Calibration method for small animal indirect calorimeters.

A simple mini-butane burner or "artificial rat," for calibration of small animal indirect calorimeters (modified Benedict and Haldane systems), was developed. Substitution of this burner for a live animal at regular intervals in an experimental protocol provides a means by which whole system function can be verified without disturbing respirometer conditions. Heat production, degree of total combustion of butane, proportion of unburned butane, and the CO2 production (VCO2)-to-O2 consumption (VO2) ratio were determined in animal and burner experiments by direct measurement or were derived from mass equations.

[False aneurysm of the superior mesenteric artery complicating a pancreatic pseudocyst].

The authors report a case of false aneurysm of the superior mesenteric artery, complicating acute pancreatitis. They insist on the sonographic signs of "the cyst within a cyst"; the presence of a cystic lesion located within a larger mass an US Scanning is highly suggestive of a false aneurysm included in a pseudocyst. They demonstrate the correlation between US Scanning, CT Scan and arteriogram.