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Among those presenting at this year's Digestive Disease Week meeting are physician-scientists from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. The meeting takes place May 7–10, at McCormick Place, Chicago. The following are two notable research studies:

Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl

A gastroenterologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and instructor in clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

"Increased Prevalence of Colorectal Adenomas and Advanced Neoplasia in Asymptomatic Hispanic and Black Patients Compared to White Patients Undergoing Screening Colonoscopy." AGA Topic Forum. S100-C. Saturday, May 7, 8:30 a.m. CT

The prevalence of colorectal neoplasia (CRN) among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States has not been extensively studied. Previous reports of greater polyp prevalence among blacks have not incorporated histologic findings, and adenoma prevalence among Hispanics as compared with blacks and whites is unknown. Dr. Lebwohl and his co-authors did a retrospective analysis of asymptomatic individuals ≥ 50 years undergoing screening colonoscopy at a single site. They found that prevalence of colorectal adenomas was higher in blacks and Hispanics compared with whites, where blacks had a greater risk of multiple adenomas and Hispanics had a greater risk of large adenomas. Once validated, the authors write, these results may support customized screening and surveillance recommendations based on race and ethnicity to improve outcomes related to colorectal cancer incidence and mortality among diverse, underrepresented populations.

Dr. Amrita Sethi

A gastroenterologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

"Interobserver agreement for Single Operator Choledochoscopy imaging reading: what are we looking at?" AGA Topic Forum. S101. Saturday, May 7, 8:45 a.m. CT

Single Operator Choledochoscopy (SOC) using the SpyGlass™ Direct Visualization System (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) is a platform used to assist in the confirmation of diagnosis of biliary lesions. However, there is little data regarding the interobserver agreement of SPY imaging interpretation. There is currently no established scoring criteria for the cholangioscopic diagnosis of intraductal pathology. In a pilot multicenter study to assess the interobserver agreement and variance in interpretation of SOC, Dr. Sethi and her co-authors report that interobserver agreements of the proposed scoring categories of cholangioscopy images range from slight to fair. The average accuracy of determining a final diagnosis by cholangioscopic imaging by experienced users was less than 40 percent. The authors write that lack of agreement on specific features of imaging as well as the final diagnosis suggest that imaging criteria for malignancy need to be established and training should be addressed.

For more information on Digestive Disease Week, visit www.ddw.org.

Columbia University Medical Center

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The Medical Center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree and is now among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and state and one of the largest in the United States. For more information, please visit www.cumc.columbia.edu.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,353 beds. The Hospital has more than 2 million inpatient and outpatient visits in a year, including more than 220,000 visits to its emergency departments — more than any other area hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the most comprehensive health care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area and is consistently ranked among the best academic medical institutions in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.