Is liver resection justified in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma? Results of an observational study in 464 patients.

Background And Objective: The role of liver resection in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (multinodular or with macroscopic vascular involvement) is still controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of surgical resection compared to other therapeutic modalities in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Four hundred sixty four patients with HCC observed from 1991 to 2007 were included in the study.

[The psychological characteristics of dyspepsia. A controlled study with gastroscopic follow-up].

It's known that some psychologic factors could be implicated in dyspepsia. Therefore, the psychologic aspects of 38 dyspeptic patients (17 males, 21 females, aged 18-65 years), who underwent digestive endoscopy, were evaluated by means of Rorschach and MMPI test. Patients with previous peptic ulcer history, with chronic ethanol or NSAID intake, operated on digestive tract and patients with behavioural problems were excluded.

Prevalence of cholelithiasis in alcoholic and genetic haemochromatotic cirrhosis.

The prevalence of cholelithiasis and possible related factors was evaluated in 350 consecutive patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (218 cases, 174 male and 44 female, mean age 58 +/- 9 years) or genetic haemochromatotic cirrhosis (132 cases, 115 male and 17 female, mean age 53 +/- 10 years). At enrollment patients with alcoholic cirrhosis were significantly older than those with genetic haemochromatotic cirrhosis (P < 0.01), and their clinical status was more severe (Child's class B/C in 99 alcoholic cirrhosis cases versus 27 genetic haemochromatotic cirrhosis cases, P < 0.

[The effect of colloidal bismuth and its combination with amoxicillin on the elimination of Helicobacter pylori in patients with a duodenal ulcer and chronic antral gastritis].

Although the aetiopathogenetic role of Helicobacter Pylori (HP) in duodenal ulcer and in chronic gastritis seems now well defined, we have not yet standardized therapeutic schedules to achieve disappearance of HP. This study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of two different therapeutic schedules, colloidal bismuth alone [CB(1200 mg/day)], vs. association with amoxicillin [CB+A(3 g/day)] for six weeks, to clear HP from antral specimens in a cohort of dyspeptic patients.

Cholelithiasis in cirrhosis: analysis of 500 cases.

The prevalence of cholelithiasis (gallstones or previous cholecystectomy) was evaluated in a series of 500 cirrhotic patients from Northern Italy (329 males and 171 females, mean age 58 +/- 11 (SD) yr and 61 +/- 10 yr, respectively). Cirrhosis was related to chronic alcohol abuse in 180 cases, non-A non-B (NANB) hepatitis in 160, hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 94 (including 38 with concomitant alcohol abuse), idiopathic hemochromatosis in 44, and miscellaneous causes in the remaining 22 (including 15 with primary biliary cirrhosis). One hundred and sixteen patients (23.