Endoscopic detection of early upper GI cancers

The detection of early-stage neoplastic lesions in the upper GI tract is associated with improved survival and the potential for complete endoscopic resection that is minimally invasive and less morbid than surgery. Despite technological advances in standard white-light endoscopy, the ability of the endoscopist to reliably detect dysplastic and early cancerous changes in the upper GI tract remains limited. In conditions such as Barrett's oesophagus, practice guidelines recommend periodic endoscopic surveillance with multiple biopsies, a methodology that is hindered by random sampling error, inconsistent histopathological interpretation, and delay in diagnosis. Early detection may be enhanced by several promising diagnostic modalities such as chromoendoscopy, magnification endoscopy, and optical spectroscopic/imaging techniques, as these modalities offer the potential to identify in real-time lesions that are inconspicuous under conventional endoscopy. The combination of novel diagnostic techniques and local endoscopic therapies will provide the endoscopist with much needed tools that can considerably enhance the detection and management of early stage lesions in the upper GI tract.     

Familial migraine and coronary artery spasm in two siblings

A common pathophysiology for the clinical association of variant angina and migraine has been suggested, but the pathogenesis of both illnesses is yet unknown. Our report presents two siblings with both illnesses and a familial history of migraine where coronary artery spasm was documented, spontaneously in one and after the administration of ergonovine maleate in the other one. Our study strongly supports the hypothesis that genetic factors possibly play a role in the etiology of variant angina and migraine at least in some patients.     

Transjugular intrahepatic portal-systemic shunts (TIPS) – initial experience and clinical outcome

Background: The clinical role of the transjugular intrahepatic portal-systemic shunt (TIPS) has not been fully defined.
Aims: To determine the technical results of TIPS and the clinical outcome of patients undergoing the procedure.
Methods: Retrospective audit of the results of the first 31 procedures performed in Melbourne.
Results: Thirty procedures were performed for variceal haemorrhage, one procedure was for ascites. The aetiology of the liver disease was cirrhosis due to alcohol in 20, cryptogenic in five, chronic viral infection in four, and autoimmune chronic active hepatitis in one. Nodular regenerative hyperplasia was present in one patient. Seventy-seven per cent of procedures were considered successful based on the angiographic demonstration of shunt patency at the end of the procedure. The in-hospital mortality in all patients undergoing TIPS was 45% and was 42% in patients undergoing technically successful TIPS. Only age could be identified as predictive of death in hospital. In patients leaving hospital, we found a rebleeding rate of 57% with one patient dying of bleeding, one requiring balloon tamponade and two requiring variceal sclerotherapy. Hepatic trauma was documented in six cases, shunt thrombosis in four cases, stent displacement in two cases and severe hepatic encephalopathy in one case.
Conclusions: TIPS has the potential to decompress the portal venous system, but the procedure is technically complex and should be performed in the knowledge that mortality and morbidity can be relatively high, particularly in patients whose condition is poor.     

Lack of compensatory enlargement at sites of coronary vasospasm: identification by ultrasound and successful treatment with stenting

The case of a young man with spontaneous vasospasm at two sites in his left anterior descending coronary artery is described. Intravascular ultrasound demonstrated mild eccentric atherosclerosis with smaller total artery cross-sectional area (defined as the external elastic membrane) compared with reference segments. Impaired compensatory enlargement (remodeling) in response to mild atherosclerosis may derive from one or more biologic mechanisms that are also responsible for vasospasm. This characteristic is easily identified by intravascular ultrasound. In this case, coronary stenting of the vasospastic sites led to excellent long-term control of symptoms more than 1 year after intervention.     

CD117 expression in operable oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas predicts worse clinical outcome

Aims

To investigate the aberrant expression of CD117 in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and its prognostic significance.

Methods and results

Immunohistochemical staining for CD117 was performed on tissue microarray and routine tissue sections from 157 oesophageal SCC patients and 10 normal oesophageal epithelia adjacent to tumour. The positive rate of CD117 expression was 29.9% in oesophageal SCC tissues, whereas no CD117 expression was detected in the 10 normal oesophageal epithelia. CD117 expression was significantly associated with T stage (P < 0.001), distant metastasis (P = 0.015), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.019), and clinical stage (P = 0.021). Progression‐free survival in the patients with CD117‐positive tumours was shorter than that in the patients with CD117‐negative tumours (P = 0.010). In univariate analyses, CD117 expression was the most significant factor for overall survival of oesophageal SCC patients (P < 0.001), followed by lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001), T stage (P = 0.002), clinical stage (P = 0.006), distant metastasis (P = 0.020), and histological grade (P = 0.027). Multivariate analyses verified that CD117 expression was an independent prognostic marker for oesophageal SCC patients (P = 0.002). In addition, CD117 expression predicted poorer survival in patients without distant metastases.

Conclusions

CD117 expression in operable oesophageal SCC may be a valuable prognostic marker, and detection of its expression in clinical samples may be useful in defining a subclass of oesophageal SCCs with extremely poor clinical outcome, which may require a specially targeted treatment modality.     

针刺夹脊穴结合温针灸治疗原发性面肌痉挛临床疗效观察

目的:比较针刺夹脊穴结合温针灸与常规针刺治疗原发性面肌痉挛的疗效差异。方法:选择60例符合纳入标准的原发性面肌痉挛病人随机分成两组,每组各30例。对照组用常规针刺治疗,治疗组在对照组的针刺选穴基础上取颈部夹脊穴(C3-C6棘突下旁开0.5寸,左右各4穴)和温针灸养老穴。结果:两组患者的面肌痉挛强度和频率均降低(P<0.05)。总有效率比较,治疗组(90%)>对照组(63.3%),(Z=-2.815,P=0.005<0.01)。结论:针刺夹脊穴结合温针灸与常规针刺均可改善患者面肌痉挛症状,且夹脊穴结合温针灸治疗疗效更佳。     

Intravenous verapamil therapy in imminent myocardial infarction

We studied 16 patients with small myocardial infarction who had further episodes of chest pain with ST-segment elevation, a sign of transmural myocardial ischemia and imminent infarction extension. Coronary angiography in 14 showed a critical lesion in 13. Intravenous verapamil abolished chest pain and ST-segment elevation. It caused a fall in right atrial and left ventricular end-diastolic pressures (LVEDP) and cardiac output, reflex systemic vasoconstriction, and a rise in systemic vascular resistance. There was no reflex tachycardia. Volume expansion raised LVEDP and restored a normal cardiac output. Accelerated junctional rhythm with isorhythmic A-V dissociation occurred in 5 patients. Two patients sustained a transmural infarction, 10 underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, and 4 are symptom-free with oral treatment. Intravenous treatment was an effective method of treating acute episodes of transmural myocardial ischemia and preventing their recurrence in patients with critical coronary artery narrowing. Continuous verapamil infusion stabilized the patients' condition and enabled smooth coronary angiography and induction of anesthesia for surgery.     

Risk factors for benign oesophageal disease in a random population sample

The association of sex, age, relative weight, smoking and drinking habits, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and economic and marital status, with benign oesophageal disease (BOD) was investigated by means of a point-prevalence study of BOD in a Danish population. A total of 346 individuals, representing subjects who gave positive responses to the discriminating questions pertaining to BOD and risk factors in a previously described questionnaire, as well as control subjects, were invited to participate in a clinical examination. Invasive investigation was accepted by 175 subjects, 114 of whom were diagnosed as having BOD. A statistically significant relationship between BOD and COPD was demonstrated by univariate analysis, and later confirmed by multivariate analysis (P less than 0.01). Odds ratios suggested a non-significant association between BOD and smoking at least 20 g tobacco a day and consuming greater than or equal to 50 alcoholic drinks per week. Obesity, sex, age, marital and economic status were not risk factors for BOD.