Totally laparoscopic resection of a very large gastric GIST.

Laparoscopic approach was safely performed for the diagnosis and treatment of the submucosal tumors of the stomach because it is associated with low morbidity, mortality, and sound oncologic outcomes. However, no report on the long-term safety and efficacy of this surgery for large sized gastric GISTs has been published to date. We present a 63-year-old female case of a large gastric GIST of 19 cm removed by laparoscopic wedge resection.

Sigmoid volvulus: is it a possible complication after stapled transanal rectal resection (STARR)?

We report a case of sigmoid volvulus post-stapled transanal rectal resection (STARR) for obstructed defecation. The patient, a 68-yearold woman with chronic constipation and dolichosigma, two days post-STARR presented severe abdominal pain. CT revealed sigmoid ischemia. The patient underwent resection of the sigmoid colon with end colostomy (Hartmann's procedure). Can STARR procedure produce a serious complication as sigmoid volvulus in patient with dolichosigma and obstructed defecation syndrome?

Primary hyperparathyroidism related to a parathyroid adenoma: the dramatic clinical evolution of a misdiagnosed patient and its surgical solution.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a clinical condition related to an excessive and abnormally regulated secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) from the parathyroid glands which is responsible for an alteration of the calcium and phosphorus metabolism. Parathyroid adenomas are the most important cause of primary hyperparathyroidism (80-85%). A case of parathyroid adenoma observed in a patient aged 47, admitted to the Emergency Medicine Department of our Hospital with a diagnosis of hypertensive crisis, cephalea, vomiting, and a clinical history of recurrent episodes of severe abdominal and renal pain, is presented. Lab data showed severe hypercalcemia and a progressive worsening of the renal function. A severe neurological involvement with stupor, derangement of mind, the arising of acute respiratory depression, lethargy compelled the colleagues to transfer him to the Intensive Care Unit; a neck ultrasonography showed a poor-echogenous area under the right thyroid inferior pole, with signs of vascularization. The suspect of a primary hyperparathyroidism related to a single adenoma of the parathyroid gland suggested a surgical treatment. A ''concise parathyroidectomy'' was performed. Our surgical approach was confirmed by the comparison of the preintervention and the post-intervention iPTH values: 2080 pg/mL (normal range: 12-65 pg/mL) before excision vs 101 pg/mL after the removal. The histologycal exam reported a parathyroid adenoma with large areas with haemorrage. Three days after surgery the patient was in good general conditions. Patients affected by primary hyperparathyroidism are often misdiagnosed because their clinical conditions can create differential diagnosis problems with other diseases. However the surgical option remains the gold standard treatment.

[Carbon dioxide embolization: is it a complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy? ]. / Embolia gassosa da biossido di carbonio: è una complicanza della colecistectomia laparoscopica?

The occurrence of pulmonary gas embolism in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy is reported in the medical literature. Severe intraoperative complications or the patient's death were correlated to gas embolism during laparoscopic procedures. However, the careful retrospective study or the autoptic exam of such casualties have always showed an erroneus direct puncture of vessels or the straight insertion of the Veress needle into a parenchymal organ. It is obvious that the direct gas injection into a vein or into parenchymal organs is a primary cause of gas embolism, as well as the high flow insufflation of gas into the peritoneal cavity in concomitance with the lesion of major abdominal vessel's wall. Gas embolism may occur each time the vein internal pressure is lower than the external pressure and not only during a laparoscopic procedure when carbon dioxyde is inflated into the peritoneal cavity, but also during open surgery such as major liver resections, neurosurgery, vascular or cardiac surgery. The review of large series of laparoscopic cholecystectomies reported in the international literature, as well as our own clinical experience in this field, together with the results of laboratory animal studies based on the experimental insufflation or injection of carbon dioxyde, show that gas embolism must not be considered as a complication of laparoscopic surgery. Due to the above mentioned risks with the use of the Veress needle, the surgeon should revalue alternative means in creating the pneumoperitoneum.