Early Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment for Necrotizing Fasciitis: A Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND: Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a group of relatively rare infections, usually caused by two or more pathogens. It affects the skin and subcutaneous tissues of lower and upper limbs, perineal area (Fournier's gangrene), and the abdominal wall. Early diagnosis and aggressive surgical management are of high significance for the management of this potentially lethal disease. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study in patients who presented, during the last decade, at four University Surgical Departments in the area of Athens, Greece, with an admission diagnosis of NF. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were gathered, and the preoperative and surgical treatment, as well as the postoperative treatment was analyzed for these patients. RESULTS: A total of 62 patients were included in the study. The mean age of patients was 63.7 (47 male patients). Advanced age (over 65 years) (P < 0.01) and female sex (P = 0.04) correlated significantly with mortality. Perineum was the mostly infected site (46.8%), followed by the lower limbs (35.5%), the upper limbs, and the axillary region (8.1%). Diabetes mellitus was the most common coexisting disease (40.3%), followed by hypertension (25.8%) and obesity (17.7%). The most common symptom was local pain and tenderness (90.3%). Septic shock occurred in eight patients (12.9%) and strongly correlated with mortality (P < 0.01). Laboratory data were used to calculate the LRINEC score of every patient retrospectively; 26 patients (41.9%) had LRINEC score under 6, 20 patients (32.3%) had LRINEC score 6-8, and 16 patients (25.8%) had LRINEC score >9. Surgical debridement was performed in all patients (mean number of repeated debridement 4.8), and in 16 cases (25.8%) the infected limb was amputated. The mean length of hospital stay was 19.7 days, and the overall mortality rate of our series was 17.7%. CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of NF requires high suspect among clinicians, as its clinical image is non-specific. Laboratory tests can depict the severity of the disease; therefore, they must be carefully evaluated. Urgent surgical debridement is the mainstay of treatment in all patients; the need of repetitive surgical debridement is undisputed.

Endovascular management of secondary aortoduodenal fistula: the importance of gut restoration.

Secondary aortoenteric fistula (SAEF) is a rare, life-threatening complication of aortic reconstructive surgery. Graft excision associated with gut repair and extra-anatomic bypass or in situ aortic reconstruction is the best option. However, it is associated with high mortality rates, especially when undertaken in unstable patients with severe comorbidities. We present a case of SAEF successfully treated by endovascular repair and gut restoration. After laparotomy, a dense inflammatory "frozen" mass was found around the involved part of the duodenum and the aortic sac. Because of his comorbidities, the difficulty in dissection of the aortic sac and the risk of damage in adjacent organs, the initial plan for aortic reconstruction was abandoned. A surgical isolation of the third portion of the duodenum and a duodenum-jejunal anastomosis were performed. An Endurant endograft 32-16-16 mm (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN) was implanted to achieve aortic continuity. Twenty months postdischarge, the patient remains in good general condition, afebrile, and with normal laboratory tests and inflammation markers. In high-risk patients, endovascular intervention combined with gut repair without further aortic reconstruction can be a permanent solution requiring, however, close surveillance.

Aetiology and outcome of acute hepatic failure in Greece: experience of two academic hospital centres.

Introduction: In Western countries, the most frequent aetiology of acute liver failure (ALF) is acetaminophen overdose, while in developing countries viral infections [hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus (HBV)] predominate. Aim: To evaluate the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, outcome and prognostic factors of survival of patients with ALF in Greece during the last 6 years. Results: A total of 40 patients, 28 females (70%), with a median age of 37.4+/-18.6 years (range: 15-84) with ALF were studied. HBV infection was the cause in 53% of them (compared with 74% from a previous study reported in the early 1980s), drug toxicity in 15% and undetermined in 13%. The overall survival was 57.5%, including 94% with and 15% without liver transplantation. Forty-five per cent of our patients had emergency liver transplantation in European Centers within a median time of 3.3 days (1-9) from admission. The total bilirubin level at admission and the development of infections were found to be significantly associated with poor outcome. Conclusions: Hepatitis B virus still remains the most important cause of ALF in Greece, but shows a significant decrease as compared with studies in the early 1980s. Almost half of our patients needed emergency liver transplantation and had a very good survival rate. The other 15% of the patients presented spontaneous survival only with intensive medical support.