Lymph Vessel Thrombus Detection in Cervical Lymphedema: A Case Series.

Although thrombosis in the terminal part of thoracic duct has been described in patients with head and neck cancer and upper vein thrombosis, normally medical imaging is not successful in depicting such lymphatic thrombosis. This case series is about three patients with acute onset of cervical lymphedema following minor trauma or exceptional physical strain. Using high-resolution ultrasound, it was possible to detect a thrombus formation in the terminal parts of the thoracic duct or the lymph duct.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound in different stages of pyogenic liver abscess.

To enable sonographic classification of different stages of pyogenic liver abscesses, sonographic findings in 86 patients with 113 pyogenic liver abscesses were retrospectively analyzed and compared with established pathomorphologic descriptions of the disease. The typical findings in contrast-enhanced ultrasound were sub-segmental hyperemia (93/113, 82%) and necrosis with a hyperemic margin (109/113, 96%) in the arterial phase and a washout of liver tissue surrounding necrosis in the late phase (101/113, 89%). Four different sonomorphologic stages of pyogenic liver abscess were identified.

[The double pylorus - a rare endoscopic finding].

History And Admission Findings: A 58-year-old man was admitted for elucidation of a microcytic anemia diagnosed by his general practitioner (hemoglobin of 5,5 g/dl). He felt dizzy and unwell. The patient had for some time been regularly taking 1-2 tablets of diclofenac, a nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), for joint and gouty pain.

[Endoscopy in geriatric patients: position paper of the working group geriatric gastroenterology].

The relevance of endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic interventions is on a constant rise. However, specific aspects of the treatment of geriatric patients have only been tackled to a rather limited extent so far. The present contribution pinpoints illustratively the status quo on this issue and provides directions for further research which should be conducted in future studies supported by the working group on geriatric gastroenterology.

Oesophageal temperature monitoring and incidence of oesophageal lesions after pulmonary vein isolation using a remote robotic navigation system.

Aims: Oesophageal lesions (EL), a potential complication after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), have been described recently. A new remote robotic navigation system (RNS; Hansen Medical) provides enhanced catheter stability along with more effective lesion placement. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate temperature monitoring and incidence of EL when using RNS with an irrigated tip radiofrequency catheter for PVI.

[Lethal bleeding after accidental swallowing of a wooden meat skewer].

Fistulas into the large vessels are a rare cause of intestinal bleeding. In some cases they are caused by transmural perforation after the accidental swallowing of a sharp foreign body like a bone or a fish bone. We report about a 79-year-old patient who had swallowed a fragment of a wooden meat skewer which induced a perforation of the oesophagus and aorta walls.

[Buried bumper - a new method of non-surgical removal].

Buried bumper syndrome is a rare complication among patients with PEG for long-term feeding. Tight fixation of the external bumper causes pressure necrosis beneath the internal bumper. This leads to the internal bumper's penetration of the deeper gastric wall, where it is completely overgrown by gastric mucosa.

[Vasoconstrictive Therapies for Bleeding Esophageal Varices and their Mechanisms of Action].

Variceal bleeding is one of the most dramatic complications in gastroenterology and has a high mortality rate. Early treatment with vasoactive drugs can save lives when skilled endoscopists are not immediately available. Vasoactive drugs like terlipressin, somatostatin or octreotide are not only indicated as first-choice emergency treatment, but they also increase the success rate of endoscopic treatments.

[Palliative laser therapy of colorectal cancer with sustained local tumor removal].

Laser photocoagulation is an established palliative therapeutic method in advanced colorectal cancer. In most cases tumor obstruction of the colonic lumen and symptoms like bleeding, secretion and diarrhoea can be improved or prevented. Even curative tumor therapy of some patients has been reported, particularly in cases with superficial growth of the tumor.

Motility disorders of the esophagus: diagnosis with barium-rice administration.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of barium-rice administration for a standardized diagnosis of dysphagia and esophageal motility disorders.

Materials And Methods: Sixty healthy volunteers and 218 patients with various esophageal disorders (achalasia, scleroderma and other connective tissue diseases, neurologic diseases, esophagitis and others) were examined both by a conventional barium study and by a barium-rice study. The barium-rice meal consisted of barium sulfate and boiled rice, mixed half and half.

[Motility disorders of the esophagus--their diagnosis with a rice-barium meal].

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of a "barium-rice" study for diagnosis of dysphagia and oesophageal motility disorders.

Material And Methods: 203 patients with oesophageal motility disorders of various aetiologies were examined by both conventional barium study and a "barium-rice" study. During the latter, oesophageal clearance of a defined mixture of barium sulfate and boiled rice was measured.

Pneumatoceles and pneumothoraces complicating staphylococcal pneumonia: treatment by synchronous independent lung ventilation.

A 54 year old man with a staphylococcal sepsis developed staphylococcal pneumonia complicated by multiple pneumatoceles and bilateral tension pneumothoraces caused by bronchopleural fistulae. Excessive enlargement of the right sided pneumatoceles and a tension pneumothorax not improved by drainage led to mediastinal shift and compression of the right lung. Reversal of the mediastinal shift and closure of the bronchopleural fistulae was achieved by assisted independent lung ventilation.

[Decompression sickness as differential diagnosis in internal medicine emergency admissions].

Two men (aged 37 years--patient 1, and 26 years--patient 2), both in good health, had dived as a sport to a depth of 40 and 45 m, respectively, reportedly keeping to the prescribed decompression times on their ascent. Patient 1 immediately developed shortness of breath and pain in the chest, later neurological deficits in both legs, as well as faecal and urinary incontinence. Examination 60 h later revealed paraparesis, increased leg proprioceptor reflexes and paraesthesia below the 10th thoracic vertebra, with abnormal posterior column function.

Percutaneous obliteration of the cystic duct with a holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser: results of in vitro and animal experiments.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using a holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser to permanently occlude the cystic duct in order to isolate the gallbladder from the biliary-enteric circulation and prevent gallstone formation.

Materials And Methods: To determine the optimal laser parameters (power and pulsing rate) for cystic duct thermocoagulation, 20 freshly excised porcine gallbladders with intact cystic ducts underwent low-energy (0.075-0.

[Computerized tomography analysis of gallstones: soon an essential diagnosis before nonsurgical gallstone therapy?].

Successful application of non operative procedures for gallstone therapy are limited on cholesterol stones. Therefore reliable therapeutic analysis of stone components is mandatory for planning of an adequate therapy. Computed tomographic gallstone analysis is considered to improve selection of patients significantly.

[The time requirement for endoscopic diagnosis and therapy: results of a multicenter study].

For evaluation of the time requirements for endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures data of 13,321 patients gathered from 155 endoscopic units were collected. Time requirements were calculated for preparation of the procedure, examination and after-care of patients and instruments. The data indicate, that time requirement is significantly influenced by the special procedure.

[Therapy of choledocholithiasis using extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and adjuvant surgical endoscopy].

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy of extra- and intrahepatic bile duct stones is indicated after failure of conventional operative endoscopic procedures including mechanical lithotripsy. An overview of the current literature (12 centers, 568 patients) indicates that this novel procedure has attracted international acceptance. It was applied in elderly patients (means = 65 years) with solitary (37.

Investigation of the effect of duodenoscopy on sphincter of Oddi manometry.

To investigate whether endoscopy affects sphincter of Oddi (SO) manometry, three patients who had undergone previous cholecystectomy and had a T-tube in situ for drainage were studied. Manometry was performed using a perfused triple lumen manometry catheter (diameter 1.7 mm), which was advanced into the SO lumen through the T-tube.

[Computerized tomography differentiation of pigment and cholesterol bile duct calculi].

Successful oral litholytic and other non-operative therapies of gallstones require exact determination of the stone components. Since computed tomography (CT) provides highly sensitive measurement of density, we performed a study to evaluate whether CT measurement of stone density allows to predict the composition of radiolucent gallstones. 28 patients presenting with 29 radiolucent gallbladder (n = 17) or common bile duct stones (n = 12) were included.