Pylephlebitis: An uncommon complication of sigmoid diverticulitis.

Pylephlebitis is defined as a septic thrombophlebitis of the portal vein, usually secondary to infection in regions contiguous to or drained by the portal system. Although extremely uncommon in the modern era, pylephlebitis still carries an appreciable risk of severe morbidity and mortality, if unrecognized and left untreated. Herein we report the case of severe pylephlebitis in a patient with acute sigmoid diverticulitis. Although highly elusive, prompt diagnosis is crucial to ensure appropriate management and limit associated morbidity.

Robotic versus conventional laparoscopic technique for the treatment of left-sided colonic diverticular disease: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Minimally invasive surgery has been universally accepted as a valid option for the treatment of diverticular disease, provided specific expertise is available. Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the application of robotic approaches for diverticular disease. We aimed at evaluating whether robotic colectomy may offer some advantages over the laparoscopic approach for surgical treatment of diverticular disease by meta-analyzing the available data from the medical literature. METHODS: The PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, and Web Of Sciences electronic databases were searched for literature up to December 2020. Inclusion criteria considered all comparative studies evaluating robotic versus laparoscopic colectomy for diverticulitis eligible. The conversion rate to the open approach was evaluated as the primary outcome. RESULTS: The data of 4177 patients from nine studies were included in the analysis. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics. Patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy compared to those who underwent surgery with a robotic approach had a significantly higher risk of conversion into an open procedure (12.5% vs. 7.4%, p < 0.00001) and abbreviated hospital stay (p < 0.0001) at the price of a longer operating time (p < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: Compared with conventional laparoscopic surgery, the robotic approach offers significant advantages in terms of conversion rate and shortened hospital stay for the treatment of diverticular disease. However, because of the lack of available evidence, it is impossible to draw definitive conclusions.

Beta Responses in Healthy Elderly and in Patients With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment During a Task of Temporal Orientation of Attention.

Recent studies demonstrated that beta oscillations are elicited during cognitive processes. To investigate their potential as electrophysiological markers of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), we recorded beta EEG activity during resting and during an omitted tone task in patients and healthy elderly. Thirty participants were enrolled (15 patients, 15 healthy controls). In particular, we investigated event-related spectral perturbation and intertrial coherence indices. Analyses showed that ( a) healthy elderly presented greater beta power at rest than patients with aMCI patients; ( b) during the task, healthy elderly were more accurate than aMCI patients and presented greater beta power than aMCI patients; ( c) both groups showed qualitatively similar spectral perturbation responses during the task, but different spatiotemporal response patterns; and ( d) aMCI patients presented greater beta phase locking than healthy elderly during the task. Results indicate that beta activity in healthy elderly differs from that of patients with aMCI. Furthermore, the analysis of task-related EEG activity extends evidences obtained during resting and suggests that during the prodromal phase of Alzheimer's disease there is a reduced efficiency in information exchange by large-scale neural networks. The study for the first time shows the potential of task-related beta responses as early markers of aMCI impairments.

Patients with mild cognitive impairment have an abnormal upper-alpha event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) during a task of temporal attention.

There are several evidences indicating that an impairment in attention-executive functions is present in prodromal Alzheimer's disease and predict future global cognitive decline. In particular, the issue of temporal orienting of attention in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease has been overlooked. The present research aimed to explore whether subtle deficits of cortical activation are present in these patients early in the course of the disease. We studied the upper-alpha event-related synchronization/desynchronization phenomenon during a paradigm of temporal orientation of attention. MCI patients (n = 27) and healthy elderly controls (n = 15) performed a task in which periodically omitted tones had to be predicted and their virtual onset time had to be marked by pressing a button. Single-trial responses were measured, respectively, before and after the motor response. Then, upper-alpha responses were compared to upper-alpha power during eyes-closed resting state. The time course of the task was characterized by two different behavioral conditions: (1) a pre-event epoch, in which the subject awaited the virtual onset of the omitted tone, (2) a post-event epoch (after button pressing), in which the subject was in a post-motor response condition. The principal findings are: (1) during the waiting epoch, only healthy elderly had an upper-alpha ERD at the level of both temporal and posterior brain regions; (2) during the post-motor epoch, the aMCI patients had a weaker upper-alpha ERS on prefrontal regions; (3) only healthy elderly showed a laterality effect: (a) during the waiting epoch, the upper-alpha ERD was greater at the level of the right posterior-temporal lead; during the post-motor epoch, the upper alpha ERS was greater on the left prefrontal lead. The relevance of these findings is that the weaker upper-alpha response observed in aMCI patients is evident even if the accuracy of the behavioral performance (i.e., button pressing) is still spared. This abnormal upper-alpha response might represent an early biomarker of the attention-executive network impairment in MCI due to Alzheimer's disease.

The impact of the Harmonic FOCUS™ on complications in thyroid surgery: a prospective multicenter study.

In recent years, newer tools have been developed and used in thyroid surgery. This study compared patients with multinodular goiter undergoing thyroidectomy using the Harmonic FOCUS™ with patients undergoing the clamp-and-tie technique. Medical records of 268 patients with multinodular goiter undergoing thyroidectomy from December 2006 to July 2011 in two centers in Italy, the Department of Surgery of Pisa and the General Surgery Unit of Grosseto, were prospectively evaluated. Patients were divided into group A (Harmonic FOCUS™ Shear), and group B (clamp-and-tie technique). Patient demographics and specific end points analyzed included age, sex, diagnosis, thyroid gland volume, operative time, complications, need for clips and hemostatic agents, need for suction balloon, postoperative blood loss, and postoperative hospital length of stay. 141 patients were included in group A, and 127 patients were included in group B. The two groups were similar in age, sex ratio, indication for surgery, and thyroid volume. Mean operative time was significantly shorter with the Harmonic FOCUS™ Shear (51.8 min) than with the clamp-and-tie technique (70.9 min). The mean postoperative amount obtained from the suction balloon was similar. Vascular clips were needed significantly more frequently in group A (26.2 %) than in group B (12.5 %), whereas the need for hemostatic agents was significantly reduced in group A (4.2 %) compared with group B (14.9 %). The decision to leave a suction drain at the end of the operation occurred significantly more frequently in group B (96 %) than in group A (78 %). Mean postoperative hospital length of stay was 2.02 days in group A compared with 3.1 days in group B, which was significant. No definitive postoperative complications were documented in either group, except a higher rate, but not statistically significant, of permanent hypoparathyroidism in group B versus Group A. Transient laryngeal nerve injury was similar in both groups, whereas transient hypoparathyroidism occurred more frequently in Group B (4.7 %) than in Group A (2.4 %). Harmonic FOCUS device was significantly associated with lower rate of postoperative transient hypocalcemia, decreased operative time, shorter hospitalization, and lesser need for hemostatic agents and postoperative drain balloon. These results might be considered "indirect" money-saving factors, despite the cost of the device, especially in countries where the cost of thyroidectomy is influenced also by the hospital length of stay.

Theta responses are abnormal in mild cognitive impairment: evidence from analysis of theta event-related synchronization during a temporal expectancy task.

We examined the hypothesis that the attention/executive deficits in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease is associated to an abnormal cortical activation, revealed by the method of event-related synchronization/desynchronization (ERS/ERD) in the theta band during a paradigm of temporal orienting of attention. MCI patients (n = 25) and healthy elderly (HE) matched controls (n = 15) performed a task in which periodically omitted tones had to be predicted and their virtual onset time had to be marked by pressing a button. Single-trial theta responses were measured, respectively, before and after the motor response. Then, theta responses were compared to theta power during eyes closed resting state (ERD/ERS method).The temporal course of the task was characterized by two different behavioural conditions: (1) a pre-event epoch, in which the subject awaited the virtual onset of the omitted tone, (2) a post-event (after button pressing) epoch, in which the subject was in a post-motor response condition. The most important findings are summarized as follows: (1) in both groups, the pre-event epoch was characterized by theta ERS on temporal electrodes, but HE had a greater theta ERS compared to that of MCI group; (2) in both groups, during the post-motor condition, there was a theta ERS on prefrontal regions, and, also in this case, HE showed a greater theta enhancement compared to that of MCI patients; (3) HE showed evidence of lateralization: during the waiting epoch, theta ERS was dominant on the right posterior temporal lead (T6), whilst, during the post-motor epoch, theta ERS was greater on the left, as well as the midline prefrontal leads. Compared to the traditional neuropsychological measures for the episodic memory, these theta ERS indicators were less accurate in differentiating MCI patients from healthy elderly. The clinical relevance of these findings is that the weaker theta reactivity in MCI would indicate an early impairment in the temporal orienting of attention in the early stage of the clinical course of this neurodegenerative disease.

θ power responses in mild Alzheimer's disease during an auditory oddball paradigm: lack of theta enhancement during stimulus processing.

There is evidence that theta responses reflect cognitive performance: good performances are associated with a decrease in tonic theta power as well as an increase in phasic theta power. In the present study, both tonic and phasic theta activity were analysed in 22 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 16 healthy elderly controls. Single-trial theta power responses were evaluated by an active auditory oddball paradigm along an early poststimulus window (0-250 ms) and a late time window (250-500 ms), and then compared to prestimulus theta power during both target tone and standard tone processing. The main findings were: (1) in AD patients, there was an increased prestimulus theta power, as well as no significant poststimulus theta power increase upon both target and non-target stimulus processing; (2) in healthy aged controls, only during target tone processing, an enhancement of both early and late theta responses relative to the prestimulus baseline was found. Moreover, healthy controls had a frontal dominance of theta power. The results might indicate that, during target processing, theta response is not functionally sensitive in AD and cannot be involved in processing demands as efficiently as in healthy controls. From a psychophysiological point of view, this might suggest an impairment of attentional allocation resources. The psychological implications might be related to selective attention/working-memory impairment from the early stage of the disease. Our data confirm that both tonic and phasic theta are relevant indicators of cognitive performance: the lack of a phasic theta and an increase in tonic theta are congruous findings in cognitive decline. Another factor worth noting is that in AD patients theta response is not dominant at the frontal site (as observed in healthy controls), indicating a weaker frontal lobe network reactivity during stimulus processing.

Robot-assisted lung resection: outcomes and technical details.

Robotic surgery has gained acceptance for surgical use but few data exist regarding its value in thoracic procedures. The aim of this study is to report our experience with totally robotic thoracic resections. From June 2001 to June 2009, 38 consecutive totally robotic lung resections were performed in two different hospitals by a single surgeon. All data was prospectively collected in a dedicated database, and reviewed retrospectively. A total of 32 lobectomies, three bilobectomies, and three pneumonectomies were performed. The indication was a malignant tumor in 28 cases. There were nine cases with benign pathology. Mean operating time was 209 min (range: 105-380 min). Six conversions were required (15.8%) and there was one postoperative death (2.6%). Four postoperative complications occurred (10.5%). Median hospital stay was 10 days (range: 3-24 days). After a median follow-up of 42 months, 80% of patients with stage I disease are alive without recurrence. Advanced thoracic procedures can be performed safely using the robotic system. In this heterogeneous series of lung resections, we report low mortality and morbidity. The robotic approach can achieve a good dissection in difficult to reach areas, making it particularly useful for oncologic resections.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic middle pancreatectomy.

BACKGROUND: Middle pancreatectomy has been accepted as a valid surgical alternative to more extensive standard resections for the treatment of benign central pancreatic tumors. In this article, we describe a new minimally invasive approach to this procedure, using a robot-assisted laparoscopic technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 2004 to October 2005, 3 patients (2 female and 1 male), with a mean age of 52 years (range, 44-68), underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic middle pancreatectomies at the Department of General Surgery of Misericordia Hospital in Grosseto, Italy. Two of the patients had symptomatic serous cystadenomas, and 1 patient had a mucinous cystadenoma, which was discovered incidentally. The da Vinci((R)) Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) was used to perform the main steps of the intervention. All patients underwent a pancreaticogastrostomy for pancreaticoenteric reconstruction to the distal stump. RESULTS: The mean operative time was 320 minutes (range, 270-380). Mean blood loss was 233 mL (range, 100-400). There were no mortalities. One patient developed a postoperative pancreatic fistula, which was managed conservatively. The postoperative hospital stay was 9 days for 2 patients and 27 days for the third patient. No endocrine or exocrine deficiencies were observed in the patients during a mean follow-up of 44 months (range, 38-48). CONCLUSIONS: Robot-assisted laparoscopic middle pancreatectomy presents an interesting, less-invasive option for resection of benign tumors of the neck and proximal body of the pancreas. In benign disease, it allows for the preservation of functional pancreatic parenchyma and, subsequently, reduced operative trauma.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic pancreatic surgery: single-surgeon experience.

BACKGROUND: Use of robotic surgery has gained increasing acceptance over the last few years. There are few reports, however, on advanced pancreatic robotic surgery. In fact, the indication for robotic surgery in pancreatic disease has been controversial. This paper retrospectively reviews one surgeon's experience with robotic surgery to treat pancreatic disease, and analyzes its indications and outcomes, as well as the controversy that exists. METHODS: A retrospective review of the charts of all patients who underwent robotic surgery for pancreatic disease by a single surgeon at two different institutions was carried out. RESULTS: From October 2000 to January 2009, 134 patients underwent robotic-assisted surgery for different pancreatic pathologies. All procedures were performed using the da Vinci robotic system. Of the 134 patients, 83 were female. The average age of all patients was 57 years (range 24-86 years). Mean operating room (OR) time was 331 min (75-660 min). There were 14 conversions to open surgery. Mean length of stay was 9.3 days (3-85 days). Length of stay for patients with no complications was 7.9 days (3-15 days). The postoperative morbidity rate was 26% and the mortality rate was 2.23% (three patients). Among the procedures performed were 60 pancreaticoduodenectomies, 23 spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomies, 23 splenopancreatectomies, 3 middle pancreatectomies, 1 total pancreatectomy, and 3 enucleations. Another 21 patients underwent different surgical procedures for treatment of acute and chronic pancreatitis. Two cases of pancreaticoduodenectomy were performed in outside institutions and are not included in this series. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest series of robotic pancreatic surgery presented to date. Robotic surgery enables difficult technical maneuvers to be performed that facilitate the success of pancreatic minimally invasive surgery. The results in this series demonstrate that it is feasible and safe. Complication and mortality rates are comparable to those of open surgery but with the advantages of minimally invasive surgery.

Decreased amplitude of auditory event-related delta responses in Alzheimer's disease.

The present study assessed auditory event-related potentials in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Delta responses of 21 mild probable AD subjects according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria, and 16 healthy elderly controls were evaluated by an active oddball paradigm. Averaged and single sweep potentials were analyzed during target tone processing. As far as time domain averaged event-related potentials (ERPs) are concerned, no significant group differences were observed for N100 and P200 components (both latency and amplitude); also, N200 and P300 amplitude did not differ between groups, whilst N200 and P300 latency were significantly prolonged in AD patients. Concerning delta frequency component of the averaged ERPs, no significant differences between groups were obtained for delta response amplitude as well as delta response topography (Fz, Cz, Pz). Analysis of delta responses was performed for single sweep maximal peak-to-peak amplitude. Significant between groups differences were revealed at the level of single sweep amplitude at the 3 midline sites (Fz, Cz, Pz), during target tone processing. In particular, the difference between healthy controls and AD subjects was at the level of stimulus-related delta amplitude changes: in all locations a significant enhancement of the delta response is recorded in healthy subjects (especially at the frontal location), whilst this delta reactivity was not detectable in AD patients. From a clinical point of view, the lack of delta reactivity might relate to a decision-making function impairment since mild Alzheimer's disease.

Robotics in general surgery: personal experience in a large community hospital.

HYPOTHESIS: Robotic technology is the most advanced development of minimally invasive surgery, but there are still some unresolved issues concerning its use in a clinical setting. DESIGN: The study describes the clinical experience of the Department of General Surgery, Misericordia Hospital, Grosseto, Italy, in robot-assisted surgery using the da Vinci Surgical System. RESULTS: Between October 2000 and November 2002, 193 patients underwent a minimally invasive robotic procedure (74 men and 119 women; mean age, 55.9 years [range, 16-91 years]). A total of 207 robotic surgical operations, including abdominal, thoracic and vascular procedures, were performed; 179 were single procedures, and 14 were double (2 operations on the same patient). There were 4 conversions to open surgery and 3 to conventional laparoscopy (conversion rate, 3.6%; 7 of 193 patients). The perioperative morbidity rate was 9.3% (18 of 193 patients), and 6 patients (3.1%) required a reoperation. The postoperative mortality rate was 1.5% (3 of 193 patients). CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary experience at a large community hospital suggests that robotic surgery is feasible in a clinical setting. Its daily use is safe and easily managed, and it expands the applications of minimally invasive surgery. However, the best indications still have to be defined, and the cost-benefit ratio must be evaluated. This report could serve as a basis for a future prospective, randomized trial.