ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of clinical and laboratory data in the diagnosis of benign or malignant focal liver disease. METHODS: Diagnosis was made by artificial neural network (NN), a system of simple computing units connected in a specific structural network. Seven clinical and laboratory variables were retrospectively studied in 172 patients with a liver mass (93 benign, 79 malignant) detected with ultrasound. The diagnostic efficacy of NN was compared with a score based on the logistic regression model (Beaujon score). RESULTS: Although the sensitivity of the Beaujon score and the neural network was similar (4 malignant tumors inversely classified), neural network-aided diagnosis was characterized by higher specificity and accuracy (respectively 98.9% vs 82.5%, P < 0.001, and 97.1% vs 88.4%, P < 0.002). CONCLUSION: In patients with a hepatic mass, neural network is a valuable method for differentiating malignant and benign tumors.
Subject(s)
Liver Diseases/diagnosis , Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis , Neural Networks, Computer , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Logistic Models , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Up to now about 100 cases of benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis have been reported. In this case we give a description of familial form of this disease, in which cholestasis was associated with inflammatory liver response. A brief review of this rare condition and differential diagnosis have been presented.
Subject(s)
Cholestasis, Intrahepatic/diagnosis , Adult , Aged , Cholestasis, Intrahepatic/genetics , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/diagnosis , Humans , Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary/diagnosis , Recurrence , SyndromeABSTRACT
The effect of gastric emptying of two doses (35 and 70 micrograms) of enprostil given orally was evaluated in eight patients with endoscopically confirmed duodenal ulcer. Gastric emptying of a radiolabelled solid meal was assessed with the use of a gamma camera. Enprostil dose-dependently accelerated gastric emptying of solids; the gastric emptying index, Ix, increased from 1.62 +/- 0.38 min-1.10(-2) after placebo to 2.77 +/- 0.56 min-1.10(-2) after 35 micrograms enprostil (p less than 0.05 versus placebo) and to 3.65 +/- 0.64 min-1.10(-2) after 70 micrograms enprostil (p less than 0.005 versus placebo). The fraction of the radiolabelled food retained in the stomach at the end of the gastric emptying examination (that is, after 90 min) amounted to 50.5 +/- 6.9% after placebo, 35.2 +/- 7.4% after 35 micrograms enprostil, and 24.1 +/- 8.4% after 70 micrograms enprostil. It is concluded that enprostil elicits a significant speeding up of solid-phase gastric emptying in duodenal ulcer patients.
Subject(s)
Duodenal Ulcer/physiopathology , Gastric Emptying/drug effects , Prostaglandins E, Synthetic/therapeutic use , Administration, Oral , Adult , Double-Blind Method , Duodenal Ulcer/drug therapy , Enprostil , Food , Gastrointestinal Motility/drug effects , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prostaglandins E, Synthetic/administration & dosageABSTRACT
Studies with a new method for visualizing the stomach evacuatory function - regional distribution of emptying index (RDEI) were performed on 35 healthy subjects and 34 duodenal ulcer patients. The observed gastric RDEI patterns are described in detail, and their pathophysiological meaning is discussed. A significantly higher incidence of an atypical gastric RDEI pattern was found in duodenal ulcer patients compared to normals. Except for a shorter disease duration, however, no other clinical features distinguished the patients with the present atypical gastric RDEI pattern from the remaining ones. It has been hypothesized that antral dysmotility is a cause of the observed phenomenon.
