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Biomedical subjects

Joshua L Weintraub

Publications and source records attributed to Joshua L Weintraub.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Treatment of a biliary-venous fistula following percutaneous biopsy in a pediatric living related liver transplant patient.

Liver biopsy is a common study performed after hepatic transplantation. Most centers routinely perform a biopsy 1 week after surgery to evaluate for the possibility of acute rejection. Subsequent biopsies are based on clinical symptoms and routine hepatic function laboratory testing. We report the clinical presentation and treatment of a biliary-venous fistula resulting in sepsis and bilhemia (elevated serum bilirubin levels caused by a biliary-venous fistula) in a 2(1/2)-year-old patient 4 months after partial left lateral segment living related liver transplantation. This case is unusual in that the fistula is the reversal of the more common venous-biliary fistula. The fistula developed after a percutaneous liver biopsy was performed.

Biliary Fistula↗

Preoperative angiography with embolization and radiofrequency ablation as novel adjuncts to safe surgical resection of a large, vascular sacrococcygeal teratoma.

Sacrococcygeal teratomas (SCTs) can present a challenging problem and can be associated with significant perinatal morbidity and mortality. A female child was born at 36 weeks' gestation with a large, vascular Type 1 SCT originally identified by prenatal ultrasound. A CT scan showed two large feeding vessels arising from both internal iliac arteries that were successfully embolized during angiography. A radiofrequency probe was then used to ablate a zone between normal tissue and the tumor. The SCT was subsequently surgically excised with minimal blood loss. This case is presented to illustrate two useful and previously unreported postnatal adjuncts to the surgical treatment of massive, hypervascular sacrococcygeal tumors.

Angiography↗

Balloon catheter dilatation of benign esophageal strictures in children.

PURPOSE: This retrospective study evaluated the safety and efficacy of fluoroscopically guided balloon dilatation of benign pediatric esophageal strictures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2000 and 2005, 272 esophageal balloon dilatations were performed in 49 children, aged 18 days to 18 years. Chart and primary physician record reviews were used to assess complications, age-appropriate food intake, and dysphagia. Efficacy was calculated by time to recurrent symptoms requiring repeat balloon dilatation. Durability was assessed by the frequency of dilatations. RESULTS: Seventy-seven percent of patients required a second dilatation within 9 months. Survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier) demonstrated no significant difference for efficacy in relation to patient age (P = .76) or stricture cause (P = .56). A decrease in the number of dilatations occurred over time to achieve longer symptom-free intervals. Patients underwent an average of 5.6 dilatations with an average total intervention time of 2 years. Patients were able to remain symptom free for a mean of 110 days. The procedure had a success rate of 100%, the only major complication being an esophageal perforation (complication rate, 0.37%) in a patient with a stricture secondary to correction of a tracheoesophageal fistula. CONCLUSIONS: Balloon esophageal dilatation in children is an effective and safe first-line therapy. Complications are quite rare and manageable. Although cures are unusual, most children require less than one dilatation every 6 months. It is concluded that fluoroscopically guided balloon dilatation should be the primary method of treating benign esophageal strictures.

Adolescent↗

Radiofrequency ablation for hemobilia secondary to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hemobilia is a rare manifestation of hepatic malignancies. The current treatment of choice for hemobilia is transcatheter hepatic arterial embolization. However, there have been only two published reports that describe the use of hepatic arterial embolization for hemobilia caused by hepatic neoplasms. In addition, this procedure is occasionally unsuccessful in the treatment of hemobilia. A case in which hemobilia caused by hepatocellular carcinoma was successfully treated with percutaneous radiofrequency tumor ablation after several failed hepatic arterial embolizations is described in this report.

Aged↗

Chronic renal ischemia: pathophysiologic mechanisms of cardiovascular and renal disease.

Chronic renal ischemia caused by renal artery stenosis (RAS) elicits a complex biologic response. Although the traditional pathophysiologic pathways underlying renal ischemia have been well studied, there is emerging evidence that additional mechanisms may be responsible for producing many of the hemodynamic alterations and end-organ injury seen in patients with RAS, including persistent hypertension, renal insufficiency, and cardiac disturbance syndromes. A better understanding of these mechanisms may allow earlier identification of RAS, provide markers to predict the response to revascularization, or allow unique therapeutic targets for drug development. This and a subsequent article will explore the pathophysiologic and clinical implications of chronic renal ischemia.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

Recurrent TIPS thrombosis after polyethylene stent-graft use and salvage with polytetrafluoroethylene stent-grafts.

Increasing data support the use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) stent-grafts for de novo and revision transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) applications. Animal experiments have indicated that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) stent-grafts provide no improvement or actually worsen TIPS patency compared with controls, but human TIPS experience with PET grafts is more limited. Herein we describe three patients who underwent de novo creation of TIPS with PET-covered stent-grafts at outside institutions, which resulted in immediate and recurring TIPS thromboses despite repeated thrombectomies. After the failed TIPS were revised with PTFE stent-grafts, the presenting symptoms resolved and uninterrupted patency was achieved.

Equipment Design↗

Uterine artery embolization: sonographic imaging findings.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the sonographic and angiographic imaging findings before and after uterine fibroid embolization for symptomatic leiomyoma. METHODS: This prospective study involved 14 premenopausal women who underwent uterine fibroid embolization for symptomatic leiomyoma. Preprocedure sonography with color Doppler imaging was performed. Bilateral uterine artery embolization was successfully performed with the use of polyvinyl alcohol. Follow-up sonographic examinations were performed between 1 and 3 months after the procedure. The correlation between the sonographic appearance before and after embolization and the degree of decrease in uterine size was evaluated by using the Jonckheere-Terpstra 2-sided P test. RESULTS: Preprocedure sonographic imaging showed a varied appearance to the fibroids. Color Doppler imaging primarily showed the fibroids to be vascular with marked peripheral blood flow. Postprocedure sonographic imaging showed decreased uterine size and echogenicity. Color Doppler imaging showed a marked decrease in the blood flow to the leiomyoma. There was no statistical significance in the relationship between echogenicity and vascularity shown before the procedure and the percent decrease in the size of the uterus. CONCLUSIONS: Although sonography is an efficient method for identifying leiomyomata and determining the reduction in size after uterine artery embolization, we were unable to identify any predictive characteristics of success for aiding the preprocedural assessment.

Adult↗