[Sonography in acute pancreatitis--diagnosis, assessment of etiology and evaluating prognosis].

Fifty consecutive patients suffering from acute pancreatitis were studied prospectively with regard to the role of ultrasound (US) in diagnosis, in detection of a biliary origin, and in initial assessment of prognosis. In six patients the pancreas could not be visualised, whereas in 19 only partial examination was possible. In 34% no diagnostic abnormalities were found.

Detection of biliary origin of acute pancreatitis. Comparison of laboratory tests, ultrasound, computed tomography, and ERCP.

Fifty consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis were assessed with respect to a biliary origin of the disease. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography, surgery, and autopsy were used to define biliary pancreatitis. Ultrasound, computed tomography, and several laboratory tests (SGOT, SGPT, alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin) were analyzed for their ability to detect a biliary origin of the disease.

Effects of different-shaped tissue expanders on transluminal pressure, oxygen tension, histopathologic changes, and skin expansion in pigs.

This study, performed on domestic pigs, was designed to show whether the shape and size of a tissue expander influences the amount of surface area increase. When a defect is irregular, a larger custom-fitted implant is more efficient than several smaller expanders. Oval implants gained 5 percent more skin using 50 percent less time and almost 20 percent less intraluminal pressure, while U-shaped implants yield 2.

[Value of computer tomography for evaluation of local operability and choice of surgical procedure in esophageal cancer].

The correlation of the preoperative staging by CT with the post-operative or postmortem staging was investigated in 74 patients with esophageal carcinoma. Criteria for the evaluation of local resectability were analyzed prospectively. According to TNM-classification, the pre- and post-operative staging showed identical results in T1 in 3/4, in T2 in 17/26 and in T3 in 42/44 patients.

[Breast enlargement with silastic prosthesis. Critical results 6 years later].

68 patients have undergone augmentation mammaplasties in the last 6 years in our Dept. of Surgery. 15 reoperations (capsulotomy, capsulectomy, change of the implant) had been necessary.

[Neostigmine and dehiscence of intestinal anastomoses (author's transl)].

In a study from 1968, anastomotic leakage was reported to be nine times as frequent if neostigmine was used for reversal of curare action than in control patients. Subsequent studies did not confirm this finding although it is not disputed that neostigmine activates bowel peristalsis. Both animal experiments and clinical observations indicate that anastomoses in undamaged bowel, if properly done, withstand all kinds of hyperperistalsis.

[Glycoside induced intestinal ischemia. Therapeutic possibilities (author's transl)].

Intestinal infarction in the absence of organic vascular occlusion received increasing attention in recent years. There is strong evidence from experimental work and clinical observations that cardiac glycosides may play an important role in the pathophysiology of this disorder. Our experiments using the so called mechanical ventricular massage confirm this theory.

[Hemorrhagic enteropathy].

Intestinal infarction in the absence of organic vascular occlusion received increasing attention in recent years. The clinical picture is discussed based on results in 9 cases, an attempt to suggest a possible pathophysiological mechanism is made. Prophylactic digitalisation especially in the elderly patient in the absence of severe heart failure and in cases with already low mesenteric perfusion may lead to a further vasoconstriction and to hemorrhagic enteropathy.

The entity of non occlusive mesenteric ischemia: strophanthin effect on mesenteric blood flow in experimental animals.

Digitalis glycosides have the well known positive inotropic effect on the heart. Their effect on extracardiac vascular smooth muscle receives increasing attention. In experimental animals a significant decrease in mesenteric blood flow and an increase in mesenteric vascular resistance could be shown.

[Therapeutic modification of blood circulation disorders of the intestine due to strophantin].

The vasoconstrictor effects of strophanthin on mesenteric hemodynamics were studied using mechanical ventricular massage to exclude the cardiac effects of the drug. The administration of a calcium antagonistic compound prior to digitalis, together with and after digitalis application, prevented the vasoconstrictor response completely. From our experimental experience the combination of cardiac glycosides with calcium antagonistic compounds seems rational.

[Effect of strophanthin on intestinal blood flow. A contribution to the physiopathology of hemorrhagic enteropathy].

The purpose of the present study was to compare in canine experiments hemodynamic and angiographic effects on mesenteric circulation. I. v.