Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections due to Asymptomatic Colonic Diverticulitis.

Colovesical fistula is a common complication of diverticulitis. Pneumaturia, fecaluria, urinary tract infections, abdominal pain, and dysuria are commonly reported. The authors report a case of colovesical fistula due to asymptomatic diverticulitis, and they emphasize the importance of deeply investigate recurrent urinary tract infection without any bowel symptoms.

Strangulated intestinal hernia through a drain site.

Introduction: Intra-abdominal drains have been widely used in order to prevent intra-abdominal fluid accumulation and detection of anastomotic leakage.

Presentation Of Case: We herein report a case of small bowel herniation followed by strangulation in an 82 year old woman who had undergone sigmoidectomy for colorectal cancer.

Discussion: Although several complications related to drain usage such as drainsite infection, hemorrhage and intestinal perforation may occur, intestinal incarceration through drain site is rarely reported.

Multicystic nephroma in an elderly man. Case report.

Multicystic nephroma is a relatively rare tumor of the kidney presenting unclear histological origin. Abdominal mass is a common onset sign in children while abdominal flank pain or abdominal discomfort, hematuria and recurrent urinary tract infections usually affect adults. Preoperative diagnosis is impossible especially in the adult variant of the tumor where clear cells carcinoma with cystic degeneration must always be suspected.

Traumatic mesenteric cyst after blunt abdominal trauma.

Mesenteric cysts are rare abdominal tumors of unclear histologic origin, usually asymptomatic. Post-traumatic mesenteric cyst usually results as a consequence of a mesenteric lymphangitic rupture or a hematoma followed by absorption and cystic degeneration. The preoperative histological and radiological diagnosis is difficult.

Stercoral perforation of the sigmoid colon. A case report and brief review of the literature.

Stercoral perforation of the colon due to fecaloma is a rare disease and less than 100 cases have been described in the literature. The disease mainly involves the rectosigmoid colon. The condition is correlated with longstanding decubitus, chronic constipation, abuse of laxatives and/or constipating agents (anticholinergics, neuroleptics, etc).

Primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenoma of borderline malignancy in a male patient. Case report and review of the literature.

Background: Primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenoma of borderline malignancy represents a rare tumor, with unclear histogenesis, concerning almost exclusively women. Only two cases concerning male patients have been reported.

Case Report: We herein report a case of a 37 year old man undergone laparotomy for a sizable retroperitoneal tumor resulting after the histological examination to a primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenoma of borderline malignancy.

Sclerosing Mesenteritis: Diverse clinical presentations and dissimilar treatment options. A case series and review of the literature.

Sclerosing mesenteritis (SM) is a rare pathological condition affecting the mesentery. It is a benign, non-specific inflammation of the adipose tissue of the mesentery of the small intestine and colon. It is characterized by a variable amount of chronic fibrosis.

Label-free biosensing with high sensitivity in dual-core microstructured polymer optical fibers.

We present experimentally feasible designs of a dual-core microstructured polymer optical fiber (mPOF), which can act as a highly sensitive, label-free, and selective biosensor. An immobilized antigen sensing layer on the walls of the holes in the mPOF provides the ability to selectively capture antibody biomolecules. The change of the layer thickness of biomolecules can then be detected as a change in the coupling length between the two cores.

Multiple giant diverticula of the jejunum causing intestinal obstruction: report of a case and review of the literature.

Multiple diverticulosis of jejunum represents an uncommon pathology of the small bowel. The disease is usually asymptomatic and must be taken into consideration in cases of unexplained malabsorption, anemia, chronic abdominal pain or discomfort. Related complications such as diverticulitis, perforation, bleeding or intestinal obstruction appear in 10-30% of the patients increasing morbidity and mortality rates.

Routine abdominal drains after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: a retrospective review of 353 patients.

Complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) are usually silent and difficult to interpret. Our purpose was to evaluate the utility of routine placement of intraperitoneal drains at the end of LSG in detection and management of postoperative complications. This is a retrospective study of all patients that underwent LSG by a standard operative team in a 3-year period.

Bending loss and thermo-optic effect of a hybrid PDMS/silica photonic crystal fiber.

In this paper, we demonstrate and report a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) infiltrated with PDMS elastomer which is sensitive to external bending and temperature perturbations. Numerical simulations and experimental measurements were carried out to investigate the fundamental TIR-based guiding mechanism of the hybrid PDMS/silica PCF in terms of effective index, effective modal area and loss. Wavelength dependence of bending losses was also measured for different bend diameters as well as the temperature dependence of the fundamental guiding mode for a range of temperatures from 20°C to 75°C.

Comparison of mannitol and hypertonic saline in the treatment of severe brain injuries.

Object: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of mannitol and hypertonic saline in doses of similar osmotic burden for the treatment of intracranial hypertension in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

Methods: The authors used an alternating treatment protocol to compare the effect of hypertonic saline with that of mannitol given for episodes of increased intracranial pressure in patients treated for severe head injury at their hospital during 2006-2008. Standard guidelines for the management of severe traumatic brain injury were followed.

Initial ultrasonographic assessment for blunt abdominal trauma: is it a reliable diagnostic modality for emergency laparotomy?

Abdominal ultrasound has been proposed as a tool for the evaluation of blunt abdominal trauma. The aim of this study was to evaluate ultrasound's ability to identify intraabdominal injuries that require surgical treatment. Data from 1463 patients were examined retrospectively during a 2-year time period, which were ultrasonographically evaluated for blunt abdominal injury.

Heterotopic mesenteric ossification after gastrectomy for watermelon stomach.

Heterotopic mesenteric ossification is a rare disorder. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature, associated with previous abdominal surgery or trauma. We report a case of heterotopic mesenteric ossification leading to abdominal sepsis, after abdominal operation for recurrent gastric bleeding, due to gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE), otherwise called "watermelon stomach", another rare disorder.

Successful use of recombinant activated factor VII for postoperative associated haemorrhage: a case report.

Background: Coagulopathy is a major contributing factor to bleeding related mortality even after achieving adequate surgical control of the haemorrhage in trauma and surgical patients.

Case Presentation: A 65 years old Greek man was admitted in our ICU with critical haemorrhage following renal biopsy. Despite surgical exploration the patient continued to bleed resulting in a vicious cycle of transfusion, coagulopathy and re-bleeding.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and expression of p53, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X(L).

p53 protein promotes apoptosis, whereas Bcl-2 family proteins have an antiapoptotic function. This study determines the predictive value of selected clinical and histopathological factors in correlation with the expression of p53, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X(L) proteins in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Paraffin-embedded sections from 19 surgically resected primary esophageal SCCs were examined by immunohistochemistry.

Apoptosis and adenocarcinoma of the cardia: expression of p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, WAF1, and fas proteins and association with characteristics of the tumors.

Our knowledge regarding the biology of the gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas is still incomplete. Paraffin-embedded sections from 31 surgically resected primary cardia adenocarcinomas were examined by immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis showed that Bcl-2 expression was significantly correlated with the age of the patients (P = 0.

Distal transplant pancreatectomy during SPK: successful clinical outcome.

Simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation (SPK) is considered an extremely effective and well-established therapeutic option for selected patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), secondary to type 1 diabetes. Vascular complications in pancreas transplantation are more common than in any other solid organ transplant. Thrombosis is the most frequently observed surgical complication of pancreatic transplantation.

20-GHz broadly tunable and stable mode-locked semiconductor amplifier fiber ring laser.

We present an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser that uses a single active semiconductor optical amplifier device to provide both gain and gain modulation from an external optical pulse train. The laser source generated 4.3-ps pulses at 20 GHz over a 16-nm tuning range and is stable against environmental changes and simple to build.

Optical clock repetition-rate multiplier for high-speed digital optical logic circuits.

Repetition-rate multiplication has been shown by use of a fiber ring oscillator with a semiconductor optical amplifier as the gain medium and by use of fast saturation and recovery of the amplifier from an external optical pulse train. Repetition-frequency multiplication up to 6 times and up to 34.68-GHz frequency have been achieved.

Hypolipoproteinemia and hyperinflammatory cytokines in serum of severe and moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) acts as an inducer of the inflammatory reaction expressed by the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1beta [IL-1beta], interleukin-6 [IL-6] and interleukin-8 [IL-8]), and causes metabolic alterations in the early, post-traumatic state, either in the brain or/and the systemic circulation. The metabolic changes involve carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. We focused on the serum lipid profile, the impact of trauma on lipoproteins, and their subsequent effects, on inflammation.

Nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia: a lethal complication in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) is a relatively uncommon disorder, seen primarily in elderly patients with cardiac disease, and is characterized by progressive intestinal ischemia leading to infarction, sepsis, and death. It is suspected of being the underlying cause in at least 20% - 30% of acute mesenteric ischemia patients. End-stage renal disease patients are among the highest risk populations for developing this lethal complication; however, NOMI is not unique to hemodialysis and can occur in peritoneal dialysis patients as well.

Fas and WAF1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas.

The Fas/FasL system plays an important role in the regulation of tumor apoptosis. This study examined the correlation between the expression levels of Fas and WAF1 with the clinicopathological characteristics of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) tumors. Paraffin-embedded sections from 19 surgically resected primary esophageal squamous cell carcinomas were examined by immunohistochemistry.

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of linezolid in neurosurgical patients.

Linezolid is a new antimicrobial agent effective against drug-resistant gram-positive pathogens commonly responsible for central nervous system (CNS) infections in neurosurgical patients hospitalized in intensive care units. In order to study the penetration of this antimicrobial into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of such patients, the disposition of linezolid in serum and CSF was studied in 14 neurosurgical patients given linezolid at 600 mg twice daily (1-h intravenous infusion) for the treatment of CNS infections caused by gram-positive pathogens or for prophylactic chemotherapy. Serum and CSF linezolid steady-state concentrations were analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography, and the concentration-time profiles obtained were analyzed to estimate pharmacokinetic parameters.