To address the challenge of accurately diagnosing chronic pancreatitis (CP), researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have introduced a novel prediction model that combines findings of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with pancreatitis-specific behavioral risk factors.

“We asked, can we come up with a more objective way to diagnose chronic pancreatitis?” says Linda Lee, MD, a gastroenterologist in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy at BWH. “If radiological findings are not obvious for chronic pancreatitis, how do we clinch the diagnosis?”

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When a patient arrives for their colonoscopy inadequately prepped, the procedure takes longer to perform, or must be canceled, which interrupts clinical workflow at significant cost.

“To improve patient preparations and decrease no-show rates, a multidisciplinary team at the Endoscopy Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) conducted a three-month pilot study using a texting tool to provide patients with a digital colonoscopy prep guide before their procedure,” said Jennifer Nayor, MD, an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy at BWH.

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While biologic drugs hold enormous promise for treating a wide range of gastrointestinal disorders, delivering these large molecules into the GI tract is formidable. To address this challenge, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) researcher C. Giovanni Traverso, MB, BChir, PhD, and colleagues have developed an ultrasound method for delivering drugs and macromolecules into the gut. Read More

Specialists in the Mastocytosis Center have developed advanced approaches for evaluating and treating mast cell disease, including state-of-the-art techniques to accurately diagnose the disease. Read More

Imagers, gastric pacemakers and other diagnostic and therapeutic tools could someday transform the way diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are measured and treated. But in order for these electronic devices to work, they need a power source. Traditional power sources, such as batteries, can be incompatible with the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract and have a limited lifespan within the body. A more promising possibility is to power electronic devices from outside the body or potentially by the body. Read More