Role of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography after orthotopic liver transplantation.

We reviewed the records of 20 liver transplant patients who underwent 28 procedures [endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)] to rule out biliary obstruction, treat bile leaks, dilate and/or stent strictures, or remove stones and debris. Three patients (two with abnormal T-tube cholangiograms and one with hyperbilirubinemia) underwent ERCP to rule out obstruction. Therapeutic ERCP (sphincterotomy with balloon dilatation or stone extraction) was successful in 16 of 17 patients, including seven of nine in whom there was resolution of bile leaks without the use of stents or surgery. Mild pancreatitis occurring in one patient was the only complication experienced that was related to ERCP. We conclude that ERCP is a safe and important modality in the medical management of biliary tract complications after orthotopic liver transplantation.

Religion and youth substance use.

This research study of 13,878 youths indicates that religion is not by itself a very important predictor of youth substance use. It is, however, more strongly related to alcohol use than drug use. Also, fundamentalist religious groups have the lowest percentages of substance use in general, while the more liberal types of religious groups have the lowest percentages of heavy substance use. Of the six dimensions of religion used in the study to predict youth substance use, importance of religion to the subject was the most important, with church membership second, and the fundamentalism-liberalism scale of religious groups third.

Vacuum UV and soft x-ray optical emissions from electron impact on metals.

Spectrograms from 2200 to 20 A of optical emissions produced by a simple lamp using fast (3-10-keV) electron impact on tungsten and tantalum targets are presented. The lamp dissipated up to 5 kW/cm(2) on the target surface, simultaneously cleaning the surface and generating bremsstrahlung in the soft x-ray region with 3-keV electron impact and longer wavelength transition radiation at the higher energy. In both the bremsstrahlung and transition radiation modes, the lamp emissions were of sufficient strength and reproducibility to qualify the two mechanisms as potential processes for use in a secondary standard light source. Calculated spectral distributions of transition radiation for normally incident electrons on tungsten, tantalum, and aluminum targets, with a viewing direction 45 degrees from the normal, are also shown.

Postmortem delineation of infarcted myocardium. Coronary perfusion with nitro blue tetrazolium.

Perfusion of hearts with nitro blue tetrazolium resulted in gross formazan staining of intact myocardium, while infarcted zones and scars were unstained or were poorly stained. Subsequent perfusion with 3.7% formaldehyde solution provided a rigid specimen with well-preserved anatomical structures and landmarks suitable for detailed correlation of three-dimensional infarct distribution with clinical data. Specimens are particularly amenable to further gross dissection of mapping of lesions from interval slices, or both.