A case of biliary stones and anastomotic biliary stricture after liver transplant treated with the rendez-vous technique and electrokinetic lithotritor.

The paper studies the combined radiologic and endoscopic approach (rendez-vous technique) to the treatment of the biliary complications following liver transplant. The "rendez-vous" technique was used with an electrokinetic lithotripter, in the treatment of a biliary anastomotic stricture with multiple biliary stones in a patient who underwent orthotopic liver transplant. In this patient, endoscopic or percutaneous transhepatic management of the biliary complication failed.

Usefulness of the "rendezvous" technique in living related right liver donors with postoperative biliary leakage from bile duct anastomosis.

This is a report on two cases of large bile leak following right hepatectomy performed for living related liver transplantation, originating from the stump of the ligated right bile duct, and treated with the placement of large percutaneous biliary catheters through a combined percutaneous transhepatic and endoscopic approach (rendezvous technique).

Cardiovascular and endothelial effects of fish oil supplementation in healthy volunteers.

Consumption of fish oil (FO) is associated with reduced adverse cardiovascular events. In a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial, 26 subjects (17 men and 9 women; mean age [+/- SD] 31 +/- 3.7 years) received 1 g FO capsule (n = 14) or placebo (1 g of corn oil, n = 12) for 14 days.

Simultaneous endoscopic ultrasound fine needle aspiration and endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography: Evaluation of safety.

Aim: To investigate the rate of complications of endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) performed immediately after endoscopic ultrasound fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in a large series of patients.

Methods: Patients with the following conditions were considered candidates for EUS-FNA and ERCP: diagnosis of locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic lesion not eligible for surgery, and patients with pancreatic lesion of unknown nature causing jaundice. Data were prospectively collected on the following parameters: indication for FNA, EUS findings, pathological diagnosis, procedure duration of EUS-FNA and combined EUS-FNA and ERCP, and immediate and late complications.

The importance of a taste. A comparative study on wild food plant consumption in twenty-one local communities in Italy.

A comparative food ethnobotanical study was carried out in twenty-one local communities in Italy, fourteen of which were located in Northern Italy, one in Central Italy, one in Sardinia, and four in Southern Italy. 549 informants were asked to name and describe food uses of wild botanicals they currently gather and consume. Data showed that gathering, processing and consuming wild food plants are still important activities in all the selected areas.

Lonidamine affects testicular steroid hormones in immature mice.

The effects on the hypothalamus-pituitary-testicular axis of the well-known antispermatogenic drug lonidamine (LND) has not been elucidated so far. In the present study, the possible changes of the testicular steroid hormones were evaluated in immature mice for a better characterization of the LND adverse effects both in its use as antitumoral agent and male contraceptive. Male CD1 mice were orally treated on postnatal day 28 (PND28) with LND single doses (0 or 100 mg/kg b.

[Long-term effects on male gonadal function of antitumoral drugs used during childhood].

The survival rate of children and adolescents with cancer has improved dramatically in the last decades so that the prospect of survival in adulthood is today a realistic expectation for about 70% of the treated patients. However, the deleterious impact that chemotherapy and radiotherapy have on the reproductive function and future fertility could compromise the quality of life of the survivors in adulthood. The interest of the scientific community on this topic is increasing and focused on a more accurate evaluation of the reproductive risk among cancer treated children and on the development of less aggressive therapies.

Family history, diabetes and extension of coronary atherosclerosis are strong predictors of adverse events after PTCA: A one-year follow-up study.

Background And Aim: In this study we addressed some open questions in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). First, we analysed which of the traditional risk factors was associated with the spreading of coronary stenosis and second, we aimed to identify if any variable was predictive of post-percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) clinical events.

Methods And Results: We collected a consecutive series of patients with CAD (n=301) and in the subgroup of patients undergoing PTCA (n=135) we performed a prospective one-year follow-up study recording cardiovascular morbidity and total mortality.

Lonidamine transiently affects spermatogenesis in pubertal CD1 mice.

Lonidamine (LND) [1-(2,4-dichlorobenzyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxylic acid], a well-known antispermatogenic drug, was studied for the first time in pubertal mice to assess its possible effects on spermatogenesis. Male CD1 mice were orally treated on Postnatal Day (PND) 28 with a single dose of LND (100 mg/kg body weight) and sacrificed on PND30, PND42, PND74 and PND123. On PND30 (48 h after dosing), severe testicular effects were evidenced in the treated animals: (a) reduction of the testicular sperm head concentration (approximately 50% of the control value); (b) changes in the spermatogenic cell type distribution (mild decrease of the elongated spermatids and S-phase cells fractions); and (c) morphological alterations of the Sertoli cell cytoplasm and germ cell exfoliation.

Severe acute colitis associated with CMV: a prevalence study.

Background: Cytomegalovirus has been identified as a pathogen that contributes to flares of colitis when detected in colonic specimens of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Aim: To determine the overall prevalence and the role of cytomegalovirus infection in a consecutive series of patients with acute severe colitis admitted to our department from 2000 to 2003.

Methods: Among 42 patients (38 with ulcerative colitis and 4 with Crohn's disease) admitted to our hospital for acute severe colitis, we performed proctoscopy and biopsy together with blood sample for cytomegalovirus determination at the time of admission, regardless of their steroid resistance.

Long-lasting effects of lindane on mouse spermatogenesis induced by in utero exposure.

Long-lasting effects on mouse spermatogenesis induced by prenatal exposure to the insecticide lindane have been investigated by conventional reproductive endpoints complemented by the flow cytometric (FCM) DNA content analysis of testis cells and by the Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA). Two lindane dose levels, 15 and 25 mg/kg bw, and diethylstilboestrol (DES, 10 microg/kg bw) as positive control, were administered daily by gavage to pregnant CD1 mice on gestation days (GD) 9-16. Reproductive endpoints were evaluated on F1 male mice on postnatal day (PND) 60; additionally, animals treated with lindane 25 mg/kg per day and DES were examined on PND 100 to evaluate the possible reversibility of the effects.

[Alkylphenols: assessment of risks for aquatic ecosystems and for human health with particular reference to endocrine effects].

(Alkylphenols: evaluation of the risk to aquatic ecosystems and human health with reference to endocrine effects).--Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) are a heterogeneous group of substances that can interfere with many endocrine functions. Their effects have been demonstrated in different taxa and they are suspected to affect human health.

Occupational exposures to metals, solvents and pesticides: recent evidence on male reproductive effects and biological markers.

This review is based primarily on the recent epidemiological studies conducted in occupational settings in order to explore the relationship between exposures to chemical agents and the possible effects on male reproductive function. The paper examines evidence of the effects of metals, solvents, pesticides and dioxin. The effects considered are primarily the possible alterations of sperm quality and reduction of fertility.

Prognostic indicators of successful endoscopic sclerotherapy for prevention of rebleeding from oesophageal varices in cirrhosis: a long-term cohort study.

Background: Although band ligation is now recommended for prevention of rebleeding from oesophageal varices in cirrhosis, sclerotherapy is still widely used. Patients submitted to chronic sclerotherapy undergo several endoscopies and experience a large number of serious complications. However, long-term outcome is poorly defined.

[Atrial fibrillation and hyperthyroidism. The results of a retrospective study].

Background: To examine the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in cardiopathic patients with hyperthyroidism.

Methods: The data concerning the patients had been derived from registers of the Laboratory of Radioimmunoassay where cardiopathic patients' blood samples were referred from the Cardiology Unit to evaluate thyroid function, consecutively from January 1992 to December 1997. Of the 443 patients, 303 (68.

Octreotide compared with placebo in a treatment strategy for early rebleeding in cirrhosis. A double blind, randomized pragmatic trial.

beta-Blockers and sclerotherapy prevent long-term upper digestive rebleeding in cirrhosis but they seem ineffective for early rebleeding. We compared octreotide with a placebo for the prevention of early rebleeding in cirrhotic patients. After control of acute upper digestive bleeding, 262 consecutive cirrhotic patients were randomized to octreotide 100 microgram subcutaneously three times a day for 15 days (n = 131) or to the placebo (n = 131), in a double blind pragmatic trial in which beta-blockers and/or sclerotherapy were allowed together with the experimental treatment.

In vivo studies on possible adverse effects on reproduction of the fungicide methyl thiophanate.

The fungicide methyl thiophanate (MT), widely used to control some of the most common fungal diseases in crops, is metabolized in animals into benzimidazole compounds, including the well-known reproductive toxicant carbendazim. However, standard toxicological tests did not indicate that MT may cause testicular toxicity and/or embryotoxicity, which are typical effects of many benzimidazoles. In the present study some aspects of the MT potential for reproductive toxicity have been assayed by means of two non-conventional models.

[Imaging networks, surgical simulation, computer-assisted neurosurgery].

Objective: In 1988, the neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists at the Val-de-Grâce hospital decided to create a stereotaxis site using advanced medical imaging date (CT-scan or MRI).

Methods: Two MRI machines and on CT unit were linked to a network (ETHERNET) available for radiologists in 1989. Neurosurgeons adapted stereotaxis sites using Leksell, Fisher and CRW software for MRI.

No evidence of effect on male mice germ cells after acute treatment with thiram.

Thiram is a dithiocarbamate compound widely used for industrial processes and agriculture. Animal studies reveal that this compound may affect the male reproductive system. Aim of this study was to test, using sensitive testicular parameters, whether thiram directly affects germinal cells.

[Anterior ST segment depression in acute inferior myocardial infarct: significance of its reproducibility during early ergometric test].

The significance of anterior ST segment depression (V1-V4) at the time of acute inferior myocardial infarction and exercise-induced anterior ST segment depression were studied in 30 patients. All patients carried out: two-dimensional echocardiography in the acute phase of myocardial infarction (Echo 1) and at predischarge (Echo 2); symptom-limited exercise test; coronary arteriography. According to ST segment changes, patients were divided into Group A (n = 15) with exercise-induced anterior ST segment depression and Group B (n = 15) with no ST segment depression during exercise.