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Biomedical subjects

B T Cooper

Publications and source records attributed to B T Cooper.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A comparison of roxatidine and ranitidine for the acute treatment of duodenal ulcer.

Roxatidine acetate is a new histamine H2-antagonist of about twice the potency of ranitidine on a weight-for-weight basis. Two hundred and thirty-two patients participated in a double-blind randomized trial of duodenal ulcer healing comparing 300 mg ranitidine nocte with 150 mg roxatidine nocte. Endoscopy was repeated fortnightly to 4 weeks in each of four participating centres. Usual exclusion criteria applied but NSAID users were allowed. There were no important demographic differences between treatment recipients. Three analyses were used: protocol (dropouts and violators not included), intention-to-treat I (dropouts considered failures), and intention-to-treat II (dropouts considered failures, but violators outcome included). Healing rates differed markedly (but not significantly) with each analysis. After 2 weeks of treatment ulcers had healed in 51% versus 45% using the intention to treat I analysis with roxatidine and ranitidine, respectively; by the protocol analysis the healing proportions were 60% and 55%. These differences between treatments were not significant. After 4 weeks of treatment healing rates ranged from 71% to 83% on roxatidine and between 69% and 84% on ranitidine depending on the analysis. Differential healing proportions of smokers and non-smokers were non-significant (83% vs. 79%). Both drugs were well tolerated and adverse events were similar with each agent. Roxatidine should prove as effective as ranitidine for acute duodenal ulcer treatment.

Adult

Coeliac disease and malignancy of the duodenum: diagnosis by endoscopy, successful treatment of the malignancy, and response to a gluten free diet.

A patient presented with subtotal villous atrophy and a malignant duodenal tumour of uncertain histogenesis. He was successfully treated by resection and chemotherapy and the small bowel mucosa recovered on a gluten free diet. The tumour was diagnosed at upper gastrointestinal endoscopy when barium studies and abdominal computed tomography were normal, thus making this one of the earliest coeliac malignancies diagnosed.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols

Small bowel morphology in British Indian and Afro-Caribbean subjects: evidence of tropical enteropathy.

Distal duodenal biopsy specimens taken from 30 white, 35 Indian, and 20 Afro-Caribbean residents of West Birmingham during routine endoscopy for dyspepsia, were assessed by dissecting microscopy and morphometry. Finger-shaped villi were significantly less frequent in the Indian and Afro-Caribbean subjects than in the white subjects when assessed by dissecting microscopy (p less than 0.005), and both immigrant groups had decreased mucosal thickness (p less than 0.01), villous height (p less than 0.001), villous:crypt ratios (p less than 0.01) and enterocyte height (p less than 0.05) compared with the white group. In the Indian subjects, villous height and villous:crypt ratios correlated significantly with the time since the last visit to the Indian subcontinent (p less than 0.005). Serum alkaline phosphatase values were significantly higher in the Indian subjects compared with the whites (p less than 0.02), and serum globulins were increased in both the Afro-Caribbean and Indian subjects (p less than 0.01). There were no correlations between morphometric indices and body habitus or biochemical or haematological indices and the long term effect of the morphological changes is not clear.

Adolescent

Acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage in patients aged 80 years or more.

We report a series of 103 admissions of patients aged 80 years or more with acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage to one hospital over a four-year period. A cause was eventually found during 81.5 per cent of admissions and of these, 57 per cent had bled from chronic peptic ulcers. After 64 per cent of admissions, the patient received a blood transfusion and in 25 per cent, the blood transfusion exceeded 5 units. Nine patients had surgery for peptic ulcer during admission but no operations were performed in patients with other causes of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Patients with peptic ulcer, when compared to patients with other causes for haemorrhage, were more likely to have symptoms of upper gastrointestinal disease before presentation. They were also more likely to continue to bleed, to bleed again, to require surgery, and to die as a consequence of haemorrhage. Eighteen admissions (17.5 per cent) ended with death but in only 11 (10.5 per cent) did the patient die directly because of haemorrhage. Nine of these bled from a peptic ulcer, one from oesophageal varices and one from an unknown cause. Patients who died from haemorrhage, when compared to all others, were more likely to have bled from a peptic ulcer and to have significant co-existing disease, to have ingested non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs or aspirin before admission, to have raised blood urea level and low systolic blood pressure at admission and to have required blood transfusion of more than 5 units. Our study has shown that upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage secondary to peptic ulceration is a serious and often fatal condition in the elderly. Identification and effective monitoring of those at particular risk of death may be essential if mortality is to be reduced.

Acute Disease

Erosive gastritis and gastrointestinal bleeding in a female runner. Prevention of the bleeding and healing of the gastritis with H2-receptor antagonists.

A 33-yr-old female runner presented with upper gastrointestinal symptoms and iron deficiency anemia. She was found to have erosive gastritis that was present when she exercised and which was associated with symptoms. Gastrointestinal blood loss during exercise periods was confirmed by measuring fecal blood loss using 51Cr-labeled red cells. Symptoms, gastritis, and blood loss disappeared with cessation of running or with H2-receptor antagonist therapy.

Adult

Treatment of Barrett's esophagus with H2 blockers.

The effect of the H2 receptor antagonists, cimetidine and ranitidine, on Barrett's esophagus was assessed in a retrospective study. There was no evidence of regression of Barrett's epithelium in the 22 patients treated for a mean of 13 months with 800-1,600 mg/day cimetidine, or in the 13 patients treated for a mean of 5.7 months with 300 mg/day ranitidine. Eight of 12 esophageal (Barrett's) ulcers healed on cimetidine therapy over a mean period of 8.7 months, and eight of nine esophageal ulcers healed on ranitidine therapy over a mean period of 3.5 months. We conclude that short-term treatment with H2 blockade does not cause regression of Barrett's esophagus, although such treatment can heal esophageal ulcers.

Adult

Clostridium difficile toxin in chronic idiopathic colitis.

Clostridium difficile toxin was isolated from the stools of three patients with chronic idiopathic colitis. Two patients were known to have chronic idiopathic colitis before Cl difficile toxin was isolated. The third patient was subsequently found to have ulcerative colitis after presentation with Cl difficile toxin in the stool. Two patients were on sulphasalazine at the time of diagnosis of Cl difficile infection and one had taken sulphasalazine two months previously. Only one patients had antibiotic exposure and that was at least three months before presentation. In each patient, treatment with vancomycin was accompanied by symptomatic improvement and disappearance of the toxin. The underlying colitis remained unaffected. In patients with inflammatory bowel disease in relapse, the presence of Cl difficile toxin should be sought as this may be a factor in the relapse. In any patient presenting with diarrhoea, the presence of Cl difficile toxin may obscure the presence of underlying inflammatory bowel disease.

Adult

The delayed diagnosis of coeliac disease.

The prevalence of coeliac disease in New Zealand appears to be much lower than in the British Isles suggesting the possibility that coeliac disease is not being diagnosed in this country. This view point is supported by the two patients reported in this paper who had coeliac disease diagnosed after ten years and at least 36 years of symptoms respectively. The importance of diagnosing coeliac disease is stressed, particularly because of the greatly increased risk of developing lymphoma (from which one of the two patients died). The need to investigate all patients with chronic diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal symptoms is stressed.

Aged

Small intestinal permeability in normal Sudanese subjects: evidence of tropical enteropathy.

Small intestinal permeability to mannitol and lactulose was studied in healthy English and apparently healthy Sudanese subjects to determine whether any differences were apparent. Permeability was assessed by measuring urinary recovery of the test substances after oral ingestion. The mean excretion of lactulose was significantly higher and the mean excretion of mannitol was significantly lower in the Sudanese than in the English subjects. Lactulose to mannitol excretion ratios were significantly higher in the Sudanese. These data demonstrate abnormal intestinal permeability in the Sudanese subjects and indicate the presence of an asymptomatic enteropathy.

Adult

Gastrocnemius myositis in a patient with inflammatory bowel disease.

A young woman with long-standing inflammatory bowel disease presented with a tender left gastrocnemius myositis in association with an exacerbation of her disease. Muscle biopsy showed a chronic inflammatory cell infiltrate and atrophic muscle fibres, but no granulomata or vasculitis, and her symptoms responded to high-dose steroids. Twelve months later she underwent subtotal colectomy for troublesome symptoms and incidentally was discovered to have an adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon. Myositis without granulomata has not been reported previously in either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

Adenocarcinoma