A case of leiomyosarcoma of the small bowel mesenterium.

Leiomyosarcoma of the small bowel mesenterium is a rare entity. Approximately 21 cases originating from the small bowel mesenterium have been described in the Japanese literature. Differentiation from its benign counterpart, leiomyoma, and other connective tissue tumors is often difficult, but it is important because each respective tumor type has an entirely different prognosis.

Prosthetic valve thrombosis after abdominal surgical procedures: a case report.

A 63-year-old woman with a prosthetic mitral valve who developed valve thrombosis after abdominal surgical procedures is reported. She had undergone mitral valve replacement with a Sorin-Bicarbon valve 3 years previously, and was referred for an operation due to rectal cancer with anal bleeding. On admission, the patient was on oral anticoagulant therapy with warfarin, and the intensity of anticoagulation was around 40% of Thrombotest.

Three cases of the giant gastric leiomyosarcomas.

We report three cases of giant gastric leiomyosarcoma. Diagnosis was made prior to surgery using various diagnostic modalities. The patients were two women (77 and 77 years old) and one man (40 years old) whose chief complaints were abdominal pain, anorexia, and tarry stool.

Treatment of bile leaks from cystohepatic and common hepatic duct after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is widely accepted by patients and physicians despite the lack of controlled trials comparing this technology with conventional cholecystectomy. The cystohepatic ducts represent accessory bile ducts of variable size which frequently travel within the gallbladder fossa or in the posterior wall of the gallbladder. These ducts can be injured during laparoscopic cholecystectomy and can result in bile collection if transected.

A case of giant leiomyosarcoma of the rectum.

A 63 year-old-man was admitted to our hospital with the chief complaint of dyschezia. Digital examination revealed a large solid mass on the posterior wall of the rectum. Endoscopically, the tumor was covered by an intact mucosal layer.

Angiodysplasia of the stomach confirmed by endoscopy and selective angiography--report of a case.

Gastric angiodysplasia that caused continuous gastrointestinal bleeding is reported in a 75-year-old woman who had been treated with repeated blood transfusions because of severe anemia. Endoscopic examination was performed and revealed a bright-red lesion on the anterior wall of the upper gastric body. Injection therapy was performed at first, but the follow-up endoscopy showed a recurrent red lesion in same place.

BEN1 and ZEN1 cDNAs encoding S1-type DNases that are associated with programmed cell death in plants.

We describe the isolation and characterization of cDNAs encoding two DNases that may be involved in the programmed death of plant cells: a 35-kDa nuclease of barley, which had been reported to be secreted from the aleurone layer into the endosperm during germination and may be responsible for the digestion of nuclear DNA in the course of degradation (cell death) of endosperm, and a 43-kDa nuclease of zinnia, which appears transiently in association with differentiation to tracheary elements and is likely to participate in the autolysis at the final step of the differentiation. Genes for these nucleases of barley and zinnia were designated BEN1 and ZEN1, respectively. The amino acid sequence of BEN1 protein deduced from the nucleotide sequence of BEN1 cDNA consisted of 288 residues with a putative signal sequence of 23 residues.

Ileo-abdominal wall fistula caused by diverticulum of the ileum.

We report a very rare case of ileo-abdominal fistula caused by penetration of the ileal diverticulum. Small bowel diverticulosis is generally considered to be an innocuous condition. In this report, we describe a case of ileal diverticulitis associated with an abdominal wall abscess.

Aortic valve replacement with a small mechanical valve prosthesis--a clinical and echocardiographic study of a St Jude Medical valve prosthesis.

The use of small aortic valve prostheses raises concerns about harmful effects of residual obstruction to left ventricular outflow. The present study was undertaken to examine long-term clinical and echocardiographic results in 193 patients who underwent isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) with a St Jude Medical (SJM) valve of 25 mm or smaller. The study subjects comprised 128 male and 65 female patients with a mean age of 54.

Aortic root replacement for Takayasu arteritis associated with ulcerative colitis and ankylosing spondylitis--report of a case.

A 26-year-old man was admitted for treatment of congestive heart failure resulting from aortic regurgitation. The patient had been on medical treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC) since he was 14 years old and for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) since he was 20 years old. On admission, gradients of blood pressure among the extremities were observed.

Minimally diluted tepid blood cardioplegia.

Background: To evaluate the effects of minimally diluted tepid blood cardioplegia, a prospective, randomized study was undertaken.

Methods: Thirty-seven patients undergoing isolated primary coronary artery bypass grafting were randomized to receive standard 4:1 diluted tepid blood cardioplegia (4:1 group, n = 18) or minimally diluted tepid blood cardioplegia (Mini group, n = 19). Cardioplegic solution was delivered in an intermittent antegrade fashion in both groups.

[Continuous arterial infusion of low-dose cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil as adjuvant therapy in cytoreductive surgery for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma].

We investigated the effectiveness of continuous arterial infusion of low-dose CDDP, 5-FU for residual cancer after cytoreductive surgery for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Thirty-one patients with unresectable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma were classified into two groups by adjuvant therapy after reduction surgery: 1) Low-dose FP Group: 17 patients; continuous arterial infusion of low-dose CDDP, 5-FU via implanted port system; 2) Conventional group: 8 patients; Lipiodolization (6 cases) and transcatheter arterial embolization (2 cases). The five-year survival rate in the low-dose FP group was 34.

Coronary artery revascularization in an adult with coronary aneurysms probably secondary to childhood Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki disease is an acute febrile illness affecting mainly infants and children. The fatal complication of Kawasaki disease is coronary involvement pertaining to coronary artery aneurysms. Surgical experience of adults that had childhood Kawasaki disease with coronary lesion has been rarely reported.

Effects of minimal-dose aprotinin on coronary artery bypass grafting.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of minimal-dose aprotinin in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, we conducted a prospective randomized study.

Methods: A total of 167 patients were randomized to receive no aprotinin treatment (control, n = 57), minimal-dose aprotinin (1.0 x 10(6) KIU; n = 55), or low-dose aprotinin (2.

Hemodynamic performance of the St. Jude Medical Hemodynamic Plus valve.

The hemodynamic performance of the St. Jude Medical Hemodynamic Plus valve (HP) for a small aortic annulus was compared to that of the standard St. Jude Medical valve (SJM).

Aneurysm of aberrant right subclavian [corrected] artery arising from diverticulum of Kommerell. Report of a case with tracheal compression.

A 74-year-old woman presented with severe dyspnea without dysphagia. Computed tomographic scans and Digital subtraction angiography revealed the left aortic arch with an aberrant right subclavian artery arising from the Kommerell's diverticulum and tracheal compression. The aortic arch and the Kommerell's diverticulum were aneurysmal and were responsible for this compression.

[Heart valvular disease in patients 70 years old and older].

From June 1986 to December 1996, 69 patients older than 70 years old underwent AVR (29 cases), MVR (21 cases), MVP (5 cases), DVR (10 cases), aortic root replacement (3 cases), repair of PVL (1 case) in our hospital. There are five (7.2%) operative and hospital deaths.

[Aortic arch surgery in the elderly].

A consecutive series of 16 patients over 75 years old who underwent aortic arch operations with hypothermic selective cerebral perfusion from 1994 to 1997 was analyzed. These patients (group O) was compared with 18 patients aged from 70 to 74-year-old (group M) and 38 patients under the age of 69 (group Y) who underwent aortic arch operation during the same period. There were 5 males and 11 females with a mean age of 77.

[Combined superior-transseptal approach to left atrial myxoma].

A 60-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for treatment of an intracardiac tumor Echocardiography revealed a 47 x 30 mm tumor in the left atrium which had a short stalk attached to the atrial septum. At operation, a large left atrial myxoma was extirpated using a combine superior transseptal approach. Through this incision, exposure of the left atrial myxoma and it stalk was excellent and removal of the myxoma was easily performed with minimal minpulation.

Cineradiographic evaluation of ATS open pivot bileaflet valves.

Background And Aims Of The Study: Echocardiography and cineradiography are both valuable for the evaluation of prosthetic valve function, especially of mechanical valves. Although Doppler echocardiography data are available for the recently developed ATS valve, cineradiographic evaluation of leaflet movement of the valve has not been performed.

Materials And Methods: Five patients received aortic and another five mitral valve replacement with the open pivot ATS bileaflet prosthetic valve.

Aortic root replacement for annuloaortic ectasia in Shprintzen-Goldberg syndrome: a case report.

Annuloaortic ectasia due to Shprintzen-Goldberg syndrome (SGS) is reported. A 10-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of chest pain. On admission, he was diagnosed as SGS on the basis of his various anomalies.

Operation for type B aortic dissection using hypothermic selective cerebral perfusion.

A 56-year-old man who had a huge type B dissecting aortic aneurysm extending from the distal arch to the thoracoabdominal aorta underwent replacement of the descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta under hypothermic circulatory arrest with selective cerebral perfusion. The intercostal arteries at the T-8 to T-11 level were preserved with beveled distal anastomosis, and the celiac artery and the intercostal arteries at the T-5 and T-6 levels were reconstructed. The patient recovered uneventfully and is presently doing well 1 year after the operation.

Distribution and neuropeptide content of nitric oxide synthase-containing nerve fibers in arteries and conduction system of the rat heart.

The rat heart receives its blood supply not only from the coronary arteries but also from the accessory coronary arteries that supply mainly the atria. The distribution and chemical nature of nitric oxide synthase-containing nerve fibers in the conduction system as well as the coronary and accessory coronary arteries were investigated using immunohistochemistry and NADPH diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry. A few NADPH-d-positive nerve fibers were observed mainly around the main trunk of the coronary arteries, while NADPH-d-positive fibers were found along the entire course of the accessory coronary arteries from their main branches to the arteriolar level.