Factors influencing radioguided surgery of neuroendocrine tumours using 99mTc-ethylenediamine N,N'-diacetic acid/6-Hydrazinopyridine-3-carboxylic acid-D-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide.

Objective: To determine factors influencing radioguided surgery of neuroendocrine tumours using Tc-ethylenediamine N,N'-diacetic acid/6-Hydrazinopyridine-3-carboxylic acid-D-Phe-Tyr-octreotide and gamma-probe.

Methods: Patients with 17 neuroendocrine tumours were operated on. Three to 6 h before surgery, 550-650 MBq of Tc-labelled octreotide were injected into the patients.

Clinical and laboratory methods in diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children.

Aim: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of clinical examination, white blood cell and differential count, and C-reactive protein as routine tests for acute appendicitis with that of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and ultrasonography.

Methods: Eighty-two children were admitted to the Department of Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care, Ljubljana, Slovenia because of suspected acute appendicitis. Among them, 49 children underwent surgery for acute appendicitis and 33 had abdominal pain but were not treated surgically and were diagnosed with non-specific abdominal pain or mesenteric lymphadenitis on sonography.