The authors describe a case in which a biliary-hepatic artery fistula was created by a glidewire perforation during percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage and was successfully treated by embolization via the transbiliary tract. Great caution should be exercised to avoid perforation when a Terumo hydrophilic glidewire is used during biliary intervention.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mucociliary transport in chickens infected with Newcastle disease virus and exposed to sulfur dioxide.

Mucociliary transport was studied in the nasal mucous membranes and sinuses of 3-week-old chickens which were either exposed to sulfur dioxide (SO2), infected intranasally with the mesogenic strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), or exposed to SO2 after NDV infection. A newly developed apparatus was used to follow intranasal transport rates over time in the same animal, and to follow sinus transport rates over time in a separate group of animals. Intermittent exposure to concentrations of 1.4-66.0 ppm SO2 produced peaks of increased intranasal transport time, with intervening recovery periods. This suggests a homeostatic mechanism. Transport was also decelerated in the sinus when concentrations of SO2 were above 10 ppm. NDV infection produced decelerated intranasal transport rates but did not decelerate sinus rates. Combined NDV and SO2 interacted to produced persistent deceleration of the intransal transport rate. In the sinus, the combination seemed to conteract the decelerating effect of SO2 alone, suggesting a separate mechanism of homeostasis.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

CT appearance of implanted esophageal stents.

Three different types of esophageal stents, the Z-stent, Ultraflex, and Wall-stent, exhibit different shapes on CT, which may suggest a difference in the radial forces applied by each of the stents. CT is useful for displaying the relationship between an esophageal stent and adjacent structures and complications.

Esophageal Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment of advanced primary lung cancer associated with malignant pleural effusion by the combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Twelve patients with advanced primary lung cancers associated with malignant pleural effusion were treated with intrathoracic instillation of recombinant interleukin-2 with or without in-vitro-sensitized cells. Two cases achieved complete response, and 7 partial response. The adverse effects seen in the protocol were marginal, and the protocol was well-tolerated and feasible. Furthermore, 4 cases were treated with the combination of systemic chemotherapy and adoptive immunotherapy. Of these, 3 cases responded well to the therapy and have shown a complete response for more than 20 months, indicating that adoptive immunotherapy together with chemotherapy might be a beneficial treatment for advanced lung cancer patients.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Graphical output of health testing data.

A new indicator to evaluate the health status of an examinee by computerizing selected health screening data has been devised and designated as a disease score. By employing such an index, it is possible to display to some extent the functional status of organs in simple, easily understood, computer-generated cartoons. Thus a computer program has been developed for a desk-top personal computer to calculate the disease score index from screening data and to generate an output in an easily understandable graphic and pictorial format. The disease score index with a graphic display (i.e., a disease map), a score graph and short comments are incorporated in the report form. This type of output should be especially useful in communicating with subjects who are screened and in helping them to understand selected aspects of their own state of health better. The index could also be helpful in screening and selecting subjects who require further detailed clinical examinations but this assumption needs full clinical evaluation to prove its efficacy.

Computer Graphics↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Usefulness of Lens culinaris agglutinin A-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3) as a marker of distant metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma.

The objective of this study was to clarify the relationship between the serum level of the Lens culinaris agglutinin A-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3) and the clinical features including sex, age, Child's classification, virus markers, tumour size, tumour stage, distant metastasis, histopathologic findings, portal thrombus and outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We measured the AFP-L3 levels in 170 HCC cases at the time of diagnosis using lectin-affinity electrophoresis followed by antibody-affinity blotting. The patients were divided into two groups, those who were AFP-L3 positive (n=56; AFP-L3 >/=15% relative to the total alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentration) and those who were AFP-L3 negative (n=114; AFP-L3 <15%). Then we examined the association between the serum AFP-L3 level and the clinical features of HCC. No significant differences were found in age, sex, and virus markers between the AFP-L3-positive and -negative groups. However, patients in the positive group had worse liver function and larger tumours compared to the negative group. They also had more advanced cancer with poor tumour histology compared to the negative group. Distant metastasis was diagnosed significantly more often in the positive group than that in the negative group. There was no significant correlation between the AFP-L3 level and portal thrombus. Although the follow-up period was brief the prognosis for the positive group clearly was poor. These results suggest that AFP-L3 is a useful indicator of distant metastasis and a poor prognosis for HCC.

Adult↗