Minimally invasive transhiatal esophagectomy: lessons learned.

Background: Minimally invasive esophagectomy has the potential to minimize the morbidity of esophageal resection and is particularly suited to the transhiatal approach. This report details our experience with this technique and the lessons we have learned.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent minimally invasive transhiatal esophagectomy was performed.

Laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty. A multicenter prospective study of 200 procedures.

Background: The commonest surgical procedure for management of morbid obesity in Europe is laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), even though laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty (LVBG) is still considered to be a gold standard restrictive option in bariatric surgery. A multicenter prospective study was designed to to assess the efficacy of LVBG in terms of weight loss and complication rates for obese patients who have indications for a restrictive procedure.

Patients And Methods: Two-hundred morbidly obese patients (84.

Immediate provisional restoration of postextraction implants for maxillary single-tooth replacement.

The timing of implant placement and loading following tooth extraction has recently undergone substantial reconsideration. The authors tested a protocol of immediate loading of single implants placed at the time of tooth extraction in a consecutive case series. Thirty-three patients received a single implant-supported crown to replace a maxillary anterior tooth at the time of extraction.

Orthotopic liver transplantation with vena cava preservation in cirrhotic patients: is systematic temporary portacaval anastomosis a justified procedure?

Introduction: We evaluated the peri- and postoperative effects of the lack of a temporary portocaval anastomosis (TPCA) during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in 84 patients with cirrhosis.

Patients And Methods: From December 1996 to December 2002, 156 liver transplant recipients included (54%; 60 men and 24 women) of mean age 52 +/- 9 years with portal hypertension. In whom peri- and postoperative data were analyzed.

Comparison of human mandibular osteoblasts grown on two commercially available titanium implant surfaces.

Background: Surface characteristics play a major role in determining tissue response to implants and therefore their clinical outcome. The aim of the present study was to compare two commercially available titanium surfaces: plasma sprayed (TPS) and sand-blasted, acid-etched surface (SLA).

Methods: The surfaces were characterized by roughness testing, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and protein adsorption to determine their microtopographic and chemical properties.

Ovarian follicular dynamics and hormonal profiles in heifer and mixed-parity Mediterranean Italian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) following an estrus synchronization protocol.

The primary objective was to elucidate ovarian follicular dynamics and hormonal profiles in nulliparous heifer (HE; n = 11 ) and mixed-parity (MP; n=10 ) Mediterranean Italian water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) following an estrus synchronization protocol. Both groups received a progesterone releasing intravaginal device (PRID) implant for 10 days; a luteolytic dose of synthetic prostaglandin was given 7 days after PRID insertion. Daily ultrasound monitoring and collection of blood to determine plasma concentrations estradiol and progesterone started 1 day after PRID removal and lasted for 55 and 65 days in HE and MP buffaloes, respectively.

Hormonal dynamics and follicular turnover in prepuberal Mediterranean Italian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis).

The aim of this study was the investigation of hormonal and ovarian follicular dynamics in prepuberal buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) bred in Italy. Eleven 5-9-month old buffalo calves ranging in weight from 122 to 270kg, maintained under controlled nutritional and environmental conditions, underwent 50 days of ultrasonographic ovarian follicular monitoring in the months of October-December. Blood sampling for E(2) and FSH determination and ultrasonographic monitoring using a 7.

[Surgical treatment of bleeding peptic lesions: our experience].

The authors report their experience on surgical treatment of peptic bleeding lesions. From January 1994 till April 1999 they observed and surgically treated 35 patients (mean age 65) suffering from bleeding gastroduodenal ulcer. Complications linked to surgical treatment had an incidence of 17.

[The influence of sevoflurane and isoflurane on the recovery from cisatracurium-induced neuromuscular block.].

Background And Objectives: The effects of neuromuscular blockers on the neuromuscular junction are potentiated by volatile anesthetics. This study aimed at evaluating the influence of sevoflurane and isoflurane on the recovery of cisatracurium- induced neuromuscular block.

Methods: Ninety ASA I and II patients undergoing elective surgeries under general anesthesia were included in this study.

Hormonal stimulation and oocyte maturational competence in prepuberal Mediterranean Italian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis).

The objective of this study was to determine the best combined hormonal treatment to utilize in order to obtain a high number of good quality in vivo and in vitro matured oocytes from prepuberal Mediterranean Italian buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis). Transvaginal ultrasound follicular aspiration was employed to recover oocytes from antral follicles. Fifteen barn housed buffalo calves, between 5 and 9 months of age were used in this study and randomly divided into control (Group A) and treated groups.

Diffusion model of pain language and quality of life in orofacial pain patients.

Aims: To address the following questions: (1) Which words are preferred by different groups of orofacial pain patients to describe their pain experience? (2) Is it possible, based on such descriptions, to obtain a clinical differential diagnosis in these patients? (3) Is there any relationship between the verbal description of pain and self-rated quality of life (QOL)? (4) Can a pattern of modulation of pain language by affective variables (diffusion model) be recognized in orofacial pain patients, as it has in other chronic pain patients? and (5) If so, what might be the clinical usefulness of assessing pain language in these patients?

Methods: A total of 332 consecutive orofacial pain patients filled out an Italian Pain Questionnaire (the Italian analog of the McGill Pain Questionnaire) and were then divided into 6 diagnostic subgroups (sample 1) based on history and clinical findings. In a double-blind setting, the distribution of pain descriptors and indexes was statistically evaluated. From sample 1, a randomly selected sample of 121 patients (sample 2) also filled out a QOL categorical scale.

[Polypropylene mesh in the surgical treatment of inguinal and crural hernia: our experience with 500 cases].

The authors guided by their personal experience (612 abdominal hernioplasties performed between 1992 and 1998) after using for the cure of inguinal and femoral hernias diverse prosthesis illustrate the characteristics of the polipropene prosthesis which in their opinion possesses every requirement necessary to enable it to become the defining ideal prosthesis. The authors underline again the use of this routinely applied prosthesis, also in a local anaesthesia it has favoured the development of the tension-free and suture-less technique which hes allowed hernioplasty to spread in day-surgery.

Vitamin B12 in low back pain: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objectives: The objective of this double-blind randomised, placebo-controlled study was to examine the efficacy and safety intramuscular vitamin B12 (Tricortin 1000) in the treatment of low back pain in patients with mechanical or irritative lumbago.

Methods: 60 patients aged between 18 and 65 years with lumbago or sciatic neuritis of mechanical origin without need for surgical procedures were enrolled. Patients had to present with a proven medical history for back pain (lasting from 6 months to 5 years) and a pain intensity [as evaluated with a Visual Analogic Scale (VAS)] equal or greater than 60 mm.

Porcine orthotopic liver autotransplantation: facilitated technique.

The technique of a liver autograft in the pig has three advantages: (1) It provides an excellent training model of liver transplantation, (2) it provides an experimental model for cancer research, and (3) it is more economical than liver allotransplant. We describe a facilitated technique of liver autograft, which can be employed to develop experimental models without the use of a biopump. Mean blood arterial pressure, heart rate, pH, and lactates were tested during the liver grafting and at the end of the procedure in pigs that underwent autografting of the liver and compared with pigs that underwent an orthotopic liver allotransplantation.

[The surgical treatment of liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma: our experience].

Data from twelve patients who had hepatic resections for colorectal liver metastases were retrospectively analyzed to determine: 1) whether the use of the ultrasonic surgical dissector and the Argon laser can significantly simplify major hepatic resections and decrease both perioperative blood loss and postoperative morbidity and mortality, and 2) whether an adequate patients selection for surgery can effectively determine an improvement in recurrence rate. We performed 4 bisegmentectomies (2 of V and VI; 2 of VI and VII); 1 trisegmentectomy (V, VI, VII); 2 left lobectomies; 1 right hepatectomy and 4 wedge resections, using both the ultrasonic surgical dissector to fractionate and aspirate the hepatic parenchyma and to clear major vascular and biliary structures and the Argon laser for the coagulation of minor vascular and biliary vessels. The resected metastases averaged 5.

Correlation between cytochrome P-450 system and liver function tests during experimental liver transplantation.

The aims of this investigation are: 1) to assess the function of the hepatocyte in transplanted porcine liver, immediately after reperfusion, by monitoring both LFTs and the MEGX levels; 2) to search for correlation between MEGX and LFTS, in an effort to evaluate the metabolic mechanisms occurring in the early liver transplantation revascularization phase. The MEGX test was found to be less than 50 micrograms/ml in all the recipients and all the LFTS tested have been reported to be out the normal range. Furthermore our data has shown a statistically significant correlationship between the MEGX values and those of alkaline phosphatase and prothrombin and a highly significant correlationship with cholinesterase.

Possible role of beta-blockers in the prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

The prevention of sudden cardiac death remains one of the greatest challenges in the field of cardiovascular medicine today. Despite the difficulty in predicting which individuals are going to die suddenly, much knowledge has accumulated in recent years in regard to independent risk factors for SCD and moreover, different pharmacological interventions have been evaluated for the prevention of sudden coronary death. Currently, the beta-blockers are the only pharmacological agents that have been shown to reduce sudden cardiac deaths in clinical trials.

Giant cell tumor of the intermediate cuneiform. A case report.

Although it has yet to be determined which surgical procedure provides the least chance for recurrence, surgical treatment remains the preferred therapy for giant cell tumors of bone. Few cases of giant cell tumor of the tarsus have been reported in the literature, with less than 10 of these cases occurring in the cuneiforms. When the extent of the tumor is questionable, definitive radiologic techniques should be used to aid in the selection of the most appropriate surgical procedure.