[THE USE OF CT-GUIDED MARKING FOR THE LAPAROSCOPIC RESECTION OF A SOLITARY RETROPERITONEAL TUMOR].

When resecting small tumors or tumors with an irregular margin, a marking technique is conducted prior to the surgery. CT-guided marking techniques are common in pulmonary surgery, but it is rarely used in abdominal or urological surgery. We performed a marking technique for a small tumor that was undetectable by ultrasound using CT guidance prior to laparoscopic resection.A 63 year-old woman, two years after total hysterectomy for uterine stromal sarcoma, underwent combined right kidney resection and retroperitoneal tumor resection for a giant recurrence. Two months after the surgery, micro recurrence was observed in the vicinity of the right intestinal psoas muscle which upon follow up, the tumor size increased to 1 cm. Surgical resection of the small recurrent tumor was planned. Since it was difficult to detect by ultrasound, preoperative CT-guided marking was performed. Retroperitoneal laparoscopic resection was performed the following day. The histopathological diagnosis was endometrial stromal sarcoma.

[A Case of IgG4-Related Disease Diagnosed by Prostate Biopsy].

A 74 year-old man presented with complaints of dysuria and miction pain. Since the prostate volume was 43.5 ml, the patient was scheduled for surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, prostate cancer was suspected from the magnetic resonance imaging findings and a prostate biopsy was performed. No malignant findings were observed in the pathological results, but numerous plasma cells stained positive for IgG4. Abdominal computed tomography showed pancreatic head enlargement with surrounding inflammatory changes and elevated serum IgG4 was also observed. The patient was diagnosed with IgG4-related disease (pancreatitis/prostatitis). Dysuria improved with induction of 30 mg prednisolone. The patient no longer needed to take the α1 blocker and 5α reductase inhibitor. The international prostate symptom score and urine flow measurement indicated that the patient remained in good condition at 18 months since the start of treatment.

The Use of CT-Guided Marking for the Laparoscopic Resection of a Solitary Retroperitoneal Metastasis of Colon Cancer.

Background: CT-guided marking technique is rarely used in abdominal or urologic surgery. We developed and performed a marking technique for a small tumor, undetectable by ultrasound, using CT guidance before laparoscopic resection of the tumor. Case Presentation: A 73-year-old woman with a history of breast cancer underwent right colectomy with D3 lymph node dissection for ascending colon cancer. Five years after the operation, a solitary tumor was found in the right pararenal region of the retroperitoneal space on enhanced abdominal CT. The tumor was 20 mm in diameter and undetectable by ultrasound, so we performed a marking technique using CT guidance before the operation. Placing the patient in a prone position on the CT table, a 22-gauge needle was inserted into the Gerota's fascia percutaneously and a mixed fluid containing India ink and Iopamidol was injected para to the tumor by the radiologist. During the surgery, the marker was clearly identified and the cutting line was determined to ensure a sufficient surgical margin. The tumor was laparoscopically resected as planned. The histopathologic diagnosis was adenocarcinoma, compatible with metastasis of colon cancer. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient remained free of disease at 10 months after surgery. Conclusion: When resecting small tumors or tumors with an irregular margin, a marking technique is conducted before the surgery. But, preoperative CT-guided marking has not been applied generally for resection of intraabdominal lesion yet. CT-guided marking can be effective when performing minimally invasive and curable surgery on small tumors. This is the first report of an effective CT-guided marking before retroperitoneal laparoscopic tumorectomy. We believe that this technique provides an important therapeutic option for small tumors that may be undetectable by ultrasound.

Predicting the Need for Fluid Therapy-Does Fluid Responsiveness Work?

Fluid overdose can be harmful in critically ill patients. Since central venous pressure (CVP) is currently considered to be an inappropriate indicator of preload, much attention is being given to predicting fluid responsiveness, i.e., the response of stroke volume (SV) or cardiac output (CO) to fluid challenge. However, when fluid responsiveness was evaluated in critically ill patients, including sepsis, only 40-50% of the patients responded. Moreover, most fluid responders do not show significant hemodynamic improvement after fluid administration. In this review, we discuss why fluid responsiveness based on the Starling mechanism did not work well in the clinical setting. According to the Starling mechanism, a patient whose SV/CO significantly increases after a fluid challenge is considered to be a fluid responder and judged to need fluid therapy. However, the currently recommended fluid challenge dose of crystalloid 250-500 mL has little effect on increasing blood volume and is not sufficient to increase the preload of the Starling curve. Especially in septic patients, due to their vascular hyperpermeability, increase in blood volume is even smaller. Furthermore, Infusion induced hemodilution is known to reduce blood viscosity and hematocrit, as a result, decreasing afterload. This indicates that the increased SV/CO after fluid challenge is caused not only by increased preload but also by decreased afterload. For these reasons, fluid responsiveness with small crystalloid challenge is questionable as a clinical indicator of fluid therapy.