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We report five patients with Parkinson's disease and dysphagia who were found, by radiological and manometric evaluation, to have evidence of cricopharyngeal dysfunction, which included the presence of a Zenker's diverticulum in two. Cricopharyngeal myotomy was performed in four patients with excellent and sustained improvement in swallowing. We conclude that cricopharyngeal function should be carefully evaluated in patients with Parkinson's disease and dysphagia and that surgical treatment should be considered in appropriate cases.

These results suggest that an AAR > or =1 may not be as useful for predicting cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis C as previously thought, and emphasizes the need for validation of clinical decision aids on independent patient cohorts.

Background-Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is recommended for average risk adults beginning at age 50. However, 7% of CRC occurs in persons younger than age 50, a group for which risk factors are not well defined. We sought to determine whether a retrospective case-control study could identify risk factors for sporadic CRC and advanced adenomatous polyps (together known as sporadic colorectal neoplasia [CRN]).