Evaluation of a New Skeletal Troponin I Assay in Patients with Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies.

Background: The current biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring of injured and diseased skeletal muscles, such as creatine kinase (CK), have limited tissue specificity and incapability to differentiate between pathological and physiological changes. Thus, new biomarkers with improved diagnostic accuracy are needed. Our aim was to develop and validate a novel assay for skeletal troponin I (skTnI), and to assess its clinical performance in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM).

Spectrum of disease and outcome among patients with acute diverticulitis.

Background: This study was designed to evaluate the natural history of patients admitted for acute diverticulitis.

Methods: Nine hundred and seventy-seven patients admitted to Oulu University Hospital for acute symptoms of diverticular disease during the 20-year period from 1986 to 2005 were identified using a database.

Results: Six hundred and ninety-five patients were admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis and 282 for complicated diverticulitis.

Acute sigmoid diverticulitis in young patients.

Background/aims: The natural history of young patients admitted for acute diverticulitis in terms of the virulence of the disease and the need for surgical treatment has remained controversial.

Methodology: One thousand eighty-one patients with acute diverticulitis admitted to our hospital from 1986 to 2006 were identified from a computer database and their clinical course was analysed Patients under or over 50 years of age were compared regarding uncomplicated and complicated diverticulitis, the number of admissions, operative procedures performed, morbidity, mortality and recurrence of diverticulitis.

Results: Eighty-one percent of the patients aged under 50 years were admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis, whereas 36 % of the patients aged over 50 years were admitted for complicated diverticulitis (p = 0.

Elective surgery for recurrent diverticulitis.

Background/aims: After two documented episodes of uncomplicated diverticulitis, elective colon resection is recommended to prevent complications of the disease but the nature of symptoms in non-operated patients requires specification.

Methodology: A detailed questionnaire concerning clinical variables was mailed to two hundred and sixty patients admitted into our hospital for symptoms of acute sigmoid diverticulitis between 1981 and 2002. One hundred and seventy-one patients (70 percent) answered the questions adequately.

Computed tomography severity index and C-reactive protein values predicting mortality in emergency and intensive care units for patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

Background: Severe acute pancreatitis is a multisystem disease in which various local and systemic complications lead to high mortality. We retrospectively examined the clinical and biochemical factors that may influence the risk of mortality on admission to emergency and intensive care units (ICUs).

Methods: Sixty-eight patients were admitted into our hospital for acute pancreatitis and treated in our ICU for computed tomography-proven severe acute pancreatitis during the years 1997 to 2004.

Acute cholecystitis in the elderly.

Background/aims: The population of Finland is ageing fast, and acute cholecystitis is common among elderly people. Because the treatment options have changed greatly since the late 1980's, we wanted to find out whether the active treatment policy nowadays used in our hospital has some effects on operability, morbidity, mortality and the duration of the in-patient period. The numerous serious illnesses of elderly people that cause considerable morbidity and mortality underlines the importance of risk stratification, and clinical variables were therefore also tested for their ability to predict the probability of morbidity and mortality.

Prognostic factors of perforated sigmoid diverticulitis in the elderly.

Background: The Finnish population is aging fast and the prevalence of perforated sigmoid diverticulitis is simultaneously increasing in northern Finland. The fact that an increasing number of elderly patients, with their age-specific problems, are subjected to emergency surgery for acute diverticulitis underlines the importance of risk stratification.

Methods: One hundred and seventy-two patients admitted to Oulu University Hospital because of diverticular perforation from 1983 to 2002 were identified from the computer database.

Risk factors for anastomotic leakage after left-sided colorectal resection with rectal anastomosis.

Purpose: To identify the risk factors for anastomotic leakage after left-sided colorectal resections with rectal anastomosis.

Methods: Forty-four patients with anastomotic leakage identified from a computer-generated database were compared with 44 control patients standardized for gender, age, and operative indication.

Results: The mean hospital stay was significantly prolonged in the leakage group, which resulted in a higher total cost of hospital treatment.

Factors that predict morbidity and mortality in patients with perforated peptic ulcers.

Background: The demographic changes of perforated peptic ulcer disease were assessed in a well-defined population in northern Finland. The high mortality from perforated peptic ulcer underlines the importance of risk stratification, and clinical variables and three scoring systems were therefore tested for their ability to predict the probability of morbidity and mortality.

Methods: Two hundred and eighty patients admitted to a university hospital with peptic ulcer perforation during the 22-year period 1979-2000 were identified using a computer database, and their clinical data were reviewed from the database and patient records.

Prognostic factors after surgery in patients younger than 50 years old with colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Background/aims: The factors predicting recurrence and survival were evaluated using a computer-generated database to identify the independent predictors of survival of colorectal cancer in patients under 50 years of age.

Methodology: One hundred and two patients under the age of 50 years with colorectal cancer who had been admitted into our hospital during the 20-year period of 1980-1999 were identified from a computer database. The factors possibly predicting recurrence were compared by bivariate analysis and the predictors of long-term survival by both univariate and multivariate analysis.

Prevalence of perforated sigmoid diverticulitis is increasing.

Introduction: The population of Finland is aging fast, and dietary fiber consumption has decreased during the past few decades; the prevalence of sigmoid diverticular perforation can therefore be anticipated to increase. This study presents our experience concerning the outcome of 133 patients admitted to a university hospital for diverticular perforation during a 15-year period.

Methods: One hundred thirty-three patients admitted into our hospital for sigmoid diverticular perforation during the 15-year period from 1986 to 2000 were identified using a computer database.