Intraoperative angiography with indocyanine green, an aid in the diagnosis and treatment of obscure digestive tract bleeding, a case report.

Lower digestive tract bleeding occurs distal to the angle of Treitz. While many cases remit spontaneously; some pose a diagnostic challenge for surgeons. We present the case of a 68-year-old man with unexplained digestive tract bleeding. Despite various diagnostic efforts, the source remained unknown. Faced with the challenge of persistent bleeding and hemodynamic instability, surgery became necessary. During the procedure, intraoperative angiography with indocyanine green was used to facilitate the identification of the bleeding site, revealing a gastrointestinal stromal tumor in the small bowel. Resection was performed with favorable outcomes. Indocyanine green staining has become popular for locating intestinal bleeding during emergency surgeries, aiding surgeons in making precise decisions.

Fluorescence Guided Cholecystectomy by a Single Group: Initial 47 Procedures Experience in Mexico.

Introduction: Fluorescence guided surgery (FGS) for biliary surgery uses indocyanine green (ICG), a specific dye that is eliminated almost exclusively by the liver and biliary system, making it very useful for an adequate and safe visualization of biliary tract structures. Methods: We present our experience with FGS for cholecystectomy multiport and single port, including all patients older than 18 years of age, with diagnosis of cholecystitis (acute and chronic), from October 18, 2018 to December 30, 2021. Results: A total of 47 patients were managed with FGS cholecystectomy, mean age was 61.2 (± 17.7) years, 31 (65.9%) were female and 16 (34.1%) males. Twenty-four (51.1%) were emergency procedures, due to acute cholecystitis, of which 10 (41.7%) presented with an infected gallbladder (Parkland 3 to 5) and three (12.5%) presented with related acute pancreatitis, the remaining 23 (48.9%) cases were elective surgeries, due to chronic cholecystitis. Visualization of laparoscopic fluorescence of the biliary ducts was achieved in 45 of the 47 patients (95.7%). Mean time for biliary tract structures visual identification was 8 minutes and 40 seconds (± 7 minutes, 20 seconds), fluorescence allowed the visualization of biliary tract anatomical variants in two patients. Discussion: The reported rate of biliary structures visualization using ICG is relatively variable, ranging from 25% to 100%, in our group it was 95.7% due to our protocol. Conclusions: ICG utilization for cholecystectomy is very useful and helps for a safe procedure even in difficult surgeries, we believe that it should be used in everyday practice.

5-Aminolevulinic acid fluorescence in brain non-neoplastic lesions: a systematic review and case series.

Fluorescence-guided surgery with 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is used to assist brain tumor resection, especially for high-grade gliomas but also for low-grade gliomas, metastasis, and meningiomas. With the increasing use of this technique, even to assist biopsies, high-grade glioma-mimicking lesions had misled diagnosis by showing 5-ALA fluorescence in non-neoplastic lesions such as radiation necrosis and inflammatory or infectious disease. Since only isolated reports have been published, we systematically review papers reporting non-neoplastic lesion cases with 5-ALA according with the PRISMA guidelines, present our series, and discuss its pathophysiology. In total, 245 articles were identified and 12 were extracted according to our inclusion criteria. Analyzing 27 patients, high-grade glioma was postulated as preoperative diagnosis in 48% of the cases. Microsurgical resection was performed in 19 cases (70%), while 8 patients were submitted to biopsy (30%). We found 4 positive cases in demyelinating disease (50%), 4 in brain abscess (80%), 1 in neurocysticercosis (33%), 1 in neurotoxoplasmosis, infarction, and hematoma (100%), 4 in inflammatory disease (80%), and 3 in cortical dysplasia (100%). New indications are being considered especially in benign lesion biopsies with assistance of 5-ALA. Using fluorescence as an aid in biopsies may improve procedure time, number of samples, and necessity of intraoperative pathology. Further studies should include this technology to encourage more beneficial uses.

The quest for precision in transanal total mesorectal excision.

Transanal total mesorectal excision (TME) is an emerging minimally invasive approach to rectal cancer, with encouraging preliminary results. However, the new surgical anatomy of the bottom-up approach complicates surgical understanding and increases the risks of inadvertent injuries to crucial anatomical structures, including nerves. Key elements to improve the safety and stimulate interest in such a complex technique might be robotics and image guidance, to enhance the level of precision. In this editorial, some of the technologies that could be used for precision TME are outlined, in light of the experience of our Institute for Image-Guided Surgery.

Small portable interchangeable imager of fluorescence for fluorescence guided surgery and research.

Fluorescence guided surgery (FGS) is a developing field of surgical and oncologic research. Practically, FGS has shown useful applications in urologic surgery, benign biliary surgery, colorectal cancer liver metastasis resection, and ovarian cancer debulking. Most notably in in cancer surgery, FGS allows for the clear delineation of cancerous tissue from benign tissue. FGS requires the utilization of a fluorescent contrast agent and an intraoperative fluorescence imaging device (IFID). Currently available IFIDs are expensive, unable to work with multiple fluorophores, and can be cumbersome. This study aims to describe the development and utility of a small, cost-efficient, and interchangeable IFID made from commercially available components. Extensive research was done to design and construct a light-weight, portable, and cost-effective IFID. We researched the capabilities, size, and cost of several camera types and eventually decided on a near-infrared (NIR) charged couple device (CCD) camera for its overall profile. The small portable interchangeable imager of fluorescence (SPIIF) is a "scout" IFID system for FGS. The main components of the SPIIF are a NIR CCD camera with an articulating light filter. These components and a LED light source with an attached heat sink are mounted on a small metal platform. The system is connected to a laptop by a USB 2.0 cable. Pixielink © software on the laptop runs the system by controlling exposure time, gain, and image capture. After developing the system, we evaluated its utility as an IFID. The system weighs less than two pounds and can cover a large area. Due to its small size, it is easily made sterile by covering it with any sterile plastic sheet. To determine the system's ability to detect fluorescent signal, we used the SPIIF to detect indocyanine green under ex and in-vivo conditions and fluorescein under ex-vivo conditions. We found the SPIIF was able to detect both ICG and fluorescein under different depths of a semi-opaque colloid. Second, we found that a concentration as low as 0.5 g/ml of indocyanine green dissolved in plasma was detectable. Lastly, in a murine and human cancer model, the SPIIF was able to detect indocyanine green signal within tumors and generate a signal-to-background ratio (SBR) of 3.75. This study shows that a low-cost IFID can be made from commercially available parts. Second, this IFID is capable of in and ex-vivo detection of multiple fluorophores without sacrificing its small size or favorable ergonomics.

Use of sodium fluorescein in skull base tumors.

OBJECTIVE: The authors present this study using sodium fluorescein (SF) to enhance skull base tumors by performing a quantitative digital analysis of tumor enhancement. The purpose of this study is to observe the grade of SF enhancement by the tumors. METHODS: A prospective experiment within-subjects study design was performed which included six patients with skull base lesions. Digital pictures were taken before and after the SF systemic injection, using the same light source of the microsurgical field. The pictures were analyzed by computer software which calculated the wavelength (WL) of the SF pre- and post-injection. RESULTS: THE GROUP OF TUMORS WAS AS FOLLOWS: one vestibular schwannoma, three meningiomas, one craniopharyngioma and one pituitary adenoma. The SF enhancement in all tumors was strongly positive. The digital analysis of the pictures, considering the SF WL pre- and post-injection, presented P = 0.028 (Wilcoxon T test). CONCLUSIONS: The enhancement of the tumors by SF was consistent and evident. The introductory results suggest the possibility of using SF as an adjuvant tool for the skull base surgery. Further studies should test the clinical application of the SF in skull base tumors.