The use of E/A ratio as a predictor of outcome in cirrhotic patients treated with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt. Rabie RN, Cazzaniga M, Salerno F, Wong F. Am J Gastroenterol. 2009 Oct;104(10):2458-66. OBJECTIVES: The clinical significance of diastolic dysfunction in cirrhosis, a feature of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy, is unclear. The aim of this study was to…
Multicentre study of the safety of laparoscopic subtotal gastrectomy for gastric cancer in the elderly. Cho GS, Kim W, Kim HH, Ryu SW, Kim MC, Ryu SY. Br J Surg. 2009 Dec;96(12):1437-1442. BACKGROUND:: The aim of this study was to assess the safety and short-term value of laparoscopic gastrectomy in the elderly with gastric cancer compared…
Statin use and risk of gallstone disease followed by cholecystectomy.Bodmer M, Brauchli YB, Krähenbühl S, Jick SS, Meier CR. JAMA. 2009 Nov 11;302(18):2001-7. CONTEXT: Gallstone disease is a leading cause of morbidity in western countries and carries a high economic burden. Statins decrease hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis and may therefore lower the risk of cholesterol gallstones by…
Errors in the Conduct of Systematic Reviews of Pharmacological Interventions for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Ford AC, Guyatt GH, Talley NJ, Moayyedi P. Am J Gastroenterol. 2009 Nov 17. [Epub ahead of print] OBJECTIVES:Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are integral to evidence-based clinical decision making. Although flawed systematic reviews could compromise optimal decision making, their accuracy has received limited…