Imaging of lung cancer with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose: comparison of a dual-head gamma camera in coincidence mode with a full-ring positron emission tomography system.

Dual-head gamma cameras operated in coincidence mode are a new approach for tumour imaging using fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of such a camera system in comparison with a full-ring positron emission tomography (PET) system in patients with lung cancer. Twenty-seven patients (1 female, 26 males, age 62+/-9 years) with lung cancer or indeterminate pulmonary nodules were studied on the same day with a full-ring PET scanner (Siemens ECAT EXACT) and a coincidence gamma camera system (ADAC Vertex MCD).

[Efficacy of minimally invasive thoracic surgery in diagnosis of pulmonary coin lesion].

Aim Of The Study: With only a few exceptions every pulmonary nodule of unknown dignity has to be clarified by biopsy. Aim of the present study was to analyze the usefulness of minimal invasive thoracic surgery in patients with indeterminate pulmonary lesions.

Methods: In the study included were 121 patients (67 male/54 female), who were primarily treated by minimal-invasive surgery during the period 1992-1995.

[Limits and outcome of curative resection of bronchial carcinoma in advanced age].

In a retrospective study, we analyzed the effect of the age of the patients on long-term results of curative resections for lung cancer. Between 1989 and 1995, 771 patients with resectable lung cancer were recorded in our department. Of these patients, 141 (18.

Establishment of a pneumococcal septicemia model in the miniature swine.

Human pneumococcal septicemia, the prominent postsplenectomy complication, was as yet difficult to study in the porcine model, since this species appeared to be fairly resistant against pneumococcal infections. We have used two strains of pneumococci (serotype 1 and 6B) both of which had been isolated from patients with systemic infection and both of which were maintained in a virulent state by regular mouse passage. After challenge with 10(9) type 1 pneumococci, however, only one of the 5 pigs developed fever, none showed profound hematological alterations and each animal exhibited a rapid clearance of bacteria from peripheral blood.

Lesion patterns of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-containing neurons in the myenteric plexus induced by clamping or transsection of rat jejunum.

The acute reactions of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-containing neurons in the myenteric plexus of the rat jejunum in response to circumferential clamping or transection/reanastomosis were evaluated in a detailed time course of up to ten days. Whereas in sham-operated controls VIP immunostaining was confined exclusively to varicose fibers, either clamping or transection induced the appearance of strongly VIP-immunoreactive beaded neuronal processes and neuronal perikarya in the oral part of the lesion one day postoperatively. After five days strongly immunostained varicose fibers orientated in the longitudinal axis of the gut towards the lesion reappeared suggestive of the onset of regenerative processes.

[Sutureless anastomoses in the rat, rabbit and pig].

Healing of intestinal anastomoses was found to be effective in rat, rabbit and pig even after temporary approximation by sutures for one hour. Approximation of bowel segments was achieved by interrupted inverting sutures. After one hour a fibrinous connection of inverted serosa segments was to be observed.

[Wound healing and wound dressing].

This review article intends to discuss the clinical management of wounds in respect to a pathophysiological background. Recent results of research in the field of wound healing are demonstrated. Wound healing can be seen as aseptic inflammatory response to a traumatic stimulus.

[Early phase of healing of anastomoses with special reference to peritonitis and ischemia].

Experimental sutureless colonic anastomosis was evaluated under various conditions during the first 24 postoperative hours. Adaptation of large bowel segments was achieved by interrupted inverting sutures, which were removed after one hour. This short adaptation period was sufficient for fibrinous contact of bowel segments.

[Anastomoses of the large intestine in standardized diffuse peritonitis in the rat].

A standardized experimental diffuse peritonitis model was developed for the purpose of studying the mechanisms of impaired anastomotic healing in cases of peritonitis. Sham peritonitis or standardized diffuse peritonitis was induced to 42 animals, and anastomosis of the ascending colon was performed 24 hours later. Bursting pressures were measured at six different time intervals, following performance of anastomosis.