Aim:  Transanal haemorrhoidal dearterialization (THD) is a surgical procedure providing Doppler-guided ligation of haemorrhoidal arteries, to reduce arterial flow. With proximal Doppler-guided dearterialization arterial ligation is achieved by introducing the proctoscope completely into the anal canal and lower rectum. In the present study, distal Doppler-guided dearterialization (DDD) is performed in ...

BACKGROUND: We observed bone marrow signal changes (BMSC) in patients with plexiform neurofibromas after treatment with imatinib mesylate (Gleevec). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the pattern and natural history of BMSC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data were obtained from a pilot study of imatinib mesylate in patients with plexiform neurofibromas. All patients ...

We investigated a short pain-provoked head-up tilt (PP-HUT) and the Calgary Syncope Symptom Score in a group of patients with clinically diagnosed vasovagal syncope and group of neurological patients without transient loss of consciousness. We included 127 consecutive patients who were investigated in our laboratory. The group 1 included 56 ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical features, treatment, and outcomes of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN)-like vasculitis in association with minocycline therapy. METHODS: We identified all subjects ≥18 years old with PAN-like vasculitis in the context of minocycline use seen at our institution between January 1995 and October 2010. Cases of hepatitis B-associated ...

We used ultrasound to evaluate iliopsoas bursitis (IB) prevalence in 860 patients (568 males, 292 females, 62 ± 7 years) suffering from symptomatic Kellgren-Lawrence grade II-III-IV hip osteoarthritis. Lequesne index and visual analogue scale (VAS) were recorded. Anterior hip was scanned and images recorded. Maximum IB diameter was measured and ...

Phase I testing of the hu14.18-IL2 immunocytokine in melanoma patients showed immune activation, reversible toxicities, and a maximal tolerated dose of 7.5 mg/m(2)/day. In this phase II study, 14 patients with measurable metastatic melanoma were scheduled to receive hu14.18-IL2 at 6 mg/m(2)/day as 4-h intravenous infusions on Days 1, 2, and 3 ...

OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to characterize the left atrial (LA) and pulmonary vein (PV) electrophysiological and hemodynamic features in obese patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated with increased risk for AF. METHODS: A total of 63 consecutive patients with AF who had normal left ventricular (LV) ejection ...

The M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA(2)R) is the major target antigen in idiopathic membranous nephropathy with detectable autoantibodies in the serum of up to 70% of patients. In retrospective studies, the PLA(2)R-autoantibody titer in the serum was sometimes negative indicating their measurement alone may be inconclusive. In order to better ...

Our aim was to investigate the reliability of ultra-short HRV in patients with DM. A good correlation was found between the 1 minute and 5 minute parameters for maximal-RR, minimal-RR, average-RR, SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, and total power. Also, a good correlation between 10 second and 5 minute parameters was found ...

BACKGROUND: Patients receiving chronic dialysis therapy are presumed to be at risk for 25(OH) D(3) deficiency, but little information is available on its prevalence, manifestations of deficiency, and the impact of ergocalciferol supplementation. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective study of 51 prevalent pediatric patients on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis was conducted ...

BACKGROUND: Due to the challenging nature of the type III sphincter of the Oddi dysfunction (SOD) patient, the suspected low diagnostic yield from endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), the high complication rate, and the potential for litigation it is surprising that diagnostic ERCP continues to be performed in this patient population. ...

Intrapulmonary shunting (IPS) due to pulmonary vascular dilatation is frequently observed among patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD). This study investigated the prevalence and impact of IPS after liver transplantation (LT) in children. A total of 77 pediatric patients who underwent primary LT were enrolled. All patients had trans-thoracic contrast ...

The etiology of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) includes inflammation, coagulation, and endothelial dysfunction. We have prospectively evaluated relations between these mechanisms and AAA growth. Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, endothelin (ET)-1, CD40 ligand and the complex formed between activated protein C (APC) and protein C inhibitor (PCI) were measured ...

Object A growing skull fracture (GSF) is a rare but significant late complication of skull fractures, usually occurring during infancy and early childhood. Delayed diagnosis and improper treatment could exacerbate this disease. The aim of this study was to introduce a new hypothesis about, describe the stages of, and discuss ...

Percutaneous closure of the patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a widely used procedure in patients with paradoxical embolism. Whether or not implantation of a PFO closure device alters cardiac chamber anatomy and in turn affects valvular function is unclear. Out of 334 patients who underwent PFO closure between 2002 and ...

: There is evidence for comorbidity of migraine and epilepsy. We used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess cortical excitability in migraine compared with control subjects and patients with epilepsy. : Twenty-six patients drug-naive patients with newly diagnosed migraine were studied. These were compared with 19 healthy control subjects and ...

: Previous case reports and small series have reported on the treatment of eosinophilic granuloma of bone. We present our long experience in a large group of children and teenagers with symptomatic eosinophilic granuloma of the appendicular skeleton to evaluate clinical and imaging outcome after methylprednisolone injection. : Sixty-six patients ...

DISEASE OVERVIEW: Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorder that is classified as a myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm by the 2008 World Health Organization classification of hematopoietic tumors. It is characterized by absolute monocytosis (>1 × 10(9) L(-1) ) in the peripheral blood that persists for at least ...

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of icatibant self-administration in 15 patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) types I or III, for 55 acute attacks (mostly severe or very severe). Icatibant self-administration was generally effective: first symptom improvement occurred in 5 min-2 h (HAE type I; n = 17) and 8 min-1 h (HAE type III; n = 9) ...

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether any significant changes in the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD), possibly resulting from the exceedingly rapid economic development and the aggressive prevention and treatment of kidney diseases in the Chinese population, have occurred over the past two decades. METHODS: The medical records of 173 ...

BACKGROUND: Aortic valve area (AVA) in aortic stenosis (AS) can be assessed noninvasively or invasively, typically with similar results. These techniques have not been validated in elderly patients, where common assumptions make them most prone to error. Accurate assessment of AVA is crucial to determine which patients are appropriate candidates ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the usefulness of hysteroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of postcesarean scar defect. DESIGN: Retrospective study (Canadian Task Force classification III). SETTING: Two university-affiliated hospitals. PATIENTS: Sixty-two patients with postcesarean scar defects were retrospectively analyzed. INTERVENTIONS: All patients with postcesarean scar defects diagnosed using ultrasonography and ...

OBJECTIVES: The myeloproliferative neoplasms displaying a PDGFRB rearrangement are rare diseases derived of a haematopoietic stem cell. The goals of the study were to assess the incidence of these disorders, and to define the clinical and biological characteristics as well as the response to the imatinib therapy. METHODS: A total ...

Background and objectives: Calcific uraemic arteriolopathy (CUA), also known as calciphylaxis, is a rare but life-threatening condition that almost exclusively affects patients with chronic kidney disease. Several therapies have been employed to treat this disease but with irregular results. We report a prospective case series of eight patients diagnosed with ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although conjugate eye deviation (CED) on head CT has been described in patients with acute stroke, the incidence in other patient groups remains unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of eye deviation on head CT in non-stroke patients compared to patients with ...

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) tends to progress to end-stage renal disease without any intervention. Neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) ratio may be indicative of an underlying inflammatory state. We aimed to investigate the role of N/L ratio for prediction of progression to dialysis in patients with stage 4 CKD. Methods: We included ...

Many patients with persistent dysphagia and regurgitation after therapy have low or no lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure. Distensibility of the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) largely determines esophageal emptying. We investigated whether assessment of the distensibility of the EGJ is a better and more integrated parameter than LES pressure for determining ...

BACKGROUND:Despite the availability of diagnostic criteria, an overlap between neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS) exists, particularly in the early stage of the disease. OBJECTIVE:To study the value of NMO-immunoglobulin G (IgG) determination in Caucasian patients with a first demyelinating episode who develop a relapsing form of optic neuritis ...

Background/Aims: Liver cirrhosis is considered to be a contraindication for pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). The aim of this study was to present 4 cases of successful PD in cirrhotic patients. Methodology: Among the charts of 90 patients who underwent PD between 2004 and 2008, 4 patients with liver cirrhosis were retrospectively reviewed. ...

INTRODUCTION: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) arising from the right ventricular inflow (RVI) region is uncommon. There is minimal literature on the clinical and electrocardiographic characteristics of RVI VT. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients with RVI VT who underwent electrophysiology study between 2006 and 2011 was performed. Patients with structural heart ...

Expansive vessel wall remodeling has been previously reported after implantation of drug-eluting stents. These abnormal vessel wall reactions (AVWR), though uncommon may be associated with serious clinical events. We report on a series of patients in whom symptoms developed despite patent stents. We report a series of 10 consecutive patients ...

The objective of this study was to determine whether contact allergens play a role in chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU). We conducted a longitudinal prospective study of 23 patients with CIU. Patients were patch tested to a modified North American Contact Dermatitis Group standard, fragrance, and cosmetic series; other series were ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the chest computed tomography findings of influenza A (H1N1) pneumonia and their relationship with clinical outcome. Chest computed tomography findings and clinical outcomes of 76 patients with influenza A (H1N1) pneumonia were assessed. Computed tomography findings were evaluated for the presence ...

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is common in patients with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction (EHPVO). There is no study on the treatment of MHE using lactulose in patients with EHPVO. Consecutive EHPVO patients were assessed by psychometric (number connection test (NCT-A and B), digit symbol test (DST), serial dot test (SDT), ...

Short accessory pathway (AP) effective refractory period (ERP) is one of the risk factors in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW). The purpose of study was to evaluate the reproducibility of APERP measurement during a same electrophysiological study (EPS). EPS consisted of 2 APERP measurements performed prospectively in 77 patients for a WPW ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the natural history of epilepsy and response to anti-epileptic drug treatment in patients with Angelman syndrome (AS) in Korea. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 14 patients diagnosed with epilepsy out of a total of 17 patients with a genetic diagnosis ...

Choroid plexus papillomas (CPPs) are generally regarded as benign tumors with typical radiologic and pathologic findings. However, they sometimes have unusual findings. We have analyzed radiologic findings and pathologic growth patterns on CPPs. The study group included 5 male and 5 female patients (age range, 3 months to 58 years ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether body mass index (BMI) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) are risk factors for kidney function decline in predialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of 125 stage 3 to 5 predialysis CKD patients. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: CKD patients receiving care in Kingston, Ontario, ...

To evaluate long-term clinical course of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) and predictive factors associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and survival. We analyzed 67 patients with BCS between June 1988 and May 2008. The diagnosis of BCS was confirmed by hepatic venous outflow obstruction shown on abdominal ultrasound sonography, ...

Aim: Visceral adiposity is linked with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) (called Syndrome Z), and both correlate with coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of the present study was to determine the significance of excess visceral fat, SDB and circulating levels of biomarkers in CAD in Japanese men.Methods: SDB, visceral fat area ...

OBJECTIVE: To define the evolution of the single-ventricle (SV) heart in adult patients in terms of morbidity, mortality and quality of life. METHODS: Sixty-two patients with SV physiology and aged older than 16 years were retrospectively reviewed. Three patients (5%) were in natural history, one had received a Blalock-Taussig shunt, ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Simultaneous EEG/fMRI is an effective noninvasive tool for identifying and localizing the SOZ in patients with focal epilepsy. In this study, we evaluated different thresholding strategies in EEG/fMRI for the assessment of hemodynamic responses to IEDs in the SOZ of drug-resistant epilepsy.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Sixteen patients with focal epilepsy ...

To determine whether high concentration oxygen increases the PaCO(2) in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. Randomized controlled clinical trial in which patients received high concentration oxygen (8 L/min via medium concentration mask) or titrated oxygen (to achieve oxygen saturations between 93 and 95%) for 60 minutes. Transcutaneous CO(2) (PtCO(2)) was ...

PURPOSE:: We identified a pattern of concentric circular transillumination defects (TIDs) in a few patients with exfoliation syndrome (XFS) using an infrared detection system. This pattern of iris abnormality has also been observed in a mouse model of XFS. The objective of the current study is to determine whether concentric ...

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the mortality and the factors which may affect it in patients who were transferred to peritoneal dialysis (PD) from hemodialysis (HD), compared to patients assigned to PD as first-line therapy. Material and Methods: A total of 322 patients treated with PD ...

AV Conduction After TAVI and SAVR. Introduction: Atrioventricular conduction abnormalities (AVCA) may complicate transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate AVCA after TAVI and SAVR. Methods and Results: Among 50 patients undergoing TAVI and 25 patients undergoing ...

The surgical management of double orifice left atrioventricular valve (DOLAVV) in atrioventricular septal defects (AVSD) can be challenging and has important surgical implications. Between 1961 and 2009, 44 patients with DOLAVV associated with AVSD were reviewed; this constituted 6.7% of cases of AVSD. The median age at operation was 6.6 ...

The CHADS(2) (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age >75 years, diabetes mellitus, stroke or transient ischemic attack [2 points]) scoring scheme has been found to be a good predictor of stroke risk in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the value of the CHADS(2) scoring system in the risk stratification ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiological and clinical findings of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) after liver transplantation. This study included 25 consecutive liver transplant recipients with histologically confirmed IPA after liver transplantation. Radiological examinations performed for diagnosis were available in all patients. Clinical findings and changes ...

INTRODUCTION Atrial fibrillation(AF) is a common arrhythmia affecting ca. 1-2% of the general population. OBJECTIVES The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of thoracoscopic ablation in AF patients.  PATIENTS AND METHODS 25 patients aged from 42-77(mean 56.4 years) with persistent or longstanding persistent AF were selected. Thoracoscopic ...