Robotic abdominal wall repair: adoption and early outcomes in a large academic medical center.

Robotic-assisted abdominal wall repair (RAWR) has seen an exponential adoption over the last 5 years. Skepticism surrounding the safety, efficacy, and cost continues to limit a more widespread adoption of the platform. We describe our initial experience of 312 patients undergoing RAWR at a large academic center. A retrospective review of all patients undergoing any RAWR from July 1, 2016 to March 18, 2020 was completed. Patient specific, operation specific, and 30-day outcomes specific data were collected. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to assess factors associated with 30-day complications. There was a steady adoption of RAWR over the study period. A total of 312 patient were included, 138 (44%) were abdominal wall repairs and 174 (56%) were inguinal repairs. The mean age of the cohort was 54.2 years (SD 16), 69% were males, and the mean BMI was 29 kg/m2 (SD 4.8). There were two reported intraoperative events and nine operative conversions. 60 patients had at least one complication at 30-days. These include: 52 seromas, 4 hematomas, 2 surgical-site infections, 1 deep venous thrombus, and 1 recurrence at 30-days. BMI, type of hernia, and sex were not associated with complications at 30-days. The use of absorbable mesh, longer hospital stay, operative conversion, previous repair, and expert hernia surgeon were significant predictors of 30-day complications. Age, operative conversion, and previous repair were the only predictors of 30-day complications on multivariate regression. Our initial experience of 312 patients demonstrates the adoption and comparable short-term outcomes for a wide variety of robotic-assisted hernia repairs.

Early recurrence in favorable stage II breast cancer--which approach is the best?

AIM: Changing the sequence of therapeutic options in stage II breast cancer: first, a core biopsy, followed by the evaluation of the tumoral markers, adaptation of the chemotherapy scheme and finally, surgical approach. Thus would be possible to improve the hope of life in some stage II breast cancer patients, in whom survival is poorer than in some stage III patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 144 patients in stage II breast cancer were included in this study, over a period of 5 years (2000-2004). In all these patients the first therapeutic option was surgery (radically modified mastectomy type Madden), followed by systemic chemotherapy-FAC or FEC, 6 cycles, and finally Tamoxifen. RESULTS: 34 out of them developed metastases in a period between 6 and 72 months, most of them in the first 26 months; 25 out of these 34 didn't have metastases in the axillary lymph nodes, and in 18 patients estrogen--and progesterone--receptors were highly positive. HER 2 neu was negative or low expressed in patients with metastases. CD 34 wasn't evaluate in the whole group. CONCLUSIONS: Early onset of metastases in the studied patients, in whom tumoral aggressiveness markers were not obvious, impose the evaluation of the angiogenesis markers and, when positive, chemotherapy as the first therapeutic option.

[Breast cancer in the male]. / Cancerul mamar la barbat.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study is to point out the late diagnosis and initiation of treatment in male with breast cancer. At the same time, to show the importance of the correlation between different markers in assessing the prognostic, as well as the treatment for the patient. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective study on a group of 15 males with breast cancer, out of 1043 patients with the disease, in a period of 10 years. Eight patients were stage III of disease, 2 were stage II, one was stage I, and in other 3 cases the evaluation of the tumor and of the axillary lymph nodes was performed only by echography, considered stage II. RESULTS: All patients underwent radically modified Madden mastectomy; 4 patients needed a partial resection of the great pectoralis muscle. Adjuvant chemotherapy was performed in 9 patients, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 2 cases. Three patients refused the chemotherapy, and one patient chose an alternative paramedical treatment. The treatment with Tamoxifen was done in 11 patients with high values of Progesterone and Estrogen Receptors (PR, ER). At the date of our study, 8 patients were alive, without clinical signs of disease (free of disease), while in 3 patients, alive, clinical signs of disease were detected (recurrence). Survival rate couldn't be evaluated in 4 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer in male is usually discovered in locally advanced stages, although most of the patients are regularly screened for chronic hepatitis. Use of biological markers allows a more accurate evaluation of the aggressiveness of the tumor, as well as a more specific treatment for each patient. Modified radical mastectomy type Madden remains the preferred surgical approach. Surgical approach should be considered even in locally advanced cases, as well as in elder patients.

Predicción de la aparición de bloqueo auriculoventricular de alto grado temprano de acuerdo con el electrocardiograma inicial en el infarto agudo de miocardio de cara inferior / Prognostic significance of the initial electrocardiographic pattern in acute inferior myocardial infarction for the appearance of early advanced AV block

Los pacientes con infarto agudo de miocardio de cara inferior poseen habitualmente un curso intrahospitalario benigno; la presencia de alteraciones en la conducción auriculoventricular empeora significativamente dicho pronóstico; la relación entre el electrocardiograma inicial y la presencia del bloqueo auriculoventricular temprano no ha sido estudiada aún. De acuerdo con el electrocardiograma inicial, 195 pacientes consecutivos con infarto agudo de miocardio inferior fueron divididos en tres grupos. Un bloqueo auriculoventricular de alto grado se desarrolló en el 5 por ciento de los pacientes del grupo A, y en el 3 por ciento del grupo B, comparado con el 15 por ciento de los pacientes del grupo C (p= 0,01), con un valor de predicción positiva del 83 por ciento para el grupo C. El electrocardiograma del grupo C, que presenta deformación terminal del QRS, es altamente predictivo de la aparición de bloqueo auriculoventricular tanto en el modelo con una variante (odds ratio= 6,26) o de variantes múltiples (odds ratio= 5,28). Concluímos que los pacientes que se presentan con infarto agudo inferior y electrocardiograma tipo C se hallan en riesgo alto de desarrollar bloqueo auriculoventricular temprano de alto grado