Staging with computed tomography of patients with colon cancer.

PURPOSE: Accurate staging of colonic cancer is important for patient stratification. We aimed to correlate the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative computed tomography (CT) with final histopathology as reference standard. METHODS: Data was collected retrospectively on 615 consecutive patients operated for colonic cancer. Evaluation was based upon T-stage. Patients were stratified into high-risk and low-risk groups, based on the extent of tumor invasion beyond the proper muscle layer of more or less than 5 mm. The Kendall tau correlation coefficient was used to calculate concordance between radiological (r)T-stage obtained at CT imaging and pathological (p)T-stage from the final pathology. RESULTS: In total, 501 patients were included. We found no significant differences in the Kendall tau values for diagnostic measures between the groups at the 95% confidence interval (CI) level: 49% (95% CI, 43-55) for all individuals, 48% (95% CI, 40-56) for screened individuals, and 47% (95% CI, 37-56) for non-screened individuals. The overall sensitivity and specificity for all individuals in identifying high-risk tumors on CT was 65% (95% CI, 56-73) and 89% (95% CI, 85-92). The risk of ending up in the high-risk group due to overstaging among all individuals was calculated as the number needed to harm 11.7 (95% CI, 9-16). CONCLUSIONS: There is basis for improvement of CT-based preoperative staging of patients with colorectal cancer. Supplementary modalities may be needed for correct staging of patients preoperatively, especially in relation to stratification of patients into neoadjuvant treatments or tailored therapy in patients with early cancers.

Endoscopic ultrasonography and computed tomography scanning for preoperative staging of colonic cancer.

PURPOSE: With an increasing demand for more accurate preoperative staging methods for colon cancer, we aimed to compare preoperative tumour (T)- and nodal (N)-stage in patients with left-sided colon cancer by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and computed tomography (CT) with post-operative histology as gold standard. METHODS: A total of 44 patients were prospectively recruited at Herlev and Roskilde University Hospitals during November 2014-January 2016. Thirty-five patients were included in the final analysis and underwent EUS, CT and surgery within 2 weeks. Diagnostic values were evaluated for "low risk" (T1+T2+T3 with ≤5 mm extramural invasion) and "high risk" (T3 with >5 mm of extramural spread + T4) colonic cancer. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity in "low risk" colonic cancer evaluated with EUS was 0.90 [0.74;0.98] and 0.75 [0.19;0.99] and with CT 0.96 [0.80;0.99] and 0.25 [<0.01;0.81]. EUS and CT were poor in predicting N0 or N+ disease. CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity of EUS and CT were good and comparable regarding T-stage evaluation, while EUS had a significantly higher specificity in the evaluation of "low risk" tumours. The results obtained for "high risk" colonic cancer were difficult to evaluate due to small patient numbers. EUS could be considered as a supplement to CT scans in selecting patients for neoadjuvant therapies, or local transmural treatment, in the future. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02324023.

[Effect of Corynebacterium parvum preparation on selected immunologic indicators and clinical results in patients with chronic post-traumatic osteomyelitis]. / Wplyw preparatu Corynebacterium parvum na wybrane wskazniki immunologiczne i wyniki kliniczne u chorych na przewlekle pourazowe zapalenie kosci.

Nineteen patients with chronic post-traumatic staphylococcal osteitis++ of a mean 5-years-clinical course were given intramuscularly 3.5 mg of Coparvax for two weeks. An increase of IgG concentration in the serum, starting from the 8th week of observation, and a marked increase of the ability of absorbtion and destruction of staphylococci by the neutrophils of the peripheral blood have been found. It has been accompanied by subsidence of clinical symptoms of ostitis in 13 patients and a marked decrease of intensity of the inflammatory process in 4 other patients. No effect has been found in two patients.