Successful conservative management of a colorenal fistula complicating percutaneous cryoablation of renal tumors: a case report.

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.INTRODUCTION: Colorenal fistula is a rare phenomenon and may complicate percutaneous cryoablation of renal cell carcinoma. Treatment remains controversial. CASE PRESENTATION: A 62-year-old Caucasian man presented with pneumaturia and left flank pain six weeks following ultrasound-guided percutaneous cryoablation of two recurrent lesions in the left kidney 14 years after partial left nephrectomy for a left renal cell carcinoma. A computed tomography scan eight weeks after cryoablation revealed a cryoablated mass with adjacent stranding and adherent descending colon as well as bubbles of gas in the area of stranding, the left collecting system, and the bladder. These features were consistent with a colorenal fistula at the site of previous ablation. Successful resolution of the fistula, both clinical and radiological, was achieved following a complete conservative non-interventional out-patient approach. No ureteric stent or surgical intervention was employed. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of severe symptoms or sepsis, complete conservative management of a colorenal fistula complicating percutaneous cryoablation of renal tumors should be considered prior to interventional stenting or resectional surgery

Phasic vs Sustained Fear in Rats and Humans: Role of the Extended Amygdala in Fear vs Anxiety

Data will be reviewed using the acoustic startle reflex in rats and humans based on our attempts to operationally define fear vs anxiety. Although the symptoms of fear and anxiety are very similar, they also differ. Fear is a generally adaptive state of apprehension that begins rapidly and dissipates quickly once the threat is removed (phasic fear). Anxiety is elicited by less specific and less predictable threats, or by those that are physically or psychologically more distant. Thus, anxiety is a more long-lasting state of apprehension (sustained fear). Rodent studies suggest that phasic fear is mediated by the amygdala, which sends outputs to the hypothalamus and brainstem to produce symptoms of fear. Sustained fear is also mediated by the amygdala, which releases corticotropin-releasing factor, a stress hormone that acts on receptors in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a part of the so-called ‘extended amygdala.' The amygdala and BNST send outputs to the same hypothalamic and brainstem targets to produce phasic and sustained fear, respectively. In rats, sustained fear is more sensitive to anxiolytic drugs. In humans, symptoms of clinical anxiety are better detected in sustained rather than phasic fear paradigms