Medical student electives in general surgical subspecialties.

Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate how well the burn, trauma, and peripheral vascular third-year medical school electives meet the objectives of the six ACGME core competencies.

Methods: Medical school graduates from 1999 to 2002 completed a survey that consisted of 13 demographic/miscellaneous questions, and 28 core competency questions.

Results: In all, 168 of 500 students responded for a 34% response rate.

Subjective and objective analysis of the prevalence of Peyronie's disease in a population of men presenting for prostate cancer screening.

Purpose: In this study we defined the prevalence of Peyronie's disease in a cohort of men being screened for prostate cancer in the United States. The association between Peyronie's disease, and medical comorbidities and patient self-reported erectile dysfunction was also defined.

Materials And Methods: A total of 534 men presenting to 1 of 3 prostate cancer screening centers provided a complete medical history, underwent physical examination performed in all by a urologist and completed the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) questionnaire.

Bone mineral density among cirrhotic patients awaiting liver transplantation.

Osteoporosis is an important and common complication in patients with chronic liver disease. The goal of this study was to determine the bone mineral density (BMD) in different subgroups among pretransplant cirrhotic patients. BMD of the lumbar vertebrae (L) and femoral neck (F) were obtained in 104 consecutive cirrhotic patients.

Octreotide does not prevent postoperative pancreatic fistula or mortality following Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

The role of octreotide in preventing pancreatic fistula following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) remains controversial. The purpose of our study was to report our experience with octreotide in 266 patients undergoing PD from 1995 to 2002. There were 150 males and 116 females.

Response to treatment of hepatitis C in individuals with a recent history of intravenous drug abuse.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the rate of sustained response (SR) to high-dose daily interferon (IFN) therapy in prior drug abusers with chronic hepatitis C. This was a retrospective matched cohort study conducted at a tertiary care university hospital in a large urban area.

Methods: The 120 individuals in each cohort were treated by the same physicians at the same facility, using the same treatment protocol and management procedures.

Zero mortality after 152 consecutive pancreaticoduodenectomies with pancreaticogastrostomy.

Background: Since 1968, there have been three published reports in the United States literature of 41, 118, and 145 consecutive patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy without mortality. In all of these series, the pancreatic remnant was anastomosed to the jejunum.

Study Design: This study was designed to review 152 consecutive patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy in whom the pancreatic remnant was anastomosed to the stomach (pancreaticogastrostomy).

Do mothers remember key events during labor?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of maternal recall of key events during their most recent delivery.

Study Design: After institutional review board approval, women who were delivered at Loyola University Medical Center were recruited. Patients were asked a maximum of 13 questions about major labor management events that were applicable to the course of their delivery.

A comparison of pancreaticogastrostomy and pancreaticojejunostomy following pancreaticoduodenectomy.

This retrospective study compares the results of pancreaticogastrostomy (PG) and pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ) in our institution, which has extensive experience in both techniques. Between the years of June 1995 and June 2001, 214 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) at our institution. Of these 177 had PG and 97 had pancreatojejunostomy (PJ).

Adjuvant high-dose bolus interleukin-2 for patients with high-risk renal cell carcinoma: a cytokine working group randomized trial.

Purpose: This prospective, randomized, controlled phase III trial assessed high-dose bolus interleukin-2 (IL-2) postoperatively in patients with high-risk renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Patients And Methods: Eligibility requirements were resected locally advanced (LA; T3b-4 or N1-3) or metastatic (M1) RCC, no prior systemic therapy, and excellent organ function. Randomized assignment was to one course of IL-2 (600,000 U/kg every 8 hours on days 1 to 5 and days 15 to 19 [maximum 28 doses]) or observation.

Analysis of c-kit protein expression in small-cell lung carcinoma and its implication for prognosis.

Recently, therapies targeting signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of different tumors have been developed. Studies have shown that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor STI-571 (Gleevec) is used successfully against tumors expressing the c-kit oncogene, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). A recent in vitro study also demonstrated an antiproliferative effect of STI-571 on small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines.

The influence of reconstructive modality on cost of care in head and neck oncologic surgery.

Objective: To determine the differential costs of 3 reconstructive modalities in patients undergoing head and neck oncologic surgery.

Design: Cost-identification analysis.

Setting: Academic tertiary care medical center.