Biomedical subjects
S Sezai
Publications and source records attributed to S Sezai.
Embolization of portal-systemic shunts in cirrhotic patients with chronic recurrent hepatic encephalopathy.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of embolization of portal-systemic shunts in cirrhotic patients with chronic recurrent hepatic encephalopathy (CRHE). METHODS: Seven cirrhotic patients with CRHE refractory to medical treatment (3 men and 4 women, mean age 66 years) were studied. Five patients had splenorenal shunts, 1 had a gastrorenal shunt, and 1 had an intrahepatic portal vein-hepatic vein shunt. Shunt embolization was performed using stainless steel coils, with a percutaneous transhepatic portal vein approach in 4 patients and a transrenal vein approach in 3 patients. RESULTS: After embolization, the shunt disappeared in 4 patients on either ultrasound pulsed Doppler monitoring or portography. Complications observed in the 7 patients were fever, transient pleural effusion, ascites, and mild esophageal varices. For 3-6 months after embolization, the 4 patients whose shunts disappeared showed minimal or no reappearance of a shunt, and had no recurrence of encephalopathy. The serum ammonia levels decreased and electroencephalograms also improved. One of the 4 patients, who developed mild esophageal varices, required no treatment. Treatment was effective in 3 of the 4 patients (75%) who underwent embolization via a transhepatic portal vein. CONCLUSION: Transvascular embolization of shunts improved the outcome in 4 of 7 patients. The most effective embolization was achieved via the percutaneous transhepatic portal vein approach.
Noninvasive endoscopical measurement of gastric mucosal blood flow in the anesthetized rat.
Endoscopical measurement of gastric mucosal blood flow seems to provide substantial advantages for noninvasive and repetitive scrutiny, especially in small animals. We employed a quartz probe 0.5 mm in diameter which was inserted into the gastric lumen through the forceps channel (0.8 mm in diameter) of the endoscope. Gastric mucosal blood flow determined with this probe in combination with laser Doppler velocimetry were sufficiently consistent and reproducible in the corpus as long as the tissue-to-probe distance was positioned in gentle contact with the gastric mucosa perpendicularly. Topical application of endothelin-1 produced a significant long-lasting decline in gastric mucosal blood flow, although laparotomy per se resulted in a slight decrease of the blood flow. Endoscopic measurement of gastric mucosal blood flow seems simple and reproducible with high potential for chronic studies.
A study of endotoxaemia in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.
Hepatic reticuloendothelial function may be diminished in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Endotoxin concentrations in peripheral blood and in the superior mesenteric vein were measured, by the beta-glucan sensitive, factor-free, endotoxin-specific limulus assay, in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and liver cirrhosis (non-PBC cirrhosis). Endotoxaemia was detected in the peripheral blood of seven out of nine patients (78%) with asymptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis, but in only two out of thirteen patients (15%) with non-PBC cirrhosis. The endotoxin level was significantly higher in the earlier stages of primary biliary cirrhosis than in the later stages (P < 0.05). The endotoxin level in superior mesenteric vein blood was significantly lower in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis than in patients with non-PBC cirrhosis. Peripheral endotoxaemia in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis may be due to the diminished capacity of the hepatic reticuloendothelial system, for phagocytosis of endotoxin.