Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 37 in total

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  1. Leow AH, Lim YY, Liew WC, Goh KL
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2016 Apr;43(7):831-7.
    PMID: 26847417 DOI: 10.1111/apt.13550
    Marked epidemiological changes in upper gastrointestinal diseases and Helicobacter pylori infection have taken place in the Asian Pacific region. In particular, differences with respect to race in the multiracial Asian population in Malaysia have been important and interesting.
  2. Goh KL, Wong HT, Lim CH, Rosaida MS
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2009 Apr 1;29(7):774-80.
    PMID: 19183160 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2009.03930.x
    Dramatic changes in the prevalence and pattern of gastrointestinal disease has taken place in Asia in recent years.
  3. Cheung TK, Lim PW, Wong BC
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2007 Aug 15;26(4):597-603.
    PMID: 17661763 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2007.03403.x
    BACKGROUND: Non-cardiac chest pain is an important disorder in Asia. The practice and views of gastroenterologists on non-cardiac chest pain in this region are not known.
    AIMS: To determine the current understanding, diagnostic practice and treatment strategies among gastroenterologists on the management of non-cardiac chest pain in Asia.
    METHODS: A 24-item questionnaire was sent to gastroenterologists in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
    RESULTS: 186 gastroenterologists participated with a response rate of 74%. 98% of gastroenterologists managed patients with non-cardiac chest pain over the last 6 months. 64% felt that the number of non-cardiac chest pain patients was increasing and 85% believed that the most common cause of non-cardiac chest pain was GERD. 94% of the gastroenterologists believed that they should manage non-cardiac chest pain patients, but only 41% were comfortable in diagnosing non-cardiac chest pain. The average number of investigations performed was four in non-cardiac chest pain patients, and oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy was the most commonly used initial test. A proton pump inhibitor was considered the first-line treatment in non-cardiac chest pain and was reported as the most effective treatment by the gastroenterologists.
    CONCLUSION: Most gastroenterologists were practicing evidence-based medicine, but frequent use of investigations and a lack of awareness of the role of visceral hypersensitivity in non-cardiac chest pain patients were noted.
  4. Barberio B, Mahadeva S, Black CJ, Savarino EV, Ford AC
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2020 09;52(5):762-773.
    PMID: 32852839 DOI: 10.1111/apt.16006
    BACKGROUND: Prevalence of uninvestigated dyspepsia varies across cross-sectional surveys. This may be due to differences in definitions used or study methodology, rather than global variability.

    AIM: To determine the global prevalence of uninvestigated dyspepsia according to Rome criteria.

    METHODS: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched to identify population-based studies reporting prevalence of uninvestigated dyspepsia in adults (≥18 years old) according to Rome I, II, III or IV criteria. Prevalence of uninvestigated dyspepsia was extracted, according to criteria used to define it. Pooled prevalence, according to study location and certain other characteristics, odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.

    RESULTS: Of 2133 citations evaluated, 67 studies fulfilled eligibility criteria, representing 98 separate populations, comprising 338 383 subjects. Pooled prevalence ranged from 17.6% (95% CI 9.8%-27.1%) in studies defining uninvestigated dyspepsia according to Rome I criteria, to 6.9% (95% CI 5.7%-8.2%) in those using Rome IV criteria. Postprandial distress syndrome was the commonest subtype, occurring in 46.2% of participants using Rome III criteria, and 62.8% with Rome IV. Prevalence of uninvestigated dyspepsia was up to 1.5-fold higher in women, irrespective of the definition used. There was significant heterogeneity between studies in all our analyses, which persisted even when the same criteria were applied and similar methodology was used.

    CONCLUSIONS: Even when uniform symptom-based criteria are used to define the presence of uninvestigated dyspepsia, prevalence varies between countries. This suggests that there are environmental, cultural, ethnic, dietary or genetic influences determining symptoms.

  5. Ford AC, Moayyedi P, Black CJ, Yuan Y, Veettil SK, Mahadeva S, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2021 01;53(1):8-21.
    PMID: 32936964 DOI: 10.1111/apt.16072
    BACKGROUND: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a relapsing and remitting condition affecting between 5% and 10% of people. Efficacious therapies are available, but their relative efficacy is unknown.

    AIM: To perform a systematic review with network meta-analysis to resolve this uncertainty.

    METHODS: We searched the medical literature through July 2020 for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing efficacy of drugs for adults with FD, compared with each other, or placebo. Trials reported a dichotomous assessment of symptom status after completion of therapy. We pooled data using a random effects model. Efficacy was reported as a pooled relative risk (RR) of remaining symptomatic with a 95% confidence interval (CI) to summarise efficacy of each comparison tested. Relative ranking was assessed with surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) probabilities.

    RESULTS: We identified 71 eligible RCTs (19 243 participants). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were ranked second for efficacy (RR of remaining symptomatic = 0.71; 95% CI 0.58-0.87, SUCRA 0.87), and first when only low risk of bias trials were included. Most RCTs that used TCAs recruited patients who were refractory to other drugs included in the network. Although sulpiride or levosulpiride were ranked first for efficacy (RR = 0.49; 95% CI 0.36-0.69, SUCRA 0.99), trial quality was low and only 86 patients received active therapy. TCAs were more likely to cause adverse events than placebo.

    CONCLUSIONS: TCAs, histamine-2 receptor antagonists, standard- and low-dose proton pump inhibitors, sulpiride or levosulpiride, itopride and acotiamide were all more efficacious than placebo for FD.

  6. Mak JWY, Tang W, Yip TCF, Ran ZH, Wei SC, Ahuja V, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2019 12;50(11-12):1195-1203.
    PMID: 31638274 DOI: 10.1111/apt.15547
    BACKGROUND: Little is known of the outcome of patients with perianal Crohn's disease after stopping anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy.

    AIM: To evaluate the rate of relapse in perianal Crohn's disease (CD) after stopping anti-TNF therapy.

    METHODS: Consecutive perianal CD patients treated with anti-TNF therapy with subsequent discontinuation were retrieved from prospective inflammatory bowel disease database of institutes in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore from 1997 to June 2019. Cumulative probability of perianal CD relapse was estimated using Kaplan-Meier method.

    RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 89 months (interquartile range [IQR]: 65-173 months), 44 of the 78 perianal CD patients (56.4%) relapsed after stopping anti-TNF, defined as increased fistula drainage or recurrence of previously healed fistula, after stopping anti-TNF therapy. Cumulative probabilities of perianal CD relapse were 50.8%, 72.6% and 78.0% at 12, 36 and 60 months, respectively. Younger age at diagnosis of CD [adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 1.04; 95% CI 1.01-1.09; P = .04] was associated with a higher chance of perianal CD relapse. Among those with perianal CD relapse (n = 44), retreatment with anti-TNF induced remission in 24 of 29 patients (82.8%). Twelve (27.3%) patients required defunctioning surgery and one (2.3%) required proctectomy. Maintenance with thiopurine was not associated with a reduced likelihood of relapse [HR = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.58-2.12; P = .77]. Among the 17 patients who achieved radiological remission of perianal CD, five (35.3%) developed relapse after stopping anti-TNF therapy after a median of 6 months.

    CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the perianal CD patients developed relapse after stopping anti-TNF therapy. Most regained response after resuming anti-TNF. However, more than one-fourth of the perianal CD patients with relapse required defunctioning surgery. Radiological assessment before stopping anti-TNF is crucial in perianal CD.

  7. Zhou YJ, Gao F, Liu WY, Wong GL, Mahadeva S, Raihan Nik Mustapha N, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2021 08;54(4):470-480.
    PMID: 34152626 DOI: 10.1111/apt.16487
    BACKGROUND: Recently, Papatheodoridi et al proposed to refine the Baveno VI elastography dual-cutoffs and introduce an algorithm for the detection of compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) in asymptomatic European patients with chronic liver diseases.

    AIMS: To validate the performance of the dual-cutoffs (8/12 kPa) and the proposed algorithm to identify patients with cACLD in three well-characterised Asian nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) cohorts.

    METHODS: We included 830 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD. Liver stiffness was measured using transient elastography (FibroScan).

    RESULTS: cACLD was found in 21.8% of patients. Compared with the original Baveno VI elastography criteria (10/15 kPa), the new cutoffs showed a comparable specificity and a higher sensitivity for identifying cACLD. We developed a simplified risk model incorporating age, liver stiffness value, and platelet count, which outperformed liver stiffness measurement alone in two Chinese cohorts (P = 0.001), and was further validated in a Malaysian cohort (P = 0.04). Overall, the "two-step" screening of cACLD improved classification rates from 73.5% by the original dual-cutoffs to 86.7%. Notably, usage of our simplified risk model resulted in significantly lower false-negative rate than the refined screening approach by Papatheodoridi et al (27.1% vs 41.4%; P = 0.01).

    CONCLUSIONS: The dual elastography cutoffs of 8 and 12 kPa are more appropriate to identify cACLD in Asian patients with NAFLD. In combination with a simplified risk model in unclassified patients, the two-step approach showed a classification rate of about 85%.

  8. Deraman MA, Abdul Hafidz MI, Lawenko RM, Ma ZF, Wong MS, Coyle C, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2020 06;51(11):1014-1021.
    PMID: 32343001 DOI: 10.1111/apt.15746
    BACKGROUND: Late-night supper increases the risk of postprandial reflux from the acid pocket especially in obesity. An alginate-based, raft-forming medication may be useful for obese patients with GERD.

    AIMS: To compare the efficacy of Gaviscon Advance (Reckitt Benckiser, UK) and a non-alginate antacid in post-supper suppression of the acid pocket and post-prandial reflux among obese participants.

    METHODS: Participants underwent 48 h wireless and probe-based pH-metry recording of the acid pocket and lower oesophagus, respectively, and were randomised to single post-supper (10 pm) dose of either Gaviscon Advance or a non-alginate antacid on the second night. Primary outcomes were suppression of median pH of acid pocket and lower oesophagus, measured every 10-minutes post-supper for 1 h. Secondary outcomes were suppression of % time pH 

  9. Erdogan A, Rao SS, Thiruvaiyaru D, Lee YY, Coss Adame E, Valestin J, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2016 07;44(1):35-44.
    PMID: 27125883 DOI: 10.1111/apt.13647
    BACKGROUND: Fibre supplements are useful, but whether a plum-derived mixed fibre that contains both soluble and insoluble fibre improves constipation is unknown.

    AIM: To investigate the efficacy and tolerability of mixed soluble/insoluble fibre vs. psyllium in a randomized double-blind controlled trial.

    METHODS: Constipated patients (Rome III) received mixed fibre or psyllium, 5 g b.d., for 4 weeks. Daily symptoms and stool habit were assessed using stool diary. Subjects with ≥1 complete spontaneous bowel movement/week above baseline for ≥2/4 weeks were considered responders. Secondary outcome measures included stool consistency, bowel satisfaction, straining, gas, bloating, taste, dissolvability and quality of life (QoL).

    RESULTS: Seventy-two subjects (mixed fibre = 40; psyllium = 32) were enrolled and two from psyllium group withdrew. The mean complete spontaneous bowel movement/week increased with both mixed fibre (P < 0.0001) and psyllium (P = 0.0002) without group difference. There were 30 (75%) responders with mixed fibre and 24 (75%) with psyllium (P = 0.9). Stool consistency increased (P = 0.04), straining (P = 0.006) and bloating scores decreased (P = 0.02) without group differences. Significantly more patients reported improvement in flatulence (53% vs. 25%, P = 0.01) and felt that mixed fibre dissolved better (P = 0.02) compared to psyllium. QoL improved (P = 0.0125) with both treatments without group differences.

    CONCLUSIONS: Mixed fibre and psyllium were equally efficacious in improving constipation and QoL. Mixed fibre was more effective in relieving flatulence, bloating and dissolved better. Mixed fibre is effective and well tolerated.

  10. Lim WH, Tay P, Ng CH, Tan DJH, Ong C, Koh JH, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2024 Mar;59(6):730-741.
    PMID: 38303565 DOI: 10.1111/apt.17888
    BACKGROUND: Although alcohol abstinence may be an effective intervention for alcohol-associated cirrhosis, its association with prognosis has not been systematically assessed or quantified.

    AIMS: To determine the prevalence of alcohol abstinence, factors associated with alcohol abstinence and the impact of abstinence on morbidity and overall survival in people with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

    METHODS: We searched Medline and Embase from inception to 15 April 2023 for prospective and retrospective cohort studies describing alcohol abstinence in people with known alcohol-associated cirrhosis. Meta-analysis of proportions for pooled estimates was performed. The method of inverse variance, employing a random-effects model, was used to pool the hazard ratio (HR) comparing outcomes of abstinent against non-abstinent individuals with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

    RESULTS: We included 19 studies involving 18,833 people with alcohol-associated cirrhosis. The prevalence of alcohol abstinence was 53.8% (CI: 44.6%-62.7%). Over a mean follow-up duration of 48.6 months, individuals who continued to consume alcohol had significantly lower overall survival compared to those who were abstinent (HR: 0.611, 95% CI: 0.506-0.738). These findings remained consistent in sensitivity/subgroup analysis for the presence of decompensation, study design and studies that assessed abstinence throughout follow-up. Alcohol abstinence was associated with a significantly lower risk of hepatic decompensation (HR: 0.612, 95% CI: 0.473-0.792).

    CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol abstinence is associated with substantial improvement in overall survival in alcohol-associated cirrhosis. However, only half of the individuals with known alcohol-associated cirrhosis are abstinent.

  11. Verma N, Duseja A, Mehta M, De A, Lin H, Wong VW, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2024 Mar;59(6):774-788.
    PMID: 38303507 DOI: 10.1111/apt.17891
    BACKGROUND: The precise estimation of cases with significant fibrosis (SF) is an unmet goal in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD/MASLD).

    AIMS: We evaluated the performance of machine learning (ML) and non-patented scores for ruling out SF among NAFLD/MASLD patients.

    METHODS: Twenty-one ML models were trained (N = 1153), tested (N = 283), and validated (N = 220) on clinical and biochemical parameters of histologically-proven NAFLD/MASLD patients (N = 1656) collected across 14 centres in 8 Asian countries. Their performance for detecting histological-SF (≥F2fibrosis) were evaluated with APRI, FIB4, NFS, BARD, and SAFE (NPV/F1-score as model-selection criteria).

    RESULTS: Patients aged 47 years (median), 54.6% males, 73.7% with metabolic syndrome, and 32.9% with histological-SF were included in the study. Patients with SFvs.no-SF had higher age, aminotransferases, fasting plasma glucose, metabolic syndrome, uncontrolled diabetes, and NAFLD activity score (p  140) was next best in ruling out SF (NPV of 0.757, 0.724 and 0.827 in overall, test and validation set).

    CONCLUSIONS: ML with clinical, anthropometric data and simple blood investigations perform better than FIB-4 for ruling out SF in biopsy-proven Asian NAFLD/MASLD patients.

  12. Cheung JTK, Zhang X, Wong GL, Yip TC, Lin H, Li G, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2023 Dec;58(11-12):1194-1204.
    PMID: 37724633 DOI: 10.1111/apt.17722
    BACKGROUND: Early screening may prevent fibrosis progression in metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).

    AIMS: We developed and validated MAFLD fibrosis score (MFS) for identifying advanced fibrosis (≥F3) among MAFLD patients.

    METHODS: This cross-sectional, multicentre study consecutively recruited MAFLD patients receiving tertiary care (Malaysia as training cohort [n = 276] and Hong Kong and Wenzhou as validation cohort [n = 431]). Patients completed liver biopsy, vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE), and clinical and laboratory assessment within 1 week. We used machine learning to select 'highly important' predictors of advanced fibrosis, followed by backward stepwise regression to construct MFS formula.

    RESULTS: MFS was composed of seven variables: age, body mass index, international normalised ratio, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, platelet count, and history of type 2 diabetes. MFS demonstrated an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.848 [95% CI 0.800-898] and 0.823 [0.760-0.886] in training and validation cohorts, significantly higher than aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (0.684 [0.603-0.765], 0.663 [0.588-0.738]), Fibrosis-4 index (0.793 [0.735-0.854], 0.737 [0.660-0.814]), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (0.785 [0.731-0.844], 0.750 [0.674-0.827]) (DeLong's test p 

  13. Karlas T, Petroff D, Sasso M, Fan JG, Mi YQ, de Lédinghen V, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2018 Apr;47(7):989-1000.
    PMID: 29446106 DOI: 10.1111/apt.14529
    BACKGROUND: Liver fibrosis is often accompanied by steatosis, particularly in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and its non-invasive characterisation is of utmost importance. Vibration-controlled transient elastography is the non-invasive method of choice; however, recent research suggests that steatosis may influence its diagnostic performance. Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP) added to transient elastography enables simultaneous assessment of steatosis and fibrosis.

    AIM: To determine how to use CAP in interpreting liver stiffness measurements.

    METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of data from an individual patient data meta-analysis on CAP. The main exclusion criteria for the current analysis were unknown aetiology, unreliable elastography measurement and data already used for the same research question. Aetiology-specific liver stiffness measurement cut-offs were determined and used to estimate positive and negative predictive values (PPV/NPV) with logistic regression as functions of CAP.

    RESULTS: Two thousand and fifty eight patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria (37% women, 18% NAFLD/NASH, 42% HBV, 40% HCV, 51% significant fibrosis ≥ F2). Youden optimised cut-offs were only sufficient for ruling out cirrhosis (NPV of 98%). With sensitivity and specificity-optimised cut-offs, NPV for ruling out significant fibrosis was moderate (70%) and could be improved slightly through consideration of CAP. PPV for significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were 68% and 55% respectively, despite specificity-optimised cut-offs for cirrhosis.

    CONCLUSIONS: Liver stiffness measurement values below aetiology-specific cut-offs are very useful for ruling out cirrhosis, and to a lesser extent for ruling out significant fibrosis. In the case of the latter, Controlled Attenuation Parameter can improve interpretation slightly. Even if cut-offs are very high, liver stiffness measurements are not very reliable for ruling in fibrosis or cirrhosis.

  14. Rajendra S, Ackroyd R, Murad S, Mohan C, Ho JJ, Goh KL, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2005 Jun 1;21(11):1377-83.
    PMID: 15932368
    Characteristic immune profiles have been demonstrated in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. However, the genetic basis of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease remains unclear.
  15. Goh KL, Manikam J, Qua CS
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2012 May;35(9):1097-102.
    PMID: 22404486 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2012.05054.x
    BACKGROUND:
    H. pylori eradication failures are difficult to treat and rescue therapies often consist of complex treatment regimens.

    AIM:
    To determine an effective and practical rescue therapeutic strategy for H. pylori treatment failures using two consecutive regimens: first rescue therapy - rabeprazole 20 mg t.d.s. and amoxicillin 1 g t.d.s. for 2 weeks and for failures a further second rescue therapy - rabeprazole 20 mg b.d., levofloxacin 500 mg b.d., amoxicillin 1 g b.d. for a further 2 weeks.

    METHODS:
    Consecutive patients who failed the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) 1-week triple therapy were recruited for the study. H. pylori status was determined by a C(13) urea breath test.

    RESULTS:
    One hundred and forty-nine patients received the first rescue therapy. Seven were not compliant to medication/defaulted follow-up. Eradication success- first rescue therapy: per protocol (PP) analysis-107/142 (75.4%) (95% CI (68.3-82.4%) and intention to treat (ITT) analysis-107/149 (71.8%) 95% CI (64.6-79.0%). Thirty-one of 35 patients who failed the first rescue therapy received the second rescue therapy. All were compliant with medications. Eradication success- PP and ITT was 28/31 (90.3%) 95% CI (74.2-98.0%). The cumulative eradication rate using both rescue therapies: PP analysis- 135/138 (97.8%) 95% CI: (93.8-99.6%), ITT analysis- 135/149 (90.6%) 95% CI: (84.7-94.8%).

    CONCLUSIONS:
    A 2-week high dose PPI-amoxicillin dual therapy followed by a PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin triple therapy were highly successful in achieving eradication in H. pylori treatment failures.
  16. Mahadeva S, Raman MC, Ford AC, Follows M, Axon AT, Goh KL, et al.
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2005 Jun 15;21(12):1483-90.
    PMID: 15948816
    There is a paucity of data directly comparing dyspepsia in Western and Eastern populations.
  17. Qua CS, Wong CH, Gopala K, Goh KL
    Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2007 Feb 1;25(3):287-95.
    PMID: 17269990
    Gastro-oesophageal reflux is thought to cause chronic laryngitis through laryngopharyngeal reflux. Response of laryngitis to treatment with acid-suppressive therapy supports this causal link.
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