Varices are a frequent complication of liver cirrhosis and a major cause of mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis complications have a poor prognosis and require careful management. Portal hypertension is the most common complication of liver cirrhosis, which is the key determinant for varices development. Increased intrahepatic vascular resistance to portal flow leads to the development of portal hypertension. Collateral vessels develop at the communication site between the systemic and portal circulation with the progression of portal hypertension. Varices are the representative collaterals, develop gradually with the progression of portal hypertension and may eventually rupture. Variceal bleeding is a major consequence of portal hypertension and causes the death of cirrhotic patients. The present paper reviews the latest knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of esophageal and gastric variceal bleeding.

Varices are a frequent complication of liver cirrhosis and a major cause of mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis complications have a poor prognosis and require careful management. Portal hypertension is the most common complication of liver cirrhosis, which is the key determinant for varices development. Increased intrahepatic vascular resistance to portal flow leads to the development of portal hypertension. Collateral vessels develop at the communication site between the systemic and portal circulation with the progression of portal hypertension. Varices are the representative collaterals, develop gradually with the progression of portal hypertension and may eventually rupture. Variceal bleeding is a major consequence of portal hypertension and causes the death of cirrhotic patients. The present paper reviews the latest knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of esophageal and gastric variceal bleeding.

No abstract available.
Herpes Zoster* ; Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction*

No abstract available.
Breast Neoplasms, Male* ; Humans ; Male ; Male* ; Neoplasm Metastasis*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Keratoderma, Palmoplantar ; Pityriasis Rubra Pilaris ; Pityriasis ; Siblings

No abstract available.
Nevus, Blue*

PURPOSE: A retrospective study was performed to find any indicator to predict the difficulty of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage(PTBD) before the procedure and to evaluate correlationship between the chronological change of fluoroscopic time and the operator's experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The materials included the consecutive 138 cases of PTBD of 120 patients with obstructive jaundice. Under the presumption that the difficulty of procedure would be reflected on fluoroscopic time, the correlation between fluoroscopic time and eight factors(i. e. ;sex, age, disease, approach, degree of IHD dilatation, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, and operator) were analysed. Also chronological change of fluoroscopic time in three operators, who performed more than 25 procedures, were evaluated. RESULTS: Statistically significant factors were operator (P=0.000), sex (P:0.028), approach(P=0.048), and total billrubin (P=0.021). Good correlation between the chronological change of fluoroscopic time and the operator's experience was found. CONCLUSION: The significant factors could be used as an indicator to predict the difficulty before PTBD procedure. The chronological change of fluoroscopic time could be used as an indirect estimate in the stabilization of the operator fechnigue.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bilirubin ; Dilatation ; Humans ; Jaundice, Obstructive ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of tear film osmolarity for non-Sjogren dry eye syndrome through measuring the correlation between tear osmolarity and several conventional dry eye parameters. METHODS: In this observational cross-sectional study, 274 patients (274 eyes) with non-Sjogren dry eye syndrome were examined using tear film osmolarity and the following conventional dry eye parameters: Schirmer's test, tear film break-up time, ocular surface disease index (OSDI), and corneal staining score. The correlations between tear film osmolarity and each conventional dry eye parameter were assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The mean tear film osmolarity of the study population was 296.34 ± 21.08 mOsm/L. The tear film osmolarity was significantly negatively correlated with the Schirmer's test value (r = -0.431, p < 0.001) and tear break-up time (r = -0.131, p = 0.031), while it was significantly positively correlated with the OSDI scores (r = 0.191, p = 0.001) and corneal staining scores (r = 0.150, p = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Tear film instability was significantly correlated with other conventional dry eye parameters. However, additional studies are required to determine its feasibility as a stand-alone diagnostic tool.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diagnosis* ; Dry Eye Syndromes ; Humans ; Osmolar Concentration* ; Tears*

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common primary mesenchymal tumors of the digestive tract. They have been commonly observed in adults but have been rarely described in children. They arise typically from the intestinal wall and rarely in the mesentery, omentum, or retroperitoneum. GISTs originate from the interstitial cell of Cajal and are characterized by overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase c-kit. Up to 94% of these tumors express the CD117 on immunohistochemical stain. Surgery is the main modality of treatment for primary resectable GIST. Completely resectable GIST with low risk has excellent prognosis after primary surgical intervention, with over 90% of the 5-year survival. We report a case of 10-year-old girl presenting with an upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by gastrointestinal stromal tumor.
Adult ; Child* ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Mesentery ; Omentum ; Prognosis ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases