A 33-year-old male with abdominal distention after meals was admitted to the hospital. He had a history of surgery for hydatid liver cyst. The cyst was located at the liver hilum and there were portal venous thrombosis and cavernous transformation. It had been treated with partial cystectomy, omentoplasty and albendazole. Two years later at the admission to our center, his laboratory tests were...

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) encompasses a group of disorders caused by the obstruction to the hepatic venous outflow at the level of the small or large hepatic veins, the inferior vena cava, or any combination thereof. Clinical manifestation of the subacute form is characterized by supramesocolic abdominal discomfort, abdominal distension, fever, and lower limbs edema. Imaging work-up with hepat...

We propose that supercoiling energizes double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) so as to facilitate thermal fluctuations to an unzipped state. We support this with a model of two elastic rods coupled via forces that represent base-pair interactions. Supercoiling is shown to lead to a distention of base pairs over a short span of dsDNA. This enhances the thermal probability for their disruption. The localize...

We report a unique case of a 79-year-old woman with metastatic rectal cancer who developed bowel obstruction following endoscopic cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen for palliation of bleeding in the rectum. She developed abdominal distention and pain following the procedure. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a paraumbilical hernia containing a segment of transverse colon resulting in pa...

In cases of congenital esophageal stenosis due to tracheobronchial remnants, symptoms of partial esophageal obstruction appear at the time of weaning or during early childhood. In the absence of esophagitis, esophagram combined with cinefluoroscopy demonstrates fixed stenosis of distal esophagus and appears to be diagnostic. Dilatation of rigid stenosis is invariably unrewarding and surgic...

To quantify the effect of hiatus hernia (HH) on esophagogastric junction (EGJ) distensibility, eight normal subjects and nine gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients with HH were studied with concurrent manometry, fluoroscopy, and stepwise controlled barostatic distention of the EGJ. The minimal barostatic pressure required to open the EGJ during the interswallow period was determined. ...

The widespread convergence of information from visceral, cutaneous, and muscle tissues onto CNS neurons invites the question of how to identify pain as being from the viscera. Despite referral of visceral pain to cutaneous areas, individuals regularly distinguish cutaneous and visceral pain and commonly have contrasting behavioral reactions to each. Our study addresses this dilemma by directly ...

Abdominal bloating is commonly reported by men and women of all ages. Bloating occurs in nearly all patients with irritable bowel syndrome, and it also occurs in patients with other functional and organic disorders. Bloating is frequently disturbing to patients and frustrating to clinicians, as effective treatments are limited and are not universally successful. Although the terms bloating and ...

BACKGROUND Moxibustion is one of the most commonly used therapies in acupuncture practice, and is demonstrated to be beneficial for patients with diarrhea from irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS). But its mechanism remains unclear. Because visceral hypersensitivity in IBS patients has been documented by evaluation of perceived stimulations through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studi...

SINCE the presentation of experimental evidence suggesting that a rise in venous pressure produces an increase in peripheral resistance, many reports have appeared regarding the site as well as the existence of such a response." The increased resistance to blood flow following venous distention has been explained by some workers as due to reflexly-induced arteriolar constriction through central...