Primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the liver: a case report.

We report a case of primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the liver. A 17-year-old man with a solid mass in the anterior segment of the right liver was asymptomatic with negative laboratory examinations with the exception of positive HBV. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) revealed a hypervascular lesion in the arterial phase and hypoechoic features during the portal and late phases.

Preparation and in-vitro bioactivity of a novel superantigen conjugate targeting bladder carcinoma.

Objectives: Superantigens have shown potent effects against bladder tumours by inducing Vbeta-specific T-lymphocyte proliferation and massive cytokine release but therapeutic benefit is compromised by cytotoxicity towards non-malignant cells and hypotoxicity to major histocompability complex (MHC) II-negative tumour cells. We are therefore interested in a conjugate preparation of a monoclonal antibody (MAb)-superantigens conjugate for which these drawbacks would be resolved.

Methods: The Fab fragment of the anti-bladder carcinoma MAb BDI-1 was conjugated to one member of the staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) superantigen using the chemical conjugating reagent, N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate.

Effects of recombinant human erythropoietin on neuropathic pain and cerebral expressions of cytokines and nuclear factor-kappa B.

Purpose: The effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) on neuropathic pain remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the effects of preemptive administration of rhEPO on the behavioural changes and neuroinflammatory responses in a rat model of neuropathic pain.

Methods: Fifty rats were randomly allocated into five groups, sham-operation treated with saline and L5 spinal nerve transection treated with different doses of rhEPO (0 [saline], 1000, 3000, or 5000 U x kg(-1), respectively).

Effects of preemptive intravenous lornoxicam on the analgesic efficacy of epidural morphine and expression of chemokines in women undergoing hysterectomy.

Background: It is believed that preemptive IV lornoxicam treatment can reduce the consumption of other analgesics, improve analgesic efficacy, and ameliorate immune function during patient-controlled IV analgesia. However, the effects of preemptive IV lornoxicam treatment on the analgesic efficacy of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with morphine and on chemokine expression remain unknown.

Objective: The aim of this prospective, randomized, controlled study was to observe the effects of preemptive IV lornoxicam treatment on the analgesic efficacy of PCEA with morphine and on the expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) in women undergoing hysterectomy.

Effect of equivalent doses of fentanyl, sufentanil, and remifentanil on the incidence and severity of cough in patients undergoing abdominal surgery: A prospective, randomized, double-blind study.

Background: Fentanyl congeners have been found to induce cough during induction of general anesthesia. Studies of fentanyl and sufentanil have found incidence rates of 28% to 65% and 15%, respectively. However, no study has assessed the occurrence of cough induced by remifentanil.

[Gene mapping in a Chinese family with autosomal dominant centralpuiverulent cataract].

Objective: Mapping the mutation gene for a Chinese family with autosomal dominant cataract.

Methods: It was a retrospective study. Thirty-two individuals in this family, including fifteen patients, eight normal siblings and nine spouses, were investigated and 8 ml blood was collected from each member under informed consent.

Hemodynamic effects of an intravenous bolus of epinephrine in healthy rats: A randomized, open-label, controlled pilot study.

Background: IV epinephrine is widely used in the treatment of shock to increase blood pressure (BP). However, whether it may also induce hypotension remains unknown.

Objective: The aim of this randomized, open-label, controlled pilot study was to observe hemodynamic changes after an IV bolus of epinephrine in healthy rats.

[Influence of different types of prostatectomy on male sexual function].

With the approaching of the aged society, the number of patients with BPH and those with prostate cancer is increasing, particularly the latter. As the gold standard for the treatment of the two diseases, prostate surgery falls into various types, each with its own characteristics in postoperative recovery of sexual function. In the past few years, the traditional laparotomy procedure has been gradually replaced by the laparoscopic technique.

Pharmacodynamics of rocuronium in cholestatic patients with or without hepatocellular injury: normal onset time of initial dose and prolonged duration time after repeated doses.

Purpose: A prospective controlled study was designed to observe the pharmacodynamics of rocuronium in cholestatic patients with or without hepatocellular injury.

Methods: Sixty patients undergoing abdominal surgery were allocated into three groups: group I had 20 cholestatic patients with hepatocellular injury; group II had 20 cholestatic patients without hepatocellular injury, and group III (control group) had 20 patients without hepatic disease. Anesthetized with propofol and fentanyl, all patients received rocuronium 0.

Generation of rat monoclonal antibodies against human RANTES.

RANTES (or regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted) belongs to the rapidly growing chemokine family. It is mainly produced by T cells, epithelial cells, monocytes, fibroblasts, and mesanglial cells. Increased RANTES expression has been associated with a wide range of inflammatory disorders and pathologies.

Endomorphins and ohmefentanyl in the inhibition of immunosuppressant function in rat peritoneal macrophages: An experimental in vitro study.

Background: The potential immunosuppressant effects of opioids might have clinical implications. The effects of endomorphins (EMs) and ohmefentanyl (OMF) on cultured rat peritoneal macrophages remain unclear.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the immunosuppressant effects of EMs and OMF on cultured rat peritoneal macrophages in vitro.

Lighter general anesthesia causes less decrease in arterial pressure induced by epinephrine scalp infiltration during neurosurgery.

Scalp infiltration with epinephrine-containing lidocaine solution can elicit significant hypotension before craniotomy under general anesthesia. A prospective randomized controlled study was designed to observe whether a lighter depth of general anesthesia could prevent the unintentional hypotension induced by the epinephrine scalp infiltration during neurosurgery or not. Fifty patients undergoing scheduled neurosurgery involving craniotomy were randomly allocated into 2 groups.

Relatively light general anesthesia is more effective than fluid expansion in reducing the severity of epinephrine-induced hypotension during functional endoscopic sinus surgery.

Background: Epinephrine infiltration of the nasal mucosa causes hypotension during functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) under general anesthesia. A prospective randomized-controlled study was designed to determine whether relatively light general anesthesia is superior to fluid expansion in reducing epinephrine-induced hypotension during FESS.

Methods: Ninety patients undergoing elective FESS under general anesthesia were randomly assigned to three groups with 30 patients in each.

Hyperthyroidism patients have shorter onset and duration time of rocuronium than euthyroidism patients.

Purpose: The possibility of altered response to nondepolarizing muscle relaxants in hyperthyroidism patients has not been documented. The present study was conducted to observe the onset and duration of rocuronium induced neuromuscular blockade in hyperthyroidism patients.

Methods: Eighteen hyperthyroidism patients undergoing subtotal thyroidectomy (H group) and eighteen euthyroidism patients undergoing operation on neck (E group) were studied.

High frequency of cardiovascular risk factors in overweight adult Japanese subjects.

Background: It has been suggested that Japanese subjects categorized as having normal weight (body mass index [BMI]<25.0) as defined by WHO (2000) have a tendency toward increased incidence of dyslipidemia and diabetes. Our objective was to assess the suitability for Japanese subjects of the Regional Office for the Western Pacific Region of WHO criteria pertaining to obesity (WPRO criteria, 2000) by analyzing cardiovascular risk factors relative to gender and age in overweight Japanese with BMI of 23.

Hemodynamic changes due to infiltration of the scalp with epinephrine-containing lidocaine solution: a hypotensive episode before craniotomy.

Epinephrine-containing lidocaine solution is commonly infiltrated on the scalp before craniotomy. But the hemodynamic changes caused by epinephrine-containing lidocaine solution have been less intensely studied. A prospective randomized double blind control study was designed to observe hemodynamic changes caused by epinephrine-containing lidocaine solution in neurosurgical operations under general anesthesia.

Sample storage and extraction efficiencies in determination of polycyclic and nitro musks in sewage sludge.

Analytical technology is continuously improving, developing better methods for isolating and concentrating trace compounds in environmental samples. Polycyclic and nitro musks (PNMs) are one group of emerging trace compounds detected in municipal wastewater. Differences in sample storage, preparation, and extraction methods for their measurement have led to variability in results.

Epinephrine infiltration on nasal field causes significant hemodynamic changes: hypotension episode monitored by impedance-cardiography under general anesthesia.

Purpose: Local infiltration of epinephrine-containing local anesthetics is widely used in clinics particularly in the procedure of surgeries on vascularity field to provide good analgesia and hemostasis. A prospective randomized double blind control study was designed to observe hemodynamic changes caused by local infiltration of epinephrine- containing lidocaine solution on nasal field under general anesthesia.

Methods: 90 adult patients undergoing elective functional endoscopic sinus surgery under general anesthesia were randomly allocated into three groups and received 1% lidocaine 4 mL with different dose of epinephrine (group I 20 microg; group II 40 microg; and group III 0 microg) respectively.

[Observation and preventative strategies of complications in transurethral electrovaporization of the prostate: report of 920 cases].

Objective: To investigate the post-operative complications and preventative strategies of them in transurethral electrovaporization of the prostate(TVP).

Methods: Nine hundred and twenty patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were treated by TVP.

Results: Post-operative complications included severe Hemorrhage in 30 cases (3.

Carbamazepine and its metabolites in wastewater and in biosolids in a municipal wastewater treatment plant.

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are discharged into the environment from domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this study, we determined the distribution of the anti-epileptic drug, carbamazepine (CBZ), and its major metabolites and caffeine in both aqueous and solid phases through different treatment processes of a WWTP. A method was developed to extract samples of biosolids using pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), coupled with cleanup of extracts using solid-phase extraction.

Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma propofol concentration during total intravenous anaesthesia of patients undergoing elective intracranial tumor removal.

Objective: The aim of this paper is to compare the propofol concentration in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients scheduled for intracranial tumor removal and anaesthetized using propofol as part of a total intravenous anaesthesia technique.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients (ASA I-II) scheduled for elective intracranial tumor removal were studied. Anesthesia was induced with 2 mg/kg propofol for 5 min and infused at 10 mg/(kg x h) for 5 min and then stopped.

Fate of synthetic musks in a domestic wastewater treatment plant and in an agricultural field amended with biosolids.

Synthetic musks are widely used as fragrance ingredients in personal care products, and they enter domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) through discharges into municipal sewage systems. Samples of aqueous sewage and biosolids collected from the Peterborough Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), Ontario, Canada were analyzed for 11 synthetic musk compounds using GC/MS. The results showed that 1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethyl-cyclopenta[g]-2-benzopyrane (HHCB, 173.

[Combined use of TUVP and TURP for prostate cancer with bladder outlet obstruction].

Objective: To investigate a new surgical method for the treatment of prostate cancer with bladder outlet obstruction.

Methods: Forty-seven patients with prostate cancer complicated with bladder outlet obstruction were treated by combined use of transurethral electrovaporization ablation of the prostate (TUVP) and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP).

Results: The operations were successful, with satisfactory results and no serious complication.