Complete tumor necrosis after neoadjuvant chemotherapy defines good responders in patients with Ewing sarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Survival in patients who have Ewing sarcoma is correlated with postchemotherapy response (tumor necrosis). This treatment response has been categorized as the response rate, similar to what has been used in osteosarcoma. There is controversy regarding whether this is appropriate or whether it should be a dichotomy of complete versus incomplete response, given how important a complete response is for in overall survival of patients with Ewing sarcoma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact that the amount of chemotherapy-induced necrosis has on (1) overall survival, (2) local recurrence-free survival, (3) metastasis-free survival, and (4) event-free survival in patients with Ewing sarcoma. METHODS: In total, 427 patients who had Ewing sarcoma or tumors in the Ewing sarcoma family and received treatment with preoperative chemotherapy and surgery at 10 international institutions were included. Multivariate Cox proportional-hazards analyses were used to assess the associations between tumor necrosis and all four outcomes while controlling for clinical factors identified in bivariate analysis, including age, tumor volume, location, surgical margins, metastatic disease at presentation, and preoperative radiotherapy. RESULTS: Patients who had a complete (100%) tumor response to chemotherapy had increased overall survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.26; 95% CI, 0.14-0.48; p < .01), recurrence-free survival (HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.20-0.82; p = .01), metastasis-free survival (HR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.15-0.46; p ≤ .01), and event-free survival (HR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.16-0.41; p ≤ .01) compared with patients who had a partial (0%-99%) response. CONCLUSIONS: Complete tumor necrosis should be the index parameter to grade response to treatment as satisfactory in patients with Ewing sarcoma. Any viable tumor in these patients after neoadjuvant treatment should be of oncologic concern. These findings can affect the design of new clinical trials and the risk-stratified application of conventional or novel treatments.

Compartment Syndrome of the Hand after Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery.

Acute compartment syndrome of the hand is a potentially devastating and infrequent condition observed after trauma, arterial injury, or prolonged compression of the upper limb. We present the case of a patient diagnosed with compartment syndrome of the hand after laparoscopic surgery for epithelial ovarian cancer. The patient is a 42-year-old woman with incidental finding of high-grade ovarian serous carcinoma after an emergency surgery. On imaging evaluation, the patient was found to have evidence of residual retroperitoneal adenopathy and was taken to the operating room for a staging procedure by laparoscopy. In the immediate postoperative period, she developed compartment syndrome of the right hand that required multiple fasciotomies and multidisciplinary management by plastic surgery, orthopedics, and rehabilitation medicine. The patient was discharged from the hospital 7 days after laparoscopic surgery to undergo rehabilitation. Three months after surgery, she is continuing to recover, with near complete recovery of hand function. The patient has completed a total of 3 cycles of chemotherapy with carboplatin/paclitaxel. Compartment syndrome of the hand is an uncommon event, but it can generate major functional deficits and even death if it is not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner. Strict criteria for patient positioning in laparoscopy surgery may avoid or reduce this complication. To date, this is the first case reporting such complications associated with laparoscopic gynecologic surgery.

Bone Allograft Prosthesis Composite to Revise a Failed Massive Allo-Prosthesis: Case Report and 10 Years of Follow-Up.

An 18-year-old male patient with a high-grade osteosarcoma was initially treated with resection and reconstruction using an osteochondral allograft. The allograft collapsed after five years, and thus a revision with a constrained knee prosthesis was performed. After one year, the implant failed due to a fracture, requiring another revision with a new allo-prosthetic composite. The long-term results were satisfactory. Allo-prosthetic composites may offer good long-term results after sarcoma resection. The failure of a massive bone allograft does not preclude the use of another allograft to maintain the bone stock and preserve the function.

Lens Dose-Response Prediction Modeling and Cataract Incidence in Patients With Retinoblastoma After Lens-Sparing or Whole-Eye Radiation Therapy.

PURPOSE: We retrospectively assessed the incidence of cataracts in patients with retinoblastoma (Rb) treated with either lens-sparing radiation therapy (LSRT) or whole-eye radiation therapy (WERT). A secondary aim of this study was to model the dose-response risk of cataract. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We reviewed 65 patients with Rb treated with radiation therapy (RT) at Children's Hospital, Los Angeles from 1997 to 2015. Eyes that were enucleated before RT or lacked follow-up eye examinations were excluded. All patients underwent computed tomography simulation, and mean lens dose data were collected. Follow-up ophthalmologic examinations and intraocular lens implant history were reviewed for cataracts. The primary event-free survival (EFS) outcome was cataract development. Eyes without cataracts were censored on the last date of eye examination or post-RT enucleation, if applicable. Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to compare EFS outcomes, and dose response was projected with Cox regression and logistic regression models. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients (94 eyes) were analyzed with a median follow-up of 51.8 months. For eyes treated with WERT, cataracts developed in 71.7% versus 35.3% for LSRT. Median EFS for WERT and LSRT were 20.8 and 67.9 months, respectively. Compared with WERT, a significant EFS benefit was demonstrated for LSRT (P < .001). Mean lens dose had a significant effect on cataracts in both Cox regression and logistic regression models (P < .01). The mean lens dose of 7 Gy was projected to have a 5-year cataract incidence of 20% and 25% with the logistic and Cox regression models, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first clinical data demonstrating significantly improved EFS in patients with Rb treated with LSRT. Through lens dose-response modeling, we validate a mean lens dose threshold of 7 Gy to keep cataract risk below 25%. Although RT is used less often for Rb owing to advances in chemotherapy delivery options, these findings are relevant for refining lens dose constraints, particularly in children who have received radiation dose near the orbit.

Endoscopic therapies of gastroesophageal reflux disease.

The high prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Western societies has accelerated the need for new modalities of treatment. Currently, medical and surgical therapies are widely accepted among patients and physicians. New potent antisecretory drugs and the development of minimally invasive surgery for the management of GERD are at present the pivotal and largely accepted approaches to treatment. The minimally invasive treatment revolution, however, has stimulated several new endoscopic techniques for GERD. Up to now, the data is limited and further studies are necessary to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the various endoscopic techniques to medical and laparoscopic management of GERD. New journal articles and abstracts are continuously being published. The Food and Drug Administration has approved 3 modalities, thus gastroenterologists and surgeons are beginning to apply these techniques. Further trials and device refinements will assist clinicians. This article will present an overview of the various techniques that are currently on study. This review will report the efficacy and durability of various endoscopic therapies for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The potential for widespread use of these techniques will also be discussed. Articles and abstracts published in English on this topic were retrieved from Pubmed. Due to limited number of studies and remarkable differences between various trials, strict criteria were not used for the pooled data presented, however, an effort was made to avoid bias by including only studies that used off-PPI scoring as baseline and intent to treat.

Surgical repair of recurrent hiatal hernia.

The surgical management results of recurrent hiatal hernia repair are unknown in the laparoscopic era. The experience of the senior authors (CJF) and (SKM) is reported herein. From 1993 to 2004, 52 patients underwent re-operative hiatal hernia surgery at our center. Preoperative symptoms were heartburn, chest pain, dysphagia, regurgitation and pulmonary manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Patients had preoperative evaluation by upper endoscopy, pH-monitoring, esophagogram and manometry to assess the mechanism of failure. Pre- and postoperative symptoms were assessed utilizing a standardized questionnaire. Patients underwent laparoscopic repair (n=18), open laparotomy (n=6) and transthoracic surgery (n=28). Ninety-five percent follow-up was achieved with a mean follow-up of 34 months. Thirty-seven percent of patients encountered para-operative complications one of them died due to respiratory insufficiency. Five patients experienced a re-recurrent hernia. The symptom resolution was 65% for dysphagia, 68% for heartburn, 95% for chest pain and 79% for regurgitation. The overall patient satisfaction was 6.94 on a scale of 1-10. There was no significant difference in patient outcome when comparing the operative approaches or disease process. Surgical repair of recurrent hiatal hernias is safe and effective. Laparoscopic surgery is an appropriate alternative approach for recurrent hiatal hernia repair in selected patients.

Repair of 104 failed anti-reflux operations.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether reoperative surgery for failed Nissen fundoplication is beneficial and to classify all mechanisms of failure recognized. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Antireflux surgery is often necessary, but a 10% failure rate is commonplace. We report results for patients undergoing reoperative surgery and present a nomenclature of mechanisms of failure. METHODS: A total of 104 patients, who had a previous fundoplication for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), underwent reoperative surgery. Manometry (n = 86), endoscopy (n = 101), pH monitoring (n = 27), upright esophagram (n = 90), gastric emptying (n = 26), and symptom assessment (n = 104) were performed prior to reoperative surgery. Patients were also assessed before and during reoperation for mechanism of failure using a newly proposed classification. The operative approach was laparoscopic in 58 patients, via open laparotomy in 12, and a thoracotomy in 34 patients. Follow-up was conducted by phone interview and was completed in 97 patients (97%; 3 were deceased) with a mean follow-up of 32 months (range, 1-146 months). RESULTS: The conversion rate to laparotomy for laparoscopic patients was 8%. The perioperative complication rate was 32%. One patient died of respiratory insufficiency after a laparotomy. Seven patients required additional surgery for correction of persistent or recurrent symptoms. The short and long-term complication rate was similar for the different operative approachs. Symptom resolution (rare or absent) occurred in 74% of patients with dysphagia, 75% with heartburn, 85% with regurgitation, and 94% with chest pain. The overall post-reoperative patient satisfaction was 7 on a scale of 1 to 10 and 3 on a scale of 1 to 4 when patients were asked to grade the operative result. There was no difference in the symptom resolution for patients operated upon by the laparoscopic approach as compared with laparotomy, but those patients undergoing a Collis gastroplasty had poorer results. The preoperative accuracy of assessment for mechanism of failure was 78%. A nomenclature of mechanisms of failure is included to aide reoperative assessment and new mechanisms of failure are described. CONCLUSION: Reoperative surgery results for GERD are satisfactory. A variety of operative approaches proved equally effective. Poorer results were observed in patients with more advanced disease.