OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to examine the association between plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), an acute phase protein strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk, and adiposity, insulin resistance, and inflammation among overweight and obese children with a wide range of hepatic steatosis. METHODS Plasma PAI-1 levels were measured in a prospectively recruite...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of two tocolytics, nifedipine and magnesium sulfate, on Doppler indices in maternal and fetal vessels. MATERIALS AND METHODS We recruited 100 pregnant women with preterm birth between 24-36 gestational weeks who were admitted to our tertiary center over a two-year period. Patients were allocated to nifedipine (n=49) and magnesium sulfate (n=51) groups and ...

Using an ex vivo liver sanguinous perfusion system, hemodynamic and biochemical changes of the porcine livers were studied, which were preserved cold (4 degrees C) for 24 hr in University of Wisconsin solution and reperfused with normothermic (37 degrees C) (n = 8) or hypothermic (32 degrees C) (n = 8) blood for 3 hr. Six more livers were reperfused with normothermic blood (37 degrees C) immedi...

Insulin resistance (IR) is involved in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction and is also present in patients with cirrhosis. Intrahepatic endothelial dysfunction plays a major role, increasing hepatic vascular resistance and promoting portal hypertension (PH). In addition, β-adrenergic agonists and insulin share several intracellular signaling pathways. Thus IR may influence the response ...

INTRODUCTION Endoscopic surveilance of esophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis is expensive for the health system and uncomfortable for the patients. Recently, non-invasive ultrasound-based parameters seem to offer valuable informations about the status of esophaeal varices and thus challenge the need for repetitive endoscopic monitoring. MATERIAL AND METHOD We have performed a sy...

BACKGROUND Endothelial injury is a well-known complication in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hemodialysis. One of the sites in which early vascular changes may be detected is the retina. Of course, these flow changes may not be detected in ophthalmologic exams, but it seems that color Doppler sonography of retinal arteries may be helpful in these cases. OBJECTIVES In previous studies on CKD...

INTRODUCTION We describe successful two-step hepatic artery reconstruction in a patient whose graft site hepatic artery was too short for the use of a microclamp in living donor liver transplantation. PRESENTATION OF CASE A 57-year-old woman was diagnosed as having hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis. Her 26-year-old son was the living liver donor. The living donor underwent right lobectomy. The ...

BACKGROUND Evaluation of activity of Crohn's disease is based on CDAI. Several other tools have been studied to assess disease activity with more accuracy. AIMS To assess the correlation between Doppler parameters of superior mesenteric artery and disease activity and to assess the accuracy of these parameters in discriminating between active and quiescent Crohn's disease. MATERIAL AND METH...

Normal reference values for the resistance index, A/B ratio and pulsatility index of the umbilical artery obtained by Doppler ultrasonography are presented. The resistance index and A/B ratio values are very similar to those previously published, indicating no need to formulate normal values for different populations. The pulsatility index differed from other published values, probably reflecti...