[A rare complication of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy: metastasis of adenocarcinoma of the stomach in the area of the gastric stoma].

A percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) was placed by the "pull technique" in a 67-year old patient before initiation of palliative radiation therapy of a gastric adenocarcinoma invading the distal esophagus. A tumor metastasis developed in the peristomal area and around the gastrocutaneous fistula tract; it was most likely caused by implantation of tumor tissue adhering to the PEG tube. This complication of PEG placement appears to be very rare.

Postoperative orthopedic autotransfusion. Successful management for the total knee arthroplasty patient.

Orthopedic autotransfusion is an effective technique that should be available to patients having total knee arthroplasty. Patient safety, however, must not be compromised simply because the blood is autologous. Blood products, in any form, require close observation and careful administration.

[Additional treatment with Esberitox N in patients with chemo-radiotherapy treatment of advanced breast cancer].

A study was made at random on 70 female patients with advanced mamma carcinoma to find out whether an additional treatment with Esberitox N prevents or diminishes the sideeffects of a combined chemo-radiation therapy. As it could not be excluded that the efficacy of Esberitox N on previous affliction by haematotoxic therapy would probably differ, the study was made on various groups of risk. The parameter to form an opinion were either the peripheral hematosis or the appearance of infections.

Cardiopulmonary effects of betamimetic tocolytic and glucocorticoid therapy in pregnant women.

In 35 present women, undergoing tocolytic treatment with betamimetics had intensive monitoring by balloon-tipped catheter. After the administration of 2-4 micrograms/min of fenoterol the cardiac output (CO) increased from 8.2 l/min to over 11 l/min with a corresponding increase in mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) from 11.

Exercise capacity before and after cardiac valve surgery.

Exercise stress testing and right-heart catheterization were carried out in 131 patients before and 6 months after cardiac valve surgery. The exercise capacity increased only a little in patients with mitral or double-valve surgery. In contrast, most patients with an aortic valve replacement had good exercise performance after surgery.

[Diagnostic value of the conventional chest X-ray for the assessment of the hemodynamics after combined aortic and mitral valve replacement].

Conventional roentgenograms of 25 patients who underwent combined aortic and mitral valve replacement were evaluated and correlated with pre- and postoperative functional and haemodynamic parameters. The roentgenograms were obtained 6 months before and up to 25 months after valve replacement. A reduction in heart size could be seen in nearly all patients.

[What is the exercise capacity of patients with heart infarction after surgery of heart wall aneurysms?].

29 patients with a postinfarction left ventricular aneurysm underwent an aneurysmectomy. The majority of patients exhibited a marked symptomatic improvement, a decrease in pulmonary artery pressure and an increase in cardiac index. The exercise capacity however was lower than normal in 80%.

[Left atrial enlargement in mitral valve disease - a comparison of conventional roentgen signs and methods of roentgenographic measurement (author's transl)].

The different signs of left atrial enlargement on the conventional biplane chest roentgenogram and the methods of measurement are discussed and evaluated in 85 patients with mitral valve disease. The posterior displacement of the barium-filled esophagus is the most sensitive qualitative sign for left atrial enlargement. The sagittal left atrial diameter recording to Westcott and coll.

[The differential diagnosis of heart failure (author's transl)].

The causes of heart failure may be classified into three groups, hemodynamic causes, disturbances of cardiac rhythm and conduction and diseases of the myocardium. Accordingly the different causes of heart failure are discussed and the technics for diagnosis reviewed. Particular diagnostic problems are mentioned, which may arise in connection with cardiac echinococcosis, atrial myxoma, sarcoid heart disease and myocardial aneurysm.

[Echocardiographic detection of a left ventricular tumor after myocardial infarction (author's transl)].

A mobile left-ventricular tumor was detected by echocardiography in a 28-years-old patient, who has sustained an anteroseptal infarction four years before. The patient was admitted to hospital because of arterial embolism. The echocardiographic finding was validated by left-ventricular angiography.