The factors influencing the migration of gall stones are ill understood. Altogether 331 patients undergoing cholecystectomy were studied prospectively. The diameters of the cystic and common bile ducts and of stones in the gall bladder and bile ducts were measured. Increasing pressure was applied to the freshly excised gall bladder in an attempt to evacuate stones through the cystic duct. Stone...

OBJECTIVES To review previous reports and discuss current trends in extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and ureterorenoscopy (URS). ESWL was recommended as the first-line treatment for small and intermediate-sized stones in the lower pole, while it is the standard treatment for large stones. However, the stone clearance rate after ESWL seems to be lo...

The increased prevalence of gall stones in Crohn's disease is thought to be related to depletion of the bile salt pool due either to terminal ileal disease or after ileal resection. This study was designed to examine whether this hypothesis is correct and explore alternative explanations. Two hundred and fifty one randomly selected patients (156 females, 95 males, mean age 45 years) were interv...

Nephrolithiasis is one of the most frequent urologic diseases. The aim of this paper is to study the composition and frequency of 8854 patient kidney stones and in a subset of them their metabolic risk factors to be related to their type of calculi. Physicochemical and crystallographic methods were used to assess kidney stone composition. In a subset of 715 patients, we performed an ambulatory ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Some common bile duct (CBD) stones recur after endoscopic stone extraction. Little information is available on the size and recurrence interval of recurrent symptomatic CBD stones or on ways to prevent recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between January 2007 and December 2011, consecutive 481 patients undergoing endoscopic extraction of CBD stones at a single institute were enro...

We present an interactive sand art drawing system using one RGB-D sensor, such as Kinect. Our system supports the common sand drawing functions, such as sand erosion, sand spilling, and sand leaking. To use hands to draw virtual sand on a drawing plane, we design four key gestures which enable drawing manipulation actions for sand. The basic idea is that the gesture of one hand controls the dra...

Uric acid stones are the most readily dissolvable of all types of urinary stones. By maintaining urinary pH between 6.2-6.8 with the use of sodium acid citrate or uralyt-U and reducing serum uric acid by allopurinol, we tried to dissolve 107 stones in 67 patients. Ninety three (86.9%) stones were dissolved and 6 (5.6%) passed spontaneously within a period of one year. Eight (7.5%) stones were r...

The gallstones of 14 patients, who had been treated unsuccessfully with chenodeoxycholic acid (15 mg/kg/day) for at lest six months, were obtained at cholecystectomy. The stones were then analysed for their cholesterol and calcium content. Two patients' stones were black in colour and low in cholesterol content, and were classified as pigment stones. Of the remaining 12 patients' stones, which ...

Multiple stones, a periampullary diverticulum, and advanced patient age are factors that contribute to difficulty in stone removal [1]. We were able to completely remove the bile duct stones in a 93-year-old woman with a periampullary diverticulum, multiple stones (about 100), and common bile duct of 35mm in diameter using the large-balloon occupation technique (LBOT). The patient visited our h...

The Endoscopic procedures for common bile duct (CBD) stones are reportedly safe in the elderly patients. However, the definition of the elderly is different in each report. If the elderly are defined as people aged 85 years or older, data on the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for CBD stones are limited. This study investigated the efficacy and ...