Carcinoid of the appendix during laparoscopic cholecystectomy: unexpected benefits.

Carcinoid tumors of the midgut arise from the distal duodenum, jejunum, ileum, appendix, ascending and right transverse colon. The appendix and terminal ileum are the most common location. The majority of carcinoid tumors originate from neuroendocrine cells along the gastrointestinal tract, but they are also found in the lung, ovary, and biliary tracts.

Soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) in biliary atresia and its relationship to disease activity.

Background: Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is strongly expressed on the bile ducts and hepatic parenchyma of livers with biliary atresia. A soluble, circulating form of this membrane protein has been found to be elevated in a number of inflammatory hepatic disorders. However, its expression in biliary atresia is unknown.

Differential expression of the major histocompatibility antigens and ICAM-1 on bile duct epithelial cells in biliary atresia.

Aberrant expression on biliary epithelial cells of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens in association with adhesion molecule intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) may be crucial to the immunopathogenesis of biliary atresia. The patterns of MHC class I and II expression in relation to ICAM-1 expression as well as the associated lymphocyte subpopulations were studied in frozen section liver biopsies from six infants with biliary atresia. Intense ICAM-1 expression was found on all ductal epithelial cells in association with MHC I.

The inflammatory response in pediatric biliary disease: macrophage phenotype and distribution.

Purpose: Extrahepatic biliary obstruction in infants and children leads to ductal hyperplasia and portal fibrosis. Inflammatory mediators responsible for increased cellular proliferation and matrix deposition are hypothesized to result from the intrahepatic recruitment and activation of lymphocytes and macrophages (M phi). The authors previously showed components of this mechanism in studies that demonstrated increased adhesion molecule expression in biliary atresia, as well as evidence of altered hepatic M phi function during the course of experimental cholestatic liver injury.

Pediatric soft tissue infections.

Quite often a soft tissue infection in a child may be the primary reason for seeking medical attention or an incidental finding on examination. To identify those infections that may be serious and require further intervention, all those dedicated to the care of children must be familiar with these illnesses and their complications. This article covers selected bacterial, viral, and fungal infections of the skin, subcutaneous fat, fascia, and muscle.

Pneumococcal resistance in southwest Virginia.

Resistance patterns of Streptococcus pneumoniae in southwest Virginia were determined for 100 consecutive, hospital-based isolates, mostly from adults. Oxacillin disk screening identified all resistant isolates. Sixteen percent of the isolates were penicillin resistant (10% were highly resistant).

Inguinal hernia in children: factors affecting recurrence in 62 cases.

This report analyzes factors associated with 71 recurrent inguinal hernias in 62 children treated between 1976 and 1988. Cases were evaluated for sex, age, type of initial repair, interval to recurrence, the presence of comorbid conditions, and type of reoperation. There were 57 boys and 5 girls.

A model of the differing change in motor and sensory action potentials over distance.

Clinically recorded motor and sensory nerve responses show different degrees of change in response size over distance along a nerve. We describe a computer model to investigate possible causes of this phenomenon. Effects of the range of conduction velocity in a nerve and the size of the constituent action potentials forming the recorded response are evaluated.

Children from broken homes: visits to the school nurse.

Children from broken homes, especially females, have an increased tendency to visit the school nurse. Complaints are often ill-defined, possibly psychosomatic. These children may require additional medical and emotional support from the school nurse.