The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk factors influencing the short-term results of gastroduodenal perforation to determine the optimal treatment for reducing mortality. A total of 136 patients were retrospectively reviewed and the prognostic factors were examined. Seven patients died within 30 days, with an overall mortality rate of 5.1%. Mortality was significantly worse in those aged 50 years or more, when the leukocyte count was less than 9,500/mm3, when treatment was delayed more than 12h after perforation, in cases of preoperative shock and renal failure, and when associated with liver cirrhosis or an immunocompromised state. Tolerance to the time delay was inversely proportional to age, while the deaths in patients aged 65 years or younger were related to serious concurrent diseases. Shock and renal failure occurred most often in elderly patients as a result of delayed surgery, and the leukocyte count was an age-dependent prognostic indicator. Thus, age, the time interval between perforation and treatment, serious concurrent disease, shock, and renal failure were presumed to be the most important prognostic factors. Although definitive operations were performed on low-risk patients with an acceptably low mortality, it remains to be determined whether simpler procedures should be adopted for high-risk patients.

In the present study, we examined the immunosuppressive effect of a new drug, FTY 720, on small bowel transplantation (SBT) in rats. Grafts from (LEW x BN) F 1-to-LEW rats treated with FTY 720 at 0.5 mg/kg from day 0 to 14 post-SBT survived significantly longer than untreated grafts. In addition, the administration of FTY 720 combined with cyclosporin (CyA; 5 mg/kg per day) had a synergistic effect on allograft survival. The graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR) that occurred in the LEWto-F 1 rats was markedly reduced after the administration of FTY 720. FTY 720 combined with a low dose of CyA completely abrogated GVHR without any adverse reaction. FTY 720 treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the number of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and the spleen, but the number of peripheral neutrophils was unchanged. Thus, FTY 720 would appear to be an ideal drug to combine with CyA in order to control the immune reaction after SBT.

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A 38-year-old male with no past history of illnesses visited the out-patient clinic of Nerima Hikarigaoka Hospital complaining of dizziness and persistent anal bleeding. There was a significant anemia on a blood test and colonoscopy showed a thrombus in a markedly swollen internal hemorrhoid. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) showed a poorly demarcated area with early face enhancement on the right side of the rectum and anal canal. Based on these findings, an arterio-venous malformation (AVM) of the rectum was suspected. Abdominal angiography showed abnormal vessels receiving a blood supply from the bilateral superior rectal arteries. We suspected that the AVM in the rectum was the cause of the hemorrhage from the internal hemorrhoid, and therefore performed embolization of the AVM. Thereafter, the hemorrhage from the internal hemorrhoid stopped completely and the anemia improved to the normal level, without the need for treatment for the internal hemorrhoid. Colonoscopy performed 6 months after embolization showed shrinkage of the internal hemorrhoid. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports stating a relationship between rectal AVM and internal hemorrhoids. However, we consider that contrast-enhanced CT can be used to detect vessel abnormalities related to severe bleeding of the internal hermorrhoids in patients with internal hemorrhoids and severe anemia.

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