Short-term and long-term outcomes after preventive surgery in adolescent patients with familial adenomatous polyposis.

BACKGROUND: APC gene pathogenic variants are characterized by a lifetime risk of nearly 100% to develop a colorectal carcinoma. International guidelines suggest a prophylactic surgery in the second decade. METHODS: A descriptive analysis was performed evaluating a surgical series of adolescent patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) enrolled in the prospectively maintained hereditary polyposis registry. RESULTS: Thirty-eight adolescent patients (median age 16 years; range, 7-19) underwent laparoscopic prophylactic surgery. APC gene pathogenic variants were detected in all patients, and six patients were proband. No patients were converted to open surgery. Median postoperative stay was five days (4-16). Early postoperative complications were one dural puncture and one anastomotic leakage. Regarding late complications, we observed one patient having small bowel obstruction 56 months after surgery. Pathological reports showed one patient with pTis adenocarcinoma in two separate sites; 33 patients with low-grade dysplasia, four with high-grade dysplasia. One patient developed a desmoid tumor 37 months after surgery. After a median follow-up of 40.5 months, no patients died or had a second abdominal surgery because of cancer in rectal stump. CONCLUSIONS: Rectal sparing surgery was the first choice in the major respect of patients' quality of life. Laparoscopic prophylactic surgery for FAP is well accepted from adolescents. It represents a safe option due to the low incidence of post-surgical desmoids and quick postoperative recovery.

Intravitreal bevacizumab for a subfoveal myopic choroidal neovascularization in the first trimester of pregnancy.

PURPOSE: To report the clinical course of a highly myopic woman treated by a single intravitreal injection of bevacizumab during the first trimester of pregnancy. METHODS: Observational case report. A 35-year-old woman affected by pathologic myopia complained of blurred vision in her left eye in the fourth week of pregnancy. A subfoveal myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was diagnosed on the basis of slit-lamp fundus biomicroscopy and fluorescein angiography. After discussing the treatment-related risks, she was administered an intravitreal injection of bevacizumab in her seventh gestational week. During pregnancy, fetal ultrasound and ophthalmic examination were performed monthly. After delivery, the mother and infant were followed quarterly for 12 months. RESULTS: The patient had an uneventful prenatal course and delivered a healthy full-term infant. Significant visual improvement with no documented adverse events related to treatment was obtained. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, a single intravitreal bevacizumab injection administered during the first trimester of pregnancy did not provoke any complications, and was effective in myopic CNV treatment. Further studies are warranted to provide more detailed information about this treatment and the related risks in pregnant women.