Influence of Food Intake on the Healing Process of Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula After Pancreatoduodenectomy: A Multi-institutional Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: The usefulness of enteral nutrition via a nasointestinal tube for patients who develop postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) after miscellaneous pancreatectomy procedures has been reported. However, no clear evidence regarding whether oral intake is possible during management of POPF after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is currently available. We investigated the effects of oral food intake on the healing process of POPF after PD by a multi-institutional randomized controlled trial. METHODS: Patients who developed POPF were randomly assigned to the dietary intake (DI) group (n = 30) or the fasted group [no dietary intake (NDI) group] (n = 29). The primary endpoint was the length of drain placement. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in the length of drain placement between the DI and NDI groups [27 (7-80) vs. 26 (7-70) days, respectively; p = .8858]. POPF progressed to a clinically relevant status (grade B/C) in 20 patients in the DI group and 19 patients in the NDI group (p = .9257). POPF-related intra-abdominal hemorrhage was found in 2 patients in the NDI group, but in no patients in the DI group (p = .1434). There were no significant differences in POPF-related intra-abdominal hemorrhage, the incidence of other complications, or the length of the postoperative hospital stay between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: Food intake did not aggravate POPF and did not prolong the length of drain placement or hospital stay after PD. There may be no need to avoid oral dietary intake in patients with POPF.

Total pancreatectomy with segmental duodenectomy preserving right gastroepiploic vein.

We performed total pancreatectomy with segmental duodenectomy preserving the gastrocolic trunk and right gastroepiploic vein, to prevent gastric venous congestion, for treatment of pancreatic tumor. This is believed to be the first report of such a procedure. The patient was a 58-year-old man with high serum levels of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and carcinoembryonic antigen. He was examined by abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography, and diagnosed with cancer of the pancreatic body. No distant metastasis was found. We decided to perform distal pancreatectomy. After surgery, the cut edge of the distal pancreas was subjected to frozen section examination, and there was carcinoma in situ in the stump of the main pancreatic duct. Therefore, we cut the pancreatic head partially, twice, but carcinoma in situ remained. We additionally performed pancreatic head resection with segmental duodenectomy, with preservation of the gastroduodenal artery, right gastroepiploic artery, gastrocolic trunk and right gastroepiploic vein to prevent gastric venous congestion. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient remains in good condition. This surgical technique is considered feasible and safe for prevention of gastric venous congestion.

[A case of endocrine cell carcinoma (small cell carcinoma) of duodenum].

Extra-ampullary duodenal endocrine cell carcinoma is extremely rare. A 65-year-old woman visited our hospital, complaining of epigastralgia, anorexia and vomiting. She was admitted for suspected duodenal or pancreas head tumor by abdominal CT. Fiberscopic examination revealed a circumferential tumor in the extra-ampullary duodenal second portion. Histopathological findings of biopsy specimen showed a small cell carcinoma, and positive immunohistochemical staining for synaptophysin revealed this tumor to be endocrine cell carcinoma. Pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy with partial transversocolectomy was performed, and intraoperative washing cytology detected tumor cells in the peritoneal cavity. Although she discharged from hospital uneventfully, she died 11 months later of multiple liver metastases and peritoneal dissemination. This case showed the high malignant potential of this tumor.

A resected case of symptomatic acinar cell cystadenoma of the pancreas displacing the main pancreatic duct.

Acinar cell cystadenoma (ACA) of the pancreas has been newly recognized as an entity by the World Health Organization (WHO) definition (2010), and its pathogenesis has not been known adequately because of the rarity. Here, we report a case of a 22-year-old female who had been followed up for a cystic lesion at the tail of the pancreas pointed out by a screening computed tomography (CT) scan 7 years ago. The tumor grew in size from 3.3 to 5.1 cm in diameter for 6 years (0.3 cm per year). Particularly, it rapidly grew up to 6.3 cm in the latest 3 months in concurrence with the emergence of epigastralgia. A contrasted CT scan revealed the irregularly formed, multilocular cystic tumor having thin septum and calcification. The intratumoral magnetic resonance imaging intensity in the T1 and T2 weighted images were low and high, respectively. No communications between the tumor and the main pancreatic duct (MPD) were found, but the tumor displaced the MPD. She underwent surgical resection because the tumor was growing, turned symptomatic, and it seemed difficult to be diagnosed correctly until totally biopsied. Spleen-preserved distal pancreatectomy was performed. It was pathologically diagnosed as ACA; the cyst was lined by cells with normal acinar differentiation; cuboidal cells with round, basally oriented nuclei and eosinophilic granules in its apical cytoplasm. The abdominal pain has disappeared, and no recurrences have been found during a 5-year follow-up. Clinicians are recommended to consider an ACA as one of differential diagnoses of cystic tumors of the pancreas to provide appropriate diagnostics and therapeutics.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of portal Doppler waveform and a novel factor of portal pulsatility: Systolic spike wave.

BACKGROUND: We attempted to identify the physiologic circumstances associated with the portal Doppler waveform. METHOD: The subjects were 98 patients: 42 had cirrhosis; 23, hepatitis; and 33, no liver disorder. We measured right portal venous peak velocity, minimum velocity, and hepatic arterial peak systolic velocity. Portal venous pulsatility was calculated as portal venous minimum velocity divided by portal venous peak velocity. We analyzed portal waveforms both qualitatively and quantitatively. RESULTS: Portal Doppler waveforms were classified as nonphasic, monophasic, biphasic, biphasic including spike wave, and triphasic. Portal waveforms were phasic in 84 subjects who had a mild systolic dip during the arterial systolic period. Markedly portal pulsatility (portal venous pulsatility<0.6) was present in only 7 subjects. A systolic spike wave corresponding to a hepatic arterial peak systolic wave was detected in 48 subjects. Hepatic arterial peak systolic velocity was significantly higher in the group with spike wave than in the group without it. CONCLUSION: Although portal pulsatility is generally attributed to multiple factors, the present study has pointed out a new factor; transmission via the hepatic artery through the portal vein vasa vasorum. Hepatic venous drainage and hepatic arterial blood flow influence portal waveform.

Sonographic measurement of the volume of the left lateral segment of the liver.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of sonography for measuring the volume of the left lateral segment of the liver. METHODS: The volume of the left lateral segment of the liver was measured with sonography in 101 consecutive patients who were hospitalized between December 1998 and January 2000 for hepatic, biliary, or pancreatic disease or who were donors for a living related liver transplantation. The results were compared with those obtained using CT. RESULTS: The mean calculated volume of the left lateral segment of the liver +/- standard deviation was 261 +/- 118 cm(3) by sonography compared with 274 +/- 123 cm(3) by CT. The relationship between the results of both imaging modalities was linear and statistically significant (r = 0.93; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that sonography has an acceptable level of accuracy and reliability for routine measurement of the volume of the left lateral segment of the liver.

Emergency pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy followed by second-stage pancreatojejunostomy for a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the duodenum with an intratumoral gas figure: report of a case.

We report a case of a duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) necessitating urgent surgery because of a gas figure on computed tomography (CT). A 46-year-old woman, complaining chiefly of upper abdominal pain and tarry stools, consulted a local doctor. A gastrointestinal fiberscopy revealed an ulcer in the second part of the duodenum, and the patient was admitted to our hospital where a dynamic CT scan showed a hypervascular solid tumor in the pancreatic head. A repeat CT scan done 4 days later showed a gas figure in the tumor, necessitating an emergency pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy (PpPD). First, we performed a tube pancreatostomy for complete external drainage of the pancreatic juice, and planned a second-stage pancreatojejunostomy for the near future. Histopathologically, the tumor was diagnosed as a GIST originating in the duodenum. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 23 after an uneventful postoperative recovery. Her local doctor completed the second-stage pancreatojejunostomy.