Patient Attitudes and Barriers to Endoscopy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: After COVID-19 restrictions on nonessential procedures were lifted and safety protocols established, utilization rates of endoscopic procedures remained reduced.

Aims: This study assessed patient attitudes and barriers to scheduling endoscopy during the pandemic.

Methods: A survey was administered to patients with ordered procedures at a hospital-based setting (7/21/2020-2/19/2021) collecting demographic data, body mass index, COVID-19 relevant comorbidities, level of procedural urgency (defined by recommended scheduling window), scheduling and attendance, concerns, and awareness of safety measures.

Biological Therapies for the Management of Enteric Disease: Considerations for the Clinician.

Several biologic therapies have been approved for enteric diseases. We evaluate each biologic's role based on their mechanism of action in treating these conditions. This review examines data on efficacy and safety, as well as considerations for using these therapies in clinical practice in inflammatory bowel diseases, enteric infections-specifically colitis-and potentially in the increasingly prevalent disorder of eosinophilic esophagitis.

Risk Factors for and Frequency of CT Scans, Steroid Use, and Repeat Visits in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Seen at a Single-Center Emergency Department: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease often present to the emergency department due to the chronic relapsing nature of the disease. Previous studies have shown younger patients to have an increased frequency of emergency department visits, resulting in repeated exposure to imaging studies and steroids, both of which are associated with risks. We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of inflammatory bowel disease patients seen at Houston Methodist Hospital's emergency department from January 2014 to December 2017 using ICD codes to identify patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or indeterminate colitis from the electronic medical record.

Goiter in a Patient with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Treated with Epoprostenol.

A 35-year-old female with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) who presented with complaints of progressively worsening dysphagia, facial swelling, and shortness of breath, was found to have a large goiter. In patients treated with epoprostenol for long periods of time, thyroid disease is common. Most cases of thyroid disease describe thyrotoxicosis and hyperthyroid statues, but our case was a patient on long term IV epoprostenol presenting with a superior vena cava-syndrome (SVC) like appearance and airway compromise found to have a goiter incidentally during workup.

Identification and characterization of catheter-related bloodstream infections due to viridans group streptococci in patients with cancer.

Viridans group streptococci (VGS), a leading cause of bloodstream infection (BSI) in cancer patients, are thought to arise from the gastrointestinal tract. We sought to determine whether central venous catheters may serve as the source of VGS BSI, and to compare the ability of the newly proposed mucosal barrier injury laboratory-confirmed BSI definition to assign a VGS BSI source compared with the catheter-related BSI definition.