Long-Term Outcome of Patients with Postoperative Refractory Diarrhea After Tailored Nerve Plexus Dissection Around the Major Visceral Arteries During Pancreatoduodenectomy for Pancreatic Cancer.

BACKGROUND: For pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) surgery, extended dissection of the nerve plexus (pl) around the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) or celiac artery (CA) is sometimes necessary. This consequently results in postoperative refractory diarrhea. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical impact of extended nerve plexus dissection around major arteries on postoperative diarrhea. METHODS: Patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) for PDAC between January 2013 and December 2016 were included. The frequency of diarrhea (defined as a condition requiring opioid antidiarrheal drug for at least 6 months after surgery) and its short- and long-term outcomes were reviewed. RESULTS: Of 200 consecutive patients who underwent PD, 78 (39.0%) developed postoperative refractory diarrhea (diarrhea group), and 73 of them (93.6%) underwent hemi-circumferential or more nerve dissection for SMA or CA; both plSMA and plCA dissection were associated with diarrhea. Borderline resectable artery (BR-A) PDAC was included more in the diarrhea group (32.0% vs. 13.1%, P = 0.001); however, the local recurrence rate in the diarrhea group was significantly lower than that in the non-diarrhea group (14.1% vs. 26.2%, P = 0.036). The completion of adjuvant chemotherapy and overall survival were comparable between the two groups. The pre-albumin level improved in 2 years, and 61.3% of patients with diarrhea could stop opioid antidiarrheal drugs within 3 years of surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Although the frequency of diarrhea increased following nerve plexus dissection around arteries, diarrhea was controllable and resulted in a reduced local recurrence rate. Aggressive dissection of the nerve plexus may be justified for local disease control in BR-A PDAC.

Prognostic significance of regional lymph node metastasis according to station in ampullary carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The TNM (Tumor, Node, Metastasis) classification of the 8th Union for International Cancer Control and the 6th Japanese classification of biliary tract cancer were made on the premise that the prognostic effect of each regional lymph node station is similar. However, some studies have reported different effects of lymph node metastasis location on post-resection prognosis. This study aimed to investigate outcome following radical resection of ampullary carcinoma according to station of lymph node metastasis. METHODS: Patients who underwent surgical resection for ampullary carcinoma between January 2007 and December 2017 at two separate Japanese institutions were included. Regional lymph nodes were subclassified as follows: Pancreatoduodenal lymph nodes (PD) and others (OT). RESULTS: Of the 101 patients analyzed, 34 had regional lymph node metastasis. OT metastasis was found in eight patients. Significant differences were found in relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) between the three study groups (no nodal metastasis, only PD metastasis and OT metastasis; P < .001 for both). OT metastasis was an independent prognostic factor in the multivariate analysis for RFS (hazard ratio [HR] 17.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.33-43.93) and OS (HR 11.06; 95% CI, 3.7-32.99). CONCLUSION: The poor prognosis of ampullary carcinoma patients with OT metastasis suggests that regional lymph nodes should not be categorized equally into one group.

Resection of lesions in the ileum of patients with IgG4-related disease may ameliorate disease progression without steroid administration.

BACKGROUND: IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a pathological condition that is characterized by an infiltrate composed of IgG4-positive plasma cells and recently recognized as an immune-mediated condition. It causes tissue throughout the body to become stiff and thickened due to autoimmune reactions that cause fibrosis and scarring. Disease-related changes commonly occur in the salivary glands, bile duct, pancreas, and lungs, but are seldom seen in the small bowel. A diagnosis of IgG4-RD is suspected if a high level of IgG4 is found on a blood test. The ideal diagnostic method is pathological examination, but because the clinical manifestations of IgG4-RD are very diverse and nonspecific, the disease may often go undiagnosed until an unrelated biopsy or resection specimen is obtained. The most common treatment for IgG4-RD is steroid use. However, tapering or stopping steroid administration is seen to result in recurrence in approximately 50% of cases. A complete cure is therefore considered extremely difficult. CASE PRESENTATION: A 69-year-old man with gastrointestinal obstruction underwent small bowel resection for two lesions. On histopathological examination, the specimen showed features of IgG4-RD. We performed several tests to detect other characteristics of IgG4-RD, but were unable to find any. The patient is being followed up regularly for a year and is being observed for any symptoms of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: We present a case of IgG4-RD wherein the ileum wall was significantly sclerosed, leading to gastrointestinal tract obstruction; therefore, we resected two sections of the ileum. We believe that resection of IgG4-RD lesions can help avoid long-term steroid use in patients, because the surgery completely eliminates the pathological origins of the condition.

[Health impact assessment of occupational health policy reform at a multinational chemical company in Japan].

A health impact assessment (HIA) was conducted to identify potential health impacts arising from policy reform of occupational health and safety at S-chemical company, a multinational global company that employs about 13,000 workers. A multidisciplinary team of health professionals including occupational physicians, an epidemiologist, and public health researchers oversaw the HIA. A project manager from S-company was also involved in the whole HIA process. A literature review, profiling using annual health examination data and interviews with stakeholders and key informants were undertaken in order to identify possible impacts. A range of positive and negative health impacts were identified and develop recommendations for implementation of the new occupational health policy were proposed. The HIA added value to the planning process for the occupational health policy reform.

[Qualitative evaluation of employer requirements associated with occupational health and safety as good practice in small-scale enterprises].

The purpose of this study was to identify what motivates employers to promote good occupational health and safety practices in small-scale enterprises. Previous studies have shown that small-scale enterprises generally pay insufficient attention to issues of occupational health and safety. These findings were mainly derived from questionnaire based surveys. Nevertheless, some small-scale enterprises in which employers exercise good leadership do take a progressive approach to occupational health and safety. Although good practices can be identified in small-scale enterprises, it remains unclear what motivates employers in small-scale enterprises to actively implement occupational health and safety practices. We speculated that identifying employer motivations in promoting occupational health would help to spread good practices among small-scale enterprises. Using a qualitative approach based on the KJ methods, we interviewed ten employers who actively promote occupational health and safety in the workplace. The employers were asked to discuss their views of occupational health and safety in their own words. A semi-structured interview format was used, and transcripts were made of the interviews. Each transcript was independently coded by two or more researchers. These transcripts and codes were integrated and then the research group members discussed the heading titles and structural relationships between them according to the KJ method. Qualitative analysis revealed that all the employers expressed a strong interest in a "good company" and "good management". They emphasized four elements of "good management", namely "securing human resources", "trust of business partners", "social responsibility" and "employer's health condition itself", and considered that addressing occupational health and safety was essential to the achievement of these four elements. Consistent with previous findings, the results showed that implementation of occupational health and safety activities depended on "cost", "human resources", "time to perform", and "advisory organization". These results suggest that employer awareness of the relationship between good management and occupational health is essential to the implementation of occupational health and safety practices in small-scale enterprises.