Levosimendan improves ventriculo-arterial coupling and cardiovascular performance in coronary patients with left ventricular dysfunction by enhancing myocardial contractility and reducing arterial elastance.
AIMTo define a therapeutic program for mild-moderate acute pancreatitis (AP), often recurrent, which at the end of the diagnostic process remains of undefined etiology.MATERIAL AND METHODSIn the period 2011–2012, we observed 64 cases of AP: 52 mild-moderate, 12 severe; biliary 39, biliary in alcoholic chronic pancreatitis 5, unexplained recurrent 20. The clinical and instrumental evaluation of the 20 cases of unexplained AP showed 6 patients with biliary sludge, 4 microlithiasis, 4 sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, and 6 cases that remained undefined.RESULTSAmong 20 patients with recurrent, unexplained AP at initial etiological assessment, we performed 10 video laparo cholecystectomies (VLCs), 2 open cholecystectomies and 4 endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography/endoscopic sphincterotomies (ERCP/ES) in patients who had undergone previous cholecystectomy; 4 patients refused surgery. Among these 20 patients, 6 had AP that remained unexplained after second-level imaging investigations. For these patients, 4 VLCs and 2 ERCP/ES were performed. Follow-up after six months was negative for further recurrence.CONCLUSIONThe recurrence of unexplained acute pancreatitis could be treated with empirical cholecystectomy and/or ERCP/ES in cases of previous cholecystectomy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.