For sedated colonoscopy, propofol in combination with meperidine is better than propofol alone in improving patients' tolerance and recovery.

A gastric carcinoid tumor concomitant with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is rarely encountered in clinical practice. We report a 65-year-old female who had a 0.8 cm gastric carcinoid tumor on the posterior wall of the upper gastric corpus detected during an esophagogastroduodenoscopy at a routine physical examination, and a concomitant 1.1 cm GIST on the anterior wall of the upper gastric corpus incidentally found during surgery of the gastric carcinoid tumor. Normal serum gastrin level and histological findings suggested that she had a type Ⅲ gastric carcinoid tumor and a GIST which were categorized a very low risk of malignancy, based on their small size and lack of mitosis. Both tumors were treated successfully by surgical excision. The patient had an uneventful recovery. Neither recurrence nor metastasis was found after a 28-mo follow-up.

Low-dose EPO-beta can maintain RBV dose and increase Hb levels in anemic chronic HCV patients receiving combination therapy.

In patients with cirrhosis, the seropositive rate for HHV-8 antibody is independent of thrombocytopenia. The positive rate for HHV-8 antibody in cirrhotic ascites seems to be associated with sex, disease severity and disease aetiology.

No abstract