[Surgery of esophageal cancer in Liège. II. Analysis of factors influencing long-term survival after esophagectomy for epidermoid cancer or adenocarcinoma].

Objective: To determine prognosis factors influencing long-term survival after surgical resection for oesophageal adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

Material And Methods: Patients operated for oesophageal cancer between 1989 and 1995 were included in this study, excluding perioperative deaths. Were studied as potential prognosis factors: age, sex, operative intent, transfusion, digestive transplant, Barrett metaplasia, stage, tumoral extension (T), nodal involvement (N), distant metastases (M), tumoral differentiation, pre- or post-operative neoadjuvant treatment.

Pulmonary impedance and right ventricular-vascular coupling in endotoxin shock.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that right heart failure during endotoxin shock may result from altered ventriculovascular coupling responsible for impeding power transfer to the pulmonary circulation.

Methods: The changes in vascular pulmonary input impedance and right ventricular contractility produced by low-dose endotoxin infusion were studied in 6 intact anesthetized dogs.

Results: Endotoxin insult resulted in pulmonary hypertension (from 22 +/- 2 to 33 +/- 3 mmHg) associated with significant decreases in stroke volume (from 26.

Comparison between three- and four-element Windkessel models to characterize vascular properties of pulmonary circulation.

In 11 anaesthetised pigs the accuracy of the three-element (WK3) and the four-element (WK4) Windkessel models to describe hemodynamic properties of the pulmonary circulation was compared during six different experimental conditions increasing pulmonary arterial pressure: increase in left atrial pressure, increase in alveolar pressure, increase in pulmonary blood flow, endotoxin shock, mechanical obstruction of left pulmonary artery or histamine infusion. Our results showed that WK4 fitted better the data than did WK3 because values of 1-R2 decreased from 6 percent (WK3) to 1.4 percent (WK4) when WK4 was used (P < 0.

Correction of pressure waveforms recorded by fluid-filled catheter recording systems: a new method using a transfer equation.

Background: Pressure measuring systems using fluid-filled catheters can result in the recording of distorted pressure waveforms. It results in phase delay, overestimation of systolic and, to a lesser extent, of diastolic pressure. We designed and evaluated a method to correct this pressure waveform distortion using an appropriate transfer equation obtained from the dynamic response of the fluid-filled catheter.

[Surgery of esophageal cancer in Liège. I. A study of mortality and perioperative morbidity].

Background: To assess surgical outcome after oesophagectomy, we reviewed operative techniques and postoperative course among 90 patients who underwent oesophageal resection for malignancies from January 1989 to December 1995.

Methods: There were 73 males and 17 females; mean age was 64.2 years.

[The clinical case of the month. Apropos of a case of unexplained fever].

An episode of fever of prolonged duration and undetermined origin always remains a difficult clinical problem. Several etiologies can indeed be responsible. If one wishes to obtain a diagnosis of the origin of the fever, one should adopt a well-structured strategy in which the various investigations are carried out in a strictly determined hierarchical order.