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External iliac artery atherosclerotic disease and aneurism occur in man. For treatment, imaging is required to facilitate minimally invasive introduction and advancement of stents within the intended vessels. Sheep are commonly used to test and improve stents. However, little information is published regarding the angiographic anatomy of the iliac arteries in the ovine species. The objective of this study was to describe the angiographic anatomy of the iliac arteries in the sheep. Computed tomography ( CT) angiography and gross anatomical dissection were performed in, respectively, 10 and 43 adult ewes. Diameters and lengths of the arteries were measured. In comparison with man, salient anatomical differences were identified in the sheep: (1) the absence of common iliac arteries, (2) the common trunk at the origin of internal iliac arteries and (3) the location of the bifurcation of the external iliac arteries into femoral arteries in the pelvis (not in the limb). External iliac arteries in this series of sheep were 86 mm long in average and had a mean diameter of 7.5 mm. Lengths of arteries are only slightly different between man and sheep, while diameters are rather similar. Therefore, the sheep model appears to be sufficiently similar to man to test stent properties. This study provides useful reference images and measures of lengths and diameters of relevant arteries that could be applied to research with ovine models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Closing the internal opening by a clip ovesco has been recently proposed for healing the fistula tract, but, to date, data on benefit are poorly analyzed. The aim was to report a preliminary multicenter experience. Materials and methods: Retrospective study was undertaken in six different French centers: surgical procedure, immediate complications, and follow-up have been collected. Results: Nineteen clips were inserted in 17 patients (M/F, 4/13; median age, 42 years [29-54]) who had an anal fistula: 12 (71 %) high fistulas (including 4 rectovaginal fistulas), 5 (29 %) lower fistulas (with 3 rectovaginal fistulas), and 6 (35 %) Crohn's fistulas. Out of 17 patients, 15 had a seton drainage beforehand. The procedure was easy in 8 (47 %) patients and the median operative time was 27.5 min (20-36.5). Postoperative period was painful for 11 (65 %) patients. A clip migration was noted in 11 patients (65 %) after a median follow-up of 10 days (5.5-49.8). Eleven patients (65 %) who failed had reoperation including 10 new drainages within the first month (0.5-5). After a mean follow-up of 4 months (2-7),, closing the tract was observed in 2 patients (12 %) following the first insertion of the clip and in another one after a second insertion. Conclusion: Treatment of anal fistula by placing a clip on the internal opening is disappointing and deleterious for some patients. A better assessment before dissemination is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal swelling reactions (ISR) (which mainly comprise alkali-silica reaction, alkali-carbonate reaction, delayed ettringite formation, etc) are damage processes that affect the long-term durability of concrete structures. The reactions are apparently characterized by series of closely spaced, tight map cracks with wide cracks appearing at regular intervals, and excessive tensile stresses in rebars. These phenomena are alarming for affected structure managers as they deal with people safety and structures operation. Moreover, there is no easily implemented way to stop the reactions. Prediction of concrete expansion, structural degradation, and assessment of efficiency and periodicity of repair works are crucial issues. The aim of this work is to explore the applicability of some nondestructive techniques (NDT) of investigations (electric, seismic, and acoustic methods) to differentiate the structure zones affected or not by the ISR for different exposure conditions. The collected experience highlights that the coupling between some of those nondestructive (ND) methods can reduce the measurement uncertainty and eliminates the factors that may influence the characterization of the structure parts affected by ISR. Nevertheless, for a complete structure reassessment, it is also desirable to refer to global geometrical/topographical survey and to destructive analysis methods on some cored samples for chemical analysis, petrography, and residual expansion measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case Histories: The medical records of cats and dogs admitted to the Department of Small Animal Surgery of the Centre Hospitalier Vétérinaire Pommery (Reims, France) with a history of vehicular trauma or falls from the first floor or higher were screened for occurrences of a lower urinary tract (LUT) rupture. Signalment, reported injuries, diagnostic imaging findings, and blood test results were extracted from the medical records., Clinical Findings: A total of 585 animals were included in the study: 339 cats and 246 dogs. The overall prevalence of LUT rupture was 1.36% (8/585) and was 1.2% (3/246) in dogs and 1.4% (5/339) in cats. The most common site of rupture was the bladder (5/8 cases). All orthopaedic injuries were pelvic fractures and animals with pelvic fractures were 6.4 (95% CI: 1.67-24.41; p = 0.012) times more likely to incur urinary tract rupture than those without pelvic fractures. However, three cases had LUT rupture without associated orthopaedic injury. All affected patients had free abdominal fluid identified by abdominal focused assessment with sonography for trauma. Serum urea and creatinine concentrations were elevated in 5/8 cases of LUT rupture, and 4/8 cases were able to urinate., Clinical Relevance: Although LUT injury and pelvic fracture were significantly associated in this study, 3/8 cases of LUT rupture in this study had no orthopaedic injury and half retained the ability to urinate. Thus, lack of associated fractures and ability to urinate should not be used to rule out a LUT rupture. The possibility of bladder or urethral rupture should be considered in all patients with a history of severe blunt trauma.

Background: Persistent uroliths after a cystotomy in dogs are a common cause of surgical failure., Objectives: This study examined the following: the success rate of retrograde urohydropropulsion in male dogs using non-enhanced computed tomography (CT), whether the CT mean beam attenuation values in Hounsfield Units (mHU) measured in vivo could predict the urolithiasis composition and whether the selected reconstruction kernel may influence the measured mHU., Methods: All dogs and cats that presented with lower urinary tract uroliths and had a non-enhanced CT preceding surgery were included. In male dogs, CT was performed after retrograde urohydropropulsion to detect the remaining urethral calculi. The percentage and location of persistent calculi were recorded. The images were reconstructed using three kernels, from smooth to ultrasharp, and the calculi mHU were measured., Results: Sixty-five patients were included in the study. The success rate of retrograde urohydropropulsion in the 45 male dogs was 55.6% and 86.7% at the first and second attempts, respectively. The predominant components of the calculi were cystine (20), struvite (15), calcium oxalate (8), and urate (7). The convolution kernel influenced the mHU values (p < 0.05). The difference in mHU regarding the calculus composition was better assessed using the smoother kernel. A mHU greater than 1,000 HU was predictive of calcium oxalate calculi., Conclusions: Non-enhanced CT is useful for controlling the success of retrograde urohydropropulsion. The mHU could allow a prediction of the calculus composition, particularly for calcium oxalate, which may help determine the therapeutic strategy., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2022 The Korean Society of Veterinary Science.)

Introduction: The transcriptional activity of the UGT1A1 gene is modulated by a variable number of repetitions of the dinucleotide (TA) within its promoter region. By comparison to the most common allele (TA) 6 (UGT1A1*1), decreased activity is observed with increasing TA repetitions. The aim of this study was to determine whether the presence of the variant allele UGT1A1*28, harbouring seven TA repetitions, (TA) 7 , in the homozygous state, is associated with precancerous colonic lesions and/or with specific colorectal cancer characteristics., Material and Methods: All patients treated for colorectal cancer in a tertiary care centre, between January 2009 and December 2013, who had routine UGT1A1 genotyping for irinotecan dose-adjustment were included. Data were retrospectively collected., Results: 292 patients were enrolled, including 23 UGT1A1*28/*28 homozygous (7.9%), 137 wild type homozygous (46.9%) and 132 heterozygous (45.2%). There were no significant differences in phenotypic colonic characteristics between homozygous and heterozygous patients carrying the UGT1A1*28 allele as compared to *1/*1 homozygous. Patients treated with aspirin were significantly more common in the UGT1A1*28/*28 homozygous group than in the other groups (7/23 (30.4%) compared to 22/269 (8.2%), p = 0.001)., Conclusion: Dinucleotide polymorphism in the promoter region of the UGT1A1 gene is not associated with a specific colonic phenotype in patients with sporadic colorectal cancer., (Copyright © 2018 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and study aims: The hemostatic powder TC-325 (Hemospray; Cook Medical, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA) has shown promising results in the treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in expert centers in pilot studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of TC-325 in a large prospective registry of use in routine practice. Patients and methods: The data of all patients treated with TC-325 were prospectively collected through a national registry. Outcomes were the immediate feasibility and efficacy of TC-325 application, as well as the rates of rebleeding at Day 8 and Day 30. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine predictive factors of rebleeding. Results: A total of 202 patients were enrolled and 64 endoscopists participated from 20 centers. TC-325 was used as salvage therapy in 108 patients (53.5 %). The etiology of bleeding was an ulcer in 75 patients (37.1 %), tumor in 61 (30.2 %), postendoscopic therapy in 35 (17.3 %), or other in 31 (15.3 %). Application of the hemostatic powder was found to be very easy or easy in 31.7 % and 55.4 %, respectively. The immediate efficacy rate was 96.5 %. Recurrence of UGIB was noted at Day 8 and Day 30 in 26.7 % and 33.5 %, respectively. Predictive factors of recurrence at Day 8 were melena at initial presentation and use of TC-325 as salvage therapy. Conclusion: These multicenter data confirmed the high rate of immediate hemostasis, excellent feasibility, and good safety profile of TC-325, which could become the treatment of choice in bleeding tumors or postendoscopic bleeding but not in bleeding ulcers where randomized studies are needed., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02595853)., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Objective: Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin has been proposed to be useful in evaluating alcohol consumption but there is no consensus on its use in routine practice. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gammaglutamyl transpeptidase assays for the evaluation of alcohol consumption., Methods: Six hundred thirty-three outpatients attending one outpatient care center were included in this study. Patients were divided into five categories according to alcohol consumption: category 1 included non-weaned patients drinking more than 30 g/day for women and more than 50 g/day for men, category 2 included relapse patients, category 3 included moderate drinkers, category 4 included patients weaned less than one month, and category 5 included patients weaned more than one month. One experienced physician estimated alcohol intake from patient declarations during a face-to-face interview., Results: Sensitivity of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin varied, depending on patient category, from 32% to 92% versus 41% to 72% for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Specificity of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin varied from 71% to 96% versus 23% to 62% for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. After one month of abstinence, specificity of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin was 62% versus 19% for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase., Conclusion: This study confirms that carbohydrate-deficient transferrin is more accurate in predicting alcohol consumption compared with gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in alcoholic outpatients.