Agenesis of the gallbladder and cystic duct is a rare anomaly that is usually asymptomatic. The patient may present symptoms characteristic of cholelithiasis. Its surgical confirmation requires careful dissection of the common bile duct and intraoperative cholangiography or ultrasonography to be performed, to exclude the possibility of an ectopic gallbladder. The authors describe two cases of this unusual affection and comment on its clinical, pathophysiological and diagnostic aspects.

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(i) p53 immunoexpression associated with high proliferative rate was useful to distinguish between type I and type III gastric carcinoid tumors and (ii) these markers were able to predict a shorter survival.

The weight loss achieved with bariatric surgery resulted in regression of C-IMT. This regression could be observed 6 months following surgery, with an additional benefit at 12 months. Also, this finding was correlated with a reduction in triglyceride levels and systolic blood pressure.

A comparison of the performance of the groups, which were monitored from 12 to 36 months after surgery, showed that the two types of surgery are effective to improve quality of life, comorbidities and weight loss. The DS surgery produced better results in the quality of life evaluations regarding 2 of 8 domains according to the SF-36, and "sexual interest" according to the M-A QoLQ II. In the groups that had surgery, the patients showed high rates of comorbidity resolution. Weight loss was similar for the two surgical groups.

-Background -Glutamine has been widely used in treatment of small bowel syndrome and its metabolic effects on the small intestine are well known, however, it has been little studied its effects on hepatic metabolism under this condition. Aim -To verify through experimental model, a glutamine based supplemental diet, administered via oral to rats submitted to massive intestinal resection, evaluating weight evolution and hepatic glycogen content. Material and methods -Male rats, Wistar, were allocated into three groups to undergo enterectomy. Following diets were applied: with glutamine (G group), without glutamine (NG group), and standard diet from the laboratory (R group). All animals had massive small intestine resection including ileocecal valve removal. After 20 days, all animals were sacrificed. The liver was removed to histological analysis by light microscopy. Slides were stained by periodic acid of Schiff with diastasis. Results -All animals lost weight from the beginning to the end of experiment. Comparing weight loss average expressed in percentage, there was no difference statistically significant on this variance. In analyzed groups, the hepatic glycogen content did not differ statistically, in the histological method evaluated. Conclusion -Glutamine feeding via oral did not influence weight loss reduction of animal submitted to massive intestinal resection and did not stimulate glycogen synthesis and storage into hepatocytes.

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PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the biliopancreatic diversion surgery with duodenojejunal exclusion in combination with truncal vagotomy in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with overweight or class I or II obesity. METHODS: The study included ten patients with T2DM and class I or II obesity or overweight who were subjected to biliopancreatic diversion with duodenojejunal exclusion in combination with truncal vagotomy. The blood glucose levels during the pre- and postoperative periods were compared using the Friedman test. The significance level adopted was 5%. RESULTS: There were significant differences between preoperative and postoperative blood glucose levels at three months (p=0.01), six months (p=0.001) and 12 months (p=0.001). There was also a significant difference between one month postoperative blood glucose and six months postoperative blood glucose (p=0.01). Glycosylated hemoglobin levels decreased in 80% of patients, there was marked improvement in their lipid profiles, and the average BMI reduction was 7.0±1.5 kg/m² at 12 months after the surgery. CONCLUSION: In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with class I/II obesity or overweight, performing biliopancreatic diversion with duodenojejunal exclusion in combination with truncal vagotomy resulted in glycemic control, reduction of excess weight, and improvement of lipid profile 12 months after the surgery.