Removable plastic stents are used in uncomplicated gallstone disease, while permanent self-expanding metal stents with a longer lifespan are used if the obstruction is due to pressure from a tumor such as pancreatic cancer. A nasobiliary drain may be left behind; this is a plastic tube that passes from the bile duct through the stomach and the nose and allows continuous drainage of bile into a receptible. It is similar to a nasogastric tube, but passes into the common bile duct directly, and allows for serial x-ray cholangiograms to be done to identify the improvement of the obstruction. The decision on which of the aforementioned treatments to apply is generally based on the severity of the obstruction, findings on other imaging studies, and whether the patient has improved with antibiotic treatment. Certain treatments may be unsafe if blood clotting is impaired, as the risk of bleeding (especially from sphincterotomy) is increased in the use of medication such as clopidogrel (which inhibits platelet aggregation) or if the prothrombin time is significantly prolonged. For a prolonged prothrombin time, vitamin K or fresh frozen plasma may be administered to reduce bleeding risk. Percutaneous biliary drainage
In cases where a person is too ill to tolerate endoscopy or when a retrograde endoscopic approach fails to access the obstruction, a percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram (PTC) may be performed to evaluate the biliary system for placement of a percutaneous biliary drain (PBD).
SERKAL syndrome (SEx Reversion, Kidneys, Adrenal and Lung dysgenesis) is an autosomal recessive disorder in XX humans. It is caused by loss of function in WNT4, a protein involved in sex development. The main outcome is female to male sex reversal. Other names include sex reversion-kidneys and adrenal and lung dysgenesis syndrome. The conditions prevalence is lower than 1 in 1,000,000. Presentation
The effect of the disorder is female to male sex reversal. Patients also exhibit renal, adrenal, and lung dysgenesis. One indicator is low levels of unconjugated estriol in maternal serum, because this denotes adrenal hypoplasia. Genetics
The disorder is linked to a mutation in the Wnt4 gene. There is an intraexonic homozygous C to T transition at cDNA position 341. This leads to an alanine to valine residue substitution at amino acid position 114, a location highly conserved in all organisms, including zebrafish and Drosophila. A subsequent influence on mRNA stability leads to protein loss of function. WNT4 usually represses male sex development. Diagnosis
References
External links
SERKAL syndrome (The Monarch Initiative)