[Thoracic kidney: congenital or traumatic origin?]. / Rein thoracique: origine congénitale ou traumatique?

The discovery of a thoracic kidney in adult patients can lead to three diagnoses, yielding different prognoses and treatment. It can either mean traumatic or congenital diaphragmatic hernia, or a congenital ectopic kidney. Intrathoracic herniation of the left kidney trough a left diaphragmatic rupture is an exceptional discovery. We report the case of a 44 year-old man who met with a car accident 20 years ago, and presented abdominal pain. CT-scan showed an intrathoracic herniation of the left kidney trough a left posterior diaphragmatic rupture. Laparoscopic approach in lateral position showed a traumatic hernia of the left costo-diaphragmatic hiatus only containing the left kidney and its pedicle. After reduction of herniated left kidney into the abdomen, the hiatus was closed by non-resorbable prosthetic mesh. Postoperative course was uneventful.

[Endoscopic thyroidectomy. A preliminary report including 40 patients]. / La thyroïdectomie totalement endoscopique. Etude préliminaire portant sur 40 patients.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To demonstrate the feasibility of endoscopic thyroidectomy for unilateral lobectomy and isthmectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: [corrected] This prospective study included 40 patients operated on between January 1999 and March 2005 by a total endoscopic approach. Only lobectomies and isthmectomies were performed for nodules inferior to 3 cm in diameter. RESULTS: Forty patients (36 females, 4 males) underwent 35 lobectomies and five isthmectomies. Twenty-four patients were operated on without ultrasonic shears (US) the rate of conversion in this group was 33%. Sixteen patients were operated on with US: the rate of conversion was 0%. In the second group, the operative time was decreasing to the half, range 45 to 90 minutes. In both the two groups, there were no morbidity: no extensive emphysema, no hematoma, no wound abscess, no cord vocal palsy. The median hospital stay was 1,75 days. After three months of follow up, all the patients were satisfied, especially concerning the cosmetic results and the short recovery time. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic thyroidectomy is feasible and safe for performing lobectomies and isthmectomies. In the near future, it could be extended to bilateral goitres in selected patients.

[Laparoscopic adrenalectomy for large tumors]. / Exérèse laparoscopique des volumineuses tumeurs de la surrénale.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To analyze indications and results of laparoscopic adrenalectomy for large tumors (> 6 cm). METHODS: It is a retrospective study including patients between January 1994 and December 2003 operated on for large adrenal lesions > or =6 cm. The size was given by the pathologist. All the patients had a flank transperitoneal approach. Analysed Parameters were: operative difficulties; operative time; conversion rate; postoperative morbidity, follow-up and histologic data. RESULTS: Fourteen patients (10 female and 4 male) were included. Mean age at the time of the diagnosis was 52 years (range: 17-79). Mean size of the lesions was 7 cm (range: 6-10 cm). Mean operative time was 132 mn (range: 120-240 mn). None of the patients experienced surgical complications. Two conversions were needed (for vena cava attachments in one case and because of a retrocava localization in the other case). Three patients had morbidity: one intraperitoneal hemorrhage occurring at the second postoperative day and needing laparotomy; one left pneumopathy; and one case of neuralgia due to a port insertion. Mean hospital stay was 4,5 days. Histologic data showed: five ganglioneuromas, three pheochromocytomas, three adenomas, two adrenocortical carcinomas, and one postpancreatitis cytosteatonecrosis. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is feasible for large lesions > or =6 cm when no evidence of malignity is demonstrated neither by the preoperative imaging study nor by the surgical exploration.

[Right laparoscopic adrenalectomy]. / Surrénalectomie droite par coelioscopie.

The transperitoneal laparoscopic approach for right adrenalectomy is performed in patients placed in a lateral decubitus position. Four ports are usually needed (2 or 3, 10 mm ports, 1 or 2, 5 mm ports), inserted in the right subcostal area. After liver retraction, the retroperitonéal space is opened close to the liver, exposing the right adrenal gland and the inferior vena cava. The periphrenic fat and the internal side of the gland are dissected close to the right side of the vena cava in order to expose the main adrenal vein. This vein is double clipped. At the inferior pole of the gland, the inferior adrenal artery is ligated with clips. Before removing and extracting the gland, the right side and the upper pole of the gland are dissected last.

Increased cytotoxicity and stability of Lipiodol-pirarubicin emulsion compared to classical doxorubicin-Lipiodol: potential advantage for chemoembolization of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

There is no well-defined curative treatment for advanced and unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. The widely used transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with a doxorubicin-Lipiodol emulsion has not been shown to improve survival in randomized studies. Further, obstruction of the hepatic artery used in the procedure is badly tolerated in patients with cirrhosis. Drugs with a more rapid penetration into the cancer cells are likely to eliminate the need for obstruction of the hepatic artery. We therefore compared the cytotoxicity of another anthracycline pirarubicin with that of the commonly used doxorubicin. In this report, we show that pirarubicin has a greater in vitro cytotoxic effect than doxorubicin on the HepG2 and Hu-H7 human hepatoma cell lines. Pirarubicin emulsion with Lipiodol is more stable at 37 degrees C than doxorubicin-Lipiodol. Moreover, pirarubicin accumulates at a greater extent in the oil phase, permitting Lipiodol to act as a slow-releasing vector for the anthracycline. Further, amiodarone, a multidrug resistance inhibitor, was shown to decrease the intrinsic resistance of HepG2 and Hu-H7 cells to both anthracyclines, and the presence of polysorbate 80 in the amiodarone preparation increased the stability of the anthracycline-Lipiodol emulsions. We therefore conclude that pirarubicin is a better candidate for TACE than doxorubicin. The rapid and increased cytotoxicity of pirarubicin on hepatoma cancer cells and the stability of the pirarubicin-Lipiodol amiodarone emulsion could avoid the complete obstruction of the hepatic artery by Gelfoam sponges, and provide a better tolerated method of TACE in patients with latent liver insufficiency.

[Intraperitoneal chemo-hyperthermia with "overflow" open abdomen]. / La chimiohyperthermie intrapéritonéale à ventre ouvert et avec "débordement".

The authors report an original procedure of open-abdomen intraperitoneal chemo-hyperthermia. The skin edges are watertightly stapled with a soft "abdominal cavity expander", supported by a Thompson self-retaining retractor positioned over the abdomen. So, the level of the liquid can be widely raised above the level of the skin edges. The anterior wall peritoneum, the wall edges are constantly exposed to the liquid. Large amplitude movements become possible: introduction into the abdomen of two forearms, even two arms, does not induce loss of any liquid. The small bowel, the stomach can be partially exteriorized. It becomes very easy to expose all the peritoneal spaces, to maintain an homogeneous hyperthermia within the abdomen, while using only one inflow drain, and one outflow drain.

Hepatic arterial infusion of cisplatin diluted in hypotonic 25 g/l glucose solution administered in balloon-occluded hepatic artery: experimental rationale and clinical pilot study.

Reduced osmolarity in incubation medium was previously shown to increase in vitro cellular accumulation and cytotoxicity of cisplatin on cancer cells. We confirmed in the present work that cisplatin diluted in an hypotonic 25 g/l glucose solution (124 mOsm) was dramatically more cytotoxic in vitro than cisplatin diluted in normotonic 9 g/l NaCl (300 mOsm) on the human HT29 colon and MCF7 breast cancer cells. We conducted then a pilot clinical study on the administration of cisplatin diluted in hypotonic 25 g/l glucose solution given through the balloon-occluded hepatic artery for the treatment of liver metastases from colon or breast cancer tumors. Nine patients (5 men, 4 women; mean age 58, range: 44-71) with confirmed isolated, unresectable metastases from colorectal (7) or breast (2) tumors were included in this study and a total of 23 cycles were administered (2.55 per patient; range 1-5) with an average dose of 50 mg cisplatin (range: 12.5-100). Hepatic artery dissection due to balloon injury with partial or complete arterial obstruction were encountered in 2 patients. Pain in the liver and epigastric area was the main symptom which was constant and intense during the IAH cisplatin injection. Fever > 38 degrees C was observed in 15/23 cycles and increase of creatinine in 1/23 cycles. Transient increase of hepatic transaminases without change in prothrombin time was registered in all patients. However one patient who received the highest dose of 100 mg cisplatin developed a persistent but reversible clinical jaundice and a transient increase in prothrombin time. One patient achieved a partial response (12 weeks), 7 had stable disease (mean duration: 6 weeks) and one had a progressive disease. Hepatic arterial infusion of cisplatin diluted in hypotonic 25 g/l glucose solution and administered through the balloon-occluded hepatic artery is a feasible approach. Total dose of cisplatin in hypotonic glucose solution will not exceed 80 mg by cure in a further phase II study.

Pre-clinical study of the epinephrine-cisplatin association for the treatment of intraperitoneal carcinomatosis.

We have previously shown that intraperitoneal (i.p.) epinephrine enhances tumour penetration and anti-cancer activity of i.p.-administered cisplatin in rats with peritoneal carcinomatosis. Here, we show a direct correlation between the i.p. epinephrine concentration and cisplatin accumulation in rat peritoneal tumour nodules up to a concentration of 5 mg/l. This concentration leads to a maximal 3.7-fold increase of tumour platinum content and a maximal vasoconstriction of the peritoneal and tumour superficial microcirculation when registered by a laser doppler probe. Further, epinephrine half-life was 20.8+/-3.6 min in the peritoneal cavity of two laparotomized pigs. In these animals, epinephrine plasma concentration, heart rate and systolic blood pressure were dependent on the intraperitoneal dose of epinephrine, and life-threatening signs were not observed in either animal. In conclusion, a 5 mg/l concentration of epinephrine could be safely maintained in peritoneal fluid by regular replacement. This concentration is sufficient to maintain a constant vasoconstriction of the peritoneal and tumoral microvascular bed, and enhance the slow diffusion of cisplatin into peritoneal tumour nodules in the course of per-operative intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

[Videocervicoscopy in surgery of primary hyperparathyroidism. Preliminary study of 19 patients]. / La vidéocervicoscopie dans la chirurgie de l'hyperparathyroïdie primitive. Etude préliminaire portant sur 19 patients.

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a minimally invasive parathyroidectomy performed by videocervicoscopy. 19 patients were operated. Preoperative localization by ultrasonography and/or technetium 99 m sestamibi scan was performed in 17 patients. The technique was first attempted in two pigs, using three 2.5 mm trocars and a 2.5 mm endoscope. However, this technique failed in the first two human cases because of the lack of optical clarity of the 2.5 mm endoscope. A 5 mm endoscope was subsequently used. Carbon dioxide insufflation was maintained at 10 mmHg with a low 3 L/min flow. Three trocars were inserted in to the cervical space: one 5 mm trocar for the endoscope, two 3 mm trocars for the instruments. A unilateral neck exploration was carried out in 5 cases and a bilateral neck exploration in 14 cases. Enlarged glands were discovered in 13 patients (12 adenomas, 1 hyperplasia of the 4 glands). 8 adenomas were removed via a short midline incision, 4 others via a short lateral incision. Horizontal cervicotomy was required in 7 cases (4 failures to identify the abnormal gland, 1 thyroid cancer discovered incidentally, 1 hyperplasia of 4 glands and 1 anterior jugular vein bleeding). Except for the case of bleeding, no other complication occurred. Subcutaneous emphysema resorbed in 3 hours. 17 patients were discharged within 48 hours and 2 patients were discharged within 24 hours. 18 patients had normal serum calcium two months postoperatively. This study demonstrates that videocervicoscopy is safe and feasible in primary hyperparathyroidism.