Total gastrectomy in systemic scleroderma when anti-reflux surgery is not viable: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Systemic scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that can affect the respiratory system and the gastrointestinal tract. When diffuse lung disease and pulmonary hypertension develop, a lung transplant is usually considered as treatment. This option, however, is not feasible in the presence of concomitant gastroesophageal reflux disease. In this case, medical therapy is initially warranted. If this fails, surgical approach may be considered in order for the patient to be a lung transplant candidate. CASE PRESENTATION: A 56-year-old female, with previous history of intestinal pneumonitis, mild pulmonary hypertension and gastroesophageal reflux secondary to systemic scleroderma, is considered for lung transplant. Initially, due to persistent gastroesophageal reflux, a transplant was not a viable. This was corrected with an open gastrectomy with roux-en-Y anastomosis. Follow-up one week later revealed normal anatomy, adequate esophageal-jejunal anastomosis, and adequate contrast medium transit via esophagogram. Additionally, there was no evidence of contrast medium reflux indicating a resolved gastroesophageal reflux disease. This led to the patient becoming a candidate for lung transplant. DISCUSSION: We suggest an open gastrectomy with roux-en-Y anastomosis as an alternative to the Nissen fundoplication for patients with connective tissue disease that develop terminal pulmonary consequences and require a lung transplant.

Rare and unusual presentation of Cladophialophora infection in a pulmonary transplant cystic fibrosis patient.

A 35-year-old woman with severe cystic fibrosis was admitted for sudden loss of strength in both legs, revealing a myelitis. The medullary lesion biopsy revealed phaeohyphomycosis caused by Cladophialophora species. Myelitis caused by Cladophialophora bantiana is a rare disease associated with high mortality.

The role of soluble and insoluble gastric fluid components in the pathogenesis of obliterative bronchiolitis in rat lung allografts.

Repetitive gastric fluid aspirations have been shown to lead to obliterans bronchiolitis (OB), but the component or components of gastric fluid that are responsible are unknown. This study investigates the role of particulates and, separately, soluble material in gastric fluid during the development of OB. Whole gastric fluid (WGF) was collected from male Fischer 344 (F344) rats and separated by centrifugation into particle reduced gastric fluid (PRGF) and particulate components resuspended in normal saline (PNS). Orthotopic left lung transplants from male Wistar-Kyoto rats into F344 rats were performed using a modification of the nonsuture external cuff technique with prolonged cold ischemia. Rats were subjected to weekly aspiration of 0.5 ml/kg of WGF (n = 9), PRGF (n = 10), PNS (n = 9), or normal saline (control, NS; n = 9) for 8 weeks following transplantation. Lung allografts treated with WGF, PRGF, or PNS developed a significantly greater percentage of OB-like lesions compared with the control. No statistical difference was observed when comparing the fibrosis grades or the percentage of OB lesions of WGF, PRGF, and PNS groups, suggesting that both soluble and insoluble components of gastric fluid can promote the development of aspiration-induced OB and fibrosis in lung allografts.

Adaptive and innate immune responses in a rat orthotopic lung transplant model of chronic lung allograft dysfunction.

Acute rejection and respiratory infections are major risk factors for chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) after lung transplantation. To shed light on the enigmatic etiology of CLAD, we test the following hypotheses using a new experimental model: (i) Alloimmune-independent pulmonary inflammation reactivates alloimmunity. (ii) Alloimmunity enhances the susceptibility of the graft toward pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Pulmonary Fischer 344 to Lewis rat allografts were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which consistently results in lesions typical for CLAD. Grafts, local lymph nodes, and spleens were harvested before (day 28) and after LPS application (days 29, 33, and 40) for real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Mixed lymphocyte reactions were performed on day 33. Four weeks after transplantation, lung allografts displayed mononuclear infiltrates compatible with acute rejection and overexpressed most components of the toll-like receptor system. Allografts but not secondary lymphoid organs expressed increased levels of Th1-type transcription factors and cytokines. LPS induced macrophage infiltration as well as mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and effector molecules of innate immunity. Unexpectedly, T-cell reactivity was not enhanced by LPS. We conclude that prevention of CLAD might be accomplished by local suppression of Th1 cells in stable grafts and by controlling innate immunity during alloimmune-independent pulmonary inflammation.

Conducta anestésica en la colecistectomía video-laparoscópica de un paciente propuesto para trasplante pulmonar / Anesthetic management of videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy in a patient proposed for lung transplantation

Introducción: el tratamiento quirúrgico de la litiasis en la vesícula biliar por cirugía video-laparoscópica, minimiza la estadía hospitalaria y permite incluir muchos de estos pacientes en regímenes ambulatorios. Objetivo: presentar la evolución clínica de un paciente con una enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC) severa, propuesto para trasplante pulmonar. Caso clínico: paciente masculino de 55 años, con diagnóstico de litiasis vesicular, fumador inveterado, con EPOC severa y linfoma de Hodgkin. Al examen físico presentaba murmullo vesicular disminuido, sibilantes, taquipnea y uso activo de los músculos accesorios del cuello para la respiración. Tiempo quirúrgico de 1 hora y 20 minutos. Recuperación satisfactoria. Al tercer día de posoperatoria se le constató íctero. En ultrasonido abdominal (US) se observó dilatación de la vía biliar principal y se realizó colédoco pancreatografía retrograda endoscópica de urgencia con anestesia general endovenosa, por medio de esta se constató lesión de la vía biliar principal. Se decidió realizar hepato-yeyunostomía por cirugía convencional con anestesia combinada (epidural continua-general orotraqueal). Luego de su traslado a la sala de Cuidados Posquirúrgicos, se mantuvo intubado para su recuperación y su seguimiento posterior, egresó del centro a los 21 días de su primera intervención con evolución satisfactoria. Conclusiones: en los pacientes portadores de EPOC grave, se puede utilizar cirugía mínimamente invasiva y se vigile de cerca, se realice anestesia con estabilidad de todos sistemas, vigilancia perioperatoria adecuada, control del dolor, prescindiendo de recuperarlos en salas de cuidados posquirúrgicos especializados.

Introduction: videolaparoscopic surgical treatment of gallstone disease reduces hospital stay to a minimum and makes it possible to treat many of the cases on an outpatient basis. Objective: describe the clinical evolution of a patient with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) proposed for lung transplantation. Clinical case: 55-year-old male patient diagnosed with gallstone disease, inveterate smoker with severe COPD and Hodgkin lymphoma. The physical examination revealed diminished vesicular murmur, sibilants, tachypnea and active use of accessory neck muscles for breathing. Surgical time was 1 hour 20 minutes. Recovery was satisfactory. Jaundice was observed on the third day of the postoperative period. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed dilatation of the main bile duct, and emergency endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography performed under general intravenous anesthesia showed a lesion on the main bile duct. It was decided to perform an hepaticojejunostomy by conventional surgery under combined anesthesia (continuous epidural-general orotracheal). After transfer to the postoperative care unit, the patient remained intubated with a view to his recovery and eventual follow-up, and was discharged from hospital 21 days after his first surgery exhibiting a satisfactory evolution. Conclusions: minimally invasive surgery may be used in patients with severe COPD as long as it is closely watched and the following requirements are met: anesthesia with stability of all systems, adequate perioperative surveillance, pain control and recovery in specialized postoperative care units.

Pulmonary acceleration time to optimize the timing of lung transplant in cystic fibrosis.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) may affect survival in cystic fibrosis (CF) and can be assessed on echocardiographic measurement of the pulmonary acceleration time (PAT). The study aimed at evaluating PAT as a tool to optimize timing of lung transplant in CF patients. Prospective multicenter longitudinal study of patients with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) ≤60% predicted. Echocardiography, spirometry and nocturnal oximetry were obtained as part of the routine evaluation. We included 67 patients (mean FEV1 42±12% predicted), among whom 8 underwent lung transplantation during the mean follow-up of 19±6 months. No patients died. PAT was determined in all patients and correlated negatively with systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP, r=-0.36, P=0.01). Patients in the lowest PAT tertile (<101 ms) had lower FEV1 and worse nocturnal oxygen saturation, and they were more often on the lung transplant waiting list compared to patients in the other tertiles. Kaplan-Meier curves showed a shorter time to lung transplantation in the lowest PAT tertile (P<0.001) but not in patients with sPAP>35 mmHg. By multivariate analysis, FEV(1)and nocturnal desaturation were the main determinants of reduced PAT. A PAT<101 ms reduction is a promising tool for timing of lung transplantation in CF.