Prevalence and clinical importance of mesenteric venous thrombosis in the swiss inflammatory bowel disease cohort.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT) in the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort Study and to correlate MVT with clinical outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Abdominal portal phase CT was used to examine patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Two experienced abdominal radiologists retrospectively analyzed the images, focusing on the superior and inferior mesenteric vein branches and looking for signs of acute or chronic thrombosis. The location of abnormalities was registered. The presence of MVT was correlated with IBD-related radiologic signs and complications. RESULTS. The cases of 160 patients with IBD (89 women, 71 men; Crohn disease [CD], 121 patients; ulcerative colitis [UC], 39 patients; median age at diagnosis, 27 years for patients with CD, 32 years for patients with UC) were analyzed. MVT was detected in 43 patients with IBD (26.8%). One of these patients had acute MVT; 38, chronic MVT; and four, both. The prevalence of MVT did not differ between CD (35/121 [28.9%]) and UC (8/39 [20.5%]) (p = 0.303). The location of thrombosis was different between CD and UC (CD, jejunal or ileal veins only [p = 0.005]; UC, rectocolic veins only [p = 0.001]). Almost all (41/43) cases of thrombosis were peripheral. MVT in CD patients was more frequently associated with bowel wall thickening (p = 0.013), mesenteric fat hypertrophy (p = 0.005), ascites (p = 0.002), and mesenteric lymph node enlargement (p = 0.036) and was associated with higher rate of bowel stenosis (p < 0.001) and more intestinal IBD-related surgery (p = 0.016) in the outcome. Statistical analyses for patients with UC were not relevant because of the limited population (n = 8). CONCLUSION. MVT is frequently found in patients with IBD. Among patients with CD, MVT is associated with bowel stenosis and CD-related intestinal surgery.

Five-day plan for smoking cessation using group behaviour therapy.

The "Five-Day Plan to Stop Smoking" (FDP) is an educational group technique for smoking cessation. We studied a cohort of 123 smokers (55 men, 68 women, mean age 42 years) who participated in 11 successive FDP sessions held in Switzerland between 1995 and 1998 and who were followed up for at least 12 months by telephone or direct interview. Overall, 102 of the 123 subjects (83%) had stopped smoking by the end of the FDP, and self-declared smoking cessation rate was 25% after one year. The following factors potentially associated with outcome were studied: age, sex, smoking habit duration, cigarettes per day, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), group size, and medical presence among the group leaders. Smoking habit duration was the only variable which showed a statistically significant association with success: the rate of smoking cessation was higher among patients who had smoked for less than 20 years (34.7% vs. 18.9%, p = 0.049). Stress was the most common cause of relapse. The FDP appears to be an effective smoking cessation therapy. Propositions are made in order to improve the success rate of future sessions.

Toward interoperable bioscience data.

To make full use of research data, the bioscience community needs to adopt technologies and reward mechanisms that support interoperability and promote the growth of an open 'data commoning' culture. Here we describe the prerequisites for data commoning and present an established and growing ecosystem of solutions using the shared 'Investigation-Study-Assay' framework to support that vision.

Interleukin-33 safeguards neutrophils in sepsis.

Cytokines have a fundamental role in orchestrating innate immune responses to bacterial infections. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is now shown to protect from sepsis by promoting neutrophil influx into the focus of infection