Clinical outcomes of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in elderly patients after preoperative assessment and optimization of comorbidities.

Backgrounds/aims: Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy is considered as the standard treatment of acute cholecystitis. However, whether this procedure is desirable in elderly patients with acute cholecystitis is not clearly elucidated. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of thorough preoperative assessment and consultation for complications on clinical outcomes in elderly patients over 65 and over 80 years.

Structural and biological characterization of aminated-derivatized oat beta-glucan.

beta-Glucan extracted from oats was subjected to reductive amination, producing a cationic beta-glucan derivative of which physiological properties were characterized. The degree of substitution was obtained from elemental analysis, which was 0.48.