Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking and Risk of Stomach Cancer: A Case-Control Study in Vietnamese Men.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the impacts of waterpipe tobacco (WTP) and cigarette smoking on stomach cancer development in Vietnamese men. METHODS: A total of 80 stomach cancer cases and 146 controls were recruited in a hospital-based case-control study. Data on sociodemographic, anthropometric characteristics, tobacco smoking, and the dietary pattern was obtained based on a semi-quantitative food frequency and demographic lifestyle questionnaire; and venous anti-Helicobacter pylori IgG antibodies were tested by ELISA. Unconditional logistic regression analysis with adjustments for potential confounding was performed to estimate the association between target exposures and stomach cancer. RESULTS: Compared to the never tobacco smokers, the risk of stomach cancer significantly increased among tobacco smokers (OR 2.95, 95%CI 1.26-6.90, p=0.013). Those who early started tobacco smoking before 26 years old had a high risk of SC (OR 3.04, 95%CI 1.29-7.20, p for trend=0.011). For types of tobacco, It was increased risk in exclusively cigarette smokers (OR 2.85, 95%CI 1.19-6.85, p=0.019) and in WPT smokers (OR 3.09, 95%CI 1.24-7.68, p=0.015). The daily frequency and longer duration of exclusively WPT or cigarette smoking tended to be significantly higher SC risk. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that tobacco smoking, particularly water pipe tobacco smoking, dramatically and independently increased the risk of stomach cancer.

Giant hepatic angiomyolipoma presenting with severe anemia: A surgical case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Angiomyolipoma (AML) is a solid benign neoplasm with mesenchymal features. The clinical signs and symptoms of hepatic angiomyolipoma are nonspecific, and treatment strategy is variable. PRESENTATION: A 35-years-old male patient has admitted to the hospital with symptoms of severe anemia. Abdominal multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and Gadoxetic acid (GA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a heterogeneous 23 × 17 cm-in-sized tumor with heterogeneous enhancement and increased angiogenesis. Percutaneous hepatic biopsy was proceeded and in immunohistochemistry, tumor cells responded positively to the HMB-45, SMA, and Glutamine stains, the CD-34 stain was positive for blood vessels as well as Ki-67 sporadically positive, but the Heppar1, S-100, CK stains reacted negative. The final pathologic result was consistent with the primary hepatic angiomyolipoma. The final surgical management was extended right hepatectomy with ligation of the right hepatic artery (RHA) and vein (RHV), as well as the middle hepatic vein (MHV), one month after portal embolization as well as to enlarge the remnant liver volume. DISCUSSION: A hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) primary origin is relatively rare, the clinical manifestations are variable and non-specific. Histological examination and immunohistochemistry staining are considered as the gold standard for HAML diagnosis. HAML are commonly expressed benign behaviors, but HAML cases with malignant behaviors were reported in a cumulative incidence. Radical surgery must be still the most effective and major treatment approach. CONCLUSION: The present case being the first case with initial syndrome of severe anemia accounted in the English literature. Giant angiomyolipoma is composed of blood vessels and could lead to extensive internal tumoral hemorrhage. We here present a report of this case with had primary hepatic angiomyolipoma with clinical picture of severe anemia.

Serum pepsinogen: A potential non-invasive screening method for moderate and severe atrophic gastritis among an asian population.

Background: Serum pepsinogen has been approved and used widely as an effective biomarker in diagnosis of atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer; however, its validity and appropriate cut-off values vary among different populations. This study aimed to initially assess the diagnostic value of the serum pepsinogen in diagnosis of moderate and severe atrophic gastritis for Vietnamese population. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study enrolled 273 participants from June 2008 to November 2019. All participants underwent a gastroscopy procedure and three tests including serum PG test, pathology test, and Hp-Igg Elisa test. The Kimura-Takemoto classification and OLGA system were used to classify the mild versus moderate-severe atrophic gastritis. Receiver Operating Characteristic curve was used to assess the value of PGI, PGII and PGR. Results: Based on Kimura-Takemoto classification, the AUC of PGI and PGR was 0.635 (p = 0.008, 95% CI 0.554-0.716) and 0.766 (p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.676-0.857) respectively. The best cut-off values were PGI ≤69.0 and PGR ≤4.6 (sensitivity: 73%, specificity: 83.9%, positive predictive value: 41.5%, negative predictive value: 95.2%, accuracy: 82.4%). According to the OLGA system, the AUC of PGI and PGR was 0.612 (p = 0.004, 95% CI 0.540-0.684) and 0.689 (p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.621-0.758) respectively. The best cut-off values were PGI ≤63.5 and PGR ≤5.2 (sensitivity: 49.4%, specificity: 82.1%, positive predictive value: 52.1%, negative predictive value: 80.5%, accuracy: 72.9%). Conclusions: The serum pepsinogen II and pepsinogen I/II ratio had reliable diagnostic value for screening of moderate and severe atrophic gastritis among Vietnamese population. Further research was recommended to focus on larger scale to improve the diagnostic yield and to continue finding the cut-off values for diagnosis of gastric cancer among Vietnamese population.

Autologous blood for preoperative colorectal TUMOR'S localization: A Vietnamese preliminary experience.

INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic colorectal surgery (LCRS) is the optimal choice for cases of early cancer. However, due to their early stage, one of this procedure's challenges is tumoral localization. So that, there are many methods of locating tumors preoperatively that have been studied by authors. Recently, Korean authors have reported a method of injecting autologous blood to mark the tumor before surgery with high efficiency and safety. This article aims to evaluate the effectiveness by analyzing the section biopsy's results, as well as the safety of this procedure. MATERIALS AND METHOD: This study is descriptive cross-section study with analysis of retrospective occurrences of case series of colonoscopy with autologous blood before surgery from October 2020 to December 2021. RESULTS: 16 patients were recruited to the study. The average age was 62.9 ± 13.1 with male/female ratio was 8/8. 50% (8/16 patients) of all cases was early carcinomas, and by location, 62.5% of all cases was sigmoid colon tumors. All 16 patients (100%) found the tumor marking position. None of the patients had complications of marked endoscopy such as intestinal perforation, peritonitis, abdominal abscess, intestinal adhesions, etc. CONCLUSION: The method of autologous blood injection to locate the tumor before laparoscopic colorectal surgery is a technique that can be performed effectively and safely.

Pancreatic angiosarcoma with synchronous pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma leading to hemosuccus pancreaticus: A surgical case report and review of literature.

Introduction: Angiosarcoma of pancreas is an extremely rare disease with a poor prognosis. The clinical signs and symptoms of pancreatic angiosarcoma are nonspecific, and it is occasionally diagnosed at an advanced stage. Pancreatic angiosarcoma and Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in one patient was never ever known in English literature. Case presentation: A 56-year-old female was admitted with clinical and laboratory signs of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed bleeding from the ampulla of Vater. Besides, abdominal computed tomographic (CT) revealed a solid mass in the region of the pancreatic tail, which was considered the origin of bleeding. Distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy were performed because of persistent GI bleeding, and the final histological diagnosis of tumor in pancreatic tail was pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. After 30 days, she developed recurrent bleeding in ampulla and the abdominal CT-scan revealed a huge hematoma in omentum harem. We conducted transcatheter arterial embolization, but anemia continued to worsen. Therefore, pancreaticoduodenectomy was recommended to remove this mass, and based on postoperative histological findings, pancreatic angiosarcoma was diagnosed. After few days, laparotomy was indicated again because of persistent intra-abdominal bleeding. Despite all critical care and surgical therapeutic attempts, the patient died within two weeks after operation. Discussion: A pancreatic angiosarcomas primary origin is especially rare, with the present case being the tenth accounted in the English literature. Angiosarcomas is creating a disorganized mass of cells with extravasated blood that led to characteristics, extensive amounts of hemorrhage. The clinical manifestations of pancreatic angiosarcoma are variable, and immunohistochemistry staining is mandatory, with positive staining for vascular markers, which include CD31, CD34, von Willebrand factor (vWF), factor-VIII, Ulex europaeus agglutinin 1 (UEA-1), Friend leukemia integration 1 (Fli-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFER). Conclusion: We here present a report of an extremely rare case with had pancreatic angiosarcoma and synchronous pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with clinical picture of GI bleeding secondary to hemosuccus pancreaticus (HP).

Case report: Candidiasis of gastrojejunostomosis after pancreaticoduodenectomy: Preliminary experience from two cases.

Introduction: Invasive Candida infection, or candidiasis, especially in gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is an infrequent but aggressive disease caused by Candida species. Candidiasis of gastrojejunostomosis after extensive gastrointestinal surgery may cause serious complications such as perforative peritonitis and anastomotic stenosis, which requires surgical interventions. Case presentation: Our two patients had undergone pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), respectively, due to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreatic head. Both the patients were malnutritioned and debilitated before the surgery, and they required reoperation for postoperative Candidiasis-relevant complication.In the first case, the patient was readmitted to the hospital with symptoms of perforative peritonitis, for which he underwent surgery and had Candida found in both gastrojejunostomosis ulcer and peritoneal fluid. In our second case, the patient was admitted to the hospital twice after the first operation and diagnosed with Candida-induced gastrojejunostomosis stenosis by esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and endoscopic biopsy. Fluconazole was indicated for a 2-week regimen. Blood sample withdrawn afterward showed no evidence of fungal agents, and the anastomotic stenosis responded well to treatment. However, after 3 weeks, he came back with cachexia and symptoms of gastrojejunostomotic stenosis. EGD showed no image of fungal agents but anastomotic stenosis due to chronic inflammatory process. The patient was then reoperated to redo his gastrojejunostomosis. Conclusion: Candidiasis of gastrojejunostomosis after extensive gastrointestinal surgery such as PD is a very aggressive condition that may cause perforative peritonitis and anastomotic stenosis. However, there have been no publications on this disorder, and the strategic treatment remains unknown. We hereby present a report of two cases with postoperative gastrojejunostomosis candidiasis presenting with non-specific but aggressive and early clinical symptoms.

Causes and Clinical Characteristics of Small Bowel Bleeding in Northern Vietnam.

Aim: Causes, clinical features, and diagnostic approaches for small bowel (SB) bleeding were analyzed to derive recommendations in dealing with this clinical condition. Methods: We included 54 patients undergoing surgical treatment for SB bleeding, from January 2009 to December 2019. Detailed clinical data, diagnosis procedures, and causes of bleeding were collected. Results: Among 54 cases with SB bleeding, the most common causes were tumors (64.8%), followed by angiopathy (14.8%), ulcers (9.3%), diverticula (5.6%), tuberculosis (3.7%), and enteritis (1.9%). Most tumors (32/35 cases, 91.4%) and vascular lesions (8/8 cases, 100%) were located in the jejunum. The incidence of tumors was higher in the older (30/41 cases, 73.1%) than that in patients younger than 40 years of age (5/13 cases, 38.5%, P < 0.01). Common initial findings were melena (68.5%) and hematochezia (31.5%). The overall diagnostic yield of computed tomographic enterography (CTE) was 57.4% (31/54 cases), with the figures for tumors, vascular lesions, and inflammatory lesions being 71.4% (25/35 cases), 62.5% (5/8 cases), and 12.5% (1/8 cases), respectively. Double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) definitively identified SB bleeding sources in 16/22 (72.7%) patients. Conclusion: Tumors, angiopathy, ulcers, and diverticula were the most common causes of SB bleeding in Northern Vietnamese population. CTE has a high detection rate for tumors in patients with SB bleeding. CTE as a triage tool may identify patients before double-balloon enteroscopy because of the high prevalence of SB tumors.

Harvesting Energy from Multiple Microbial Fuel Cells with a High-Conversion Efficiency Power Management System.

Direct electricity production from waste biomass in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) offers the advantage of producing renewable electricity at a high Coulombic efficiency. However, low MFC voltage (below 0.5 V) necessitates the simultaneous operation of multiple MFCs controlled by a power management system (PMS) adapted for operating bioelectrochemical systems with complex nonlinear dynamics. This work describes a novel PMS designed for efficient energy harvesting from multiple MFCs. The PMS includes a switched-capacitor-based converter, which ensures operation of each MFC at its maximum power point (MPP) by regulating the output voltage around half of its open-circuit voltage. The open-circuit voltage of each MFC is estimated online regardless of MFC internal parameter knowledge. The switched-capacitor-based converter is followed by an upconverter, which increases the output voltage to a required level. Advantages of the proposed PMS include online MPP tracking for each MFC and high (up to 85%) power conversion efficiency. Also, the PMS prevents voltage reversal by disconnecting an MFC from the circuit whenever its voltage drops below a predefined threshold. The effectiveness of the proposed PMS is verified through simulations and experimental runs.