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Four cases of rhynoentomophthoramycosis are reported from urban areas of the states of Bahia and Maranhão, Brazil. The lesions presented with infiltration, redness and heat of the skin of the nose and infraorbital areas and accompanying nasal stuffiness. In on case the infiltration also involved the lips and mandibular area causing severe facial deformity. Microscopically, granulomatous reactions with small abcesses, fibrosis and a dense infiltration of eosinophils were found. Hyphae were seen frequently, always associated with the Splendore phenomenon. Three cases were treated completely with iodine. The one case resistant to iodine was cured with prolonged administration of sulphona. In two cases, plastic surgery was performed for facial reconstruction and nasal-unblocking respectively. Including the cases presented here, only 8 cases of rhynoentomophthoramycosis have been reported in Brazil, but the authors believe that this pathology muta occur more frequently. The lack of knowledge of its clinico-pathological aspects may be responsible for the delay or lack of diagnosis of this entity which occurred in two of the cases reported here.

High-resolution real-time ultrasonography was employed during 267 vascular operations in order to diagnose vascular defects such as intimal flaps, strictures, and thrombi. These defects occur at operative areas (e.g., anastomoses, endarterectomized segments, and sites of placement of occlusive clamps) and can lead to serious thrombotic complications in the early post-operative period. Ultrasound detected vascular defects in 83 patients (31.1 per cent). The defects in 59 patients were considered clinically insignificant because of their sizes and locations, and were not re-explored. Early post-operative results of these patients were comparable to those of the patients without demonstrated defects. In 24 patients (9.0 per cent of all patients examined), ultrasonography revealed clinically significant defects which prompted re-exploration. In 20 of these 24 patients, these vascular defects were confirmed and corrected. No defect was found at re-exploration in four patients, but two of them developed early postoperative thrombosis. Ultrasonography and arteriography were compared at 100 operative sites. The two imaging methods were equal in terms of sensitivity, specificity, efficiency, and predictability of a negative test. Predictability of a positive test was 77.8 per cent for ultrasonography and 59.1 per cent for arteriography. This indicates that fewer needless re-explorations would occur following a decision based on ultrasonography. Operative ultrasonography is a simple, safe and accurate technique that should be applied to reconstructive vascular surgery for diagnosis of vascular defects.

Operative ultrasound using real-time high resolution B-mode ultrasound scanning is a practical and useful diagnostic aid. At operations upon the biliary tract, pancreas and blood vessels, ultrasound had a favorable impact upon surgical management. When similar operative roentgenographic studies were available, operative ultrasound compared favorably with both operative cholangiography and arteriography. Problems with the lack of familiarity of the surgeon with the performance and interpretation of imaging ultrasound and lack of specifically dedicated ultrasound instruments need to be resolved to increase and improve the use of this potentially helpful aid to surgical diagnosis during operation.

A case of gastroatrial fistula following resection of a carcinoma of the mid-esophagus and re-establishment of the alimentary tract with a cervical esophagogastrostomy is presented. Three episodes of moderate upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage secondary to chronic peptic ulcer of the stomach placed in the thorax occurred three years after the operation. At this time, the patient was also admitted to the hospital with diagnosis of pericarditis of unknown etiology. Three years later the patient had a massive and fatal episode of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Pancreatitis was induced in the opossum by occluding the common bile duct above or below the entrance of the pancreatic duct. The common channel theory was tested by evaluating the effect of preligation of the pancreatic duct to prevent the reflux of bile after ligation of the distal common duct. The severity of the disease was determined by histologic grading of the degree of pancreatic tissue necrosis. Serum amylase, lipase, and calcium were determined. Concomitant obstruction of the biliary and pancreatic ducts produced severe necrotizing pancreatitis whether or not bile reflux was present. Pancreatic ductal obstruction alone was associated with acinar atrophy and mild interstitial pancreatitis. Biliary obstruction alone above the entrance of the pancreatic duct resulted in marked hyperemia of the gland but without histologic evidence of pancreatic inflammation. A positive bacterial culture of the pancreas was obtained in only four of 36 opossums in a distribution to suggest random contamination. There was an inverse correlation between calcium levels and the degree of tissue necrosis. This study demonstrates that biliary obstruction rather than bile reflux into the pancreas is a requisite for the pathogenesis of severe biliary pancreatitis in this model.

The hydrogen gas clearance technique was evaluated to estimate regional hepatic blood flow. Initially, the H2 gas method was compared to the indocyanine green clearance in mini pigs. The blood flow measured by the H2 gas method (0.49 +/- 0.03 ml/min/gm) was only 39% of the calculated blood flow by the indocyanine green method (1.26 +/- 0.14 ml/min/gm). The blood flow determined by H2 gas decreased to 0.06 +/- 0.04 ml/min/gm after ligation of the hepatic artery. No difference in blood flow was found by simultaneous measurements on the left (0.89 +/- 0.1 ml/min/gm) and right (0.96 +/- 0.13 ml/min/gm) liver lobes in rats. After ligation of the left hepatic artery in the rats, a delayed response to H2 application was present and the determined blood flow (0.14 +/- 0.02 ml/min/gm) was significantly reduced (p less than 0.001) compared with the right liver lobe H2 determined blood flow as a control. No current was generated after ligation of the left hepatic artery and the portal vein indicating that there was no blood flow measured by the gas H2 method. The results indicate that the H2 gas clearance technique may be a method that assesses hepatic arterial liver perfusion rather than estimates total hepatic blood flow. The safety and simplicity of the H2 gas clearance technique may make it suitable for clinical application in serial measurement of hepatic arterial blood flow in man.

Real-time ultrasound B-mode scanning was used during vascular operations to detect defects produced by reconstructive surgery. Ultrasound detection of defects was more accurate than arteriography. Use of operative imaging led to re-exploration and correction of defects in 8% of patients undergoing vascular reconstruction.

The purpose of our study was to evaluate changes in gallbladder contractility and mucus secretion in vitro during the early stages of gallstone formation in prairie dogs. Thirty-two animals were divided into five groups. Control animals were fed a trace cholesterol diet. Experimental animals were fed a high-cholesterol diet for 3, 6, 8, and 14 days, respectively. Muscle stress was measured in response to cholecystokinin octapeptide in each of the groups. The maximal stresses in the 8-day diet (68 +/- 7 gm/cm2) (mean +/- SEM) and 14-day diet animals (83 +/- 7 gm/cm2) were found to be significantly lower than those of the control animals (137 +/- 12 gm/cm2). The stress in 3-day diet animals was significantly greater (224 +/- 23 gm/cm2). A significant increase in mucus secretion was observed only in 14-day diet animals (11.0 +/- 0.5 X 10(6) dpm/gm dry wt) compared with the control animals (6.4 +/- 1.0 X 10(6) dpm/gm). The decrease in contractility may be the initial event in cholesterol stone formation, and the prolonged exposure of the gallbladder epithelium to crystals may stimulate the release of mucus into the bile.