The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which the strategic marketing planning process is being used in the Greek professional sports sector and its contribution to clubs' business ...performance. The research was concentrated on the professional sports sector in Greece and the research hypotheses were investigated through a questionnaire that was delivered to clubs' managing directors and administrative staff. This research showed that strategic marketing planning plays an important role in clubs' business performance. However, this work indicated that strategic marketing planning process is applied to a little extent in the Greek professional sports sector.
Worldwide use of the Internet by business and commerce has recently increased dramatically. Indeed, many commentators now claim that the Internet is leading to a new period in marketing. Sports, and ...especially football clubs which have become increasingly commercial in recent times, have not been unassailable to such rapid developments and they utilize the Internet as a marketing medium through which clubs can communicate with supporters, establish relationships with them and sell products and services. The purpose of this essay is to examine website content of the football clubs of two leagues (English and Greek) from a marketing perspective. Initially, it examines the growing body of literature in the area of sports marketing, Internet marketing and football clubs. This leads to the detailed examination, from the perspective of marketing, of 12 websites (six from UK football clubs and six from Greek football clubs). Finally, an attempt has been made to make a comparison between the two leagues. The authors found that there are many differences between the two leagues' websites. The Greek websites are lagging far behind the UK ones, the former being poorly developed, unsophisticated and lacking strong links with the marketing activities that the Internet can offer. On the contrary, the UK websites are more sophisticated than the Greek websites and have better developed the marketing opportunities that the Internet offers, although however, there are some crucial issues that they too have failed to address.
Ingestion of foreign bodies is a common entity in emergency clinical practice, especially in the pediatric population. Personal history is rather challenging in these patients, while it is important ...to accurately define the ingested foreign body. Therefore, the history of a caregiver/eyewitness, physical examination and radiographic findings are taken under consideration. Coins - in various places and alignments - are among the most common foreign bodies of the upper digestive tract, while a history or radiological findings of button batteries are indicating the need for immediate removal. We report a rare case of a seven-year-old boy with an esophageal foreign body, whose radiographic findings were intriguing, as they were suggesting a button battery digestion, while urgent esophagoscopy revealed a double coin ingestion perfectly aligned in the same place, opposing each other.
BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether the presence of periampullary diverticula (PAD) affects technical success and complication rates during endoscopic retrograde cholangio- pancreatography (ERCP). ...Moreover, the impact of PAD on fluoroscopy duration is still unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the success rate and difficulty of common bile duct (CBD) cannulation, post-procedure complications and fluoroscopy duration in patients with and without PAD. METHODS: Patients from January 2008 to December 2010 with PAD (group A) and without PAD (group B) and similar indications for therapeutic ERCP were prospectively compared. The comparison included patient characteristics, findings of ERCP, and details of procedure and fluoroscopy time. The influence of papilla’s location with respect to the diverticulum on procedure was also investigated. RESULTS: A total of 428 consecutive patients who had undergone therapeutic ERCP for similar indications were divided in two groups according to the presence (group A, 107 patients) or absence (group B, 321 patients) of PAD. The mean age and ASA score of the patients with PAD were significantly higher than those patients without PAD. The main indication was choledocholithiasis. Successful final CBD cannulation was achieved in 97.20% of the patients in group A vs 99.69% in group B (P=0.05). CBD diameter, number of stones and the largest stone size were significantly higher in group A thangroup B (P<0.001). Complete clearance of the CBD after the first attempt was achieved in 85.86% and 94.75% of the patients in groups A and B, respectively (P=0.03). In both groups, the time needed to complete the procedure and fluoroscopy time was significantly longer in patients with PAD (22.87 vs 18.99 minutes, P<0.001; 76.51 vs 47.42 seconds, P<0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the complication rate. The type of papilla’s location with respect to the diverticulum did not influence the total cannulation rate and post-procedure complications. CONCLUSION: The presence of a PAD does not affect the success rate and complications of therapeutic ERCP in expert hands; however, the fluoroscopy time is significantly longer in patients with PAD.
AIM：To compare diverse endoscopic interventions in the management of occluded uncovered self-expanding metal stents（SEMSs） that had been placed for palliative treatment of unresectable malignant ...biliary obstruction.METHODS：A retrospective review was undertaken in 4 tertiary endoscopic centers to determine optimal management of different types of occluded SEMSs.The technical success of performed treatment in occluded SEMSs,the patency of the stent,the need for re-intervention and the financial costs of each treatment were analyzed.RESULTS：Fifty four patients were included in the analysis;21 received Hanaro,19 Wallstent and 14 Flexus.For the relief of obstruction,a plastic stent was inserted in 24 patients,a second SEMS in 25 and mechanical cleaning was performed in 5 patients.The overall median second patency rates between second SEMSs and plastic stents did not differ（133 d for SEMSs vs 106 d for plastic stents;P = 0.856）.Similarly,no difference was found between the overall survival of SEMS and plastic stent groups,and no procedure-related complications occurred.Incremental cost analysis showed that successive plastic stenting was a cost-saving strategy at least in Greece.CONCLUSION：Insertion of uncovered SEMSs or plastic stents is a safe and effective treatment for occluded uncovered SEMSs;insertion of plastic stents appears to be the most cost-effective strategy.
Background
The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the success rate and complications of three precut techniques of sphincterotomy after failure of conventional techniques of cannulation ...of common bile duct (CBD).
Patients and Methods
Between January 2003 and October 2011, 2,903 consecutive ERCPs were performed in patients with naïve major papilla. In 283 patients in whom biliary cannulation was not achieved, precut technique was performed and these patients were included in the study.
Results
A total of 274 patients were included in the final analysis. Needle-knife papillotomy (NKP) was performed in 129 cases (47.1 %), suprapapillary fistulotomy (SPF) in 78 patients (28.5 %), and transpancreatic sphincterotomy (TPS) in 67 cases (24.5 %). No significant difference was observed in the initial and eventual success rate of biliary cannulation between the three groups. Overall, complications occurred in 54 patients (19.7 %), of which 33 (25.6 %) were with NKP, 6 (7.7 %) with SPF and 15 (22.4 %) with TPS, respectively, a difference statistically significant favoring the SPF group (
p
= 0.006). Post-procedure acute pancreatitis was developed in 27 cases (20.9 %) with NKP, compared to two cases (2.6 %) with SPF and 15 cases (22.4 %) with TPS, a difference statistically significant favoring the SPF group. No difference was observed between the groups with regard to the occurrence of post-procedure hemorrhage and perforation.
Conclusions
The three types of precut sphincterotomy have no different overall CBD cannulation rates; SPF reduces post-ERCP pancreatitis risk.
BACKGROUNDThere is evidence that fat mass is correlated with bone mineral density (BMD) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but data on the role of adipokines on this association are limited. The ...aim of this study was to investigate the serum levels of chemerin, visfatin, and vaspin, hormones that act as adipokines, in relation to BMD in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD).
PATIENTS AND METHODSSerum from 120 IBD patients (68 CD, 52 UC) and 98 matched healthy controls (HC) was collected. Chemerin, visfatin, and vaspin levels were assessed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. BMD was determined for the lumbar spine and the proximal femur using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Full-body composition scans were analyzed using enCORE software based on the absorptiometry system.
RESULTSSerum chemerin was higher in IBD patients than HC CD 13.67.1±5.8, UC 13.9±4.3 vs. HC 7.8±2.6 ng/ml, odds ratio (OR)0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93–0.98, P<0.0001. Serum visfatin levels in CD patients were significantly higher than those in UC patients (9.3±14.01 vs. 6.5±7.2 ng/ml, OR0.86, 95% CI 0.80–0.92, P=0.039). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, a significant independent association of osteoporosis (T-score ≤2.5 SD) with age (OR1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.08, P=0.02), visfatin (OR0.78, 95% CI 0.63–0.97, P=0.02), and chemerin levels (OR0.83, 95% CI 0.70–0.98, P=0.03), but not with BMI or body composition, was found.
CONCLUSIONSerum visfatin and chemerin levels are associated with the development of osteoporosis in IBD. These results suggest a role of visfatin and chemerin in the pathophysiology of osteoporosis in IBD.
Osteopenia and osteoporosis are common manifestations in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) but the pathogenetic mechanism of bone loss in IBD is only partially understood. There is evidence that fat ...mass is an important determinant of the bone mineral density and adipose-derived factors seem to play an important role for the association between fat mass and bone mass. The association between adiposity and low bone density is rather poorly studied in IBD, but emerging data on adipokines in IBD in relation to osteoporosis provide a novel pathophysiological concept that may shed light on the etiology of bone loss in IBD. It could be suggested that adipokines interfere in bone metabolism by altering the sensitive balance between osteoblasts and osteoclasts although further studies in this setting are needed.
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