Publications by authors named "Heikki O Kiviniemi"
Background: This study was designed to evaluate the natural history of patients admitted for acute diverticulitis.
Methods: Nine hundred and seventy-seven patients admitted to Oulu University Hospital for acute symptoms of diverticular disease during the 20-year period from 1986 to 2005 were identified using a database.
Results: Six hundred and ninety-five patients were admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis and 282 for complicated diverticulitis.
Background/aims: The natural history of young patients admitted for acute diverticulitis in terms of the virulence of the disease and the need for surgical treatment has remained controversial.
Methodology: One thousand eighty-one patients with acute diverticulitis admitted to our hospital from 1986 to 2006 were identified from a computer database and their clinical course was analysed Patients under or over 50 years of age were compared regarding uncomplicated and complicated diverticulitis, the number of admissions, operative procedures performed, morbidity, mortality and recurrence of diverticulitis.
Results: Eighty-one percent of the patients aged under 50 years were admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis, whereas 36 % of the patients aged over 50 years were admitted for complicated diverticulitis (p = 0.
Background/aims: After two documented episodes of uncomplicated diverticulitis, elective colon resection is recommended to prevent complications of the disease but the nature of symptoms in non-operated patients requires specification.
Methodology: A detailed questionnaire concerning clinical variables was mailed to two hundred and sixty patients admitted into our hospital for symptoms of acute sigmoid diverticulitis between 1981 and 2002. One hundred and seventy-one patients (70 percent) answered the questions adequately.