Success of endoscopic vacuum therapy for persistent anastomotic leak after esophagectomy - A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Endoscopic vacuum (endovac) therapy has shown excellent outcomes when used for esophageal anastomotic leaks. The results of endovac therapy are superior to those of other endoscopic therapies for esophageal leaks. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a 70-year-old male with esophageal adenocarcinoma who underwent Ivor Lewis esophagogastrectomy that was complicated by an esophageal leak. After failure of multiple endoscopic therapies (i.e. stents and clips), he responded well to endovac therapy. DISCUSSION: Endovac therapy is extremely useful for the treatment of esophageal leaks. The widespread use of endovac therapy is feasible, even in smaller community hospitals. CONCLUSION: Endovac therapy is a valuable tool that can be used widely for the management of esophageal leaks. Commercially available devices need to be developed in order to facilitate endovac placement and exchange so that the procedure is less dependent on the skill of the operator.

Complications and Risk Assessment of 25 Years in Pediatric Pacing.

BACKGROUND: Children who require cardiac pacemaker implantation have presented a small patient sub-population since the breakthrough of this technology in the 1950s and 1960s. Their small bodies result in a technical challenge for the operating surgeon and put the patient at risk for a series of specific complications. Our study aims to analyze complications and to identify risk factors of endocardial and epicardial pacemaker systems in children. METHODS: All pacemaker-related operations in pediatric patients up to the age of 18 years from 1985 through 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. Demographic data including age, height, and weight were recorded. Idiopathic and postoperative dysrhythmias were analyzed separately. RESULTS: A total of 149 pacemaker operations were performed in 73 patients. Thirty-two patients did not have a previous cardiac operation. Indications for revision included box exchange, lead-related problems, pacemaker pocket complications, impaired left ventricular function, and pectoral muscle stimulation. Increased pacing thresholds occurred in 17.2% of the patients with epicardial leads compared with 2.9% in the endocardial group. Aside from threshold-related revision, lead problems are more common in the endocardial group (30.4% vs 17.2%). Venous thrombosis occurred in 13.7% of the patients (only endocardial), preferentially (25%) in the weight group less than 15 kg and in idiopathic patients (15.6% vs 10.5% with prior cardiac surgery). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac pacing is particularly challenging in the pediatric patient population facing a large number of reoperations during their lifetime. The lack of clear superiority of either epicardial or endocardial pacing systems requires an individual concept.