Total Pharyngo-Laryngo-Cervical-Esophagectomy with Jejunal Free Flap Reconstruction in a Developing Country: A Case Report from Vietnam.

BACKGROUND Esophageal invasion in hypopharyngeal cancer is an uncommon lesion and has a poor prognosis. Total pharyngo-laryngo-esophagectomy is the most effective treatment option. Reconstruction of the gastrointestinal tract in the same period of surgery is required. There are many different options, such as pedicle flap, gastric pull-up, pedicled transverse colon flaps, and free flap. In cases where only cervical esophagectomy is required, with benefits for patients, jejunal free flap is the first choice to reconstruct the esophagus. However, the extensive surgical resection requires interdisciplinary collaboration among surgical specialities, which is not always available. CASE REPORT A 52-year-old male patient came to us with a chief concern of dysphagia, which first appeared 3 months ago. Rigid fiberoptic and direct laryngoscopes indirectly observed the tumor at the posterior wall; it had passed the esophagus opening and infiltrated to the cervical esophagus, with the rightmost part spread into the right pyriform sinus. Histopathology studies of the tumor showed a squamous cell carcinoma. The patient underwent total pharyngo-laryngo-cervico-esophagectomy, reconstructed with a jejunal free flap, and adjuvant radiation therapy after surgery. At follow-up 1 year after surgery, the patient was significantly recovery with no signs of tumor recurrence, no difficulties of oral intake, and his speech was restored by electrolarynx. CONCLUSIONS We reported the case of a patient with hypopharyngeal cancer who underwent total pharyngo-laryngo-cervico-esophagectomy and esophagus reconstruction using a jejunal free flap, performed for the first time in Vietnam. As expected, with good oncological and functional results, the degree of invasiveness and sequelae of the surgery can be well tolerated.

Comparison of Novel, Bach Mai Boston Tool (BBT) and the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) for Oncology Inpatients.

Oncology inpatients are at high risk of malnutrition. Identification of at risk patients by nutrition screening requires a practical and easy to use tool. The aim of this study was to determine the validity of the Bach Mai Boston Tool (BBT) compared to a 'gold standard' full nutrition assessment using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). A cross-sectional study was conducted on 270 oncology inpatients from January to December 2016. Cohen's Kappa, sensitivity, specificity and ROC analyses were performed. 270 inpatients were included in this study with a mean age of 56.3 ± 12.1 years old. Of these patients, 51.8% were male, and 74.1% had gastrointestinal cancer. The mean body mass index of patients was 20.6 ± 3.0 kg/m2. The PG-SGA tool identified 146 (54.1%) malnourished patients, while the BBT identified 105 (39.9%) malnourished patients. The BBT had a medium consistency, with a Kappa value of 0.6. Using a cut-off point of ≥ 4, the BBT had a sensitivity of 87.7% and a specificity of 72.6%. On the other hand, a BBT with a cut-off point ≥ 5 resulted in a sensitivity of 67.1%, a specificity of 94.4%, and an AUC of 0.81. The BBT is a practical, informative and valid tool for detecting malnutrition in hospitalized oncology patients. We recommend using a cut-off point of 4 for screening the risk of malnutrition for oncology inpatients.