1Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Jikei University, Tokyo, Japan
2Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
3Kyoto Min-Iren Chuo Hospital, Kyoto, Japan
4First Department of Internal Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan
5Division of Internal Medicine, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, Yamagata, Japan
6Department of Gastroenterology, Oita University, Oita, Japan
7Department of Internal Medicine 5, Tokyo Medical University, Ibaraki, Japan
8Third Department of Internal Medicine, Toyama University, Toyama, Japan
9Division of Gastroenterology, Tsukuba University, Ibaragi, Japan
10Second Department of Internal Medicine, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan
11Division of Gastroenterology, International Medical Center of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
12Department of Technology Assessment and Biostatistics, National Institute of Public Health, Saitama, Japan
13Department of Pathology, Kitasato University, Kanagawa, Japan
14Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan
Correspondence: Toshifumi Ohkusa, MD, PhD, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kashiwa Hospital, Jikei University School of Medicine, 163-1 Kashiwashita, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8567, Japan. E-mail: [email protected]
published online 9 March 2010
Received 26 September 2009; accepted 20 January 2010
