsorption (five), fistula (three), and dysmotility (two). The mean duration of HPN was 20.4 months (range = 2-108). At last follow-up, 37 patients (68%) were dead, most as a result of recurrent cancer. One patient died of catheter sepsis, and no other deaths were directly related to HPN. The overall estimated 5-yr probability of survival on HPN calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis was 64%., Conclusions: HPN is a reasonable treatment option in patients with intestinal failure as a result of radiation enteritis. Survival and complications associated with HPN in patients with radiation enteritis seem to be similar to those in other HPN-treated groups.

Objectives: It is not known whether patients with symptoms of dysphagia but normal upper endoscopy benefit from empiric esophageal dilation. The aim of this prospective study was to determine whether patients with solid food dysphagia and normal upper endoscopy have symptomatic benefit from empiric dilation using a through-the-scope balloon., Methods: Patients who were seen for complaints of solid food dysphagia and who had normal endoscopic examinations at our institution from 1998 through 1999 were identified. Those patients who had agreed before sedation to participate in the study, if eligible, were randomized to either sham or balloon dilation using an 18-mm through-the-scope balloon at the time of esophagogastroduodenoscopy. All potentially eligible patients who had given provisional consent completed a dysphagia questionnaire and a 10-cm visual analog dysphagia scale before endoscopy. Follow-up questionnaires were completed on day 1 and at 3 months and 6 months after the procedure. The primary endpoint of the study was the patient's self-assessment of difficulty swallowing, based on the questionnaires., Results: A total of 83 patients met the study criteria and were randomized to balloon dilation (n = 43) or sham (n = 40). The two groups were comparable in age, sex, severity of baseline dysphagia. and use of antireflux medication. Improvement in dysphagia comparing sham to balloon on day 1 was 66% versus 67% (p = 0.99); at 3 months it was 82% versus 76% (p = 0.56); and at 6 months it was 84% versus 73% (p = 0.38). There were no reported complications in either group., Conclusion: The data from this prospective randomized, controlled study do not support the practice of empiric dilation in patients with symptoms of dysphagia without an endoscopically evident cause of dysphagia.

We report a case of a 16-yr-old white female patient with acute abdominal pain due to visceral involvement of Degos' disease that required extensive small bowel resection. Skin manifestations of her disease had been present for 2 yr before the correct diagnosis. She died as a result of central nervous system involvement from Degos' disease.

We describe a 43-yr-old female with a giant gastric ulcer, refractory to medical treatment, that ultimately proved to be due to the mural form of eosinophilic gastroenteritis. The patient presented with a 6-month history of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. Endoscopy showed a giant gastric ulcer, and biopsies revealed only chronic active ulcerative inflammation. The ulcer progressed on omeprazole therapy; therefore, a distal antrectomy with gastrojejunal anastomosis and bilateral vagotomy was performed. Pathology of the surgical specimen demonstrated the mural form of eosinophilic gastritis. To the best of our knowledge, this case is the first to demonstrate that refractory giant gastric ulcers may be a manifestation of the mural form of eosinophilic gastroenteritis.