Successful resection after first-line lenvatinib therapy in an advanced thymic carcinoma.

Thymic carcinoma is a highly malignant tumor and treatment options are limited. Lenvatinib, a novel multitargeted kinase inhibitor, has recently been approved for the treatment of unresectable thymic carcinoma. There are no reports of complete surgical resection after the administration of first-line lenvatinib in advanced thymic carcinoma. A 50-year-old man visited our hospital because a computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest showed a large thymic squamous cell carcinoma. We suspected malignant pericardial effusion, invasion of the left upper lobe of the lung, and left mediastinal lymph node metastases. The patient was diagnosed with WHO classification stage IVb disease. Lenvatinib therapy was started at 24 mg/day as first-line therapy. Gradual dose reduction to 16 mg/day was required because of hypertension, diarrhea, and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome as side effects. Chest CT findings after 6 months of lenvatinib therapy showed reduction of the main tumor, disappearance of the mediastinal lymph node metastases, and pericardial effusion. Complete salvage resection was successfully performed a month after discontinuation of lenvatinib. The patient has been disease-free for 1 year without adjuvant therapy. Lenvatinib therapy is one of the promising therapeutic options for thymic carcinoma and may make salvage surgery increasingly useful for advanced thymic carcinoma.

Urgent versus elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy following percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage for high-risk grade II acute cholecystitis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of urgent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (Lap-C) for grade II acute cholecystitis (AC) in high-risk patients who were defined by Tokyo Guideline 18 as having age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index ≥6 or American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification (ASA-PS) ≥ 3, compared with elective Lap-C following percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD). METHODS: In 73 grade II AC patients who underwent Lap-C from January 2012 to March 2021, 35 were identified as high-risk; 22 underwent urgent Lap-C (urgent group) and 13 PTGBD followed by elective Lap-C (elective group). Surgical and perioperative outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in operation time (median: 101 min vs 125 min; P = 0.371), blood loss (25 ml vs 7 ml; P = 0.853), morbidity rate (31.8% vs 38.5%; P = 0.726), or the incidence of total perioperative major complications (13.6% vs 15.4%; P = 1.000) between the two groups. The total duration of treatment was significantly shorter in the urgent group than the elective group (11 days vs 71 days; P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that blood loss ≥45 ml [odds ratio (OS): 12.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.03-72.42, P = 0.006], and age ≥75 years with ASA-PS ≥ 3 (OS: 9.85, 95%CI: 1.26-77.26, P = 0.03) were the independent risk factors for total perioperative major complications. CONCLUSION: In well-selected high-risk patients with grade II AC, urgent Lap-C can be performed with comparable safety to elective Lap-C following PTGBD.

Predictive factors of perforated appendicitis: Impact of the C-reactive protein level.

BACKGROUND: Perforated appendicitis without an associated abscess necessitates emergency surgery. However, it is difficult to predict the presence of perforation before surgery, and the predictive factors are still unclarified. Our purposes were to characterize a patient population with perforated appendicitis without an associated abscess to identify the preoperative predictive factors of appendiceal perforation. METHODS: We retrospectively identified 150 patients who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis at our institution from June 2018 to November 2020. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the concurrent effects of various factors on the prevalence of perforated appendicitis. RESULTS: Forty (29%) of 150 patients had appendiceal perforation detected intraoperatively. Of these 40 patients, only 19 had appendiceal perforation detected on preoperative computed tomography. Multivariable analysis found that a higher C-reactive protein level, higher total bilirubin level, and the presence of an appendiceal fecalith were independent predictive factors for appendicitis with perforation. CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggests that the presence of an appendiceal fecalith, a total bilirubin level of more than 21.38 µmol/L, and a C-reactive protein level of more than 3.0 × 104 µg/L are predictive factors of perforated appendicitis.