Long-term outcomes of sigmoid diverticulitis: a single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: During the last decade, guidelines for the treatment of sigmoid diverticulitis have dramatically changed. The aim of this study is to report the long-term outcomes of patients treated for diverticulitis at a nonspecialized single center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After obtaining institutional review board approval, medical records of all patients admitted to our institution with the diagnosis of sigmoid diverticulitis between 1998 and 2008 were reviewed. A follow-up of at least 5 years was required. RESULTS: During the study period, 266 patients were admitted to our hospital due to sigmoid diverticulitis with a mean follow-up period of 120 ± 2 months. Of the entire cohort, 249 patients (93.5%) were treated conservatively and 17 (6.5%) patients required emergent surgery on initial presentation. Patients treated conservatively (n = 249) encountered a median of two recurrent episodes (range 0-4). During follow-up, none of these patients required emergent surgery, and 27 patients (11%) underwent elective surgery for recurrent episodes (n = 24), chronic smoldering disease (n = 2), and fistula (n = 1). Minor and major complication rates after elective surgery were 18.5% and 30%, respectively. Specifically, four patients (15%) suffered an anastomotic leak (AL). Late complications after elective surgery occurred in 33% of patients including incisional hernias (11%), bowel obstruction (3.7%), anastomotic stenosis (3.7%), and recurrent diverticulitis (15%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated conservatively during their index admission for sigmoid diverticulitis do not require emergent surgery during long-term follow-up and the majority of patients (89%) do not require elective surgery. Elective sigmoidectomy at nonspecialized centers may result in high rates of recurrent diverticulitis (15%) and anastomotic leak (15%).

Left anterior descending artery revascularization with the right internal thoracic artery T-graft: the 'reverse composite' configuration.

OBJECTIVES: The use of bilateral internal thoracic artery graft for myocardial revascularization has improved the long-term survival and decreased the rate of repeat interventions in patients. A key technical factor for complete arterial revascularization is sufficient length of the internal thoracic artery (ITA) graft. The purpose of this study was to compare early and long-term outcomes of 'standard composite' grafting and 'reverse composite' grafting. In the former, the left ITA (LITA) is connected to the left anterior descending artery, and the right ITA is connected end-to-side to the LITA for revascularization of the left circumflex artery. In 'reverse composite' grafting, the LITA is connected to the left circumflex artery, and the right ITA is connected end-to-side to the LITA, for revascularization of the left anterior descending artery. METHODS: We compared the outcomes of 1365 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting in Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre, using bilateral ITA as standard composite versus 'reverse composite' grafts, between January 1996 and December 2011. A propensity score matching analysis compared 132 pairs of patients who underwent bilateral ITA by the 2 modes. RESULTS: Twelve hundred and thirty patients underwent standard 'composite' grafts and 135 underwent 'reverse composite' grafts. Early mortality and early adverse effects did not differ significantly between the groups. After matching, the difference in late mortality between the groups was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that revascularization of the left anterior descending with the right ITA, arising from an in situ LITA, is safe and provides early outcomes and long-term survival that are not significantly different from those of the standard composite grafting technique. However, there was evidence of better survival in the standard composite group.