Treatment of postoperative jejunal intussusception in adult with oral gastrografin after laparoscopic low rectal resection. A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative intussusception is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction in adults. Intussusception refers to a condition in which a segment of the intestine invaginates into the lumen of an adjacent segment of the intestine. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of postoperative jejunojejunal intussusception in a 42-year-old male following a laparoscopic low anterior resection for rectal cancer. In post-operative day (POD) 2 the patient showed intermittent bowel obstruction and fever. Diagnosis was established with abdominal computed tomography (CT) and enteroclysis, which led to a spontaneous reduction of the invagination. DISCUSSION: The incidence of intussusception in adults is rare condition. It represents less than 5% of all cases. In adults, transient asymptomatic enteric intussusception often resolves spontaneously without any treatment. When bowel obstruction is complete and persistent, surgery is need. Intussusception as cause of intestinal obstruction should be kept in mind in a post operative patient who develops obstructive symptoms. Early diagnosis makes the difference between surgical and others treatment. The pathogenesis and diagnosis of postoperative intussusception in the adult is discussed in the case report. CONCLUSION: The authors presented a rare cause of postoperative small bowel obstruction treated without surgery. The peculiarity of this case report is that the authors have successfully used, in an adult, conservative treatment with gastrografin, which is the treatment of choice used in children. The use of gastrografin was decisive and there were no recurrences in the follow up.

Electrochemotherapy of cholangiocellular carcinoma at hepatic hilum: A feasibility study.

AIM: We evaluated feasibility, safety and efficacy of Electrochemotherapy (ECT) in a prospective series of patients with unresectable Perihilar-Cholangiocarcinoma (PHCCA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Five patients with PHCCA underwent ECT. Three patients underwent percutaneous ECT of a single PHCCA nodule. One patient underwent resection of a nodule in the IV segment and intraoperative ECT of a large PHCCA in the VIII segment. Another patient underwent percutaneous ECT of a large PHCCA recurrence after left lobectomy and RF ablation of a synchronous metastasis in the VI segment. ECT was performed under US guidance. Efficacy was evaluated by contrast-enhanced multiple-detector-computed-tomography (MDCT) 4 weeks after treatment. Follow-up entailed MDCT every 6 months thereafter. RESULTS: No major complication occurred. Follow-up ranges from 10 to 30 months. Four weeks post-treatment CT showed complete response in 3 cases. These patients are still alive, and follow-up CT controls demonstrated no local or distant intrahepatic recurrences and no biliary duct dilation in 2 cases and local recurrence at 18 months follow-up control in 1 patient. In the remaining 2 cases, 4-weeks-post-treatment CT showed incomplete response (>90%). In these patients follow-up CT demonstrated local progression of the disease at 6 months. One of them had bilateral external biliary drainages and died because of tumor progression at 16-months-follow-up. The other patient, died at 10 months follow-up for cardiovascular failure not related to the hepatobiliary disease. CONCLUSIONS: ECT is feasible, safe and effective therapy to improve prognosis and quality of life of patients with unresectable PHCCA.

Irreversible electroporation of locally advanced solid pseudopapillary carcinoma of the pancreas: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Solid pseudopapillary Carcinoma (SPC) is a rare pancreatic Tumor with variable, usually low, malignancy potential. Howewer, several SPC are associated with aggressive behavior, local vascular infiltration, organ invasion, distant metastasis, and can be unresectable. Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) is an emerging non-thermal ablation technique for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma. We report the results of four year disease-free follow-up in a case of locally advanced unresectable SPC treated with IRE. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 24-year female patient with SPC of the pancreas underwent IRE during laparotomy under general anesthesia with intubation. Computed Tomography (CT) showed complete tumor thrombosis of splenic vein, encasement of celiac artery and mesenteric vein. Six insertions of 3-4 electrodes per insertion were performed. One month-CT-control showed shrinkage of the tumor. 6 months-post-treatment imaging showed complete regression of the mass, patent Splenic/mesenteric veins, absence of local recurrence or distant metastasis. Post treatment CTs at 12-18-24-30-36-42-48 months follow-up confirmed absence of local or distant recurrence. DISCUSSION: Surgery is the first choice curative treatment of SPC. Howewer aggressive surgery (duodeno-pancreasectomy) in unresectable cases, may have a high risk of recurrences, morbidities and death, and bring concerns about endocrine and exocrine insufficiency in a young patient. In these cases, IRE could be a safe and effective alternative treatment and could realize, in selected cases, the condition for a radical surgery, and a bridge to R-0 resection. CONCLUSIONS: IRE could represent an effective alternative therapy to surgery in local advanced, unresectable SPC.

Percutaneous electrochemotherapy in the treatment of portal vein tumor thrombosis at hepatic hilum in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: A feasibility study.

AIM: To treated with electrochemotherapy (ECT) a prospective case series of patients with liver cirrhosis and Vp3-Vp4- portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in order to evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of this new non thermal ablative technique in those patients. METHODS: Six patients (5 males and 1 female), aged 61-85 years (mean age, 70 years), four in Child-Pugh A and two in Child-Pugh B class, entered our study series. All patients were studied with three-phase computed tomography (CT), contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and ultrasound-guided percutaneous biopsy of the thrombus before ECT. All patients underwent ECT treatment (Cliniporator Vitae®, IGEA SpA, Carpi, Modena, Italy) of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT in a single session. At the end of the procedure a post-treatment biopsy of the thrombus was performed. Scheduled follow-up in all patients entailed: CEUS within 24 h after treatment; triphasic contrast-enhanced CT and CEUS at 3 mo after treatment and every six months thereafter. RESULTS: Post-treatment CEUS showed complete absence of enhancement of the treated thrombus in all cases. Post-treatment biopsy showed apoptosis and necrosis of tumor cells in all cases. The follow-up ranged from 9 to 20 mo (median, 14 mo). In 2 patients, the follow-up CT and CEUS demonstrated complete patency of the treated portal vein. Other 3 patients showed a persistent avascular non-tumoral shrinked thrombus at CEUS and CT during follow-up. No local recurrence was observed at follow-up CT and CEUS in 5/6 patients. One patient was lost to follow-up because of death from gastrointestinal hemorrage 5 wk after ECT. CONCLUSION: In patients with cirrhosis, ECT seems effective and safe for curative treatment of Vp3-Vp4 PVTT from HCC.

Cardiac vascular calcification and QT interval in ESRD patients: is there a link?

We will present our experience and our preliminary data about the correlation between cardiac calcification and QT interval (and QT dispersion) in uraemia. We studied 32 haemodialysis (HD) patients (age 69 +/- 16 years, time on dialysis 32 +/- 27 months) and 12 chronic kidney disease stage 4 (CKD-4) patients (age 66 +/- 17 years, uraemia duration 38 +/- 16 months). The patients were characterized by a good mineral control, as shown by serum phosphate levels (3.6 +/- 1.3 mg/dl in CKD-4 and 4.3 +/- 1.6 mg/dl in HD patients) and Ca x P product (46 +/- 17 and 49 +/- 16 mg(2)/dl(2), respectively). The parathyroid hormone levels were higher in HD than CKD-4 patients (p < 0.0001). A TC score >400 was found to be highly prevalent in both groups. Significantly more HD patients (62.5%) showed cardiac calcification than CKD-4 patients (33%; p = 0.01). The patients were matched for TC scores higher or lower than 400. The two groups differed by gender (p < 0.05), age (p = 0.026), frequency of diabetes mellitus (p < 0.01), uraemia follow-up period (p < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (p = 0.009), Ca x P product (p = 0.002), parathyroid hormone level (p < 0.0001), and corrected QT dispersion (p < 0.0001). The QT interval was higher in HD and CKD-4 patients with higher TC scores (approximately 11%), but QT interval dispersion was significantly higher in patients with TC scores >400. QT dispersion showed a linear correlation with TC scores in both groups (r = 0.899 and p < 0.0001 and r = 0.901 and p < 0.0001). Male gender, age, time (months) of uraemia, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, albumin, calcium x phosphorus product, parathyroid hormone, and TC score are important determinants of QT dispersion. Our data show that it is possible to link dysrhythmias and cardiac calcification in uraemic patients.

Value of the single-phase technique in MDCT assessment of pancreatic tumors.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to determine the diagnostic value of single-phase MDCT in patients with suspected pancreatic carcinoma. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Seventy-one patients (41 men, 30 women; mean age, 63 years; range, 29-80 years) with suspected pancreatic tumor underwent MDCT. Scanning was performed on an MDCT scanner with 0.5-sec gantry rotation and acquisition of 4 slices per rotation. Unenhanced scanning was followed by one set of scanning in the caudocranial direction from the inferior hepatic margin to the diaphragm with a scanning delay of 60 sec after the IV injection of 150 mL of contrast material delivered at 3 mL/sec. Two reviewers independently scored images in a blinded fashion for the presence of tumor and assessment of resectability. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed. RESULTS: A final histopathologic diagnosis derived from surgical findings was obtained in 42 patients; in the remaining 29 patients, percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy coupled with a 1-year clinical follow-up to determine development of local, regional or distant neoplasm served as gold standard proof of diagnosis. Final diagnosis was pancreatic cancer in 40 patients (27 ductal adenocarcinoma, nine mucinous cystoadenocarcinoma, two neuroendocrine tumors, one lymphoma, and one papillary cystoadenocarcinoma) and chronic pancreatitis in 31. The mean tumor size was 2.4 cm (range, 4-1 cm). Values for the area under the curve (A(z)) for the assessment of tumor detection were 0.97 for reviewer 1 and 0.96 for reviewer 2 (p = not significant). A(z) values for tumor resectability were 0.90 for reviewer 1 and 0.90 for reviewer 2 (p = not significant). No statistically significant differences were observed between superior mesenteric artery and vein opacification with the hepatic parenchyma enhanced at a time closer to the peak hepatic enhancement, optimizing the detection of hepatic lesions. CONCLUSION: Thin-section single-phase MDCT is an accurate technique for the diagnosis and assessment of resectability in patients with a suspected pancreatic neoplasm. This technique provides optimal tumor-to-pancreas contrast and maximal pancreatic parenchymal and peripancreatic vascular enhancement. It allows visualization of the entire liver and the whole upper abdomen during the portal phase for accurate identification of liver metastases and peritoneal seeding.