Polymorphisms of the TNF, CD14, and HSPA1B genes in patients with acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis.

Objectives: Genotype assessment has been suggested to be a tool for predicting disease severity in acute pancreatitis (AP). To study this hypothesis, we performed genotype analysis of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -308 A/G, CD14 -159C/T, and HSPA1B +1267 A/G polymorphisms.

Methods: This is a case-control association study of 397 patients with AP (214 of whom had an alcohol-induced AP) and 300 controls.

Elevated levels of the complement regulator protein CD59 in severe acute pancreatitis.

Objective: Complement activation occurs in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) and may contribute to the development of organ failure. Because a number of enzymes are released during AP that could influence the complement inhibitor CD59, the purpose of this study was to examine serum levels of CD59 in relation to severity of AP.

Material And Methods: Twelve patients with severe AP had organ failure (referred to as the grade 2 group).

Disialotransferrin, determined by capillary electrophoresis, is an accurate biomarker for alcoholic cause of acute pancreatitis.

Objectives: Serum disialotransferrin is a specific marker of heavy alcohol consumption. We tested its accuracy and probability in detecting alcoholic cause of acute pancreatitis (AP).

Methods: Blood samples from 271 consecutive AP patients, admitted to the Helsinki University Central Hospital emergency unit, were analyzed.

Treatment of bleeding pseudoaneurysms in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Background: In patients with chronic pancreatitis, an actively bleeding pseudoaneurysm can be life-threatening. Angioembolization is an attractive alternative to often complex operative management, and its feasibility was assessed in a retrospective analysis.

Methods: During 1993-2005, 33 patients (27 males, median age 51 years) with bleeding pancreatic pseudoaneurysms underwent urgent angiographic evaluation followed by angioembolization if possible.

VEGF-C and COX-2 expression in papillary thyroid cancer.

In papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), age appears to be the most important single prognostic factor. Another characteristic feature is the lack of association between survival and lymph node metastases. Earlier, we found that expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is higher in older PTC patients, in agreement with the finding that older patients have a worse prognosis.