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Biomedical subjects

B L Stein

Publications and source records attributed to B L Stein.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Glutaraldehyde-induced colitis.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the etiology and clinical course of acute colitis occurring after flexible endoscopy. DESIGN: Chart review. SETTING: A university teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Eight patients who sought assessment of potential colonic disease. INTERVENTION: Colonoscopy in 5 patients and flexible sigmoidoscopy in 3 patients. The indication for endoscopy was screening in 5 patients, cancer surveillance in 2 patients and preoperative evaluation of colon carcinoma in 1 patient. OUTCOME MEASURES: The relation of presenting symptoms to glutaraldehyde exposure, the response to therapy and the need for further therapy. RESULTS: All patients had abdominal pain, mucus diarrhea and rectal bleeding within 48 hours after endoscopy. Most patients reported that the symptoms started within 12 hours of the procedure. All patients were confirmed by sigmoidoscopy to have colitis within 72 hours of the first endoscopic procedure. One patient required hospitalization. In the first 7 patients several stool cultures were negative for Clostridium difficile using the cytotoxin assay by the cell culture method. Four patients had negative cultures for Yersinia, Salmonella and Shigella spp. Three patients were treated with metronidazole initially. Two patients underwent endoscopic biopsy and examination of the biopsy specimen showed fibrinoleukocytic exudate and ischemic type injury. One patient underwent the scheduled sigmoid resection within 48 hours of endoscopy for a Dukes' stage B adenocarcinoma. Concomitant acute ischemic colitis limited to the mucosa and submucosa was noted in the resected specimen. Symptoms resolved in all patients and follow-up endoscopy revealed normal mucosa. CONCLUSION: The entity of glutaraldehyde-induced colitis should be recognized and special attention should be given during instrument cleansing to minimize the risk of its development.

Acute Disease↗

Fistulas complicating diverticulitis.

This study was undertaken to assess the appropriate management of patients with diverticulitis complicated by fistula formation. A retrospective chart review was conducted on patients with symptoms of a fistula who presented between 1975 to 1995. There were 42 patients (32 women, 76%; 10 men, 24%) who ranged in age from 46 to 89 years (mean 69.8 +/- 9.8). Six patients had multiple fistulas. The types of fistulas included colovesical (48%), colovaginal (44%), colocutaneous (4%), colotubal (2%), and coloenteric (2%). Operative procedures consisted of resection and primary anastomosis in 38 patients and a Hartmann's operation in one. Three patients were managed conservatively with antibiotics (two due to poor performance status, the third due to resolution of symptoms). There were no operative deaths. The postoperative course was uncomplicated in 69%, while 12 patients (31%) experienced 19 complications (40%). These consisted of urinary tract infection (9.5%), atelectasis (7.1%), prolonged ileus (4.8%), arrhythmias (4.8%) and renal failure, myocardial infarction, pseudomembranous colitis, peroneal nerve palsy, unexplained fever, pulmonary edema (2.4% each). There were no anastomotic leaks and no deaths. Hospital stay ranged from 6 to 31 days (mean 12.3 +/- 7.6). Fistulas due to diverticulitis were safely managed by resection and primary anastomosis without mortality and with acceptable morbidity in this series. Patients deemed to be poor operative risks can be managed with a course of nonoperative treatment.

Aged↗

Management of malignant colorectal polyps.

The optimal management of patients with adenomatous polyps that contain invasive adenocarcinoma remains controversial. The independent factors of margins of resection, level of invasion, differentiation, grade, and vascular invasion are examined as prognostic indicators for outcome. The literature is reviewed with regard to the management of patients with polyp-containing invasive adenocarcinoma with standard operative resection versus endoscopic treatment alone.

Carcinoma↗

Perianal inflammatory conditions in inflammatory bowel disease.

Perianal complications of Crohn's disease are fairly common in the adult and pediatric populations. Transrectal ultrasonography is effective for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with anorectal abscesses and fistulas in Crohn's disease. Metronidazole and 6-mercaptopurine therapy have been used effectively to treat perianal complications of Crohn's disease in the pediatric population. Asymptomatic perianal fistulas in a patient with Crohn's disease do not require treatment. If a fistula is symptomatic and involves only a small portion of the sphincter mechanism, conventional fistulotomy may be performed with good results. Complex fistulas that involve larger areas of the sphincter are best treated by optimizing medical management and seton placement. The management of rectovaginal fistulas in the presence of Crohn's disease is controversial. Conventional fistulotomy and transvaginal mucosal advancement flap with diverting ileostomy have been advocated as primary treatment modalities. Rectovaginal fistulas secondary to ulcerative colitis may be treated by ileoanal pouch anastomosis and primary repair.

Abscess↗

Nonshunting operations for variceal hemorrhage.

To evaluate the various nonshunting treatment modalities currently being used, it is difficult to make comparative assessments by reviewing the literature. There is varied composition in the groups studied; numerous major modifications, but more often subtle but poorly described differences in surgical techniques; and lack of uniform definitions and methods of reporting even the most basic of results, be it recurrent hemorrhage, encephalopathy, or survival. Series often lump together patients with cirrhosis, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, noncirrhotic intrahepatic block, and extrahepatic block, each of which has a different natural history, prognosis, and physiologic and hemodynamic response to interventions. Classification of severity of cirrhosis, although commonly referred to as Child's class A, B, or C, may be based on time of assessment, worst criteria present, or a point scoring system. The operations are described as "emergency," "urgent," "emergent," or "elective," and the definition of each varies with investigator. Clearly, the ability of the patient to stop bleeding and survive the hazards and high mortality of the early hours of the acute event places him in a better risk group irrespective of whether the surgical intervention is performed "urgently" within 24 hours or electively in 24 days. Expressions of long-term survival frequently do not always take into account the operative deaths or the mean follow-up time. However, some general remarks can be made. The Sugiura procedure can be performed with an extremely low mortality in selected elective patients, particularly the nonalcoholic, with virtually no postoperative encephalopathy and negligible variceal rebleeding. Postoperative major hepatic decompensation does not appear to occur with time, and long-term survival would appear superior to DSR shunt. In the class A or B alcoholic cirrhotic, results are certainly as good as and perhaps better than DSR shunt, and it is a reasonable alternative, particularly when technical and other considerations make the performance of such a shunt difficult. Surgeons who routinely perform the Warren shunt should have this operation available in their repertoire as an alternative. Attempts to compromise and reduce the extent of devascularization utilizing only a thoracic or abdominal venue or to violate Sugiura's principle of leaving intact the coronary-periesophageal-azygos venous pathway generally result in a progressively higher incidence of recurrent hemorrhage with time. The early success reported by Perecchia, Abouna, and Franco, with a transabdominal approach and lesser thoracic devascularization, which avoids "entry" into the chest, is noted with interest for the future and suggests such an approach for the more critically bleeding patients rather than the initial thoracic approach of others.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Esophageal and Gastric Varices↗

Preoperative parathyroid localization: a prospective evaluation of ultrasonography and thallium-technetium scintigraphy in hyperparathyroidism.

To assess the ability of ultrasonography (US) and dual tracer thallium-technetium subtraction scanning (NS) to localize abnormal parathyroid glands, these two investigations were carried out preoperatively in 27 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for hyperparathyroidism. Nineteen patients had adenomas and 8 hyperplasia. Of 23 US procedures 2 were inadequate, and of 26 NS procedures 1 was inadequate. Ultrasonography was found to be superior to NS for preoperative localization of abnormal parathyroid glands (sensitivity per gland 53% versus 36%); detection rates for hyperplasia were poor for both techniques (sensitivity per gland 36% and 25%). However, when positive, both techniques were extremely accurate (positive predictive value of 100% for both). There was no correlation between the weight of the gland or degree of physiological hyperfunction (parathyroid hormone level) and detection rates for the two techniques. False-positive results were rare for both, so a positive result was highly predictive of an abnormality at that location. Ultrasonography had sufficient accuracy to suggest its routine use when adenoma is suspected, particularly to detect the side of the lesion (sensitivity 78% and positive predictive value 100%). The addition of subtraction scintigraphy does not appear to be warranted.

Adolescent↗