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Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fine-needle cholangiography (FNC) in the jaundiced patient is well established, but its role in the diagnostic work-up of nonjaundiced patients has not been emphasized. We present 44 consecutive nonjaundiced patients with a serum bilirubin level of 2.4 mg% of less who underwent FNC. The indications were recurrent RUQ pain (77%), painless cholestasis (16%), and relapsing pancreatitis (7%). In all but two patients, one or more inconclusive techniques [oral cholecystography, ultrasonography, intravenous cholangiography, or endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC)] had been employed prior to FNC. Biliary tract opacification was successful in 35 of 44 (80%). In nine of 35 (26%) choledocholithiasis and/or cholelithiasis was present. In four (11%) a significant extrahepatic biliary stricture was noted. More than five needle insertions were often required for successful entry. No complications occurred. Indications for FNC should be extended to include nonjaundiced patients with RUQ pain or painless cholestasis in whom oral cholecystography, ultrasonography, and intravenous cholangiography have been of no diagnostic help. The relative ease and low cost of FNC make it preferable to ERC in these patients.
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PMID:Fine-needle cholangiography (FNC) in the nonjaundiced patient. 26 37

Cholelithiasis is a rare, but important condition to be considered in the differential diagnosis of abdominal symptoms in childhood and adolescence. A survey over a 20-year period revealed 10 cases between the ages of 11 and 20 years, with a clinical history of cholelithiasis of between 5 days and 6 years. The most consistent finding was epigastric or right upper quadrant pain. Serum chemistry did not contribute conclusively towards the diagnosis. Hereditary spherocytosis was demonstrated in 3 cases, 2 had familial gall bladder disease, whilst in the rest no cause could be found. Two patients are described in some detail: one girl with spherocytosis and a bilirubin of 78 mg/100 ml, presenting with choledochal obstruction and pancreatitis, and another girl with a history of recurrent abdominal pain, negative radiologial and chemical pathological findings and a tentative diagnosis of neurosis. Oral cholecystograms lead to the diagnosis in most cases; however i. v. cholangiograms should be considered whenever the diagnosis appears in doubt. All cases were treated by cholecystectomy and recovery was uneventful in 9 patients. Cholecystectomy should be performed in all patients with gall stones, even in the absence of symptoms.
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PMID:[Cholelithiasis in children and adolescents (authors transl)]. 93 Jan

Ultrasound examinations of 563 patients with right upper quadrant pain and a clinical suspicion of acute cholecystitis were reviewed. In 31 patients, a tender, dilated gall-bladder with a thick (more than 4 mm) partly hypoechoic wall without any detectable calculi was found on the emergency examination. This was interpreted as due to acute acalculous cholecystitis. None of the patients was critically ill. Twenty-one of the patients had follow-up studies with either oral cholecystography, cholangiography, or ultrasound. Fourteen of the 21 had gall-bladder calculi while seven did not. These seven patients presumably represent the true frequency (1.2%) of acute acalculous cholecystitis in this clinical setting. In five other patients with an initial diagnosis of acute acalculous cholecystitis the gall-bladder wall thickening probably was secondary to concomitant pancreatitis, appendicitis, hepatitis or peptic ulcer disease. A meticulous and careful search for gall-bladder calculi should be performed in the presence of a dilated, tender thick-walled gall-bladder.
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PMID:The clinical importance of a thick-walled, tender gall-bladder without stones on ultrasonography. 187 51

Fifty children and adolescents were found to have gallstones at Children's Hospital of Buffalo (NY) during a period of 10 years. The mean (+/- SD) age was 12.2 +/- 6.2 years, with 21 boys and 29 girls. The majority of patients could be categorized into four groups: hemolytic disease (18 patients), parenteral nutrition (eight patients), adolescent pregnancy (seven patients), and idiopathic (10 patients), while seven patients had a variety of other etiologies. Right upper quadrant pain was the most common symptom (32 patients), followed by jaundice (15 patients), vomiting (13 patients), and nonspecific abdominal complaints (13 patients). Ten patients presented with jaundice and underlying hemolytic disease; seven patients were asymptomatic. Clinical presentation was found to vary with age and factors associated with the development of gallstones. Ultrasonography was the mode of diagnosis in 48 patients. Cholecystectomy was performed in 36 patients. In contrast to gallstones in adults, after exclusion of the patients with adolescent pregnancy, there was no female predominance. Pancreatitis was the most common complication, occurring in 8% of the patients; cholecystitis and cholangitis were absent.
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PMID:Gallstones in children. Characterization by age, etiology, and outcome. 173 34

We report two cases of acalculous cholecystitis due to infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV) and cryptosporidium. Both involved homosexual men who presented with right upper quadrant pain and elevations of serum alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin. Cholecystectomy specimens showed a thickened gallbladder wall and ulcerated mucosa. There were no stones. CMV inclusion bodies were found in granulation tissue at the base of ulcers and intact mucosa surrounding ulcers. Cryptosporidia were aligned along the luminal surface of intact mucosal epithelial cells. Both organisms have a patchy distribution; hence the diagnosis requires a high degree of suspicion. The prognosis is poor. Following cholecystectomy, both patients pursued a downhill course with development of pancreatitis and cholangitis. Both patients are now dead.
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PMID:Cytomegaloviral and cryptosporidial cholecystitis in two patients with AIDS. 253 76

Although choledochal cyst is generally considered a disorder of childhood, in approximately 20% of patients a cyst is first recognized in adult life. We reviewed nine adults who underwent operation for choledochal cyst from 1974-1985 at Yale New Haven Hospital. Presenting symptoms included: crampy right upper quadrant pain, jaundice, pruritus, cholangitis, pancreatitis, hepatomegaly, and elevated liver function tests. Seven patients had undergone previous biliary surgery. The eight patients with type I cysts underwent complete excision of the cysts with Roux-Y choledochojejunostomy. One patient with a type IVa cyst underwent Roux-Y cystjejunostomy. All patients had complete resolution of biliary symptoms. There were no deaths, serious complications, or development of biliary malignancy in the 6 months to 13 years of follow-up. Optimum treatment of choledochal cyst is complete excision with reconstruction by Roux-Y choledochojejunostomy.
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PMID:Choledochal cysts in the adult. 298 Jul 68

CT and ultrasound have become invaluable diagnostic tools in the radiologic evaluation of the traumatized and acutely ill patient. CT is the imaging modality of choice in blunt abdominal trauma, retroperitoneal injury and some types of pelvic injury. Ultrasound plays an important role in the evaluation of patients presenting with right upper quadrant pain, renal failure, scrotal pain and enlargement, or pain and bleeding during pregnancy. CT should be reserved for patients with complicated pancreatitis or some forms of renal infection. Thus, CT and ultrasound are important imaging modalities in the work-up of many patients treated by the emergency room physician.
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PMID:Computed tomography and ultrasound of the traumatized and acutely ill patient. 389 83

Hemorrhage into the biliary tract, known as hemobilia, is discussed almost exclusively in the surgical literature. Internists should also be aware of this entity. Two cases of hemobilia from hepatic artery aneurysm that ruptured into the biliary tract are presented. Both patients developed pancreatitis in addition to the classic symptom triad of melena, right upper quadrant pain, and jaundice. In one paitent, hemobilia was established by endoscopy. The authors adivse endoscopy workup of such patients and emphasize that pancreatitis, secondary to pancreatic duct obstruction, may be more common with hemobilia than has been reported.
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PMID:Hemobilia: endoscopic diagnosis and association with pancreatitis. 735 60

Seventy-three highly selected patients (35 type II, 38 type III) with intractable biliary-type pain were studied with biliary manometry after a baseline endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was normal or showed only duct dilatation. No differences between the two groups were noted in regard to baseline sphincter hypertension (60% versus 55%), improvement after endoscopic sphincterotomy at mean follow-up of 3 years, or post-procedure pancreatitis rates (15% versus 16%). Although not statistically significant, a tendency for patients with bile ducts > or = 12 mm to have sustained clinical improvement after sphincterotomy was noted in comparison with patients having ducts < 12 mm; an inverse correlation between improvement in symptoms and presence of an intact gallbladder at baseline was also seen. The authors suggest that the current classification, which divides patients with recurrent right upper quadrant pain into types I, II, and III, is inadequate to define either incidence of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction or subsequent response to endoscopic sphincterotomy.
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PMID:Long-term outcome after endoscopic sphincterotomy in patients with biliary colic and suspected sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. 801 15

There are increasing challenges for the practising gastroenterologist in treating AIDS-related gastrointestinal diseases. The differential diagnoses of dysphagia and odynophagia include cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, non-specific aphthous ulceration and non-AIDS oesophageal diseases, especially reflux oesophagitis. Chronic subacute abdominal pain with nausea, vomiting, early satiety and weight loss is suggestive of an obstructive lesion caused by lymphoma or Kaposi's sarcoma. Severe acute abdominal pain can indicate pancreatitis or intestinal perforation due to cytomegalovirus. Right upper quadrant pain (with or without fever, vomiting or abnormal liver function tests with a cholestatic profile) is suggestive of hepatobiliary pathology including cholecystitis, cholangitis, acalculous cholecystitis and AIDS cholangiopathy. Diarrhoea is the most common gastrointestinal symptom of AIDS, affecting 50-90% of patients. Causes of AIDS diarrhoea include protozoa (Cryptosporidium parvum, Isospora belli, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Septata intestinalis, Cyclospora spp, Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia), bacteria (Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, Clostridium difficile, Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter jejuni), and viruses (CMV, HSV and possibly HIV). Chronic diarrhoea, malnutrition and weight loss can shorten the life-span of patients with AIDS. Elemental diets, isotonic formulas, medium chain triglycerides and total parenteral nutrition have been tried with little success in AIDS patients with severe diarrhoea and wasting.
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PMID:AIDS and the gut. 805 32


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