Esophageal sarcoidosis presenting as pseudodiverticulum.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disorder that may involve many organs. However, the involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is very rare. This report describes an unusual case of esophageal sarcoidosis presenting as a pseudodiverticulum and reviews the world literature.

Median liver lobe of woodchuck as a model to study hepatic outflow obstruction: a pilot study.

Background: Hepatic vein outflow obstruction represents an important clinical problem in living-liver transplantation. An animal model is required to study the influence of outflow obstruction on the intrahepatic regulation of liver perfusion and the subsequent effects on liver injury and recovery during liver regeneration. The size of woodchucks enables the use of standard clinical imaging procedures.

Value of staging laparoscopy for multimodal therapy planning in esophago-gastric cancer.

The importance of multimodal treatment for advanced esophago-gastric cancer has contributed to the development of more accurate preoperative staging strategies. The impact of staging laparoscopy and cytology after conventional staging is evaluated in this study. Staging laparoscopy was performed in 125 patients with potentially resectable cancer of the distal esophagus or gastric cancer.

Posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy--results of 560 procedures in 520 patients.

Background: The posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy is less popular than the laparoscopic transabdominal method. Due to the direct approach to the adrenal glands, however, the posterior retroperitoneal access is easy to use and may offer advantages not available with other endoscopic procedures for adrenalectomy.

Methods: Between July 1994 and March 2006, we performed 560 adrenalectomies (right side: n = 258; left side: n = 302) by the posterior retroperitoneoscopic approach in 520 patients (200 male, 320 female; age, 10 to 83 years).

Posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy: a comparison between the initial experience in the invention phase and introductory phase of the new surgical technique.

Background: Today, the posterior retroperitoneoscopic technique has become a standard procedure in adrenal surgery. The procedure allows direct access to the adrenal glands, but it seems to be difficult because of the uncommon anatomic view. This study compares the learning period of the new procedure of "posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy" in the primary invention phase and the secondary introductory phase in a different hospital 10 years later.