Prevention of esophageal stricture after endoscopic submucosal dissection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) of extensive superficial cancers of the esophagus may progress with high rates of postoperative stenosis, resulting in significantly decreased quality of life. Several therapies are performed to prevent this, but have not yet been compared in a systematic review. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis were performed using the MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane, LILACS, Scopus, and CINAHL databases. Clinical trials and observational studies were searched from March 2014 to February 2015. Search terms included: endoscopy, ESD, esophageal stenosis, and esophageal stricture. Three retrospective and four prospective (three randomized) cohort studies were selected and involved 249 patients with superficial esophageal neoplasia who underwent ESD, at least two-thirds of the circumference. We grouped trials comparing different techniques to prevent esophagus stenosis post-ESD. RESULTS: We conducted different meta-analyses on randomized clinical trials (RCT), non-RCT, and global analysis. In RCT (three studies, n = 85), the preventive therapy decreased the risk of stenosis (risk difference = -0.36, 95 % CI -0.55 to -0.18, P = 0.0001). Two studies (one randomized and one non-randomized, n = 55) showed that preventative therapy lowered the average number of endoscopy dilatations (mean difference = -8.57, 95 % CI -13.88 to -3.25, P < 0.002). There were no significant differences in the three RCT studies (n = 85) in complication rates between patients with preventative therapy and those without (risk difference = 0.02, 95 % CI -0.09 to 0.14, P = 0.68). CONCLUSIONS: The use of preventive therapy after extensive ESD of the esophagus reduces the risk of stenosis and the number of endoscopic dilatations for resolution of stenosis without increasing the number of complications.

The role of BRAF(V600E) mutation as poor prognostic factor for the outcome of patients with intrathyroid papillary thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: BRAF(V600E) mutation, which represents the most frequent genetic mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), is widely considered to have an adverse outcome on PTC outcome, however its real predictive value is not still well stated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if BRAF(V600E) mutation could be useful to identify within patients with intrathyroid ultrasound-N0 PTC those who require more aggressive treatment, by central neck node dissection (CLND) or subsequent postoperative (131)I treatment. METHODS: Among the whole series of 931 consecutive PTC patients operated on at 2nd Clinical Surgery of University of Padova and at General Surgery Department of University of Trieste during a period from January 2007 to December 2012, we selected 226 patients with an intrathyroid tumor and no metastases (preoperative staging T1-T2, N0, M0). BRAF(V600E) mutation was evaluated by PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct genomic sequencing. We analyzed the correlation between the presence/absence of the BRAF(V600E) mutation in the fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and the clinical-pathological features: age, gender, extension of surgery, node dissection, rate of cervical lymph node involvement, tumor size, TNM stage, variant of histotype, mono/plurifocality, association with lymphocitary chronic thyroiditis, radioactive iodine ablation doses, and outcome. RESULTS: The BRAF(V600E) mutation was present in 104 of 226 PTC patients (47.8%). BRAF(V600E) mutation correlated with multifocality, more aggressive variants, infiltration of the tumoral capsule, and greater tumor's diameter. BRAF(V600E) mutation was the only poor prognostic factor in these patients. DISCUSSION: In our series, BRAF(V600E) mutation demonstrated to be an adverse prognostic factor indicating aggressiveness of disease and it could be useful in the management of low-risk PTC patients, as supplementary prognostic factor to assess the preoperative risk stratification with the aim to avoid unnecessary central neck node dissection (BRAF pos.) or to perform complementary (131)I-therapy (BFAF neg.).

Diagnosis, treatment, prognostic factors and long-term outcome in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

The papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most frequent endocrine cancer and it is the most common thyroid cancer (85-95%). Potential risk factors for the incidence of the PTC include radiation exposure, iodine deficiency, family history of thyroid cancer. The PTC is usually indolent and the prognosis is favourable, with a 10 year survival generally reported to exceed 90%. The palpation and growth of thyroid nodules are the more frequent clinical manifestations of the PTC which can be evaluated by physical examination, neck ultrasound and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). The therapeutic management of PTC includes surgical treatment combined with 131I therapy and life long TSH suppressive thyroid hormone replacement. The external beam radiation can be taken into account in select aggressive tumours. Nevertheless the good prognosis of the PTC, the prevalence of persistence or recurrent disease is not trans-curable. The biomolecular studies can permit to individuate the more aggressive PTC subtypes. A more significant attention of the clinical examination, US and FNAC to the thyroid nodular disease will be able to guarantee a more precocious diagnosis and a radical surgical treatment.

[Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma. Long-term outcome in 587 cases compared with published data]. / Il microcarcinoma papillare della tiroide: nostra esperienza e letteratura a confronto.

AIM: Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC), a tumor measuring =or<1 cm according to the World Health Organization (WHO) histologic classification, is the most common histologic variant of thyroid cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcome of surgical treatment for PTMC at a single institution with a view to differentiate therapy options based on risk of progression of disease by comparing our results with those reported in the literature. METHODS: The study sample was a total of 587 cases of PTMC treated surgically at our institution between 1990 and 2006. PTMC was an incidental finding (PTMC-I) in 325 (55.4%) cases, diagnosed preoperatively (PTMC-D) at echography and needle-aspiration biopsy in 229 (39%), and occult with metastasis (PTMC-O) in 33 (5.6%). Patients were grouped into two classes (PTMC diameter =or>5 mm or <5 mm) and compared against prognostic factors: sex, age, type of PTMC (PTMC-I, PTMC-D, PTMC-O), extent of surgery, lymph node dissection, lymph node metastasis, iodine-131 (131-I) therapy, state of disease, relapses. These parameters were then compared against tumor size (PTMC diameter =or>5 mm or <5 mm), excluding cases of PTMC-O with metastasis. RESULTS: Comparison of the two groups divided by tumor size, across the entire sample and after PTMC-O cases were excluded, revealed significant differences in the type of PTMC, frequency of partial thyroidectomy, presence of lymph node metastasis, iodine-131 therapy, life status and recurrence rate. CONCLUSION: Published PTMC studies were analyzed for definition of the disease, incidence, therapy, prognosis, and follow-up results and compared with our data. The results of our analysis argue against use of the term ''microcarcinoma'' in the wider sense since the three PTMC categories (PTMC-I, PTMC-D, PTMC-O) present different behaviour patterns. When cases of PTMC-O with clinically manifest metastasis were excluded, none of the patients with PTMC <5 mm in diameter were reoperated for tumor recurrence and all are currently free of disease. In conclusion In PTMC <5 mm in diameter, whether PTMC-I and PTMC-D, and without evidence of lymph node involvement, partial thyroidectomy may be a viable approach to treatment. By contrast, occult PTMC with metastasis is prognostically important and should therefore be treated like tumors =or>5 mm in diameter.

Fístulo-papilotomia endoscópica: uma alternativa à papila de difícil cateterizaçäo / Is the endoscopic fistulo-papilotomy an alternative to the difficult papilary cannulation?

A fistulizaçäo cirúrgico-endoscópica no contorno papilar superior é um procedimento destinado a facilitar a cateterizaçäo da porçäo terminal do ducto colédoco, pela impossibilidade do acesso habitual pelo óstio, tendo em vista a fibrose, tumores ou cálculo impacatado. Esse procedimento foi denominado por Schapira (19982) como fístulo-esfincterotomia endoscópica, embora tenha recebido outras denominações inapropriadas, como fistulotomia suprapapilar ou infundibulotomia. Tal intervençäo endoscópica viabiliza a catererizaçäo emcasos difíceis, ampliando o acesso ao colédoco terminal ao nível da ampola hepatopancreática. E difere do procedimento denominado pré-corte, porquanto o óstio da papila é poupado com o intuito de prevenir a pancreatite aguda. Essa intervençäo cirúrgico-endoscópica, com base anatômica, é denominada fístulo-papilotomia no Serviço de Endoscopia Digestiva do HC-FMUSP. No período de outubro de 1999 a dezembro de 2000, foram realizadas 451 papilotomias, sendo indicadas 65 (14,5por cento) fístulo-papilotomias, cuja indicaçäo miais frequente foi a coledocolitíase. Ocorreram nove (13,8por cento) complicações: pancreatite aguda em cinco (7,6por cento) casos, hemoragia em um (1,5por cento), colangite em dois (3por cento) e perfuraçäo retroduodenal em um (1.5por cento). Em todos esses casos houve resoluçäo espontânea através do tratamento conservador. Considerando-se o insucesso da cateterizaçäo do óstio da papila de forma convencional, a fístulo-papilotomia for a opçäo que demonstrou ser um procedimento viável e seguro

Divergent consequences of success and failure in japan and north america: an investigation of self-improving motivations and malleable selves.

Self-enhancing and self-improving motivations were investigated across cultures. Replicating past research, North Americans who failed on a task persisted less on a follow-up task than those who succeeded. In contrast, Japanese who failed persisted more than those who succeeded. The Japanese pattern is evidence for a self-improving orientation: Failures highlight where corrective efforts are needed. Japanese who failed also enhanced the importance and the diagnosticity of the task compared with those who succeeded, whereas North Americans did the opposite. Study 2 revealed that self-improving motivations are specific to the tasks on which one receives feedback. Study 3 unpackaged the cultural differences by demonstrating that they are due, at least in part, to divergent lay theories regarding the utility of effort. Study 4 addressed the problem of comparing cultures on subjective Likert scales and replicated the findings with a different measure.

Sindrome de Fraley - pionefrose de polo superior. / Fraley's syndrome pyonephrosis of the upper pole

Sao descritos dois novos casos de sindrome dolorosa renal e pionefrose que envolve o grupo caliceal superior do rim, secundario a uma compressao extrinseca deste grupo caliceal. Patologia deste descrita por Elwin E. Fraley em 1966, pela primeira vez, a evolucao tem inicio com um simples retardo de esvaziamento do grupo caliceal superior do rim; tem um quadro clinico de simples dor lombar, ocorrendo no entanto o acometimento geral do orgao; o tratamento quase sempre cirurgico, dependendo da lesao, nao so em gravidade ou extensao, o procedimento consistira em infundibuloplastia simplesmente ou heminefrectomia