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Biomedical subjects

M L Kochman

Publications and source records attributed to M L Kochman.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Endosonography--is it sound for the masses?

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), a relatively new addition to the endoscopist's diagnostic armamentarium, provides detailed images of the gut wall layers and surrounding organs. Endosonography is highly accurate in the staging of gastrointestinal neoplasms and may provide information that is invaluable in treatment planning, such as evidence of unresectability. EUS also has particular utility in the evaluation of submucosal lesions of the gastrointestinal tract and the preoperative localization of States, Olympus and Pentax manufacture two different endosonography systems, each with unique advantages and disadvantages. Recently, EUS-directed biopsy has enhanced the diagnostic potential of the procedure. With the recent approval of CPT codes and reimbursement values, interest in the procedure is likely to expand. Adequate training in EUS is essential for the successful performance of the procedure; a period of proctored training with an experienced endosonographer is recommended.

Digestive System Diseases↗

Preoperative staging of non-small cell lung cancer: transesophageal US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy of mediastinal lymph nodes.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the usefulness of transesophageal real-time ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in staging non-small cell lung carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two patients (a 64-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman) with non-small cell lung carcinoma and mediastinal lymphadenopathy detected at computed tomography underwent preoperative evaluation with transesophageal real-time US-guided FNAB. Two aspirates were obtained from each patient. RESULTS: Diagnostic tissue from a contralateral posterior mediastinal lymph node was obtained from the first aspirate in each case. Neither patient experienced a complication as a result of this technique, and both were subsequently referred for palliative therapy in light of these findings. CONCLUSION: Real-time US-guided FNAB is useful in the preoperative staging of disease in selected patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Biopsy, Needle↗

Enteroclysis in the evaluation of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.

OBJECTIVE: The diagnostic yield of enteroclysis was retrospectively evaluated for patients with obscure bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 128 patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding were referred to our department for enteroclysis between 1988 and 1993. The original radiologic reports were reviewed to determine the radiographic findings in these patients. The radiographic findings then were correlated with medical, surgical, and pathologic findings. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients had lesions found at enteroclysis. Nineteen of those patients had confirmation of the radiographic diagnosis, primarily by pathologic examination of the surgical specimen. Five other patients were found at surgery to have had false-positive diagnoses at enteroclysis. Eight patients ceased to bleed without pathologic corroboration, but their clinical presentation and course supported the radiographic diagnosis. Thus, 27 (21%) of the 128 patients had confirmed or highly probable lesions seen at enteroclysis as the cause of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. Seventeen patients (13%) had tumors involving the small bowel, and three (2%) had arteriovenous malformations in the jejunum. CONCLUSION: This study corroborates earlier reports that enteroclysis is a useful diagnostic test for examining the small intestine in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.

Adult↗

Prospective evaluation of endoscopic ultrasonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in patients with chronic abdominal pain of suspected pancreatic origin.

Twenty asymptomatic paid volunteers (13 females, 7 males, mean age 34 years, range 21-52 years), underwent endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) to assess variation in the appearance of ductular and parenchymal features of the pancreas. Following this investigation, 69 patients with chronic abdominal pain of suspected pancreaticobiliary origin were evaluated with EUS followed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and in 16 patients secretin stimulated intraductal pure pancreatic juice (PPJ) collection. Thirty patients were found to have chronic pancreatitis based on clinical, ERCP and/or PPJ data, and EUS was abnormal in 24 of these individuals. All of the 19 patients with abnormal pancreatograms also had an abnormal EUS. Twenty-two of the 30 patients with chronic pancreatitis had early disease (no or minimal changes on ERCP). In this subgroup of patients, the sensitivity of EUS was 86% versus 50% for ERCP (p = 0.01). For all patients, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of EUS in diagnosing chronic pancreatitis was 80%, 86% and 84% respectively. Using logistic regression analysis eight EUS features were found to be indicative of chronic pancreatitis including echogenic foci within the gland, focal regions of reduced echogenicity within the gland, increased thickness/echogenicity of the main pancreatic duct (MPD) wall, accentuation of the gland's lobular pattern, cysts, an irregular contour or dilation of the MPD and side branch dilation (p < or = 0.05). Generation of a receiver operating characteristic curve to assess the sensitivity and specificity of EUS in diagnosing chronic pancreatitis based on the number of abnormal findings demonstrated that sensitivity and specificity were optimal when three or more abnormal parenchymal and/or ductular features were found. These results suggest that EUS can play an adjunctive role to ERCP and PPJ in the diagnosis of early chronic pancreatitis.

Abdominal Pain↗

Post-translational processing of gastrin in neoplastic human colonic tissues.

Gastrin has been postulated to stimulate proliferation in colorectal neoplasms. Although gastrin mRNA has been demonstrated to be present in colon cancer cell lines, the intact peptide had not been recovered from human colorectal neoplasms. We demonstrate that gastrin and its precursors are present in both colorectal neoplasia and adjacent normal-appearing colonic mucosa. In colonic tissue, the glycine-extended precursor form of the peptide is over 10-fold more abundant than the amidated gastrin, and progastrin is more than 700-fold more abundant. In contrast, amidated gastrin in the human antrum is the predominant form of gastrin by a factor of 10. Furthermore, the ratio of gastrin precursors to gastrin is significantly increased in neoplastic colonic mucosa when compared with normal colonic tissue. These data suggest that the processing of gastrin is unique in the human colon and that further differences in processing occur in neoplastic colonic tissue.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Utility of a linear array ultrasound endoscope in the evaluation of suspected pancreatic disease.

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is currently being used to evaluate and stage pancreaticobiliary malignancies and neuroendocrine tumors, and to perform aspiration for cytologic diagnosis. There are currently two different commercially available EUS systems for clinical use. One system uses a mechanical radial sector scanner oriented in a plane perpendicular to the long axis of the endoscope, and the other uses an electronic convex scanner that is oriented in the long axis of the endoscope. The vast majority of the current literature reports experience using the radial scanning device in the evaluation of pancreaticobiliary abnormalities. We prospectively evaluated the linear probe as the sole instrument for EUS in 26 patients with suspected pancreatic disease. The results of the endoscopic ultrasound examination were compared with the results of surgery or long-term clinical follow-up. The sensitivity and specificity of linear array EUS for benign pancreatic disease were 93.8% and 88.2%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for malignant disease of the pancreas were 80.0% and 88.9%, respectively. The linear array echoendoscope, employed as the only instrument for evaluation of the pancreas, is accurate in the evaluation of pancreatic disease. The addition of EUS-guided pancreatic biopsy would be anticipated to improve the sensitivity of the linear array instrument for detecting malignancy.

Endoscopes↗

Endosonography-guided real-time fine-needle aspiration biopsy.

Twenty-six patients were prospectively evaluated with endosonography-guided real-time fine-needle-aspiration biopsy. This cohort comprised 14 patients with a pancreatic mass revealed by CT or a stricture of the main pancreatic duct seen at ERCP, 7 patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy, 3 patients with extrapancreatic abdominal masses, and 2 patients with subepithelial or infiltrative lesions. Endosonography-guided real-time fine-needle-aspiration biopsy was diagnostic in 18 of 20 patients in whom surgical confirmation was available or in whom malignancy was found and confirmed by clinical follow-up (accuracy of 90%). In the subgroup of patients with pancreatic lesions, 3 had previously undergone nondiagnostic CT-guided fine-needle-aspiration biopsy and 2 did not have evidence of a mass by CT. Real-time fine-needle-aspiration biopsy was diagnostic for malignancy in 4 of these individuals. In the 7 patients with mediastinal lymph nodes, 2 had nondiagnostic transbronchial biopsy and 2 had no evidence of mediastinal lymphadenopathy by CT scan. Endosonography-guided real-time fine-needle-aspiration biopsy diagnosed malignancy in both individuals with nondiagnostic transbronchial studies and was able to identify mediastinal lymphadenopathy in the 2 patients with negative CT scans (malignancy confirmed with real-time fine-needle-aspiration biopsy in 1). Overall, in 9 of 10 lesions in which visualization by CT was not possible (5), CT-guided fine-needle aspiration was unsuccessful (3), or prior nonsurgical biopsy techniques were unsuccessful (2), real-time fine-needle-aspiration biopsy was diagnostic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abdominal Neoplasms↗