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Biomedical subjects

S Wapnick

Publications and source records attributed to S Wapnick.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1980

Limitation of amylase creatinine clearance ratio as a diagnostic test for postoperative pancreatitis.

The mean +/- S.E.M. ratio of amylase to creatinine clearance significantly increased at 24 hours after operations on the stomach and gallbladder but not after operations at sites remote from the abdominal cavity. Clinically, the elevated amylase to creatinine clearance ratio was not accompanied by pancreatitis. In dogs, surgical handling of the pancreas alone caused a significant increase in this measurement. The amylase to creatinine clearance ratio is not likely to be helpful in predicting the rare, but serious, postoperative complication of pancreatitis.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1979

Randomized prospective matched pair study comparing peritoneovenous shunt and conventional therapy in massive ascites.

A prospective randomized matched pair study was designed to test the efficacy of the peritoneovenous (LeVeen) shunt as a treatment for massive cirrhotic ascites compared with traditional medical therapy. Patients who failed to lose weight while on a low salt diet and fluids restricted to 1000 ml daily were placed in the study group. Weight loss, decrease in abdominal girth and diuresis were significantly greater (P less than 0.01) for surgical patients than for their medically treated counterparts. The surgical technique is simple, quick and inexpensive. The surgical patients outlived their matched partners in 12 of 14 pairs where a definitive comparison was possible (P less than 0.02). The median stay in hospital after randomization was shortened from 32 days with medical therapy to 15 days for those undergoing the shunt operation. Those treated medically experienced a significant rise in mean blood urea nitrogen and K+ (P less than 0.02). Patients with alcoholic hepatitis, hyperbilirubinaemia (bilirubin greater than 154 mumol/l), peritoneal sepsis, severe coagulopathy and those who had recently bled from oesophageal varices are poor risks for the surgical procedure.

Ascites↗
PubMed1979

Ascites: its correction by peritoneovenous shunting.

Patients with refractory ascites and HRS should be considered to present an urgent indication for peritoneovenous shunting. The shunt offers a method of continuous reinfusion of ascitic fluid which corrects avid sodium retention, oliguria and azotemia. Severe encephalopathy, jaundice or peritoneal sepsis--common complications of cirrhosis--contraindicate installation of the shunt before improvement occurs. Associated cardiac disease does not contraindicate the use of the shunt provided that ascitic fluid is removed at the time of operation and large amounts of diuretics are used. This operation has also proved useful in ascites attributed to causes other than cirrhosis. The main complications include disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, hepatic coma and sepsis in a few patients. Results of a randomized prospective study indicate that the shunt should probably be considered in patients with diet-resistant massive ascites even before they prove to be refractory to diuretic therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Mass in the head of the pancreas in cholestatic jaundice: carcinoma or pancreatitis?

The clinical, biochemical and radiological findings in 16 patients with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas were compared with that of 13 with cholestatic jaundice due to chronic pancreatitis. Patients presenting with malignancy had more severe hyperbilirubinemia (18.5 +/- 2.1 vs 5.6 +/- 1.6 p to ten days of hospital admission was the single most accurate test distinguishing carcinoma from pancreatitis. The mean bilirubin rose in carcinoma but fell in pancreatitis (mean net change 15.1 +/- 2.9 vs 3.9 +/- 0.6, p less than 0.001). Calcification in the pancreatic region was identified on a flat plate of the abdomen in 8/13 with pancreatitis but 0/16 with malignancy. Preoperative percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography was helpful in defining the site of biliary obstruction but the radiologist was unable to clearly predict the definitive diagnosis in five of the 29 patients. A point score based upon the major significant differences noted, predicted the presence or absence of malignancy in all patients (16/16 vs 0/13, p less than 0.01).

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Local duodenal metastasis from colonic carcinoma.

The clinical and radiologic appearance of an isolated metastasis to the duodenum may mimic a primary pancreatic or duodenal cancer. As lymphatics from the right colon drain to periduodenal lymph nodes, lymphatic spread from right colon cancer can cause enlargement of the duodenal loop, with ulceration or distortion of the mucosa on the medial aspect of the duodenum. We present three patients with ulcerating metastases in the duodenum from colon cancer whose cases exemplify the problems of diagnosis and management.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1979

Reduction of postoperative infection in elective colon surgery with preoperative administration of kanamycin and erythromycin.

The results of a randomized prospective preoperative antibiotic study in colon surgery is presented. Antibiotics were given by mouth for 2 days prior to operation: kanamycin (1 gm four times a day) and erythromycin (750 mg three times a day). Kanamycin combined with erythromycin significantly reduced wound infection as compared to kanamycin with a placebo (three of 38 vs. 16 of 39, P less than 0.001). Thus oral aminoglycoside given alone appears to be inadequate to offer protection against postoperative infection in elective colon surgery.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1979

Regeneration of jejunal mucosa during recovery from malnutrition and pancreatic insufficiency.

A patient with a history of alcohol abuse, who presented with severe malnutrition, was subjected to serial jejunal biopsies during his hospitalization. The improvement in villous size and absorptive cell ultrastructure paralleled his clinical recovery. It is concluded that the caloric and trophic benefits of food, the pancreatic and vitamin replacement therapy and withdrawal of alcohol, all played an integral part in the regeneration of the jujunal mucosa.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Specificity of serum amylase and amylase creatinine clearance ratio in the diagnosis of acute and chronic pancreatitis.

In 31 patients with pancreatitis, the amylase to creatinine clearance ratio (CACR) was significantly greater than for controls (10.7 +/- 1.7 vs. 2.6 +/- 0.3, P less than .001). Sixteen pancreatitis patients with serum amylase (SAm) within the normal range had a mean CACR significantly greater than that of 19 hospital control patients with normal SAm (9.2 +/- 1.5 vs. 3.0 +/- 0.4, P less than .001). For control patients a highly significant inverse correlation between SAm and CACR was observed. No relationship was detected between these parameters for pancreatitis patients. The results suggest that the CACR may be of aid in establishing the diagnosis of pancreatitis even in patients without hyperamylasemia.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1979

Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography: an experience with the Chiba needle.

Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) with a "skinny" Chiba needle identified the biliary tree in 30 of 31 patients (97%) with extrahepatic obstructive cholestasis (EHC). The method was successful in only eight of 18 patients who had cirrhosis with unexplained jaundice. The biliary tree was visualized after one or two attempts in 23 of 31 patients with EHC (74%). The success rate was significantly greater (p greater than 0.001) in those patients with EHC than in those with EHC, in whom the biliary tree was visualized in 9 of 27 (33%). Difficulties in correctly interpreting the PTC findings in four patients are described.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Renal failure in ascites secondary to hepatic, renal, and pancreatic disease. Treatment with a LeVeen peritoneovenous shunt.

Renal failure occurs in ascites of diverse causes. Functional renal failure (the hepatorenal syndrome) in cirrhotic patients is usually progressive and rapidly fatal. Insertion of a LeVeen shunt significantly reduces weight, as well as abdominal girth, and improves preoperative urine flow (488 vs 2,318 ml/24 hr; P less than .001) and natriuresis (12 +/- 15 vs 45 +/- 33 mEq/liter; P less than .003). The shunt should not be inserted in patients with alcoholic hepatitis (bilirubin level greater than 8 mg/100 ml). Ascitic fluid should be discarded at the time of surgery in patients with impaired cardiac function, a bleeding diathesis, and when liver function is more severely deranged.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed1978

Enhancement of tissue Po2 of strangulated bowel by topical application of sodium nitroprusside.

The Po2 was measured in the tissue of the ileal wall of dogs before, during, and up to one hour after reversible occlusion of segmental arteries. The occlusion was then released and the reoxygenation of the bowel wall was observed. Sodium nitroprusside (50 mg in 100 ml of solution) applied topically to the ischemic segment enhanced reoxygenation as compared to control animals. Nitroprusside absorbed into the portal system did not cause hypotension, as is usual with systemic administration, because nitroprusside is inactivated by passage through the liver. Topically applied sodium nitroprusside alleviates intestinal ischemia by direct local vasodilatation and relaxation of smooth muscle spasm in the ischemic bowel wall. The intraperitoneal use of sodium nitroprusside should be clinically evaluated in situations where visceral perfusion is impaired.

Administration, Topical↗