Tag Archives: guidelines

Dr. Benjamin Gold: 2024 Pediatric H pylori Guidelines (Part 2)

Posted on by

We had a brilliant lecture given to our group by Dr. Benjamin Gold. I have had the good fortune of getting to know Ben and working alongside Ben for more than 15 years. Most readers of this blog are very familiar with Dr. Gold who is a leader in our field.

My notes below may contain errors in transcription and in omission.

Guidelines:

  • Bismuth-based quadruple therapy recommended when antimicrobial sensitivity testing (AST) is not available
  • Routine use of CLO test is NOT recommended during endoscopy
  • Routine testing for H pylori is NOT recommended for children with recurrent abdominal pain
  • Stool PCR testing is NOT recommended
  • Test for cure should be done at 6-8 weeks after completion of treatment

During endoscopy at CHOA in which H pylori is suspected, complete a microbiology form and ask for a culture to arrange for resistance testing.  Submit a sample (or multiple) in a sterile tube/cup.  Completed results will include clarithromycin sensitivity.  Additional testing for other antibiotic resistance can be requested subsequently.  Testing can be done with paraffin block as well.

Related blog posts:

Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician.  Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure.  This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition.

Price Per Poop with Vibrating Capsule and New AGA Constipation Guidelines

Posted on by

SS C Rao et al. Gastroenterol 2023; 164: 1202-1210. Randomized Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Trial of Vibrating Capsule for Chronic Constipation

Methods: This was a a phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of patients with chronic constipation, who were randomized to receive either a vibrating or placebo capsule, once daily, 5 days a week for 8 weeks. The primary efficacy end points were an increase of 1 or more complete spontaneous bowel movements per week (CSBM1 responder) or 2 or more CSBMs per week (CSBM2) from baseline during at least 6 of the 8 weeks

Key findings:

  •  A greater percentage of patients receiving the vibrating capsule achieved both primary efficacy end points compared with placebo (39.3% vs 22.1%, P = .001 for CSBM1; 22.7% vs 11.4% P = .008 for CSBM2).
  • Spontaneous bowel movements per week, adjusted mean change: 1.40 vs 1.24 per placebo (0.16 per week difference)

The capsule used is 24 mm x 11 mm and includes a motor for vibrations, a battery, a computer chip and a latex-free plastic shell.  The control group had received a dissolvable sham capsule.

I looked up cost of this new treatment and it is approximately $89/month which equates to $139 price per poop (PPP). To my knowledge, the PPP is a new metric –I have not seen it previously. For the vibrating capsule, I derived this figure by dividing the monthly cost into a weekly cost and dividing it by 0.16 (mean difference in weekly stooling with vibrating capsule). The PPP may be competitive with some of the constipation medications which cost in the range of ~$500 per month on GoodRx (like prucalopride and linaclotide) but is much more costly than senna products which can be purchased for ~$5/month.

My take: The vibrating capsule is an expensive way to help with constipation

Related article: L Chang, WD Chey, AJ Lembo et al. Gastroenterol 2023; 164: 1086-1106. Open Access! American Gastroenterological Association-American College of Gastroenterology Clinical Practice Guideline: Pharmacological Management of Chronic Idiopathic Constipation

Gastroenterol 2023; 164: 1107. Open Access! Clinical Decision Support Tool

These guidelines for adults with constipation are similar to guidelines published in 2020 with the addition of prucalopride.

2023 ACG Celiac Guidelines for Adult and Children

Posted on by

A Rubio-Tapia et al. Am J Gastroenterol 2023;118:59–76. Open Access! American College of Gastroenterology Guidelines Update: Diagnosis and Management of Celiac Disease Thanks to Ben Gold for this reference.

Here are some of the recommendations from updated ACG Celiac Guidelines:

Comments: The authors favor a non-biopsy approach for Celiac diagnosis in children with very elevated serology but not in adults. In adults, they cite a paucity of literature. “One multicenter international study of adults found that a 10-fold elevation of TTG IgA had a positive predictive value of 95% for CD (50). Given the life-long treatment implications of a GFD, this may be unacceptably low.”

The authors suggest assessing for mucosal healing after 2 years of treatment in all patients though they indicate a low quality of evidence for this recommendation. In those undergoing endoscopy, biopsies of the duodenal bulb along with at least 4 post-bulbar biopsies are recommended.

Figure 3 provides an algorithm for non-responsive celiac disease.

Related blog posts:

ACG Adult GERD Guidelines 2022

Posted on by

PO Katz et al The American Journal of Gastroenterology: January 2022 – Volume 117 – Issue 1 – p 27-56doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000001538. Open Access: ACG Clinical Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Related blog post: 2018 Pediatric Gastroesophageal Reflux Clinical Practice Guidelines

Why Is There Low Adherence to H pylori Guidelines?

Posted on by

S Bonilla et al. JPGN 2021; 73: 178-183. Low Adherence to Society Guidelines for the Management of Helicobacter Pylori Among Pediatric Gastroenterologists

This retrospective study with 250 patients determined that clinicians at this large center (Boston Children’s) have a low rate of adherence to the NASPGHAN/ESPGHAN H pylori guidelines (JPGN 2017; 64: 991-1003).

Key findings:

  • Patient outcomes: 107/186 (58%) had resolution of symptoms after treatment; abdominal pain was the most common presenting symptom (67%)
  • 131 (62%) had documented followup visit and an eradication test
  • First-line treatment was most commonly amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and PPI (69%) (in those without sensitivity information, amoxicillin, metronidazole, and PPI are recommended in the guidelines)
  • Biopsy culture was sent in 3% of patients

In their discussion, the authors make a number of points:

  • Both pediatricians and gastroenterologists “are utilizing a ‘test and treat’ strategy rather than endoscopy-based diagnostic testing.” This along with low followup and low biopsy culture deviate from NASPGHAN guideline.
  • 77 of 256 patients had non-invasive testing prior to referral and in this subset, more than two-thirds of patients received a clarithromycin-based triple therapy before being referred; “this has a high likelihood of failure.”
  • The authors advocate endoscopy over empiric treatment but acknowledge some reasons why families may want to avoid endoscopy (interestingly the authors do not mention the cost of the procedure). They also note that H pylori culture is not widely available.

My take: There are several reasons why there is low adherence to NASPGHAN/ESPGHAN guidelines

  1. Treatment recommendations for initial triple therapy does not align with adult guidelines for quadruple therapy. Even the “rescue” therapies (Table 5), these pediatric guidelines do not recommend quadruple therapy. Yet, there is no indication that H pylori is more susceptible to treatment in children.
  2. Recommendations for susceptibility/antibiotic resistance testing (Table 1, #11) makes no sense if susceptibility testing is not available. Fortunately, PCR-based assays are making this easier recently.
  3. The absence of susceptibility testing and cost would favor empiric treatment over endoscopy as a first-line approach in those who have a reliable non-invasive test indicating infection along with symptoms suggestive of H pylori infection.

Related blog posts:

Adult Guidelines:

Other related posts

This is the treatment approach per pediatric guidelines; these recommendations
do NOT align with treatment recommendations in adults

Best Practice for Fatty Liver Disease

Posted on by

ZM younossi, KE Corey, JK Lim. Gastroenerol 2021; 160; 912-918. AGA Clinical Practice Update on Lifestyle Modification Using Diet and Exercise to Achieve Weight Loss in the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Expert Review

Some of the Best Practice Advice Recommendations:

  • #1 “Lifestyle modification using diet and exercise to achieve weight loss is beneficial for all patients with nonalcoholic liver disease (NAFLD).”
  • #2 Weight loss leads to improvement. >5% wt loss can decrease steatosis, >7% can lead to resolution of NAFLD, >10% can stabilize or reduce fibrosis
  • #3 “Adults with NAFLD should follow the Mediterranean diet…as well as limit or eliminate consumption of commercially produced fructose”
  • #8 Evaluate for coexisting conditions, such as “obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease.”

Also another publication on fatty liver disease:

LF Chun et al. J Pediatr 2021: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.01.064. Hepatic Steatosis is Negatively Associated with Bone Mineral Density in Children

Related blog posts:

Updated Pediatric Helicobacter Pylori Guidelines

Posted on by

Joint ESPGHAN/NASPGHAN guidelines (NL Jones et al. JPGN 2017; 64: 991-1003) have been published.  Overall, these guidelines cover a great deal of information.  It is interesting that these guidelines provide some conflicting advice with recommendations for adults.

  • Some recommendations:
    The authors recommend against diagnostic testing H pylori in children with functional abdominal pain
  • The authors recommend against using antibody-based tests from blood, urine, or saliva.
  • The authors recommend noninvasive testing for H pylori when investigating chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
  • First line therapy recommendations if sensitivity is unknown: High-dose PPI-Amoxicillin-Metronidazole for 14 days OR Bismuth-based quadruple therapy (in children less than 8 years, quadruple therapy would be bismuth, PPI, amoxicillin and metronidazole; in older children it is recommended to substitute tetracycline for amoxicillin).  Specific dosing is given in this report (Table 3 and Table 4)
  • The authors recommend assessing for infection eradication at least 4 weeks after completion of therapy

My take: I favor quadruple therapy for most patients (see adult guidelines below) until sensitivities can be more easily obtained.  If you know of a reliable lab to obtain culture sensitivities, please let me know.

Related blog posts:

Adult Guidelines:

Other related posts

Lipid Testing: Why Screen and Fail to Act?

Posted on by

There has been controversy regarding the American Academy of Pediatric recommendations on lipid screening and treatment, mainly because the guidelines propose earlier screening and more aggressive treatment than other guidelines, including guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.  However, according to a recent article (N Joyce et al. J Pediatr 2015; 167: 113-9), it does not appear that many children (8-20 years) are actually being treated.

The authors used commercial health plan data between 2004-2010 and collected data from more than 13 million children.  Only 665 were initiated on lipid lowering therapy which equates to an incidence rate of 2.6/100,000 person-years.

Rates of lipid lowering therapy were higher in those ≥15 years with odds ratio of 2.9 and much higher in those with a familial hypercholesterolemia (OR 165.2).

Take home message from authors: “our findings suggest lipid lowering therapy is underutilized in this population.”   It is likely that many who have undergone testing and who have abnormal lipids are not being treated.  If so, why bother testing?

Related posts:

Updated HCV Guidelines Published

Posted on by

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) has published updated Hepatitis C guidelines. The complete guidance is available online at www.hcvguidelines.org.

An updated edition of Recommendations for Testing, Managing, and Treating Hepatitis C is now published in HEPATOLOGY. This condensed version of the Guidance includes a summary of recommendations regarding treatment with direct-acting antiviral drugs. Download the PDF now.

Authors are now able to cite the guidelines in their publications as an Accepted Article, doi: 10.1002/hep.27950.

Guidelines for Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Posted on by

For a little while, I’ve meant to complete a post on the EoE guidelines published last fall (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2011; 128: 3-20).  This article, based on the input of 33 physicians with EoE expertise, provides a lot of depth to this unfolding area in pediatric gastroenterology.

Diagnosis of EoE. The authors caution that this diagnosis is not a histologic diagnosis as a number of entities can cause esophageal eosinophilia; at the same time, a minimum number of eosinophils, 15/hpf, is a necessary diagnostic threshold.  A small number of patients may have EoE with fewer than 15/hpf, including PPI-responsive EoE, inadequate biopsy sampling, seasonal variation, or partial treatment (eg. patient on corticosteroids).

How many biopsies?  In one cited study in the article, 2, 3, and 6 biopsies had sensitivity of 84%, 97%, and 100% respectively.  Endoscopic biopsies remain the only reliable diagnostic test.

Why are there a subset of PPI-responsive EoE patients?  Potential explanations include improvement in immune-activation after healing of esophageal mucosa, inherent anti-inflammatory property of PPIs, or due to pitfalls in current diagnostic testing.  Due to recognition of this disorder, pH testing may be needed in many patients with suspected EoE.  Even still, the authors note that “PPI responsiveness or diagnostic testing (pH monitoring) might not adequately distinguish GERD and EoE.”

How useful are genotypic features?  Clinical  use of genotypes is not feasible at this time.  However, it is anticipated that esophageal gene expression will emerge as one way to differentiate EoE from other conditions and to determine optimal treatments.

What type of allergy evaluation? The majority of EoE patients have concurrent atopic diseases, including rhinitis, asthma, and eczema.  Thorough evaluation by an allergist (or immunologist) is recommended.  Specific recommendations: skin prick testing (SPT), serum IgE for immediate-type food allergy.  Atopy patch testing (APT) has high negative predictive values, >90%, except for milk which is ~50%.  APT needs to “be standardized and validated.”

Biomarkers? “Insufficient evidence to support any peripheral marker” including cytokines, and IgE (total).

Treatment –PPI: PPIs are useful to distinguish GERD as well as PPI-responsive EoE from EoE requiring other treatments.  They also help with symptomatic treatment in some patients who have secondary GERD.  Recommended dose in children 1 mg/kg/dose BID.

Treatment –Dietary: Three dietary regimens have potential effectiveness: 1) selective food diet based on allergy testing, 2) dietary restriction of the most likely food antigens (eg. six food group diet elimination) and 3) strict amino acid based diet.  Tolerance of foods that have been shown previously to provoke EoE is unlikely to develop in the majority of EoE patients.

Treatment –Corticosteroids: Corticosteroids are effective but when discontinued EoE almost always recurs.  Systemic corticosteroids can be particularly useful when severe dysphagia is present.  With severe endoscopic findings, a course of corticosteroids may help reduce the need for dilatation or lessen the risk.  Long-term use of systemic steroids is not recommended.  Topical steroids should be considered in all patients with EoE.  Recommended doses are given.

  • For fluticasone:  88-440 μg 2-4 times per day (max 880 μg BID)
  • For budesonide: 1mg daily (<10 y) and 2 mg daily (≥10 y)
Treatment –Dilation:  Dilation can provide relief of dysphagia.  In most cases, medical or dietary therapy should be attempted prior to use of dilation.  Goal of 15-18 mm.  Practical advice (not validated in studies): Limit dilation progression per session to 3 mm or less after resistance has been encountered.
Treatment –Alternatives:  Cromolyn, leukotriene receptor antagonists, or immunosuppressive agents (eg azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine) are “not recommended.”
Complications: Perforations (spontaneous & procedure-related), food impactions, strictures, and narrow caliber esophagus.  There has not been evidence of an increased esophageal cancer risk in EoE patients to date.
Unresolved issues: Despite the extensive consensus on many of these issues, the conclusions inform the reader of how far we need to go.  Some of the unresolved questions include such basic problems:
  • “Importance of treating asymptomatic patients”
  • “Natural history of EoE and rates and predictive indexes of complications”
  • “Accuracy of skin prick and patch testing”
  • “Optimal end points of treatment”

Previous related blog posts:

The undiscovered country

Eosinophilic Esophagitis -Six Food Group Diet

Practical information on EoE for families:

http://www.ccdhc.org/diseases/EoE.html