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Purpose: To assess the technical feasibility and the results of cerebral protection with the GuardWire Plus Temporary Occlusion & Aspiration System during carotid artery stenting for high-grade stenosis, Patients and Methods: In 20 patients 20 carotid artery stenoses were treated with stent placement under cerebral protection. A contralateral carotid occlusion was an exclusion criteria for the use of the protection device. In all cases only aspiration, but no flushing was used before deflation of the occlusion balloon. In 17 of 20 patients diffusion-weighted (DW-)MRT imaging of the brain was performed before and 24 hours after the procedure. Results: The stent implantation was successfully performed in all patients. In 3 patients neurologic symptoms occurred during the occlusion time. In these 3 patients the symptoms immediately disappeared after deflation of the balloon. In one case there was dilatation of the internal carotid artery at the site of the balloon inflation. In 3 of the 17 DW-MR images new ipsilateral cerebral lesions, in one case a new contralateral lesion occurred after the procedure. Conclusions: The cerebral protection procedure is technically feasible. The occlusion of the internal carotid artery was not tolerated by all patients. The DW-MR imaging demonstrated cerebral lesions indicating the occurrence of cerebral microemboli during the procedure. Further investigations are necessary to determine if the use of the cerebral protection device will improve the results of the carotid artery stenting for high-grade stenoses.

Aim: In difficult diagnostic cases of partial small bowel obstruction, radiopaque, non-digestible markers were used to challenge and localize the site of obstruction. Material and Method: 32 patients (19 female, 13 male, 3-80 years) were examined. Each patient received 20 4-mm radiopaque markers orally. Abdominal radiographs were obtained at 4-8 h intervals. Mechanical obstruction was defined as the clustering of at least 3 markers for 4 hours or longer. The transit of radiopaque markers was compared to plain radiography, ultrasound, barium meal, computed tomography, enteroclysis and operative findings. Results: 18 of 32 patients showed small bowel clustering suggestive of obstruction. Diagnostic agreement was found in 12 of 14 cases with ultrasound, in 7 of 13 cases with plain radiography and in 3 of 6 cases with enteroclysis. 13 of the 18 patients with clustering had surgery. All of them (13/13) had adhesions with the need of resection. Conclusion: This investigation is an alternative diagnostic method for the decision between conservative and surgical treatment in cases of intermittent partial small bowel obstruction.

Purpose: The object of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the stereotactic large core breast biopsy in the histological assessment of mammographically suspicious lesions. Material and Methods: In 106 patients with a mammographically suspicious lesion, 67 with a mass (55 non-palpable, 12 palpable and 39 with microcalcification stereotactic large core biopsies were performed. Samples were obtained in the prone position under local anesthesia with a 14-gauge needle and an automated high-speed gun. An average of 4.3 cores per lesion were acquired. In 68 patients (64%) an additional surgical biopsy was performed, 38 (36%) had clinical and mammographic follow-up. Results: In 4 of the 106 stereotactic biopsies insufficient material for the histological examination was obtained. In the 68 core biopsies with surgical correlation there were no false-positive, but 2 false-negative results with regard to the malignancy of the lesion (sensitivity: 93.8%; specificity: 100%). The 2 false-negative results were obtained in lesions that were mammographically judged as malignant while histology of the stereotactic biopsy showed fibrosis. The stereotactic large core breast biopsy was well tolerated by all patients. No clinically significant complications occurred. Conclusion: The stereotactic large core breast biopsy of a mammographically suspicious lesion can be performed with a high diagnostic accuracy. A correlation of the mammographic and histological findings and a follow-up program are necessary in order to recognize false-negative results early and to avoid a delay in the diagnosis.