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Wereport two cases of drug-induced hepatitis refractory to therapy of ursodeoxycholic acid and prednisolone, who were relieved of icterus and pruritus immediately by the oral administration of colestimide. Their liver dysfunction was not improved, by withdrawal of causative drugs or by treatment with prednisolone and ursodeoxycholic acid. Colestimide (3.0 g/day), a strong basic anion-exchange resin, was orally taken before breakfast and evening meal, leading to rapid and complete relief of icterus and pruritus. These cases suggested that colestimide would be useful for patients with cholestasis in drug-induced hepatitis, because this agent has few side effects and it is easy to take.

SynopsisIn the iron and steel making shops, some processes are so complex that it is difficult to formulate precise control models. In such cases, process control is made on the basis of the skilled operator's heuristic knowledge. However, utilization of skilled operator's heuristic knowledge is one of the major problems to control the process precisely. In the fuzzy set theory, skilled operator's knowledge is expressed as membership functions to control the process as well as skilled operators.The fuzzy set theory was applied to the on-line control of return fine hopper level at the sintering plant in Fukuyama Works, Nippon Kokan K.K. This was the first application of fuzzy control to the practical operation. The commercial operation has started in August 1986. As the result, the deviation of return fine hopper level decreased from 12 to 4 %/h and the amount of return fine decreased by about 2 kg/t-sinter.

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A 69-year-old man underwent laparoscopy-assisted resection for transverse colon cancer. He visited our department approxiately 1 month after operation suffering from nausea and epigastric discomfort. Endoscopy and X-ray examination showed a severe stenosis in the second portion of the duodenum, which we believe was caused by the previous colectomy as indicated by no evidence of other causative event or factor found in his history or through thorough examination. He was then successfully treated by endoscopic balloon dilatation using of a controlled radial expansion wire-guided balloon dilatation catheter. We report a case of postoperative duodenal stenosis as an early complication following laparoscopy-assisted resection of transverse colon cancer. This case would be the first report documented in Japan that we are aware of. Furthermore, this experience suggested that endoscopic balloon dilatation for postoperative duodenal stenosis is effective.