The mortality in a group of patients with advanced alcoholic cirrhosis was extremely high with 5 and 15 years' mortality in 71% and 90%, respectively. Independent predictors of a poor prognosis were high age, continuous alcohol consumption of more than 10 g ethanol per day and high levels of alkaline phosphatase.

In quality assurance programmes we recommend a limited number of variables for registration in order to secure high compliance by endoscopists and patients. One year of experience with Gastronet disclosed a satisfactory overall caecal intubation rate, but considerable variation between centres in practice and ability to offer painless colonoscopy. This suggests a need for formal, centralized training of colonoscopists or the development of quality standards for colonoscopy training and practice.

Fecal calprotectin can be used in daily practice to monitor patients with UC receiving infliximab maintenance therapy. Two consecutive measurements >300 mg/kg is more specific than a single measurement for predicting relapse.

Decreasing compliance with registration over time may compromise data quality and the validity of the results. Lower coverage of patient's reports (presumably for the most difficult examinations) may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding colonoscopy performance.

SUMMARY The effect of an intravenous infusion of omeprazole (0.35 mg/kg) and placebo on basal and stimulated (pentagastrin 1.0 ,ug/kg/h) secretion of gastric acid, intrinsic factor and pepsin was studied in 10 healthy male subjects. Omeprazole caused a marked inhibition of basal and stimulated acid output. The inhibition of pepsin output was less marked, but also significant. The output of intrinsic factor, however, showed no significant change. The results indicate that acid and intrinsic factor might have different secretory mechanisms within the parietal cell.Omeprazole (5-methoxy-2(((4-methoxy-3.5-dimethyl-2-pyrydinyl)-methyl)sulphinyl)-lHbenzimidazole), which is the most effective of the substituted benzimidazoles, is a potent inhibitor of acid secretion in isolated parietal cells,' isolated gastric glands,2 as both in animals3 and in man.45These drugs inhibit gastric acid secretion by a mechanism different from antisecretagogues known so far, and studies have provided evidence that omeprazole inhibits the enzyme H+K+-ATP-ase,6 7 which is suggested to be the proton pump of the parietal cell. g-9Intrinsic factorl as well as gastric acid is secreted by the parietal cell. Inhibitors of gastric acid secretion such as histamine H2 receptor antagonists 1-13 as well as atropine14 have been shown to reduce intrinsic factor secretion. Whether or not omeprazole inhibits intrinsic factor secretion is, however, not known. The present investigation was undertaken to measure the effect of omeprazole on acid and intrinsic factor secretion. The effect of omeprazole on pepsin secretion was also measured, since previous studies have shown different results.15-17 Methods SUBJECTSTen healthy male volunteers (mean age 26 years, range 21-37 years) gave written informed consent to the study. The study was approved by the Ethical