Incidence, risk factors and clinical course of pancreatic fluid collections in acute pancreatitis.

Background: Acute pancreatitis is an acute inflammatory process of the pancreas with variable involvement of other regional tissues or remote organ systems. Acute fluid collections and pseudocyst formation are the most frequent complications of acute pancreatitis.

Aims: The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and clinical course of pancreatic fluid collections and pseudocyst formation following acute pancreatitis.

Long-term follow-up study of gallbladder in situ after endoscopic common duct stone removal in Korean patients.

Background: Although there has been much debate over the fate of the gallbladder (GB) after endoscopic common bile duct (CBD) stone removal, subsequent cholecystectomy is generally recommended in patients with GB stones to prevent further biliary complications. The aims of this study were to assess the natural course of the patients with GB in situ after endoscopic CBD stone removal and to evaluate the necessity of prophylactic cholecystectomy.

Methods: Four hundred sixty-one patients who had undergone CBD stone removal at Yeungnam University Hospital between January 2000 and December 2004 were retrospectively analyzed, and 232 patients were ultimately enrolled in this study.

Bioelectrical impedance may predict cell viability during ischemia and reperfusion in rat liver.

Ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major cause of hepatic failure after liver surgery, but no method could monitor or predict it real-time during surgery. We measured bioelectrical impedance (BEI) and cell viability to assess the usefulness of BEI during I/R in rat liver. A 70% partial liver ischemia model was used.