(Table 1). 13 ERP was carried out using an Olympus JF IT10 oder JF IT20 fibrescope using the

No abstract

Rectosigmoid electric control activity and intraluminal pressure were measured in the fasting state and after a standard 3040-kJ meal in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients (n = 41), diverticulosis patients (n = 15), and healthy controls (n = 13). Analysis of myoelectric and motor patterns was performed computer-based with home-made software. Spectral analysis (fast Fourier transform) and computer recognition of slow waves emulating visual scoring showed very similar slow-wave frequency patterns in all three groups. Calculation of contractile indices displayed a widely scattered variable of motility in all three groups without significant differences. IBS subgroups with different bowel patterns showed very similar frequencies of basic myoelectric rhythm and a considerable overlap of contractile activity without significant differences among the subgroups and compared with controls. Slow-wave rhythm seems unlikely to be the basis of disturbed motility in IBS and diverticular disease. A specific pattern of contractile activity was not detectable in either condition.

Lumen-filling calculi in the common bile duct are frequently inaccessible to endoscopic treatment. With the aid of a flash lamp pulsed Nd:YAG laser, endoscopic retrograde lithotripsy of such calculi has now been successfully accomplished for the first time in man.