EUS-elastography of the pancreas has the potential to obtain some complementary information that would improve tissue characterization. Its clinical utility, however, remains questionable, and it seems unlikely that the information provided will obviate the necessity of obtaining tissue samples for confirmation of a final pathologic diagnosis.

Summary The currently available immunosuppressive agents applied in human transplantation medicine are highly potent in the protection from acute allograft rejection. However, long‐term allograft survival is still poor as these drugs fail to sufficiently prevent chronic allograft rejection. Naturally occurring regulatory T cells have been postulated as the key players to establish long‐lasting transplantation tolerance. Thus, the development of immunosuppressive regimens which shift the pathological balance of cytopathic versus regulatory T cells of human allograft recipients towards a protective T‐cell composition is a promising approach to overcome limitations of current transplantation medicine. Thirty‐three patients that received rapamycin (RPM) or calcineurin inhibitor treatment following lung transplantation were included and their T‐cell compartments analysed. Twelve healthy volunteers without history of lung disease served as controls. In this article, we show that treatment of human lung transplant recipients with RPM is associated with an increased frequency of regulatory T cells, as compared with treatment with calcineurin inhibitors or to healthy controls. Moreover, regulatory T cells during treatment with RPM were CD62Lhigh, a phenotype that displayed an enhanced immunosuppressive capacity ex vivo. Our data support the use of RPM in human lung transplant recipients and undertaking of further prospective studies evaluating its impact on allograft and patient survival.

Schellong's test is suitable as a diagnostic procedure for orthostatic dysregulation only, and tilt-table testing is highly superior for objectification of the diagnosis and differentiation of syncope.

BackgroundSyncope is a relevant health problem in military environments. Reliable diagnosis is challenging. Tilt table testing is an important tool for syncope diagnosis. The aim of this study was to determine whether signs such as prodromal symptoms, co-morbidity, frequency of syncopal events, body length, body mass index, and electrocardiography abnormalities can be used to predict the success of tilt table testing at diagnosing syncope.MethodsData from 100 patients with histories of syncope or pre-syncope, who were diagnosed using head-up tilt table testing, were retrospectively analyzed in a cross-sectional analysis. The diagnostic procedure was based upon a modified version of the Westminster protocol without any pharmacological provocation.ResultsPatients showing pathological reaction patterns during tilt table testing suffered from prodromal symptoms, such as dizziness and sweating, significantly more often. The patients reported more injuries resulting from syncopal events and more previous syncopal events, and the prevalence of co-morbidity was greater among patients presenting negative findings during tilt testing. An asthenic-leptosomal physique was not confirmed as a risk factor for syncopal events as is the case for idiopathic arterial hypotension. However, patients with pathological reaction patterns during tilt table testing were significantly taller. This finding was detected for both females and males. No significant predictors were found in the electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns of patients showing syncope during tilt table testing.ConclusionsFrequency of prior syncope and prodromal symptoms, and increased body length with an otherwise good state of health influence the predictive value of tilt table testing for syncope diagnosis. In particular, if these factors are present, tilt table testing should be considered part of the diagnostic algorithm for soldiers with recurrent syncope.

Severe bronchial obstruction due to one of the major pulmonary diseases: asthma, COPD, or emphysema often requires mechanical ventilation support. Otherwise, patients are at risk of severe hypooxygenation with consecutive overloading and dilatation of the right cardiac ventricle with subsequent failure. This review focuses on how to manage a calculated ventilation therapy of patients suffering from bronchial obstruction and relevant patents. Options and pitfalls of invasive and non-invasive ventilation in the intensive care setting regarding clinical improvement and final outcome are discussed. The non-invasive ventilation is very efficient in treating acute or chronic respiratory failure in COPD patients and is capable of shortening the duration of hospitalization. Further non-invasive ventilation can successfully support the weaning after a long-lasting ventilation therapy and improve the prognosis of COPD patients. "Permissive hypercapnia" is unequivocally established in invasive ventilation therapy of severe bronchial obstruction in situations of limited ventilation. When intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and elevated airways resistance are present PEEP may be useful although external-PEEP application relieves over-inflation only in selected patients with airway obstruction during controlled mechanical ventilation. Upper limit of airways peak pressure used in "protective ventilation" of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients can be exceeded under certain circumstances.