Gastric cancer and pernicious anemia appearing as pseudoachalasia.

An elderly black man was admitted to our institution with macrocytic anemia, dysphagia, and significant weight loss. Results of an esophagogram were suggestive of achalasia. Gastric adenocarcinoma infiltrating the gastric cardia was seen on gastroscopy.

Emerging role of endoscopic variceal band ligation in the treatment of esophageal varices.

Bleeding from esophageal varices is the most catastrophic complication of portal hypertension. The associated high morbidity and mortality have necessitated the development of safe and efficacious therapeutic modalities. In recent years, endoscopic band ligation of esophageal varices has proved to be a useful tool in the control of acute variceal bleeding and the prevention of recurrent bleeding.

Serum gastrin levels in patients with colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyps: a prospective study.

Serum gastrin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in 62 patients with colorectal neoplasms (40 with adenomatous polyps and 22 with cancer) and 40 controls. Fasting serum gastrin in both the polyp (73.93 +/- 6.

Experimental autoimmune hepatitis in mice following immunization with syngeneic liver proteins.

In this study, we describe the successful induction of experimental autoimmune hepatitis by immunizing inbred strains of mice with syngeneic liver antigens. Hepatic lesions, presumably based on autoimmune mechanisms, induced after 3 weekly immunizations were of only moderate degree. Of the various mouse strains used, C57BL/6 mice showed the most prominent histological changes of the liver, which were accompanied by elevated serum alanine aminotransferase levels.

Gastric carcinoma among younger individuals in Mississippi.

During a time when gastric cancer in the United States appears to be decreasing in incidence and occurring primarily in older individuals, a 12-year review of our experience (1977 to 1989) has identified a disproportionate number of gastric cancers in the young black population. In this series of 97 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma, the mean age at diagnosis was 58 years (range, 22 to 84 years). There were 54 men (56%) and 43 women; 78 (80%) were black, 17 (18%) were white, one was American Indian, and one was Mexican.

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhosis: clinical and laboratory features, survival and prognostic indicators.

This is a retrospective study of 35 patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and liver cirrhosis identified between 1981 and 1989. The mean age of all patients was 44 years, with a range of 16 to 68. Criteria for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis included either a positive ascites culture with a polymorphonuclear cell concentration greater than 250 cells per mm3 (18 cases) or a negative ascitic fluid culture with a polymorphonuclear cell count greater than 500 cells per mm3 and no evident intra-abdominal source of infection (17 cases).