Laparoscopic management of giant type III hiatal hernia and short esophagus. Objective follow-up at three years.

We wished to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the laparoscopic Hill repair in the treatment of type III hiatal hernia. Fifty-two patients underwent laparoscopic repair of a type III hiatal hernia. No esophageal lengthening procedures were performed.

Cytological screening for Barrett's esophagus using a prototype flexible mesh catheter.

The current cost of endoscopically screening patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and Barrett's esophagus (BE) is considerable. A nonendoscopic device that allows for screening of these patients would offer significant cost savings. This pilot study evaluates the utility of cytologically diagnosing BE using a prototype flexible mesh catheter.

Use of the radial forearm free tissue flap to treat persistent stricture after esophagogastrectomy.

Background: Persistent stricturing or anastomotic leakage at the cervical esophagogastric anastomosis can be a troublesome complication of gastric pull-up procedures. When the stricture is the result of ischemia of the stomach, the strictures are long and often not responsive to dilatation and require large operations such as jejunal interposition or replacement with colonic pull-up. In this report we describe the use of a radial forearm flap to patch strictures.

Collagen N-telopeptide excretion in men: the effects of age and intrasubject variability.

Biochemical markers of bone resorption are useful for evaluating metabolic bone diseases. A three-center study was performed in 253 men, 21-86 yr of age, to determine the normal range of urinary N-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTX/creatinine) in a nonfasting, second void, morning specimen, to define the biological variability and to examine the relationship between NTX/creatinine and age. Men with disorders or taking medications known to alter bone turnover, or with a serum creatinine level greater than 2 mg/dL were excluded.

First evidence of otoprotection against carboplatin-induced hearing loss with a two-compartment system in patients with central nervous system malignancy using sodium thiosulfate.

Sodium thiosulfate (STS) provides protection against carboplatin-induced ototoxicity in an animal model. The purpose of this study was to determine the STS dose required for otoprotection, in patients with malignant brain tumors treated with carboplatin in conjunction with osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption. Twenty-nine patients received STS intravenously 2 hr after carboplatin.