No abstract available.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed safely in most patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis. Preoperative evaluation should assess the potential problems that affect the performance of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Hepatobiliary scintigraphy or oral cholecystography can assess the gallbladder function and nonvisualization of gall bladder usually indicates acute or severe chronic cholecystitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of preoperative hepatobiliary scintigraphy or oral cholecystography in predicting the performance of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The study group consists of 176 patients who underwent both hepatobiliary scintigraphy with Tc-99m DISIDA and oral cholecystography within one month before laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Nonvisualization of gallbladder was defined as persistent nonvisualization of gall- bladder until 4 hours on hepatobiliary scintigraphy or 12 hours on oral cholecystography. Among 176 patients, gallbladder was not visualized in 38 patients on hepatobiliary scintigraphy and 41 patients on oral cholecystography, Concordance rate between hepatobiliary scintigraphy and oral cholecystography was 89.2%. The conversion rate to open cholocystectomy was significantly higher in patients with nonvisualization of gallbladder than in patients with gallbladder visualization(15.8% vs 2.9% on hepatobiliary scintigraphy, 12.2% vs 3.7% on oral cholecystography: p<0.01 and p<0.05 respectively). The operative complication rate was also significantly higher in patients with nonvisualization of gallbladder (13.2% vs 2.9% on hepatobiliary scintigraphy, 14.6% vs 2.2% on. oral cholecystography : p<0.0l and p<0.001, respectively). Similarly, operation time was significantly prolonged in patients with nonvisualization of gall bladder (88.8+/-41.9min vs 62.5+/-23.6min on hepatobiliary scintigraphy : p<0.001, 89.4+/-41.3 min vs 61.8+/-22.8 min on oral cholecystography : p<0.001). It is concluded that nonvisualization of gallblader on hepato biliary scintigraphy or oral cholecystography is a valuable preoperative clincal risk factor in predicting increased conversion rate to open cholecystectomy, increased operative complication and prolonged operation time.
Adosterol* ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Cholecystitis ; Cholecystography ; Cholelithiasis ; Cushing Syndrome ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Radionuclide Imaging* ; Risk Factors ; Urinary Bladder

No Abstracts Available.
Asthma* ; Genetics*

No abstract available.
Edema*

Recently interventional radiologic procedures for vascular occlusive diseases have become an alternative to the surgical method. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty(PTA) is an effective treatment for a short, concentric, segmental, stenotic lesion. The patency rate of PTA depends on the nature of the lesion. The long-term patency rate is high in iliac artery lesions. Percutaneous stent placement is an effective long-term treatment for patients with iliac insufficiency. New stents, such as a drug-coated, radioactive stent, are under investigation to overcome the re-stenosis after PTA or stent insertion. Percutaneously placed endoluminal stent-grafts for treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm were developed to avoid major intraabdominal surgery and related morbidity and mortality.
Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Methods ; Mortality ; Radiology, Interventional* ; Stents ; Vascular Diseases*

No abstract available.

Asthma is one of the most common allergic diseases in children. As a result of the advances in immunology and the studies of BAL and lung biopsy, the definition of asthma has been changed as a 'chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways'. Therefore pharmacologic therapy of asthma is focused on the control of allergic inflammation. According to its purpose, the asthma medication could be classified into two groups, that is, quick-relief agents and long-term control agents. Quick-relief agents give a prompt relief of acute symptoms (coughing, wheezing, difficulty of breathing, and chest tightness) and prevent exercise-induced bronchospasm. Short-acting inhaled β2-agonist is at present the most effective quick-relief agent. Long-term control agents are taken daily and chronically (for a long period of time) to maintain the control of persistent asthma and to prevent exacerbations, and include inhaled corticosteroid, cromolyn sodium, and others. A stepwise approach is recommended for treating a child with asthma to attain and maintain asthma control. Medications should be carefully chosen according to the severity of asthma and age of children.
Allergy and Immunology ; Asthma* ; Asthma, Exercise-Induced ; Biopsy ; Child ; Cromolyn Sodium ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lung ; Respiration ; Respiratory Sounds ; Respiratory Therapy ; Thorax

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

The bactericidal activity of 96 sera, to Staphylococci and E.coli, of leprosy patients classified as sever, mild, and negative grade by bacterial index was investigated. The results obtained were as follows; The killing activity to E. coli, in general, was stronger than that to Staphylococci. The bactericidal activity of serum was variable by serum itself, and these variations were more remarkablh in Ei coli than in Staphylococci. In case to E. coli, the higher bactericidal activity was observed in the serum of mild and negative grade patients rather than sever, while no relationship was found between activity and disease grade in Staphylococci. The per oral administration of DDS and Lampren did not give any influence to the bactericidal activity of serum.
Administration, Oral ; Homicide ; Humans ; Leprosy*