Complications of endoscopic examinations of the upper segments of the gastrointestinal tract

A ten-year experience with 106610 diagnostic esophagogastroduodenoscopies provided evidence of a 0.03% rate of relevant complications and 2.38% mortality. Out of 39 patients with endoscopy-related complications 5 were operated on: 4 had esophageal perforations, 1 had hemorrhage following biopsy of the ulcer. Out of 7384 therapeutic and operative endoscopies none were associated with lethal outcome. Surgery was avoided either. Complications developed in 45 patients (0.036%): in 44 patients hemorrhages occurred after electroexcision of the polyps.     

Health-related quality of life and pressure ulceration assessment in patients treated in the community

Little is known of the impact of pressure ulceration on adult patients' health-related quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact pressure ulceration has on pressure ulcer patients cared for in the community. A case control study design was used by drawing a random sample from patients receiving community nursing care, stratified by the presence of pressure ulceration. In all, 75 patients with pressure ulcers were compared with 100 controls without ulcers using the four-point ulcer grading scale described by United Kingdom consensus guidelines. Patients were interviewed using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire and activities of daily living assessed using the modified Barthel scale. Patients with pressure ulcers had significantly poorer physical function (mean difference (d) = 37.6, 95% CI 28.6-46.6, p < 0.001) and social functioning (d = 33.9, 95 % CI 24.0-43.9, p < 0.001) than published age- and sex-matched normative data from the United Kingdom. The difference between cases and controls was much smaller in these domains, with neither approaching statistical significance. After adjustment for age and gender, scores for bodily pain were poorer in patients with no ulceration (d = -10.5, 95% CI - 20.6 to - 0.4, p = 0.042) indicating greater pain in these patients compared with the cases with ulceration. Activities of daily living determined by the modified Barthel scale showed reduced self-care (d = -7.6, 95% CI -12.5 to - 2.7, p = 0.010) and mobility (d = -9.2, 95% CI -14.6 to - 3.8, p = 0.001) in patients with pressure ulceration. The overall ability to perform these activities was also significantly poorer in this group (d = -16.3, 95% CI -27.3 to -5.3, p = 0.004). While patients with pressure ulceration experience some deficits in their health-related quality of life compared with a normal population, these differences are similar to those experienced by other patients receiving community nursing care.     

Sensory innervation of the brain (primary interoceptive brain neurons and their asynaptic dendrites)

This paper summarizes the author's personal research and the literature data on the sensory innervation of the brain. The following cells were analyzed as presumable primary sensory neurons: ciliated brain neurons, supraependymal plexus and cerebrospinal fluid-contacting intraependymal neurons, Cajal-Retzius neurons of the marginal layer of the cerebral cortex, brain and spinal cord Dolgo-Saburov paravasal neurons, Lugaro cells of the cerebellar cortex, some NO- and synthase-positive cells of the cerebral cortex, asynaptic dendrites of which innervate the precapillary space. Due to the painlessness of the brain and visceral parenchyma, containing local primary sensory neurons, similar to intramural metasympathetic type II Dogiel sensory cells, the hypothesis is formulated on the participation of brain and other intraorgan tissue receptors in the short "autonomic" reflex arcs, which provide only for the local metabolism control, but not for the pain reactions.     

Iliac mucosa changes in late periods after total colectomy in patients with syndromes of gastro-intestinal polyposis

We studied follow-up iliac mucosa biopsies from 11 patients with juvenile polyposis and 4 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis who had undergone total colectomy with mucosal proctoectomy with creation of straight ileoanal anastomosis. The biopsies that have been taken from the posterior wall of the terminal ileum show incomplete and focal neocolonic transformation of iliac mucosa. Nevertheless, in most cases iliac mucosa preserved its architectural and histochemical characteristics. Chronic inflammation in iliac mucosa is not typical for patients with polyposis.     

Three novel PROC gene lesions causing protein C deficiency

Hallam PJ, Mannucci P, Tripodi A, Bevan D, Laursen B, Tengborn L, Wacey A, Cooper DN. Three novel PROC gene lesions causing protein C deficiency. Clin Genet 1998: 54: 231–233. 0 Munksgaard, 1998
Missense mutations. three of them novel (Am210→Val, Asn248→ Ile, Ah355→Val), were found in the protein c ( PROC ) genes of 7 patients with inherited protein C deficiency associated with venous thrombosis. Comparison with the phenotypic effects of mutations in the analogous residues of factor IX causing hdernophilia B and the use of molecular modelling has provided explanations as to how these lesions might alter either the structure, function or secretion of the protein C molecules encoded.