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Biomedical subjects

Ian Forgacs

Publications and source records attributed to Ian Forgacs.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Intestinal infection and irritable bowel syndrome.

The observation that the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in some patients might follow an episode of acute gastroenteritis came from epidemiological studies. Both retrospective and prospective studies suggest that between 4% and 26% of patients develop IBS for the first time after gastroenteritis. The diagnosis of post-infectious IBS is typically made from the history. In addition, as with the diagnosis of IBS more generally, it is important to exclude other clinical causes for persistent bowel dysfunction. There is little, if any, evidence to support the widely-held view that patients with post-infectious IBS carry a better prognosis than IBS patients more generally. The management of patients with post-infectious IBS is the standard approach that might be applied to all patients with IBS. Post-infectious IBS patients may differ from IBS patients in general in having a low-level of intestinal inflammation. Work in animal models, and detection of low-grade inflammation in intestinal biopsies combined with markers of intestinal inflammation such as faecal calprotectin all indicate a strong possibility that persisting inflammation after the acute infection may be important in the pathogenesis of post-infectious IBS.

Bacterial Infections↗
PubMed2002

Use of surrogate markers of inflammation and Rome criteria to distinguish organic from nonorganic intestinal disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Differentiating symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) from those of organic intestinal disease is a familiar problem for physicians. The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity, specificity, and odds ratios (ORs) of fecal calprotectin, small intestinal permeability, Rome I criteria, and laboratory markers of inflammation (erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], C-reactive protein [CRP], blood count) in distinguishing organic from nonorganic intestinal disease. METHODS: A total of 602 new referrals to a gastroenterology clinic who had symptoms suggestive of IBS or organic intestinal disease were studied for these parameters. All patients underwent invasive imaging (barium/endoscopic examination) and other investigations as appropriate, with physicians blinded to the results of fecal calprotectin and intestinal permeability. RESULTS: A total of 263 patients were diagnosed with organic disease and 339 with IBS. At 10 mg/L, the sensitivity and specificity of calprotectin for organic disease were 89% and 79%, respectively, and that of intestinal permeability for small intestinal disease were 63% and 87%, respectively. Sensitivity of positive Rome criteria for IBS was 85% with a specificity of 71%. An abnormal calprotectin test had an OR for disease of 27.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 17.6-43.7; P < 0.0001) compared with ORs of 4.2 (95% CI, 2.9-6.1; P < 0.0001) and 3.2 (95% CI, 2.2-4.6; P < 0.0001) for elevated CRP and ESR values. An abnormal permeability test gave an OR of 8.9 (95% CI, 5.8-14.0; P < 0.0001) for small intestinal disease. The OR for IBS with positive Rome criteria was 13.3 (95% CI, 8.9-20.0). CONCLUSIONS: Fecal calprotectin, intestinal permeability, and positive Rome I criteria provide a safe and noninvasive means of helping differentiate between patients with organic and nonorganic intestinal disease.

Adolescent↗