Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is mainly used for the evaluation and sampling of mediastinal and abdominal lymph nodes, luminal and submucosal lesions of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract, as well as in the diagnostic approach for pancreatic, biliary and liver disease. However, several non-digestive pathologies may be encountered as well, expanding the diagnostic potential of EUS. In this...

Pachydermoperiostosis (PDP) is the primary form of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. It is a very rare disease consisting of pachydermia, digital clubbing and radiologic periostosis. Various digestive symptoms in PDP are seen in 11-49% of patients and juvenile polyps may be found at gastric endoscopy. We report here the history of a patient with PDP who was referred for assessment of severe anemia...

The direct urease test was used in 462 patients with normal upper digestive tracts, 108 with duodenal ulcers and 43 with gastric ulcers who attended for upper digestive endoscopy in a prospective study. There was a strong association between Helicobacter pylori infection and current cigarette smoking in patients with normal endoscopy (49.6% vs 35.5%, P < 0.01). The associations of peptic ulcer ...

Perforations of peptic ulcers account for between 5 % and 8% of abdominal conditions submitted to urgent laparotomy. The general practitioner may see less than one case a year even though in an average-sized practice he has many patients with peptic ulcers. This relative rarity of the complication of perforation in the experience of the individual practitioner does not often lead to difficulty ...

The mammalian cell cytoskeleton consists of a diverse group of fibrillar elements that play a pivotal role in mediating a number of digestive and nondigestive cell functions, including secretion, absorption, motility, mechanical integrity, and mitosis. The cytoskeleton of higher-eukaryotic cells consists of three highly abundant major protein families: microfilaments (MF), microtubules (MT), an...

(Last week Mr. Williams considered the cause and management of some symptoms arising after partial gastrectomy. The article continues with an account of other common complaints.) Loss of Weight Many patients lose weight or fail to gain weight after gastrectomy. Those who are undernourished at the time of the operation seem to be at the greatest risk. Some degree of malabsorption of food is comm...