Feasibility and Short-Term Outcomes in Liver-First Approach: A Spanish Snapshot Study (the RENACI Project).

(1) Background: The liver-first approach may be indicated for colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastases to whom preoperative chemotherapy opens a potential window in which liver resection may be undertaken. This study aims to present the data of feasibility and short-term outcomes in the liver-first approach. (2) Methods: A prospective observational study was performed in Spanish hospitals that had a medium/high-volume of HPB surgeries from 1 June 2019 to 31 August 2020. (3) Results: In total, 40 hospitals participated, including a total of 2288 hepatectomies, 1350 for colorectal liver metastases, 150 of them (11.1%) using the liver-first approach, 63 (42.0%) in hospitals performing <50 hepatectomies/year. The proportion of patients as ASA III was significantly higher in centers performing ≥50 hepatectomies/year (difference: 18.9%; p = 0.0213). In 81.1% of the cases, the primary tumor was in the rectum or sigmoid colon. In total, 40% of the patients underwent major hepatectomies. The surgical approach was open surgery in 87 (58.0%) patients. Resection margins were R0 in 78.5% of the patients. In total, 40 (26.7%) patients had complications after the liver resection and 36 (27.3%) had complications after the primary resection. One-hundred and thirty-two (89.3%) patients completed the therapeutic regime. (4) Conclusions: There were no differences in the surgical outcomes between the centers performing <50 and ≥50 hepatectomies/year. Further analysis evaluating factors associated with clinical outcomes and determining the best candidates for this approach will be subsequently conducted.

Neoplastic degeneration of chronic sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus: report of seven cases and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Neoplastic degeneration is an uncommon but extremely serious complication of pilonidal sinus (PS) disease. We pretend to determine the factors that influence in the prognosis of the neoplastic disease assessing clinical features and histological findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied the patients diagnosed of malignization of PS in our institution from 2000 to 2019. RESULTS: Seven male patients with a mean age at diagnosis of 64.8 years old were collected. Average time between the initial symptoms of PS disease and the tumor diagnosis was 33.7 years. The patients presenting an ulcerative pattern in the primary tumor showed in all the cases perineural invasion, local deep structures infiltration, and neoplastic dissemination to the regional lymph nodes. All these patients died in an average time of 7 months. On the other hand, patients with exophytic patterns in the primary tumor did not present local invasion or regional nodes affectation. All the cases survive with an average follow-up of 70.5 months. CONCLUSIONS: Ulcerated lesions clearly show a worse prognosis than tumors with exophytic morphology. Factors as perineural infiltration, local deep structures infiltration, or regional lymph node involvement dramatically decrease survival rates.

OBJETIVO: La cancerificación es una complicación infrecuente pero grave de la enfermedad por sinus pilonidal. Intentaremos determinar los factores que influyen en el pronóstico de la enfermedad neoplásica basándonos en hallazgos clínicos e histopatológicos. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: retrospectivamente se revisan pacientes diagnosticados de malignización de sinus pilonidal en nuestra institución del 2000 a 2019. RESULTADOS: fueron recopilados los casos de siete varones con una media de edad al diagnóstico de 64.8 años. El promedio entre el inicio de los síntomas de sinus pilonidal y el diagnóstico del tumor fue de 33.7 años. Los pacientes con un patrón ulcerativo en el tumor primario presentaron todos invasión perineural, infiltración de estructuras profundas y diseminación a linfáticos regionales. Todos estos pacientes fallecieron en una media de 7 meses. Por el contrario, los pacientes que mostraban un patrón exofítico, no presentaron invasión local o afectación de los linfáticos regionales. Todos estos casos sobrevivieron, con una media de seguimiento de 70.5 meses. CONCLUSIONES: tumores primarios ulcerativos claramente presentan un peor pronóstico que los casos de morfología exofítica. Factores como la infiltración perineural, la invasión local de estructuras profundas o la afectación de los ganglios linfáticos regionales van ligados a una disminución dramática en la supervivencia.

Resección de GIST rectal mediante cirugía transanal mínimamente invasiva (TAMIS) tras neoadyuvancia con imatinib / Resection of a rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumour by transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS) after neoadjuvant treatment with Imatinib

Resumen El tratamiento primario de elección para los pacientes con una tumoración GIST localizada es la extirpación quirúrgica completa con márgenes microscópicos negativos. Sin embargo, en un espacio tan reducido como el de la pelvis, la resección completa de una tumo-ración rectal grande es difícil y necesita en ocasiones una amputación abdomino-perienal. En nuestro caso, con la finalidad de reducir el tamaño del tumor y la morbilidad asociada a procedimientos quirúrgicos más agresivos se introdujo el tratamiento con imatinib, con intención neoadyuvante monitorizando la respuesta mediante ecoendoscopia. La respuesta obtenida, rediciendo el volumen tumoral, modificó la estrategia quirúrgica inicial y fue posible conseguir una resección satisfactoria mediante cirugía transanal mínimamente invasiva (TAMIS), preservando los esfínteres anales y soslayando la morbilidad genitourinaria asociada a la excisión mesorectal.

Abstract The primary treatment of choice for patients with a localised gastro-intestinal stromal tumour (GIST) is complete surgical excision with negative microscopic margins. However, in a space as small as that of the pelvis, complete resection of a large rectal tumour is difficult, and sometimes requires an abdominoperineal amputation. In order to reduce the size of the tumour, as well as the morbidity associated with more aggressive surgical procedures, neoadjuvant treatment with Imatinib was introduced in this case, with the response being monitored by of endoscopic ultrasound. The response obtained by reducing the tumour volume modified the strategy, making it possible to obtain a satisfactory resection using transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS), preserving the anal sphincters and avoiding the genitourinary morbidity associated with the mesorectal excision.

Thoracic aortic cannulation with antegrade perfusion for the procurement of abdominal organs.

The definitive acceptance of an organ as valid for transplant depends on the surgical team performing the multiorgan recovery; and unexpected difficulties can occur. The demographic characteristics of donors has changed, and some accepted donors can present difficulties in surgical technique and risky decisions on the validity of the retrieved organ or organs. An alternative method to the cannulation of the abdominal aorta is proposed when there is evidence of disease in the infrarenal aorta during the multiorgan procurement. The retrocardiac descending thoracic aorta is cannulated using an antegrade perfusion; this technique allows an increase in organ recovery.

A thin-film microprocessor with inkjet print-programmable memory.

The Internet of Things is driving extensive efforts to develop intelligent everyday objects. This requires seamless integration of relatively simple electronics, for example through 'stick-on' electronics labels. We believe the future evolution of this technology will be governed by Wright's Law, which was first proposed in 1936 and states that the cost of a product decreases with cumulative production. This implies that a generic electronic device that can be tailored for application-specific requirements during downstream integration would be a cornerstone in the development of the Internet of Things. We present an 8-bit thin-film microprocessor with a write-once, read-many (WORM) instruction generator that can be programmed after manufacture via inkjet printing. The processor combines organic p-type and soluble oxide n-type thin-film transistors in a new flavor of the familiar complementary transistor technology with the potential to be manufactured on a very thin polyimide film, enabling low-cost flexible electronics. It operates at 6.5 V and reaches clock frequencies up to 2.1 kHz. An instruction set of 16 code lines, each line providing a 9 bit instruction, is defined by means of inkjet printing of conductive silver inks.

[Morbidity and mortality in pancreatic resection]. / Morbimortalidad de la resección pancreática.

AIM: Assess the postoperative morbidity rates in pancreatic resection. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Prospective observational study which includes 117 patients who underwent surgery consecutively due to pancreatic or periampullary tumours. In 61 of the patients, cephalic pancreatectomy was carried out; 15 underwent total pancreatectomy; one underwent enucleation and 40 underwent distal pancreatectomy. RESULTS: Overall morbidity was 48.7% (59% for cephalic pancreatectomy, 35% for distal pancreatectomy and 46.7% for total pancreatectomy). The most frequent complications were intra-abdominal abscesses and collections (15.38%) and medical complications (13.68%). The incidence of pancreatic fistula was 9.83% for cephalic pancreatectomy and 10% for distal pancreatectomy. The reintervention incidence was 14.53%. Overall mortality was 5.12% (6.56% for cephalic pancreatectomy, 2.5% for distal pancreatectomy and 6.67% for total pancreatectomy). The presence of postoperative complications, the need for reintervention and the fact of being over 70 years of age correlated significantly with mortality. DISCUSSION: Pancreatic resection has high morbidity rates. Mortality is low and is practically limited to patients older than 70 years.

Early or delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy in acute cholecystitis? Conclusions of a controlled trial.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is now accepted as being safe for acute cholecystitis. However, it has not become routine, because the exact timing and approach to the surgical management remains ill defined. This study evaluated the effect of timing of LC in patients with acute cholecystitis. METHODOLOGY: Group 1, those patients who had LC for AC within 72 hours was compared with group 2, those who had LC for AC after 72 hours. Univariate logistic regression analysis and multivariate regression analysis were used to determine if any factors had a significant association with the complications, postoperative hospital stay, and conversion index. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Comparing the two groups, the conversion rate to an open procedure was significantly less (7.8% versus 18.4%, P_0.02) in the early treated patients. Furthermore, postoperative hospitalization (6.5 versus 9.5 days, P 0.01), and complications (8.8% versus 17.7%, P _0.02) were significantly reduced in patients undergoing early laparoscopic cholecystectomy. CONCLUSION: There is no advantage to delaying cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis on the basis of outcomes in complications, rate of conversion to open surgery, and mean hospital stay. Thus, early cholecystectomy should be be the preferred surgical approach for patients with acute lithiasic cholecystitis.

[Management of patients with iatrogenic bile duct injury]. / Tratamiento de pacientes con lesiones graves de la vía biliar.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to present an analysis of 30 patients with major bile duct injuries in a single hospital centre. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From January 2001 to December 2006, a prospective database was kept of all patients with a bile duct injury (BDI) following laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Patients' charts were reviewed to analyse perioperative surgical management. RESULTS: Over 6 years, 30 patients were treated for a major BDI. Patient demographics were not notable for 16 women (53%) and 14 men (47%) with a mean age of 58.9 years. Twenty of them sustained their BDI at another hospital. The mean interval from the time of BDI to referral was 17.4 days. A total of 30 patients underwent definitive biliary reconstruction, including 17 hepaticojejunostomies (56.7%), 8 end-to-end repairs (20%), 2 choledochoduodenostomies (6.7%), 3 liver transplantations (10%), 1 hepatectomy and 1 Whipple (3.3%). There were 2 deaths in the postoperative period (6.7%). Thirteen (43.3%) sustained at least 1 postoperative complication. The most common complications were cholangitis (20%), and intra-abdominal abscess/biloma (23.3%). The mean postoperative length of stay was 17.46 days. CONCLUSIONS: Bile duct injury is a serious complication that affects mostly individuals with benign disease. Various subsequent procedures (surgical and/or endoscopic) are almost always necessary for its correction, with a high socioeconomic cost that imposes great suffering on the patients and their relatives. Clearly, all efforts should be made to prevent such accidents.