[Choice of bile-diverting operations in neoplastic obstruction of the distal common bile duct].

Analysis of clinical material of 206 patients with tumor obstruction of the distal part of the common bile duct allowed the conclusion to be made on the expediency of applying endoscopic methods for jaundice correction as the first stage in preparation for the operation (122 patients) and also as the only and final operation (70 patients). Study of the immediate and late-term results of different variants of operations for bile diversion in obstruction of the distal choledochus (203 operations) showed the superiority of the Roux hepaticoejunoanastomosis in which recurrent jaundice due to obstruction of the cystic duct does not occur, as is encountered in creation of a cholecystoejunoanastomosis, and there are no conditions for the development of ascending cholangitis.

[Late results of endoscopic papillosphincterotomy treatment in patients with acute cholecystitis].

The authors examined 81 patients who were subjected to endoscopic papillosphincterotomy (EPST) in the management of acute cholecystitis attended by total or partial obstruction of the choledochus. Cholestomy was carried out before or after EPST in 68 patients but not in 13 patients. The duration of the follow-up period after treatment ranges from 12 months to 6 years.

[Endoscopic methods in the diagnosis and treatment of mechanical jaundice of non-neoplastic etiology].

The authors analyse the results of treatment of 255 patients with obstructive jaundice of nonneoplastic origin. Various endoscopic methods were used. Endoscopic interventions were carried out in the first two days in 79.

[Emergency laparoscopy in the examination of middle-aged and elderly patients with acute surgical diseases of the abdominal cavity].

Urgent laparoscopies were performed on 566 elderly and senile patients suspected of acute surgical diseases of abdominal organs. Laparoscopic examinations proved to be highly informative in 90.4%, little informative in 6.

[Mesotheliomas of the pleura].

The materials concerning 19 patients with pleural mesotheliomas are analysed. The patients were subdivided into three groups according to the clinico-roentgenological picture and course of the affection: 1) four patients in whom pleural mesothelioma proceeded without exudate accumulation; 2) seven patients in whom exudate accumulation in the pleural cavity was the main sign of the tumor; 3) 8 subjects in whom the tumor developed on the side of an artificial pneumothorax many years following its cessation. Among 19 patients only in 5 cases the tumor was suspected soon after their admission to the hospital.