Sentinel lymph node biopsy in selected cases of ductal carcinoma in situ.

INTRODUCTION: Axillary lymphadenectomy is nowadays not recommended to treat ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), but there is controversy surrounding the indication for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study of a selected group of patients diagnosed preoperatively with DCIS was performed between 2004 and 2009. Indications for SLNB were histologically determined high-grade tumours, tumour size >2 cm and patients scheduled to undergo a mastectomy. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were analysed. Surgical technique was mastectomy in 39 patients (60%) and conservative breast surgery in 26 (40%). Definitive histological study of the resected breast tumour revealed 43 cases (66.2%) of DCIS, 15 (23.1%) of ductal invasive carcinoma and seven (10.7%) microinvasive tumours. In confirmed DCIS, only 6.9% of sentinel lymph nodes were positive, in microinvasive carcinoma 28.5% and in invasive carcinoma 40% were positive. Total number of patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes was 11 (16.9%). Of 39 mastectomies, 12 corresponded to microinvasive or invasive carcinoma and six (50%) showed a positive SLNB. CONCLUSIONS: Performing SLNB avoids an unnecessary second surgery to study axillary lymph nodes in invasive carcinoma diagnosed after definitive histological study. In patients undergoing a mastectomy, this study requires an axillary lymphadenectomy that is not useful in up to 50% of cases. We think that in a selected group of patients with DCIS, SLNB improves tumour staging, adapts the treatment and avoids second surgery in this group of patients.

Chyle fistula in right cervical area after thyroid surgery.

Thoracic duct injury is an infrequent (1-2.5%) but severe complication after neck surgery, leading to nutritional, metabolic and immunologic deficiencies. We report a case of a 34-year-old woman with a right thoracic duct injury after surgery of a thyroid medullar cancer effectively treated with conservative management (parenteral nutrition and intravenous somatostatin). Optimal treatment of these patients is unclear, without a clear limit between conservative and surgical treatment.

[Laparoscopic splenectomy: 7-year experience]. / Esplenectomía laparoscópica: Experiencia de 7 años.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic splenectomy is an effective and safe technique in the management of benign splenic pathologies. METHODS: We reviewed our 7-year experience to evaluate utility and safety of this procedure. RESULTS: Laparoscopic splenectomy was performed in 20 patients (13 women, 7 men), with a mean age of 49 years. Pathology included 19 cases of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and one case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Mean operative time was 165 min, including anesthetic procedure. There was only one conversion to open surgery. Accessory spleens were detected in 15% of patients. Early remission of hematological disorders was achieved in 70% of the cases and long-term remission in 90%. The complications rate was 20%, including two cases of subphrenic hematoma, one case of acute focal pancreatitis and one case of thrombosis of the portal venous system; all recovered with no sequelae. Mortality rate was 0%. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic splenectomy obtains results identical to those of open surgery in terms of efficacy and safety but with the benefits of laparoscopic surgery. Therefore, it should be considered as the procedure of choice for the treatment of benign hematological pathologies unresponsive to medical therapy.

Papillary serous carcinoma of peritoneum: presentation of 2 cases.

Papillar serous carcinoma of peritoneum (PSPC) is an unfrequent neoplasm, histologically similar to papillar serous carcinoma of ovarium. It presents as peritoneal carcinomatosis without evident tumoral focus. Management of PSPC is similar to ovaric neoplasms, although prognosis should be worse. Long-term survival has been described with cytoreductive surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy with platinum. We present hereby 2 cases of PSPC.

Conservative treatment for infiltrating breast cancer. Ten years follow-up experience.

INTRODUCTION: We retrospectively analyze our experience in conservative treatment for infiltrating advanced breast cancer before implementation of selective sentinel node biopsy, specially focusing on characteristics, incidence, treatment and evolution of local-regional recurrences, disease-free survival time, overall survival and patient's satisfaction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From January 1984 to 31st December 1998, 739 female patients were operated in our institution, diagnosed as having infiltrating breast cancer. One hundred and eighty-eight patients (25.43%) received conservative treatment and they were followed up until December 2003. RESULTS: Average age when diagnosed was 50.42 years old (24-87 years). 53.19% of the patients were premenopausal. After a median follow-up of 129 months (60-198 months), 13 women (6.91%) presented local -regional recurrence and the disease-free time was 48.4 months (8-108 months). Global survival rate was 83.5% and disease free survival rate was 80.85%. CONCLUSIONS: The management of choice for early stage (I and II) infiltrating breast cancer is nowadays conservative, with a low local-regional recurrence rate and survival rate that are comparable to radical mastectomy, according to the literature. It's a safe and efficient method that let us preserve the breast with a good esthetical result. In selected cases, when a regional recurrence occurs, a second conservative management is possible with a good control of the disease, although the most widely accepted treatment in these cases is total mastectomy.