What is the marginal cost for marginal risk in cardiac surgery?

Background: It has been shown that postoperative length of stay (LOS) correlates highly with mortality risk for cardiac surgical procedures. Similar correlations have been found for charges with LOS and costs with risk.

Methods: Postoperative LOS and risk scores were obtained, tabulated, and compiled into the five original Parsonnet risk groups for 2,589 patients who underwent cardiac operations from 1992 through 1996 at one hospital.

Enterochromaffin-like cells and gastric argyrophil carcinoidosis.

The relevance of enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells in gastric pathobiology has generated considerable interest particularly since the recent description of a pathological state characterized as gastric argyrophilic carcinoidosis. The morphological and biofunctional properties of these cells are distinct from other gastric endocrine cells. It is probable that ECL cells have a major role in the regulation of parietal cell function.