Hepatobiliary cystadenoma with mesenchymal stroma: presentation of one case and review of the literature.

We present one case of hepatobiliary cystadenoma with mesenchymal stroma (CMS) which is a very unusual tumor of the biliary tract. These rare neoplasms have been identified as a distinct clinicopathological entity. They occur exclusively in middle-aged women with an average age of 45 years, and are located on the right hepatic lobe.

[Acute hepatitis and poisoning by Amanita phalloides].

We report the case of a 69-year-old woman who presented acute hepatitis due to Amanita Phalloides poisoning complicated of acute renal failure. Her clinical evolution was favorable under medical treatment whose actual modalities are discussed.

Non-surgical management of achalasia.

Pneumatic dilatation of the cardia is an effective procedure to treat patients suffering from achalasia. Eighty percent of these patients can be expected to have excellent or good results for 6 years after the first dilatation. A repeat dilatation should be performed as soon as the patient has recurrent symptoms, usually every 2 years.

Endoscopic treatment of esophagogastric varices.

We report our current management of variceal bleeding with endoscopic sclerotherapy. We emphasize the importance of resuscitation and of recording at time zero and within the first 72 hours clinical and laboratory indicators, as these influence the management of these patients. Primary sclerotherapy using Histoacryl for active bleeding and Ethoxysclerol for recent bleeding should be performed as soon as the patient is stable hemodynamically.

A Pugh score of 8 adequately selects patients with parenchymal cirrhosis for liver transplantation.

The aim of our study was to develop simple and highly effective scores to estimate prognosis at 1 year for patients with parenchymal cirrhosis and to define the optimum time for liver transplantation with the same degree of accuracy as the prognosis estimation for primary biliary cirrhosis. The prognostic value of 19 variables was studied retrospectively in 91 patients with parenchymal cirrhosis using multivariate analysis and logistic regression. The best prognostic index was obtained with two independent variables: ascites and aminopyrine breath test.

Mycoplasma hominis infection of perihepatic hematomas in a liver transplant recipient.

We report the case of a recipient of liver transplantation in whom postoperative perihepatic hematomas were infected by Mycoplasma hominis. Etiologic diagnosis was delayed because this organism is a rare cause of postoperative infection and usually does not grow on standard bacteriologic media. The role of M.

[Emergency intrahepatic shunt via transjugular approach].

We report the case of a cirrhotic 65 year-old woman presenting with persistent and recurrent variceal hemorrhage in spite of endoscopic sclerotherapy with bucrylate, glypressin infusion and balloon tamponade. At the time of intrahepatic shunt placement via the transjugular route, Child-Pugh score was 14 (Child C category) and surgical variceal decompression or liver transplantation were contraindicated. At the end of the procedure, which included the placement of two Palmaz stents, varices were no more opacified and the wedge hepatic venous pressure gradient had decreased from 70%.

[Primary sclerosing cholangitis: contribution of retrograde cholangiography in follow-up: apropos of 15 case reports].

From 1975 to 1989, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) was diagnosed in 15 patients especially based on cholangiographic features associated with clinical, biological and histological findings. 93 p. cent of patients had altered liver enzymes at the diagnosis time but only 26% was asymptomatic.

Management of dysphagia in suspected esophageal motor disorders.

Fifty-three patients suffering from dysphagia because of suspected esophageal motor disorders were treated by pneumatic dilatation using the Rider-Moeller technique. Fifteen had achalasia demonstrated by manometric studies. Forty-nine of them had remarkable clinical improvement after the procedure.

Use of somatostatin for complications occurring after liver transplantation.

Somatostatin can be helpful after liver transplantation in some well-defined indications. In uncontrolled digestive haemorrhage, a short course of somatostatin therapy can be of great help in controlling the acute bleeding and to avoid emergency laparotomy. Somatostatin could also be helpful in bilio-pancreato-intestinal fistula, but in this case its advantage over elective surgical treatment remains to be confirmed.

Liver transplantation for fulminant and subacute viral hepatic failure in adults.

In our early experience, orthotopic liver transplantation was found to be successful in fulminant and subacute hepatic failure due to viral hepatitis in adults, with 66% 1-year survival rate. In the future, more accurate prognostic criteria would probably improve overall survival rate in acute hepatic failure, by allowing better and earlier selection of patients requiring liver transplantation.

[Selection of patients with parenchymal cirrhosis for hepatic transplantation].

The aim of our study was to design simple and practical quantitative scores or indices suitable for deciding a pre-liver transplantation work-up in patients with parenchymal cirrhosis. A Pugh score (combining five variables) superior to 8 or a p value inferior to 0.7 of a logistic regression equation containing only two variables (score of ascites and result of 14C aminopyrine breath test) were found to be highly effective for making this decision.

Factors influencing survival at one year in patients with nonbiliary hepatic parenchymal cirrhosis.

Transplantation may be considered for patients with advanced cirrhosis, however, adequate criteria for evaluating survival in those patients are ill-defined. The aim of the present study was to select, among several clinical and functional variables those that could best predict survival at one year. The data collected from 91 consecutive patients with parenchymal cirrhosis hospitalized in our center from February 1984 to January 1986 were subjected to stepwise logistic regression analysis.

[Lack of predictive factors for symptomatic recurrence of Crohn disease at the site of surgical anastomosis].

Recurrence of Crohn's disease at the ileocolonic anastomosis after curative surgery is frequent. Prognostic value of several parameters at the time of surgery was studied in 37 patients to detect early symptomatic recurrence of Crohn's disease after surgery. These included patient age at the time of surgery, sex, disease duration before surgery, clinical activity index, length of resected bowel, presence of granulomas in resected bowel segment, indication for surgery, type of medical treatment before surgery, and biochemical parameters at the time of surgery (ESR, C reactive protein and serum albumin level).

Pancreaticoduodenal resection for pancreatic or periampullary tumors--a ten-year experience.

Between January 1978, and December 1987, 79 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenal resection for pancreatic (44) or periampullary tumors (ampulla 18, common bile duct 9, duodenum 8). Fifty-five patients were icteric (55/79: 70%); 33 of them underwent preoperative biliary decompression (endoscopic procedures 29, percutaneous transhepatic drainage 3, laparotomy and T-tube placement. 1) After biliary drainage, bilirubin levels decreased from 12.

[Parenteral nutrition at home: 2 years' experience].

Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) must be reserved for patients with an dysfunctional bowel requiring a long-term nutritional support. We report a 2 year experience of HPN at Erasmus Hospital which includes seven patients. Indications and implications of HPN are also discussed.

Percutaneous drainage of subphrenic abscesses.

Forty subphrenic abscesses were drained percutaneously in 37 patients. These abscesses were subsequent to abdominal surgery (28 patients), biliary obstruction and/or fistula (six patients), trauma (two patients) or acute pancreatitis (one patient). The procedures were usually monitored by duplex sonography and fluoroscopy (35 out of 40 cases), with an angled subcostal approach to the subphrenic space in over 85% of the cases.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver following contact with vinyl chloride. Recurrence after orthotopic liver transplantation.

Malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver is a recently recognized and uncommon neoplasm of vascular origin. Few cases have been reported and the treatment remains therefore difficult to define. A relationship to oral contraceptive use has been suggested but no other toxic agents have been incriminated.

Vasoconstrictive effect of portal blood in isolated dog kidney.

Humoral vasoactive substances coming from portal blood have been considered as a possible cause of renal dysfunction in cirrhotic patients. We have thus investigated the effect of perfusion of portal blood from anesthetized dogs on the isolated kidney functions. Both kidneys of a dog were simultaneously perfused on 2 Nizet's pump oxygenators, one kidney serving as control for the other.