The American journal of gastroenterology
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Am. J. Gastroenterol. · Jun 2003
Role of fresh frozen plasma infusion in correction of coagulopathy of chronic liver disease: a dual phase study.
Fresh frozen plasma infusions are commonly used to correct the prolonged prothrombin time in patients with advanced chronic liver disease. The aim of this study was to establish how frequently this treatment is effective in correcting this coagulopathy. ⋯ Our results reiterate previous observations made more than 45 yr ago, that fresh frozen plasma infusions using the number of units commonly employed in clinical practice infrequently correct the coagulopathy of patients with chronic liver disease. Higher volumes (6 or more units) may be more effective but are rarely employed.
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Am. J. Gastroenterol. · Jun 2003
Brain responses to visceral and somatic stimuli in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with and without fibromyalgia.
Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and fibromyalgia (FM) commonly coexist. We hypothesized that one of the mechanisms underlying this comorbidity is increased activation of brain regions concerned with the processing and modulation of visceral and somatic afferent information, in particular subregions of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). ⋯ Chronic stimulus-specific enhancement of ACC responses to sensory stimuli in both syndromes may be associated with cognitive enhancement of either visceral (IBS) or somatic (IBS + FM) sensory input and may play a key pathophysiologic role in these chronic pain syndromes.