Triage of patients with acute diverticulitis: are some inpatients candidates for outpatient treatment?

AIM: Current recommendations regarding the triage of patients with acute diverticulitis for inpatient or outpatient treatment are vague. We hypothesized that a significant number of patients treated as an inpatient could be managed as an outpatient. METHOD: A retrospective cohort study was carried out of 639 patients admitted for a first episode of diverticulitis. The diagnosis of acute diverticulitis was confirmed by computed tomography (CT). The endpoints included length of stay, need for surgery, percutaneous drainage and mortality. Patients were considered to have had a minimal hospitalization, defined as survival to discharge without needing a procedure, hospitalization of ≤ 3 days and no readmission for diverticulitis within 30 days after discharge. RESULTS: Of 639 patients, 368 (57.6%) had a minimal hospitalization. Female gender and CT scan findings of free air/fluid were negatively associated with the likelihood of minimal hospitalization. The presence of an abscess < 3 cm and stranding on CT did not predict the need for a higher level of care. Despite the statistical significance of several patient-level predictors, the model did not identify patients likely to need only minimal hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Most patients admitted with acute diverticulitis are discharged after minimal hospitalization. Free air/liquid in a patient admitted for acute diverticulitis indicates a more severe clinical course.

[Sonographic measurement of endometrium thickness as a predictive value for pregnancy through IVF]. / Die sonographische Endometriumdicke als Prediktionsfaktor für eine Schwangerschaft in einem IVF-Programm.

AIM: This prospective study was performed to evaluate the predictive value of endometrium thickness in patients undergoing IVF-ET. METHOD: Measurements of endometrium thickness as well as pattern assessments were performed in 936 cycles (722 patients) on the day of administering human chronic gonadotropin (HCG). RESULTS: The overall pregnancy rate was 31.1 % (291/936). The age of non pregnant patient was significantly higher (p < 0.029). There was a significant influence of oestradiol (p < 0.029), number of transferred embryos (p < 0.004), and embryo quality (p < 0.002) on the pregnancy rate. Overall, the mean (+/- SD) endometrium thickness was 11.16 mm (+/- 2.13). The mean (+/- SD) endometrium thickness of pregnant patients was 11.25 mm (+/- 2.19). The mean (+/- SD) endometrium thickness of non-pregnant patients was 11.12 mm (+/- 2.10). A stepwise logistic regression analysis showed no statistically significant correlation between endometrium thickness and pregnancy rate (p < 0.23). CONCLUSION: Sonographic measurement of endometrium thickness on the day of human chorionic treatment with gonadotropin is not useful in predicting IVF outcome.

Effect of trephination technique on the ultrastructure of corneal transplants: guided trephine system v posterior punch technique.

AIM: Different trephination methods may lead to differences in degree of tissue damage and endothelial cell loss, which both influence the outcome of penetrating keratoplasty. Light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy were used to compare the ultrastructural appearance of the cut edges and the endothelial cell loss in 26 human corneal donor buttons obtained by trephination with the suction fixated guided trephine system (GTS) and with the free hand posterior punch technique (PPT). METHODS: Human corneas were stored between 5 and 14 days in Optisol. One cornea from each pair was used for each technique. Trephinations (7.5 mm) were performed either from the anterior direction with the GTS (n=13) or from the posterior direction with the PPT (n=13) using Pharmacia Superblade trephines. Light microscopy, transmission electron, and scanning electron microscopy were performed according to standard procedures. Widening of the cut edges and the extent of endothelial cell loss were measured at three different areas per corneal button and analysed statistically. RESULTS: In contrast with the PPT, the GTS trephine produced considerable fibrillar disorder at the cut edges of the corneal buttons. The distance to which the endothelial cell loss extended from the edges of the cuts was significantly (p<0. 001) lower for the GTS (42.2 (SD 50.8) microm from the edge) than for the PPT (109.3 (68.1) microm). Stromal widening at the edges (measured as percentage increase in stromal thickness, compared with the thickness of the central cornea) was observed with both techniques. However, the mean stromal widening produced by the GTS was significantly greater than that produced by PPT (106% (24%) v 69% (21%); p<0.002). CONCLUSION: Both trephination techniques produced only minor tissue damage. Nevertheless, there were distinct differences in the fine appearance of the cuts produced by the GTS and the PPT techniques. The extent of the fibrillar dislocation and stromal widening was greater at the edges of the GTS buttons. The GTS technique produced significantly less endothelial cell loss at the cut edges than did the free hand punching technique, PPT.

Clivus chordoma.

Chordomas are slow growing, locally invasive tumors that most commonly present as midline masses in the sacrococcygeal or clival regions. The case presented in this paper demonstrates the typical MRI appearance of a clival chordoma in a patient presenting with classic symptoms of cranial nerve compression and headache. While the exact signal characteristics of these lesions seen on MRI may vary with pathologic subtypes, MRI has proven essential in the diagnosis, surgical planning and post-treatment evaluation of patients with these lesions.

A sporadic form of hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies: clinical, electrodiagnostic, and molecular genetic findings.

We report a patient who had episodes of recurrent peripheral nerve pressure palsies. Electrodiagnostically, we found a clear decrease of nerve conduction velocity in affected and unaffected nerves. All the patient's relatives showed entirely normal clinical and electrodiagnostic findings. Histopathologically, there were extensive irregularities of the myelin sheaths with numerous tomaculous swellings. DNA analysis revealed a deletion for probes flanking the PMP-22 gene at the maternal chromosome 17 in our patient. His mother showed a normal gene dosage for all markers deleted in our patient, indicating a new mutation.