1,720,964 research outputs found
Endoscopic electroincision of challenging benign biliopancreatic strictures
Background and study aims Endoscopic drainage of benign biliary and pancreatic strictures can be challenging, especially when tightness of the stenosis does not allow passage of mechanical and pneumatic dilation catheters. Electroincision of benign biliopancreatic can be considered in selected cases.Patients and methods Three male patients (mean age 33 years, range 9-60) underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography to drain anastomotic biliary stricture (ABS) following orthotopic liver transplantation (n =2) and pancreatic duct stenosis due to abdominal trauma (n= 1). The biliopancreatic strictures could be passed only with a thin 0.020-inch hydrophilic guidewire. Conventional mechanical and pneumatic dilators failed to pass the strictures due to weakness of the guidewire. Therefore, electrosurgical incision by over-the-wire 6Fr cystotome or needle-knife was attempted using pure cut current.Results The two cases of ABS were approached also by cholangioscopy and the 6Fr cystotome easily passed the strictures, allowing subsequent pneumatic dilatation and insertion of multiple plastic stents. The patient with a pancreatic duct stricture underwent electrosurgical incision using a thin needle knife over-the-wire, resulting in insertion of a 7Fr pancreatic stent. No adverse events occurred; all the patients were discharged within 24 to 48 hours
Author's reply: Comment on “diagnostic accuracy and interobserver agreement of cholangioscopy for indeterminate biliary strictures: A single-center experience”
Author’s reply: Comment on “diagnostic accuracy and interobserver agreement of cholangioscopy for indeterminate biliary strictures: A single-center experience
Peroral-cholangioscopy to plan surgery for protruding biliary lesions: report of four cases
Intraductal biliary lesions can involve the main hepatic confluence. Assessment of the extension of pedunculated biliary lesions during per-oral cholangioscopy (POCS) can optimize and personalize the surgical strategy. Four consecutive cases of pedunculated biliary lesions were analysed. Cholangioscopy was performed with a disposable single-operator cholangioscope. POSC was successfully performed in four patients (three female, mean age 50 years), showing involvement of the main biliary confluence in three of four pedunculated biliary lesions; direct biopsy sampling was diagnostic in two of three cases (in one patient, biopsy were not performed due to the smooth appearance of the intrabiliary lesion). No adverse events occurred after POCS. Surgery required excision of the main hepatic confluence in two of three cases (one patient was not resectable). POCS can diagnose intrabiliary extension of protruding biliary lesions, providing important information to plan the surgical intervention
Leukocytes and creatinine may predict severity and guide management of ischemic colitis
BACKGROUND: Ischemic colitis (IC) is caused by a transient hypo-perfusion of the colon leading to mucosal ulcerations, inflammation, and hemorrhage. The primary aim was to identify predictive factors of endoscopic severity of IC. Secondary endpoints were to show epidemiology, clinical presentation, endoscopic findings, and outcomes of IC. METHODS: In this single-center retrospective analysis, IC was scored according to endoscopy as: grade 1 (hyperemia, 1 cm superficial, partially confluent ulcers); and grade 3 (deep or diffuse ulcers or necrosis). Then, IC was grouped into low- (grade 1) and high-grade (grades 2 and 3). Significant (P≤0.1) independent factor of severe IC at univariate analysis were entered into multivariate analysis and considered significant at P<0.05. RESULTS: 227 patients (male:female 60:167; mean age 72.7±16.2 years) were included. IC was scored as grade 1 in 137/227 (60.4%), grade 2 in 62/227 (27.3%), and grade 3 in 28/227 (12.3%) patients. At univariate analysis, age (74.9 vs. 71.3 years; P=0.09), diabetes (14.4% vs. 12.4%; P=0.09), and leukocytosis or creatinine elevation (74.4% vs. 60.6%; P=0.032) were associated with endoscopic high-grade IC. At multivariate analysis, leukocytosis and creatinine levels remained associated with high-grade IC (44.7% vs. 29.9%; odds ratio 1.92, 95% confidence interval 1.07-3.52; P=0.030). CONCLUSIONS: Although confounding factors cannot be excluded due to study design and patients' characteristics, leukocytosis and/or creatinine elevation at hospital admission were significantly related with endoscopic high-grade IC and might be used to stratify patients for the need of endoscopy
Retrograde single-balloon enteroscopy for a symptomatic, unusual, ileal polypoid lesion
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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