Giving IV and oral amiodarone perioperatively for the prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery: the GAP study

PURPOSES: We studied the use of perioperative IV and oral administration of amiodarone for the prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). BACKGROUND: In the United States, > 500,000 patients undergo CABG each year. Numerous studies to date have suggested that postoperative atrial fibrillation occurs in 30 to 50% of patients, leading to significant morbidity, including hypotension, heart failure, thromboembolic complications, prolonged hospital stay, and increased hospital costs. The objective of this study was to assess the use of IV amiodarone in combination with oral amiodarone to reduce the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation. METHOD: From January 1999 to October 1999, 51 patients scheduled for CABG were randomly selected for participation in the amiodarone administration trial. IV amiodarone, 0.73 mg/min, was administered on call to the operating room for 48 h, followed by oral amiodarone, 400 mg q12h, for the next 3 days. The amiodarone group was case-control matched to the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation in 92 patients undergoing CABG using conventional medical therapy during the same period. The primary end point of this study was the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, length of hospital stay, and hospital costs, compared to the control group undergoing CABG during the same time. RESULTS: Atrial fibrillation occurred in 3 of 51 patients (5.88%) in the amiodarone group, compared to 24 of 92 patients (26.08%) in the control group. Length of hospital stay in the amiodarone group was less than in the control group (5.3 days vs 6.7 days), with a trend toward decrease in hospital costs. CONCLUSION: The administration of IV amiodarone in conjunction with oral amiodarone for a total dose of 4,500 mg over 5 days appears to be a hemodynamically well-tolerated, safe, and effective treatment in decreasing the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, shortening length of stay, and a trend toward lowering hospital costs, even in patients with significantly reduced left ventricular function (< 30%). A large multicenter study using IV and oral amiodarone should be pursued prior to deciding whether its use should become standard therapy in all patients undergoing CABG in order to decrease the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation.     

马来酸曲美布汀治疗肠易激综合征对比研究

目的探讨马来酸曲美布汀对肠易激综合征的治疗效果。方法将诊断为肠易激综合征（IBS）的97例患者随机分成试验组（47例）和对照组（50例），试验组给予马来酸曲美布汀，对照组使用复合维生素B作为安慰剂，两组疗程均为6周，治疗期间均停用其他药物，分别于治疗前及治疗的第2、4、6周及随访8、12周末进行症状评价及评分。结果试验组治疗后积分明显下降，治疗前后比较差异有非常显著性（P〈0．01）；对照组积分下降不明显，治疗前后比较差异无显著性（P〉0．05）；治疗4周后两组间比较，试验组积分下降较对照组明显，差异有非常显著性（P〈0．01）；治疗后两组疗效比较，试验组在2周后有效率达34％，8周和12周时分别达到83％和82％，疗效明显高于对照组，差异有非常显著性（P〈0．01）。结论马来酸曲美布汀对难治性功能性消化不良具有良好的治疗作用和安全性。     

Erectile dysfunction following nerve-sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy and its treatment with sildenafil

BACKGROUND: We retrospectively evaluated the erectile function after nerve-sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) and the efficacy of sildenafil for erectile dysfunction (ED) following RRP according to the preoperative erectile function. METHODS: We evaluated 48 Japanese patients who underwent nerve-sparing RRP at the Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan, between January 1996 and December 2001. Erectile function following nerve-sparing RRP was assessed by a simple mailed questionnaire that was constructed for the study. RESULTS: Of the 48 patients, 36 had normal erectile function preoperatively, but for 12, function was not sufficient to penetrate. The overall estimated recovery rates of any degree of erection were 50.6% at 36 months and 94.3% at 60 months. However, that of erection sufficient to penetrate was only 17.7% at 36 months and was only seen in bilateral nerve-sparing patients. Sildenafil was effective in 9 of 13 ED patients (69.2%) in both nerve-sparing groups. When patients were divided according to preoperative erectile function, no difference was found in the efficacy rate between patients with normal function and those with ED. CONCLUSIONS: Even bilateral nerve-sparing RRP can not always guarantee a sufficient erection. However, sildenafil is effective for ED following nerve-sparing RRP regardless of the nerve-sparing procedure or preoperative erectile function. Thus, preoperative function alone, although depending on its severity, may not necessarily be a reason for exclusion from receiving nerve-sparing RRP if patients want to have the operation.     

Stereoselectivity of Butylidenephthalide on Voltage-dependent Calcium Channels in Guinea-pig Isolated Ileum

Two geometric isomers, the Z- and the E- forms, can be separated from synthetic mixtures of butylidenephthalide (Bdph). Z-Bdph (50–100 μm ) non-competitively inhibited Ca²⁺-induced contractions in depolarized (K⁺, 60 mm ) guinea-pig ileum longitudinal smooth muscle, with a pD₂' value of 3.88 ± 0.20 (n = 5). However, E-Bdph (20–100 μm ) competitively inhibited these contractions with a pA₂ value of 4.56 ± 0.18 (n = 5) which was significantly (P < 0.05) greater than the pD₂' value of Z-Bdph. In contrast, the two isomers had no stereoselective inhibitory action on Ca²⁺ influx through pre- or post-junctional membranes of cholinergic nerve endings from which the transmitter acetylcholine is released or on Ca²⁺ release from intracellular stores. Therefore, the trans-Z and cis-E forms of Bdph might have geometric stereoselectivity for voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDC) in guinea-pig longitudinal smooth muscle. Both isomers might inhibit more selectively the contractile twitch responses evoked by electrical stimulation than by cumulative acetylcholine-or carbachol-induced transient contractions in guinea-pig ileum longitudinal smooth muscle.     

Obstructive jaundice caused by hepatoma fragments in the common hepatic duct

A 67-year-old black male diabetic who had never consumed alcohol presented with anorexia, weakness, weight loss, and jaundice. Ultrasound demonstrated common bile duct obstruction; computed tomography scanning revealed multiple liver masses; endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography showed a filling defect; aortogram confirmed the neovascularity of tumor proliferation; and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography confirmed high-grade common duct obstruction. Operative intervention demonstrated hepatocellular emboli to the common bile duct causing obstruction. We review the literature on this problem.     

Inadequacy of bedside clinical indicators in identifying significant intracranial injury in trauma patients.

During 1987 and 1988, the trauma service at Hahnemann University Hospital, a level I trauma center, evaluated 1,875 consecutive patients. Four hundred ninety-seven consecutive computed tomographic (CT) scans were performed to evaluate intracranial trauma in the emergency department. These patients' records were reviewed to determine the adequacy of loss of consciousness, amnesia, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, and mechanism of injury in predicting intracranial findings. In 302 patients with a GCS score of 13 or greater, 55 (18%) CT scans showed abnormal findings. Eleven (4%) of these patients required neurosurgical intervention. Furthermore, patients with normal CT scans required no interventions for head trauma. Mechanism of injury directly influenced the incidence of neurosurgical intervention. Current bedside methods to evaluate patients for possible intracranial injury in our trauma patient population are inadequate. Emergency department CT scans should be performed on all patients referred to the trauma service with previously classified mild- or low-risk criteria for intracranial trauma, regardless of GCS score.     

Efficacy of 308-nm excimer light for Japanese patients with psoriasis

Ultraviolet irradiation therapy, including psoralen and ultraviolet A therapy and narrow-band ultraviolet B (310–312 nm) therapy, is a widely used and highly efficient treatment modality for psoriasis. Therapy with 308-nm excimer light has been reported to be effective for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris. To evaluate the efficacy of 308-nm excimer light therapy for Japanese psoriasis patients, seven patients (six men and one woman) with plaque-type psoriasis were treated with 308-nm excimer light at 7–14-day intervals. The Psoriasis Severity Index (PSI) was calculated for individual plaques in order to assess the effectiveness of the therapy. A 74.9% mean improvement in the PSI was observed after 10 treatment sessions. These results suggested that targeted irradiation with 308-nm excimer light leads to rapid and selective improvement in plaque-type psoriatic lesions without unnecessary radiation exposure to the surrounding unaffected skin.     

增生性瘢痕无创性评估策略及方法

增生性瘢痕是皮肤遭遇创伤后,因细胞外基质异常沉积、过度纤维化造成的皮肤病理现象。对于瘢痕诊断、临床疗效判定及比较研究,临床上使用的客观且可靠的瘢痕评判方法具有关键作用。我们就增生性瘢痕的评估、测量方式及工具的研究进展进行综述。     

经口经胃腹部手术

一、简介 随着内镜治疗技术的发展．传统外科手术处理疾病的方式发生了变革。由于具有低侵袭性的特点，内镜治疗已成为某些疾病，如胆总管结石和早期胃癌的标准治疗手段。内镜治疗的范围已扩展至腹膜腔。操作时发生穿孔有引发腹膜炎的危险，是内镜操作最严重的并发症：因此，如何安全地通过胃壁行可曲式内镜操作是我们面临的主要挑战。自2000年首次报道内镜经胃腹腔镜检查获成功以来，研究者们对这一问题十分关注，并进行了大量探索和研究。本文对经胃腔外手术或天然入口穿腔内镜手术（NOTES）概念的发展和现状作一讨论。