Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast A single Center experience and review of the literature.

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast is an extremely rare tumor. A standard treatment has yet to be established because only a few cases have been reported in literature. The authors report five cases observed from January 2007 to December 2014 and a review of literature. Four patients underwent quadrantectomy and in two cases axillary nodal dissection and only one to mastectomy with axillary nodal dissection. Tumor size was from T1 to T2 with N0 to N1, according TNM classification. Pathological specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and an immunohistochemical panel of antibodies (Neuron-specific enolase, Chromogranin, Synaptophysin, Estrogen and Progesterone receptors, c-erb and Ki-67). All cases showed markers positivity to Neuron-specific enolase, Chromogranin, Synaptophysin and Estrogen and Progesterone receptors were found. Ki-67 was higher than 40% in four patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy was administrated in patients with Ki-67>10%; every patients were treated with radiotherapy and with hormonal therapy too. Although Neuroendocrine breast tumor is considered a distinct entity, the best treatment seems to be correlate to the size of tumor and to the lymph node status and to Ki-67 index like the common breast cancer. KEY WORDS: Diagnosis, Neuroendocrine breast carcinoma.

Gastric metastases originating from occult breast lobular carcinoma: diagnostic and therapeutic problems.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant tumour to metastasize into the gastrointestinal tract in female and is second only to malignant melanoma. Nevertheless gastrointestinal metastases arising from breast cancer are quite rare. The upper gastrointestinal tract is more frequently involved and lobular infiltrating carcinoma has a greater predilection compared to the ductal type. CASE PRESENTATION: The authors describe the case of a 70 years old woman with a preoperative diagnosis of gastric undifferentiated medullary--type carcinoma, which was the first manifestation of an occult breast carcinoma. The primary site of carcinoma was identified with the use of a panel of selected immunohistochemical markers. CONCLUSION: Our goal in this case report is to increase the awareness of surgeons and clinicians to rule out the possibility of mammary origin in circumstance of gastric cancer occurring in female, even in patients without a previous or concurrent history of breast carcinoma. Although not a particularly common event, it is, nevertheless, reported in the literature. The differentiation between primary gastric carcinoma and metastatic breast carcinoma is essential for planning the correct therapeutic approach, in order to avoid the patient unnecessary surgery.

Laparoscopic treatment of mesenteric cysts. Report of two cases.

Mesenteric cysts are rare intraabdominal tumors. Since the first report by Benevial in 1507, approximately 800 cases of mesenteric cysts have been described in the literature. Clinical presentation is variable and depends on the size and location of the cyst. This lesion are often asymptomatic or can present as an abdominal palpable mass or with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. Laboratory tests are usually helpless. Ultrasonography and CT scan are the best diagnostic tools. In the past the treatment of choice was totally resection performed by open surgery. With the advent of laparoscopic surgery same authors report mesenteric cysts excised laparoscopically. The Authors report two cases of mesenteric cysts that were excised by laparoscopic surgery using. The cysts of both patients were located in the mesenterium of colon. There were no intraoperative of postoperative complications and the postoperative course was uneventful and both patients returned to full activity within a short time. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 36 months and there were no recurrences. The laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive techniques and represent an alternative safe and less invasive operation for these abdominal cysts.

[The intraoperative cholangiography during videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy. What is its role? Results of a non randomized study]. / La colangiografia intraoperatoria in corso di colecistectomia videolaparoscopica: quale ruolo? Risultati di uno studio non randomizzato.

INTRODUCTION: The routine use of intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy remains controversial. Mirizzi was the first to recommend the use of intraoperative cholangiography in 1931 based on the high incidence of unsuspected common bile duct stones. The use of intraoperative cholangiography before common bile duct exploration reduced the incidence of unnecessary common bile duct explorations from 66% to less than 5%. With the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, an increase of incidence of bile duct injury two to four times that seen in open cholecystectomy was witnessed. The vast majority of the injuries were a direct result of the surgeon misidentifying the anatomy. The Authors report their experience in the use of intraoperative cholangiography to prevent bile duct injuries and to discover common bile duct unknown lithiasis. METHODS: From December 2002 to January 2004 in 169 patients affected to cholecystolithiasis were undergone cholecystectomy. During this operation intraoperative cholangiography was performed routinely. The patients were divided in two groups. In the Group A the patient with high risk according to a score system. and the others in the group B. RESULTS: The cholangiography was performed with success in the 97% of patients. It were discover common bile duct in the 17%, biliary anatomy anomalies in the 3.5%, bile duct injuries in the 0.5% and false positive in the 2.9%. CONCLUSION: The Authors recommended the routinely use of intraoperative cholangiography owing to its a feasible and safe technique with a success rater greater than 90%. If a bile duct injury is going to occur because of misidentification, cholangiography will not prevent the injury, but a properly performed cholangiogram will minimize the extent of the injury. Finally, the intraoperative cholangiography can discover a common unknown bile duct lithiasis and can reduce incidence of unnecessary ERCP with subsequent complication

Diverticular disease of right colon. Clinical variants and personal experience.

Diverticular disease of the right colon is not common, especially in western countries. It occurs in two different clinical forms, known as the "usual" and "hidden" variants. The diagnosis is not always easy, especially in the latter variant, because sometimes barium enema and CT scan are unable to distinguish this form from cancer. The final diagnosis is only intraoperative. In our experience, from 1994 to 2004, we observed 4 cases of complicated right-sided diverticulitis. Three of these patients had symptoms mimicking acute appendicitis, such as fever and abdominal pain. Only 2 of them underwent surgical treatment consisting of a right standard hemicolectomy. The 4th patient had no inflammatory symptoms, but had a history of right-sided abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Laboratory data showed only hypochromic anaemia. Barium enema and CT scan highlighted a vegetating mass in the ascending colon causing irregular severe stenosis of the lumen and hyperdensity of mesocolic fatty tissue. Surgical treatment consisted in a right hemicolectomy. Macroscopically, the mass involved the caecum and ascending colon. Enlarged lymph-nodes were present in the thickness of the mesocolon, but not in other districts. Histological examination revealed diffuse diverticular disease complicated by perforation of many diverticula into the mesocolon.