[Laparoscopic cholecystectomy--a never-ending success story?].

Today, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most commonly used surgical laparoscopic intervention. The surgeon must familiarize himself with the patient's biliary anatomy using appropriate imaging techniques. Prior to the intervention, an esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy is performed to exclude a florid ulcer.

Glutathione S-transferase polymorphism in Parkinson's disease.

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are involved in the detoxification of endogenous or exogenous toxins, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. We genotyped the Glutathione-S-Transferase isoenzymes GSTM1 and GSTT1 by polymerase chain reaction in order to evaluate different gene polymorphisms of these isoenzymes in 149 parkinsonian and 99 control subjects. No differences appeared between both groups regarding the frequencies of the homozygous deletion of GSTM1 (odds ratio 1.

[Catamnestic results and questions in neurologic rehabilitation--in relation to encephalomyelitis disseminata (multiple sclerosis)].

Owing to the changes in the laws governing the health care system, medical rehabilitation for patients treated as in-patients is becoming increasingly a subject of discussion, especially for chronic illnesses. Using multiple sclerosis (encephalomyelitis disseminata) as an example, a special database is used to examine the courses, contents, improvements or deteriorations seen in in-patient rehabilitation as experienced by 901 patients who were in rehabilitation clinic in the years 1995-1998. This period was selected to allow the ascertainment of possible effects of far-reaching changes in the law taking effect from autumn 1996 onward.

Prolongation of the frequency-corrected QT dispersion following cerebral strokes with involvement of the insula of Reil.

Prolonged QT dispersion is a risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death in patients with cardiac and peripheral artery diseases, but there is no study about prolonged QT dispersion in patients with ischaemic strokes. The insular cortex may play an important role in the genesis of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death. In our study with 40 patients suffering from unilateral hemispheric ischaemic stroke, the QT dispersion was analysed and correlated to the location of the cerebral lesion.

Impaired visual function in focal idiopathic dystonia.

Visual dysfunctions have previously been reported in Parkinson's disease and Huntington's chorea. To further characterize the pathophysiology of vision in basal ganglion diseases, we studied visual functions in focal dystonic syndromes. Colour discrimination and visual contrast perception were investigated in 37 patients with focal idiopathic dystonia (ID; 20 spasmodic torticollis, 17 blepharospasm) and in age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers using the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue test and stationary contrast targets (Vistech plates).