[Pilot study on M2-PK-- a new non-invasive parameter for early diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma].

To determine the level of tumor marker pyruvate kinase dimer (M2-PK) in the feces of patients with colorectal cancer and benign polyps, as well as in individuals with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. Fecal M2-PK determination could be outlined as a highly reliable non-invasive approach to the diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma. The establishing of elevated values in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases decreases the specificity of M2-PK as a tumor marker.

Clinical significance of serum HBeAg and HBV-DNA-specific values of virus replication in chronic hepatitis-B virus infection.

The prevalence of serum HBV-DNA and that of HBeAg was evaluated in 44 subjects (27 males and 17 females) aged between 3 and 59 years. They were divided in two groups: (A) chronic asymptomatic HBsAg carriers; and (B) chronic HBsAg carriers with a history of HBV infection. The patients had been chronic HBV carriers between 8 months and 15 years.

[The extracorporeal lithotripsy of gallstones in Bulgaria].

Extracorporal lithotripsy is a new, modern method of treatment of gallstone disease. The effect of the treatment was evaluated as follows: full--fragments up to 2 mm in size (in 60.5% of the patients), partial--fragments between 2 and 5 mm in size (in 30.

[A modified Sugiura operation].

The modified method of Sugiura is reported for the first time in Bulgaria. The operation is less traumatic than the original one, the postoperative case fatality rate is lower, patient survival rate up to 7 years is high and there is no encephalopathy. This operative technique is more practicable than splenorenal anastomosis and may be applied both for planned and for emergency operations.

[A modified Sugiura operation].

This is the first report in Bulgaria of the application of the modified method of Sugiura. The operation is less traumatic than the original one, the postoperative mortality is essentially reduced, patient survival to 7 years is increased and there is no encephalopathy. This operation is technically easier to perform than splenorectal anastomoses and may be performed both as planned and emergency intervention.

[A case of somatostatinoma of the pancreas].

A case of a 36-year-old man with pancreatic somatostatinoma is reported. Such cases are very rare. The following signs were found; quick ESR, increased alpha 2- and beta-globulins, shortened Weltmann's coagulation band, increased serum bilirubin level, especially of the conjugated fraction, enzyme constellation of cholestasis and moderate liver cytolysis.

[Case report of Gaucher's disease].

The case of a 42 years old man suffering from Gaucher's disease is reported. The primary diagnosis was liver cirrhosis based on echographic and scintigraphic examinations. The following signs were found: thrombocytopenia, slight hemolysis, shortened life of the erythrocytes with considerable sequestration in the spleen, abnormal flocculation tests, increased acid phosphatase.

[A case of spontaneous pneumoperitoneum in a female patient with pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis].

A case of a woman with spontaneous pneumoperitoneum as result of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis is reported. A brief review of this rare disease and its pathogenetic mechanisms is presented. The clinical course of the pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis was characterized by abdominal pain and distention, vomiting.

[Potentials and limits of ultrasonic diagnosis in gastroenterology].

The great diagnostic value of ultrasonic tomography in the diagnosis of liver, biliary, pancreatic, gastric, intestinal, abdominal and retroperitoneal disease is reviewed and proved. Best results can be achieved in the indications for its application and the potentialities of the method are well known. The sonographic results should always be assessed with the clinical, laboratory and other instrumental data.

[Hepatocellular carcinoma--its echographic characteristics and diagnostic potentials].

Echography is an approved method for establishing focal processes in liver. Forty five patients, from Bulgaria and Kuwait, with confirmed hepatocellular cancer (HCC) were studied by echographies aiming at the elucidation of the possibilities of ultrasound examination in making the diagnosis of HCC in patients with and without cirrhosis of the liver. Five types of images have been established--hyperechogenic (29%), hypoechogenic (27%), mosaic (24%) mixed (11%) and type "bovine eye" (9%).

[Serum gastrin levels before and after short-term treatment of duodenal ulcer with cimetidine and pirenzepin].

Serum gastrin was studied before meals in 71 patients with duodenal ulcer, treated with various doses of simetidin and pyrensepin. Gastrin level was elevated after a treatment with 1 g simetidin daily and 125 mg pyrensepin, and remained unchanged with pyrensepin treatment (50 and 100 mg daily). A tendency to decreased gastrin level was observed after the treatment with simetidin 400 mg daily.

[Significance of high titers of various autoantibodies in the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic liver diseases].

The diagnostic value of the high antibody titres are assessed in the work--namely antinuclear, antimitochondrial and antismooth-muscular, in chronic liver diseases. For that purpose 220 patients with morphologically confirmed chronic hepatitis and chronic liver cirrhosis were examined. Twenty three of them proved to have high titre antibodies.

[Gastric acidity in a double ulcer (of the stomach and duodenum)].

Gastric salt-acid secretion was studied in three comparative patient groups with gastric ulcer, endoscopically confirmed, combination of gastric and duodenal ulcers. In the patients with double localization of the ulcer (stomach and duodenum) - hyperacidity was determined after pentagastrin stimulation. Acid-salt secretion was higher than that of the patients with gastric ulcer and was close to the secretion of those with duodenal ulcer, being but with a high standard deviation, necessitates consideration to be given to each concrete case of treatment.

[Immunological indices in chronic liver diseases].

The study aimed at the confrontation of the results from the investigation of the immunoglobulines G, M, and A (IgG, IgM and IgA), the test for spontaneous rosette formation and the determination of Australian antigen (HBsAg) in 110 patients with chronic liver disease (liver steatosis, chronic persisting hepatitis, chronic aggressive hepatitis and liver cirrhosis). The diagnosis was morphologically confirmed and some of the patients were repeatedly examined. No significant interrelations among the three main classes of immunoglobulines were established in the majority of the groups of chronic liver diseases, speaking for the individual information, carried by the separate immunoglobuline classes.