Body mass index reduction improves the baseline procoagulant imbalance of obese subjects.

Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The latter being dependent (at least in part) on plasma procoagulant imbalance (i.e.

Intragastric balloon for obesity treatment: results of a multicentric evaluation for balloons left in place for more than 6 months.

Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for several chronic diseases. The BioEnterics(®) Intragastric Balloon (BIB(®)) is used worldwide as a short-term (6 months) treatment in morbid obese patients. However, removal of BIB(®) past 6 months is a common occurrence in clinical practice often as a result of patient factors.

Treatment of band erosion: feasibility and safety of endoscopic band removal.

Background: Band erosion is reported with a highly variable incidence (0.3-14%) after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. Removal of the band is mandatory because the patient regains weight and may become symptomatic, but no consensus exists about the best method, surgical or endoscopic, for this purpose.

Band erosion following gastric banding: how to treat it.

Background: Intragastric band migration is an unusual but major long-term complication of gastric banding: its frequency ranges from 0.5-3.8% and always requires removal of the band.

SEL1L and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

The gene SEL1L is involved both in human breast and pancreatic cancer progression. It is located on 14q24.3-31, a region known to be lost in invasive cancer of the esophagus.