Twenty years have passed since the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy was conducted by P. Moruet in 1987. Since then, the success of laparoscopy has been undeniable. Almost all surgical procedures can be carried out using laparoscopic techniques. The majority of those procedures that can be performed laparoscopically do so regularly. Laparoscopic gallbladder and bile ducts surgery, exploratory ...

BACKGROUND Transluminal balloon tearing of the membrane in a thin discrete subaortic stenosis is an alternative to membrane surgical resection. However, the long-term outcome of patients with isolated thin discrete subaortic stenosis treated by transluminal balloon tearing remains unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS This 25-year study describes findings from 76 patients with isolated thin discrete s...

BACKGROUND Patients with intracranial arteriosclerotic disease have significant morbidity and mortality rates, and some are unresponsive to medical treatment and have unacceptable surgical risks. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the intracranial vessels is a possible alternative to surgery. OBJECTIVES To present our experience with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and to summariz...

introduction: percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (ptca) is an effective method for revascularizing of stenotic coronary vessels. lack of response to this treatment, either in symptomatic or asymptomatic patients, is usually due to incomplete revascularization, restenosis, and/or irreversibility of myocardial perfusion. introduction of a noninvasive method with high predictive value ...

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was used successfully to treat coarctation restenosis in seven patients. The patients were 10 months to 17 years old at the time of the angioplasty, and the initial coarctation repair had been performed 10 months to 16 1/2 years previously. PTA reduced the systolic pressure gradient across the coarctation from a mean of 58 mm Hg before the procedure t...

Objective: To compare the costs of coronary bypass surgery (CBS) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTA) over a one-year follow up. Method: Eight-six patients were submitted to 87 CBS and 240 patients to 267 PTA, between October 2003 and April 2004. The mean age of the two groups was 62 years. The CBS group was submitted to a mean of 3.7 bypasses/patient, using 96.5% of arteria...