The usefulness of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging for intestinal perfusion assessment of intracorporeal anastomosis in laparoscopic colon cancer surgery.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to clarify the usefulness of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging (ICG-FI) in the assessment of intestinal vascular perfusion in patients who receive intracorporeal anastomosis (IA) in colon cancer surgery. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective study using propensity score matching. We compared the surgical outcomes of colon cancer patients who underwent laparoscopic colonic resection with IA or external anastomosis (EA) with the intraoperative evaluation of anastomotic perfusion using ICG-FI from January 2019 to July 2021. The detection rate of poor anastomotic perfusion by ICG-FI was examined. RESULTS: A total of 223 patients were enrolled. After matching, 69 patients each were classified into the IA and EA groups. There were no significant differences in age, sex, body mass index, tumor localization, or progression between the two groups. The operation time was similar (172 min vs. 171 min, p = 0.62) and the amount of bleeding was significantly lower (0 ml vs. 2 ml, p = 0.0023) in the IA group. The complication rates (grade ≥ 2) of the two groups were similar (14.5% vs. 11.6%, p = 0.59). ICG-FI identified four patients (5.8%) with poor anastomotic perfusion in the IA group, but none in the EA group (p = 0.046). All four patients with poor perfusion in the IA group underwent additional resection; none of these patients developed postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: Poor anastomotic perfusion was detected in 5.8% of cases who underwent laparoscopic colon cancer surgery with IA. ICG-FI is useful for evaluating anastomotic perfusion in IA in order to prevent AL.

The modified Glasgow prognostic score as a predictor of survival after hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases.

BACKGROUND: The inflammation-based Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) has been demonstrated to be prognostic for various tumors. We investigated the value of the modified GPS (mGPS) for the prognosis of patients undergoing curative resection for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). METHODS: A total of 343 patients were enrolled onto this study. The mGPS was calculated as follows: mGPS-0, C-reactive protein (CRP) ≤10 mg/L; mGPS-1, CRP >10 mg/L and albumin ≥35 g/L; and mGPS-2, CRP >10 mg/L and albumin <35 g/L. Prognostic significance was retrospectively analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Of the 343 patients, 295 (86.0 %) were assigned to mGPS-0, 33 (9.6 %) to mGPS-1, and 15 (4.4 %) to mGPS-2. The median disease-free survival of patients with mGPS-0, -1, and -2 was 18.3, 15.5, and 5.2 months, respectively. The median cancer-specific survival (CSS) of patients with mGPS-0, -1, and -2 was 89.5, 62.2, and 25.8 months, respectively. The CSS of patients with mGPS-0 was significantly longer than that of patients with mGPS-2. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant association between cancer-related postoperative mortality and mGPS and carcinoembryonic antigen level. CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative mGPS is a useful prognostic factor for postoperative survival in patients undergoing curative resection for CRLM.

Severity and prognostic assessment of the endotoxin activity assay in biliary tract infection.

BACKGROUND: Acute cholangitis and cholecystitis (AC) often progress to severe septic conditions. We evaluated the endotoxin activity assay (EAA) for assessment and prediction of the severity of AC. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 98 patients diagnosed with AC. We divided them into low (<0.4) and high (≥0.4) groups based on EAA values. RESULTS: Endotoxin levels showed no correlation with EAA values. Serum C-reactive protein (8.57 vs. 5.23 mg/dl, P = 0.02), procalcitonin (2.45 vs. 0.48 ng/ml, P = 0.004), and the positive culture rate of blood (50% vs. 15%, P < 0.001) were significantly higher in the high group than in the low group. Platelet counts were significantly lower in the high group than in the low group (23.9 vs. 13.5 10(4) /ml, P = 0.004). The ratio of patients with a Japanese Association for Acute Medicine disseminated intravascular coagulation score ≥4 (32% vs. 14%, P = 0.032) was significantly higher in the high group than in the low group. There was a significantly higher percentage of patients with a severe grade of AC in the high group than patients with a mild or moderate grade (32% vs. 15%, P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Endotoxin activity assay is useful for assessment and early prediction of septic conditions due to AC.