Biofeedback therapy for female patients with constipation caused by radical hysterectomy or vaginal delivery.

Background And Aim: Chronic constipation is frequently seen in women who have undergone hysterectomy or delivery. However, reports regarding anorectal physiologic features in those patients are rare. Patients with constipation associated with either radical hysterectomy or vaginal delivery were analyzed in order to clarify the anorectal physiologic features and the effectiveness of biofeedback therapy.

Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma with inferior vena cava/heart invasion.

Background: The prognosis and treatment outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with inferior vena cava (IVC)/heart invasion have not been established. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with HCC extending to IVC/heart and ascertained whether active treatment beyond best supportive care (BSC) can prolong overall survival.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 50 patients with HCC extending to IVC/heart who were admitted from November 1987 to November 2010.

Prognostic value of the 7th edition of the AJCC staging system as a clinical staging system in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/aims: In 2009, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) published the 7th edition of the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) staging system. We investigated the prognostic value of the 7th AJCC staging system as a clinical staging system in patients with HCC.

Methods: We retrospectively applied the 6th and 7th AJCC systems to 877 patients who were diagnosed with HCC between January 2004 and December 2006 using radiological findings and compared the performance of the AJCC systems to that of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) system.

Peroral direct cholangioscopic-guided biopsy and photodynamic therapy using an ultraslim upper endoscope for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma with intraductal tiny nodular tumor growth.

Bile-duct invasion is rare in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We report a case that received peroral direct cholangioscopy (PDCS)-guided endoscopic biopsy and photodynamic treatment (PDT) for recurrent HCC with intraductal tiny nodular tumor growth. A 64-year-old woman presented with recurrent right upper-quadrant pain.

The conserved and divergent roles of carbonic anhydrases in the filamentous fungi Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus nidulans.

Carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and its hydration product bicarbonate (HCO(3)(-)) are essential molecules in various physiological processes of all living organisms. The reversible interconversion between CO(2) and HCO(3)(-) is in equilibrium. This reaction is slow without catalyst, but can be rapidly facilitated by Zn(2+)-metalloenzymes named carbonic anhydrases (CAs).