Visceral fat predominance is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Japanese women with metabolic syndrome.

Aim: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is likely to be associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The prevalence of NAFLD in visceral fat type MS (V-type MS) is known to be higher than in subcutaneous fat type MS (S-type MS) in men with MS, and a larger subcutaneous fat area is reported to be not associated with NAFLD in women. We elucidated differences between V-type S-type MS in Japanese women with MS.

Evaluation of solitary and scattered esophageal varices according to infrared endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography.

Background And Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the etiology and clinical significance of solitary and scattered esophageal varices by evaluating their hemodynamics and other characteristics using infrared endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography.

Methods: The study group comprised 44 lesions of these two related types detected in 28 patients by visible-light endoscopy. Infrared endoscopy was used to characterize blue-black coloration before and after rapid intravenous injection of indocyanine green (2 mg/kg).

Ultrasonographic comparison of gastric motility between diabetic gastroparesis patients with and without metabolic syndrome.

Background And Aims: Diabetic patients with poor glycemic control or long standing disease often have impaired gastric motility. Recently, metabolic factors such as blood glucose have been reported as influencing gastric motility independently of autonomic neuropathy. Many diabetic patients have metabolic syndrome, which is strongly associated with coronary and other diseases.

Ultrasonographic assessment of gastric motility in diabetic gastroparesis before and after attaining glycemic control.

Background: Glycemic control is important for maintaining gastric motility in diabetic patients, but gastric motility has not yet been studied ultrasonographically in relation to glycemic control.

Methods: We made such observations before and after establishing glycemic control in diabetic patients with gastroparesis. We studied 30 diabetic patients with upper abdominal digestive symptoms who were hospitalized for correction of poor blood sugar control and who underwent upper digestive tract endoscopy to rule out structural causes such as gastric/duodenal lesions.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of endosonographic images of gastric lesions: preliminary experience.

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the ability of the endoluminal sonographic probes to image upper gastrointestinal lesions detected with conventional endoscopy and to reconstruct 3-dimensional (3D) images.

Methods: Sonographic images were obtained from 25 gastrointestinal lesions in 22 patients using a sonographic miniprobe manually drawn at a set speed across lesions detected during conventional endoscopy. 3D images were then reconstructed using an in-house software program.