The intragastric balloon - smoothing the path to bariatric surgery.

Background: Intragastric balloon placement in association with diet for weight reduction is steadily gaining popularity. However, long-term follow-up studies on the effect of this method in maintaining weight loss are lacking. This study evaluated the long-term outcome following balloon removal in morbidly obese patients who had selected this method for weight loss.

The course of traumatic pancreatitis in a patient with pancreas divisum: a case report.

Background: The peculiar anatomy of pancreatic ducts in pancreas divisum (PD) may interfere with the development of acute chronic pancreatitis. In the presented case, PD influenced the evolution of lesions after pancreatic trauma.

Case Presentation: A 38 years old patient refferred to our hospital with recurrent episodes of mild pancreatitis during the last two years.

Does reduction in gastric acid secretion in bariatric surgery increase diet-induced thermogenesis?

Background: Patients who have undergone gastrectomy for benign ulcer do not develop obesity. Furthermore, morbidly obese patients who undergo biliopancreatic diversion (BPD), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) and vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) plus truncal vagotomy, may lose more weight compared with patients who undergo VBG alone. A common characteristic of the above is the reduction of gastric hydrochloric acid secretion.

Development of contrast-enhanced virtual MR cholangioscopy: a feasibility study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of contrast-enhanced virtual MR cholangioscopy (CE VMRC). Intraluminal views of the extrahepatic biliary tree were generated in ten patients undergoing abdominal MRI post mangafodipir trisodium administration employing coronal 2.5-mm 3D fast low-angle shot (FLASH) images (TR 6.

Does reduction in gastric acid secretion in bariatric surgery increase diet-induced thermogenesis?

Background: Patients who have undergone gastrectomy for benign ulcer do not develop obesity. Furthermore, morbidly obese patients who undergo biliopancreatic diversion (BPD), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) and vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) plus truncal vagotomy, may lose more weight compared with patients who undergo VBG alone. A common characteristic of the above is the reduction of gastric hydrochloric acid secretion.

Gastric ulcer bleeding: diagnosis by computed tomography.

A case of CT demonstration of a bleeding gastric ulcer is presented, in a patient with confusing clinical manifestations. Abdominal CT was performed without oral contrast medium administration, and showed extravasation of intravenous contrast into a gastric lumen distended with material of mixed attenuation. It is postulated that if radiopaque oral contrast had been given, peptic ulcer bleeding would probably have been masked.

Lung function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Previous studies on baseline pulmonary function testing (PFT) abnormalities in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are conflicting because most of them have incorporated patients suffering from both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of the study is to investigate whether any PFT abnormalities could be detected in a large group of IBD patients and whether there are differences between the two IBD entities. A total of 132 patients, 47 with CD (mean age 35 years) and 85 with UC (mean age 40 years) were studied.

Small airways function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

It has been reported that in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the airways are involved, and a number of clinical manifestations have been described. The aim of this study was to investigate the function of the small airways in IBD. Thirty patients with IBD (mean age, 47 yr), 12 with Crohn's disease and 18 with ulcerative colitis, were studied and compared with a control group of 16 normal subjects.

Acute amiodarone-induced hepatitis.

Two fatal cases of amiodarone-induced acute, confluent, necrotic hepatitis are described. The patients, aged 28 and 60, had received a high loading dose of amiodarone. After the first and second day respectively following the administration of amiodarone, the patients developed jaundice, hepatomegaly, high serum transaminases, a prolonged prothrombin time and low cholesterol concentration.