Preoperative Serum Cortisol Level Is Predictive of Weight Loss After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in Men with Severe Obesity but Not Women.

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for severe obesity and its associated medical problems. Preoperative factors that predict postoperative weight loss remain to be fully characterized, however. METHODS: Anthropometric and laboratory data were collected retrospectively for severely obese patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) between April 2016 and July 2019 at our hospital. Preoperative factors that predicted weight loss at 1 year after LSG were investigated. RESULTS: A total of 122 subjects (45 men and 77 women) underwent LSG. The mean ± SD age and body mass index at surgery were 44.4 ± 10.4 years and 40.7 ± 6.7 kg/m2. The percent total weight loss (%TWL) was 27.0 ± 8.6 among all subjects, 26.4 ± 8.0 among men, and 27.4 ± 8.9 among women, with no significant difference between the sexes. The %TWL showed a significant inverse correlation with serum cortisol level in men and with age and the visceral/subcutaneous fat area ratio in women. Multivariable regression analysis revealed the presence of type 2 diabetes and the serum cortisol concentration to be negatively associated with %TWL among all subjects and men, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified an optimal cutoff of 10 µg/dL for prediction of a %TWL of ≥ 25 in men by serum cortisol level. CONCLUSIONS: Serum cortisol concentration was identified as a predictor for postoperative weight loss in men. Our results may thus help inform the decision to perform LSG or more effective surgical procedures in men with severe obesity.

What We Can Learn from Cases of Synchronous Acute Mesenteric Obstruction and Nonocclusive Mesenteric Ischemia: How to Reduce the Acute Mesenteric Ischemia-Related Mortality Rate.

Although the survival rate of patients with ischemic heart disease has recently increased, it remains unknown why the mortality rate of acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) remains high. Here, we report a possible method of improving the survival rate of patients with AMI obtained through 2 cases of simultaneous acute mesenteric obstruction (AMO) and nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI). Case 1 was a 74-year-old woman with atrial fibrillation, hypertension, and dyslipidemia as underlying diseases who developed NOMI immediately after undergoing SMA thrombolysis. Case 2 was a 69-year-old man with atrial fibrillation, hypertension, chronic heart failure, chronic renal failure, and old myocardial infarction who was diagnosed with SMA occlusion complicated by NOMI on the basis of abdominal angiography findings during the first visit. Cure was achieved by thrombolytic therapy, resection of the necrotic intestine, and continuous intra-arterial and/or intravenous injection of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) in case 1 and by resection of the necrotic intestine and continuous intra-arterial and/or intravenous injection of PGE1 in case 2. AMO and NOMI have many background similarities (e.g., atherosclerosis, hypertension, and ischemic heart disease), making their coexistence very likely. However, no case of AMO plus NOMI has been reported until now. It is highly probable that concomitant NOMI is overlooked in cases of AMO. When managing AMO, NOMI should be considered as a complication, which may lower the patient's potential risk of developing NOMI and contribute to improved prognosis of both AMO and AMI.

Pathogenic mechanisms of intestinal pneumatosis and portal venous gas: should patients with these conditions be operated immediately?

We aimed to histologically observe portal venous gas (PVG)-causing intestinal pneumatosis (IP) and evaluate pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic strategies, including decisions on whether emergency surgery should be performed. Autopsy was performed in two cases of nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI). We directly histologically observed the pathogenic mechanisms of IP caused by gas-producing bacteria and IP considered to be caused by mechanical damage to the intestinal mucosa. IP can be classified hypothetically into the following types according to pathogenesis: (1) infection, (2) rupture (damage) of the intestinal mucosa + increased intestinal intraluminal pressure, and (3) mixed type. In cases of IP caused by gas-producing bacteria or IP associated with intestinal wall damage extending beyond the mucosa to the deep muscular layer, emergency surgery should be considered. However, it is highly possible that patients who test negative for infection with gas-producing bacteria whose intestinal wall damage remains only in the mucosa can be conservatively treated.