Although preliminary, this study indicated that DBE may be useful for detecting different types of endoscopic lesions in patients with LC. A herring roe appearance seems to be one of the characteristic features of portal hypertensive enteropathy. However, further study will be required to develop insights about its pathogenesis.
In the present study, we reveal for the first time that angiotensin II levels in the CSF from patients with ALS are significantly reduced and significantly associated with disease severity and progression rate. These findings suggest that reduced levels of intrathecal angiotensin II may play a role in ALS.
BACKGROUND:Although mirror pain occurs after cordotomy in patients experiencing unilateral pain via a referred pain mechanism, no studies have examined whether this pain mechanism operates in patients who have bilateral pain.OBJECTIVE:To assess the usefulness of cordotomy for bilateral pain from the viewpoint of increased pain or new pain caused by a referred pain mechanism.METHODS:Twenty-six patients who underwent percutaneous cordotomy through C1-C2 for severe bilateral cancer pain in the lumbosacral nerve region were enrolled. Pain was dominant on 1 side in 23 patients, and pain was equally severe on both sides in 3 patients. Unilateral cordotomy was performed for the dominant side of pain, and bilateral cordotomy was performed for 13 patients in whom pain on the nondominant side developed or remained severe after cordotomy.RESULTS:After unilateral cordotomy, 19 patients (73.1%) exhibited increased pain, which for 14 patients was as severe as the original dominant pain. After bilateral cordotomy, 7 patients (53.4%) exhibited new pain, which was located cephalad to the region rendered analgesic by cordotomy and was better controlled than the original pain. No pathological organic causes of new pain were found in any patient, and evidence of a referred pain mechanism was found in 3 patients after bilateral cordotomy.CONCLUSION:These results show that a referred pain mechanism causes increased or new pain after cordotomy in patients with bilateral pain. Nevertheless, cordotomy can still be indicated for patients with bilateral pain because postoperative pain is better controlled than the original pain.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.