Browsing by Author "de Alwis, R."

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Development and validation of sinhala version of the chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ) for assessment of quality of life among cirrhotics
(Wiley Blackwell Scientific Publications, 2012) Ranawaka, C.K.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Senanayake, S.M.; de Alwis, R.; Mufeena, M.N.F.; Niriella, M.A.; Dassanayake, A.S.; de Silva, A.P.; de Silva, H.J.
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Chronic liver disease (CLD) has a negative impact on patient quality of life (QOL). The Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ) is a validated tool which measures the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) among cirrhotics. CLDQ is easy to administer and measures six domains of QOL; abdominal symptoms, fatigue, systemic symptoms, activity, emotional functions and worry. It shows good correlation with severity of CLD. No tool had been developed previously to asses QOL among CLD patients in Sri Lanka. Aim of this study was to develop and validate a Sinhala version of the CLDQ (sCLDQ). METHODS: A standard method of forward and back-translation by bilingual translators was employed to develop the sCLDQ. Pilot testing was done with relevant linguistic and cultural adaptations. The final version was self-administered to stable CLD patients without significant comorbidities, together with the WHO BREF Sinhala version (a validated QOL assessment tool for any disease), for comparison. sCLDQ was re-administered 4 weeks later to study its internal consistency and reliability. The sCLDQ validation was assessed by Cronabach’s alpha, intraclass correlation coeffi cient (ICC) and Pearson’s correlation coeffi cient. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Forty eight patients participated in the validation process. The item total correlations of sCLDQ varied from 0.30 to 0.82 (except one item, 0.15). Overall Cronabach’s alpha was 0.92. Re-administration of sCLDQ to 15 patients yielded an ICC of 0.54 (p = 0.02). There was a signifi cant correlation (Pearson’s r = 0.34; p = 0.03) between sCLDQ and WHO BREF. Conclusion: sCLDQ was reliable and valid and would be a useful tool to assess QOL among cirrhotic patients in Sri Lanka.
Prevalence of eosinophilic oesophagitis among adult Sri Lankan patients with refractory upper gastrointestinal symptoms: a prospective study
(Wiley Blackwell Scientific Publications, 2012) Ranawaka, C.K.; de Silva, A.P.; de Alwis, R.; Waraketiya, P.R.; Jayathilake, T.M.A.H.; Niriella, M.A.; Dassanayake, A.S.; Hewavisenthi, S.J.de S.; de Silva, H.J.
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) is increasing in the West (community prevalence 0.02–1%). It is especially prevalent among patients with refractory upper gastrointestinal (UGI) symptoms (8.8–48%). Diagnosis is important as the treatment is with corticosteroids and other immunomodulators rather than acid suppression and prokinetics. EOE has been poorly studied in Asian populations. Our aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of EoE among adult Sri Lankan patients with refractory UGI symptoms. METHODS: The study was carried out in the University Medical Unit, Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama, Sri Lanka. Over a period of one year from March 2011, consecutive, consenting patients (aged 18–70) referred for gastroduodenoscopy (OGD); with persistent UGI symptoms despite standard therapy for at least two months were recruited. Patients without significant abnormalities other than features of EoE on OGD underwent two biopsies each from the distal and mid oesophagus. Biopsies were obtained from duodenum and stomach at the same time to rule out possible eosonophilic gastroenteritis. A diagnosis of EoE was made when there were 15 or more intra-epithelial eosinophils per high-power field, according to the international guidelines. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Common refractory symptoms were dyspepsia, gastro-oesophageal refl ux and dysphagia in 74, 64, 27 respectively. Only 106 patients (M: F = 42:64 mean age 48 yrs (SD 13.3) who fulfill the criteria underwent oesophageal biopsies. Endoscopy was macroscopically normal in 98 patients and suggestive of EoE in 8; concentric mucosal rings in 2 and white exudates in 6 patients. Only 2 (1.9%) patients had histological evidence of EoE, both had symptoms of refractory dyphagia and one had compatible macroscopic endoscopic features of EoE (concentric mucosal rings). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of EoE in this Sri Lankan cohort of adult patients with refractory UGI symptoms was much lower than reported in Western series
Profile of gastric varices among Sri Lankan cirrhotics
(Wiley Blackwell Scientific Publications, 2012) Ranawaka, C.K.; Mettananda, K.C.D.; de Alwis, R.; Miththinda, J.K.N.D.; Wijewantha, H.S.; Niriella, M.A.; Dassanayake, A.S.; de Silva, A.P.; de Silva, H.J.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Gastric varices (GV) can result in life threatening bleeding with a higher mortality than esophageal varices. There have been no studies on the characteristics of GV among Sri Lankan cirrhotics. Aim of this study was to perform a descriptive analysis of GV among a cohort of Sri Lankan cirrhotic population. METHODS: We analyzed medical records of all upper gastrointestinal endoscopies performed on cirrhotics, at the University Endoscopy Unit, Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama, Sri Lanka from 2006 to 2011. Characteristics of GV, demographics, indications and fi ndings at endoscopy were analyzed and they were compared among patients with Oesophageal varices (EV). RESULTS: Out of 641 cirrhotics screened, 628 had a complete data set for analysis. GV was detected in 70 (11%) patients; male:female 8.7:1.3; mean age 55 (SD = ± 10.7) years. From these 48/70 had EV (Gastro Oesophageal Varices GOV1 – 18/48, GOV2 – 30/48) in addition to GV. Only 22/70 had Isolated GV (IGV1–10, IGV2–12). Among patients with GV 38 (54%) had portal hypertensive gastropathy and 3 (4%) had gastric antral vascular ectasia. Nineteen (27%) of GV were detected on presentations with UGIB (6 with IGV, 13 with GOV), whereas 51 (73%) were detected on routine screening. EV was detected in 288 (46%) of cirrhotics (Isolated EV 240, GOV 48). Seventy seven (32%) of EV were detected on presentations with UGIB, whereas 163 (68%) were detected on routine screening. There was no statistically significant difference on presentation with UGIB between isolated EV (77/240) vs. IGV (6/22) patients (p = 0.64; χ2 = 0.2). CONCLUSION: The profi le of GV among our cirrhotics is comparable to previous reports from other centres. Findings suggest that in cirrhotic patients presenting with UGIB, a careful search for the presence of GV is as important as identifying EV, even among patients who have EV.