Active surveillance for low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN).

Objectives: Due to the scarcity of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN), there is an absence of systematized guidelines concerning its management, especially after incidental finding on an appendiceal specimen. In this study, we evaluate the active surveillance (AS) strategy adopted for a series of patients diagnosed with LAMN on resection specimens who were considered to have a low risk of pseudomyxoma progression. Methods: Thirty patients were included between April 2014 and July 2021, with a female majority and a median follow-up period of 3.1 years. The inclusion criteria were as follows: LAMN diagnosis on appendiceal specimens, confirmed in an expert center, limited extra-appendiceal mucin resected and localized around the appendix, normal biology (CEA, CA199, CA125) and normal abdominopelvic MRI. AS included physical exam (trocar scar), biology and MRI, 6 months postoperatively, then yearly for 10 years. Results: As an initial surgery, 77 % had an appendectomy as their initial intervention, 17 % had a cecectomy, and 6 % had a right colectomy. After follow-up, 87 % of patients showed no sign of disease progression by MRI, while 13 % progressed to PMP. MRI performed in the first postoperative year predicted the disease prognosis in 97 % of patients. Conclusions: The AS strategy, based on MRI, is a valid option after incidental LAMN diagnosis.

Association between preoperative appendiceal histology grade and Pseudomyxoma peritonei grade offers a solution to avoid right hemicolectomy during cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC.

INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Treatment of PMP consists of appendectomy, cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and HIPEC. Right-sided hemicolectomy is necessary only when PMP is high grade, given the lymphatic invasion risk. To date, no single preoperative factor was identified as predictive of PMP grade. MATERIALS & METHODS: Preoperative factors of a prospective cohort study on PMP were retrospectively analyzed, in order to identify situations linked with high or low grade appendiceal PMP. The main outcome was PMP grade on definitive histology after CRS. RESULTS: n = 105. In univariate analysis, the grade of the appendiceal tumor, systematically reviewed in an expert center, showed an OR of 25.00 (95 % CI: 3.30-189.27; p = 0.001) and an NPV of 93.75 [85.36, 100]. Peritoneal biopsy demonstrated an OR of 19.80 (95 % CI: 2.30-170.71; p = 0.002) and a PPV of 90 [71.41, 100]. In multivariate analysis, these two factors remained significantly associated with PMP grade. CONCLUSION: Whenever appendiceal tumor is low grade on preoperative histology, the colon has to be spared unless completeness of CRS is compromised, which is a high-grade feature in fact. In case of high grade appendiceal tumor and/or peritoneal biopsy, right-sided hemicolectomy is warranted. If no histology is available preoperatively, adapt to intraoperative lesions as no preoperative factors seem to be predictive.