Relationship between the severity of emphysematous change in the lung and morbidity after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer: A retrospective study on a novel strategy for risk prediction.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence increases post-esophagectomy morbidity. However, the association between COPD severity and post-esophagectomy morbidity remains unclear because of the lack of an objective method to classify COPD severity. Low attenuation volume ratio (LAVR) estimated using Ziostation2 may reflect the extent of emphysematous changes in the lungs and COPD severity, thereby predicting post-esophagectomy morbidity. METHODS: A total of 776 patients who underwent curative McKeown esophagectomy for esophageal cancer between April 2005 and June 2021 were included. The patients were divided into high and low preoperative LAVR groups. Short-term outcomes between the groups were compared for patients who underwent open esophagectomy (OE) and minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). RESULTS: A total of 219 (28%) patients were classified into the high LAVR group. High LAVR was significantly associated with disadvantageous patient characteristics such as advanced age, heavy smoking, and impaired respiratory function. Patients with high LAVR had a significantly higher incidence of severe morbidity and pneumonia after OE. High LAVR was an independent risk factor for severe morbidity (odds ratio [OR], 2.52; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.237-5.143; p = 0.011) and pneumonia (OR, 2.12; 95% CI: 1.003-4.493; p = 0.049) after OE. Meanwhile, LAVR was not correlated with the incidence of post-MIE morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: LAVR may reflect COPD severity and predict severe morbidity and pneumonia after OE, but not after MIE. Less invasiveness of MIE may alleviate the effects of various disadvantageous backgrounds associated with high LAVR on worse short-term outcomes.

Total Lesion Glycolysis Assessment Identifies a Patient Fraction With a High Cure Rate Among Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Patients Treated With Definitive Chemoradiation.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine whether tumor metabolism could be prognostic of cure in L-EAC patients who receive definitive chemoradiation. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Patients with inoperable localized esophageal adenocarcinoma (L-EAC) often receive definitive chemoradiation; however, biomarkers and/or imaging variables to prognosticate cure are missing. METHODS: Two hundred sixty-six patients with L-EAC who had chemoradiation but not surgery were analyzed from the prospectively maintained EAC databases in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Texas, USA) between March 2002 and April 2015. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) from the positron emission tomography data were evaluated. RESULTS: Of 266 patients, 253 (95%) were men; the median age was 67 years (range 20-91 yrs) and 153 had poorly differentiated L-EAC. The median SUVmax was 10.3 (range 0-87) and the median TLG was 85.7 (range 0-3227). Both SUVmax and TLG were higher among those with: tumors >5 cm in length, high clinical stage, and high tumor and node categories by TNM staging (all P < 0.0001). Of 234 patients evaluable for cure, 60 (25.6%) achieved cure. In the multivariable logistic regression model, low TLG (but not low SUVmax) was associated with cure (continuous TLG value: odds ratio 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54-0.92). TLG was quantified into 4 quartile categorical variables; first quartile (Q1; <32), second quartile (Q2; 32.0-85.6), third quartile (Q3; 85.6-228.4), and fourth quartile (Q4; >228.4); the cure rate was only 10.3% in Q4 and 5.1% in Q3 but increased to 28.8% in Q2, and 58.6% in Q1. The cross-validation resulted in an average accuracy of prediction score of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.75-0.86). CONCLUSIONS: In this cross-validated model, 59% of patients in the 1st quartile were cured following definitive chemoradiation. Baseline TLG could be pursued as one of the tools for esophageal preservation.

Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) versus modified E-PASS for prediction of postoperative complications in elderly patients who undergo gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Improvements in operative technique and perioperative management have resulted in increasing numbers of elderly patients undergoing gastrectomy for gastric cancer (GC). We evaluated the accuracy of Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) and modified (m)E-PASS scores in predicting postoperative complications in elderly patients with GC. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed short-term outcomes in 413 patients who underwent gastrectomy for GC between 2005 and 2014. They were divided into two groups: Group N comprised 341 non-elderly patients <80 years of age and Group E comprised 72 elderly patients ≥80 years of age. We calculated the E-PASS and mE-PASS scores and evaluated the correlation between the comprehensive risk score (CRS) and occurrence of postoperative complications. RESULTS: Morbidity rates were 25.5 % in Group N and 31.9 % in Group E. In Group N, the CRS values of both the E-PASS (P < 0.0001) and mE-PASS (P < 0.0001) scores were significantly higher in patients with complications than in those without complications. In Group E, although the E-PASS CRS was significantly higher in patients with complications than in patients without complications (P = 0.01), the mE-PASS CRS fixed (CRSf) score was not significantly correlated with the occurrence of postoperative complications (P = 0.08). CONCLUSION: Both E-PASS and mE-PASS can be used to predict the occurrence of postoperative complications in GC patients undergoing gastrectomy. However, the E-PASS CRS is more accurate for elderly patients because variations in intraoperative parameters such as operation time, blood loss, and extent of skin incision have a strong influence on the occurrence of postoperative complications.

Preoperative Nutritional Assessment by Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) is Useful to estimate Postoperative Morbidity After Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: A nutritional indicator suitable for predicting complications after esophagectomy has not been confirmed. The nutritional screening tool CONUT is a potential candidate. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 352 patients who underwent elective esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy for esophageal cancer between April 2005 and December 2014. Patients were divided into three groups according to the malnutrition degree in controlling nutritional status (CONUT): normal, light malnutrition, moderate or severe malnutrition. RESULTS: The numbers of patients assigned to the normal, light malnutrition, and moderate or severe malnutrition groups were 205, 126, and 21, respectively. One hundred forty-seven (41.8 %) patients were considered malnourished. Patients with moderate or severe malnutrition had a significantly high incidence of any morbidity, severe morbidities, and surgical site infection. Hospital stay in patients with moderate or severe malnutrition was significantly longer. Logistic regression analysis suggested that moderate or severe malnutrition was an independent risk factor for any morbidity [hazard ratio (HR) 2.75, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.081-7.020; p = 0.034] and severe morbidities (HR 3.07, 95 % CI 1.002-9.432; p = 0.049). CONCLUSIONS: CONUT was a convenient and useful tool to assess nutritional status before esophagectomy. Patients with moderate or severe malnutrition according to CONUT are at high risk for postoperative complications.

Surgical Apgar Score Predicted Postoperative Morbidity After Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Recently, a simple and easy complication prediction system, the Surgical Apgar Sore (SAS) calculated by three intraoperative parameters (estimated blood loss, lowest mean arterial pressure, and lowest heart rate), has been proposed for general surgery. This study aimed to determine if the SAS could accurately predict perioperative morbidity in patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. METHODS: We investigated 399 patients who underwent esophagectomy at the Kumamoto University Hospital between April 2007 and March 2015. Clinical data, including intraoperative parameters, were collected retrospectively. Patients had postoperative morbidities classified as Clavien-Dindo grade III or more. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to elucidate factors that affected the development of complications. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 65.7 years, 357 patients (89.5 %) were male. The frequency of any morbidity was 32.3 %. Univariate analyses showed that the SAS as well as preoperative chemotherapy, volume of bleeding, and reconstruction of organs were associated with morbidities. Multivariate analysis showed that a SAS < 5 was found to be an independent risk factor for morbidities. CONCLUSION: The SAS is considered to be useful for predicting the development of postoperative morbidities after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.