Planning of the internal mammary field based on lymphoscintigraphy localization before postoperative radiotherapy of breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Internal mammary irradiation is still an issue of great debate. Although treatment of internal mammary lymph nodes was routinely given in the majority of randomized trials, data in its value are still limited. The aim of this study is to determine the variability of position of the internal mammary lymph nodes using lymphoscintigraphy and to compare the dose of radiation that reaches these lymph nodes, the heart and lungs if only tangential fields are used. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a prospective study that included 30 breast cancer patients treated in the department of radiation oncology of the Egyptian National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, planned for postoperative radiotherapy. Lymphoscintigraphy was done for all patients for detection of the exact site of the internal mammary lymph nodes. Dose volume histogram (DVH) was done to measure the dose to the heart using CT planning. Two plans were done for each patient, the first with internal mammary field (plan I), and the second without but with contralateral crossing of the midline by 1cm (plan II). RESULTS: The mean percentage of the internal mammary lymph nodes included in the internal mammary field (plan I) was 70.03% while in plan II it was 3.05%. The mean dose percentage reaching the heart in plan I was 54.5% of total dose, while in plan II it was 9.16% of total dose with significant p value<0.001. The mean dose to the heart decreased as the heart volume increased, this significant difference between the 2 plans was maintained for the different heart volumes. Also, the radiation dose to the heart in plan I varied significantly (p: 0.001) between the right side vs the left side with a mean dose of 48.02% and 63.5%, respectively. The mean dose percentage reaching the lungs in plan I and plan II was 46.53% and 24.5% respectively, with significant p value<0.001. CONCLUSION: If irradiation of internal mammary chain is intended, then a direct internal mammary field should be used. The planning of internal mammary field should be adjusted according to lymphoscintigraphy so as to include most of the draining internal mammary lymph nodes. The risk of late cardiac and pulmonary complications will increase when using direct internal mammary field, but the risk of cardiac complications will be less in irradiation of right side internal mammary lymph nodes compared to that of irradiation of the left side.

Acute variceal hemorrhage: the persistent bleeder. A plea for management.

A group of 1910 patients with acutely bleeding esophagogastric varices were managed in the Kasr El Aini sclerotherapy project; 458 of the patients (24%) were lost to follow-up. The remaining patients were studied in five groups: group I (294/401 patients), rigid versus flexible sclerotherapy; group II (254/336 patients), intravariceal versus paravariceal sclerotherapy; group III (174/227 patients), timing of initial sclerotherapy and the optimum frequency of sclerotherapy sessions; group IV (80/99 patients), splenectomy devascularization operation alone versus combined surgery with sclerotherapy; group V (650/847 patients), management of failures of and recurrences after sclerotherapy. The mean period of follow-up was 72 months. Rigid sclerotherapy was significantly superior to flexible sclerotherapy for emergency control of acute bleeding but was associated with significantly more morbidity. Paravariceal injection achieved insignificantly better initial control of bleeding and had more morbidity than intravariceal injection, which obliterated the varices in a significantly larger proportion of patients. Emergency injection of the acute bleeder should be carried out soon after admission, with sclerotherapy sessions repeated every 2 weeks. Combined sclerotherapy with splenectomy and devascularization was significantly more effective for controlling bleeding than surgery alone. Surgery should be done without delay for continued bleeding after the second attempt of sclerotherapy and in patients who rebleed after their third sclerotherapy session. Survival, however, was not significantly improved by the different modalities of sclerotherapy.

Pharmacological constriction of the lower oesophageal sphincter: a simple method of arresting variceal haemorrhage.

The effect of pharmacological constriction of the lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) on oesophageal varices was investigated in an experimental study followed by a controlled clinical trial. In the experimental study intravariceal pressure was measured just above the LOS in 11 patients before and after constricting the LOS by intravenous pentagastrin. Intravariceal pressure fell from a mean of 23 (range 12-36) mmHg to 4 (range 0-7) mmHg (p less than 0.001). This marked pressure drop indicated the considerable compression of varices that occurred within the LOS. A prospective controlled clinical trial examined whether LOS constriction (effected by the longer acting metoclopramide) would compress varices sufficiently to arrest active variceal bleeding originating from the lowest 2 cm oesophagus--the area encircled by the LOS. Of 11 patients who received metoclopramide, 10 stopped bleeding compared with four of the 11 who received placebo (p less than 0.01). Pharmacological constriction of the LOS appears to offer a new and effective approach for arresting active bleeding from oesophageal varices.

A new posterior exposure of the splenic vein for an H-graft splenorenal shunt.

A preliminary report is presented of a posterior exposure of the splenic vein allowing H-graft splenorenal shunt to be carried out without removing the spleen. The operation was successfully performed in 14 patients with portal hypertension due to schistosomal hepatic fibrosis, and this was associated with post-hepatitic cirrhosis in 5 of them. Dacron grafts were inserted in 8 patients and autologous internal jugular vein grafts in 6 patients. The long term follow-up of the patients (maximum 45 months) showed that recurrence of bleeding developed in 2 patients due to shunt thrombosis and one died. Complications occurred in 3 patients, including one patient who developed first grade encephalopathy. Shunt patency was demonstrated in 12 patients, including all the vein grafts.

The effect of prophylactic heparinization on the venous blood flow using the Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter.

The effect of prophylactic heparinization on the postoperative venous blood flow was prospectively studied in 100 lower limbs of 50 patients. Patients were randomized into two groups of 25 patients each: a control group and a heparin group. Changes in the venous blood flow were monitored using the Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter. The study illustrated the protective role of prophylactic heparinization in maintaining a near normal venous blood flow after surgery. The postoperative reduction in venous blood flow in heparinized patients was significantly less than the decrease in blood flow in non-heparinized patients during the same postoperative period. This significant difference between the two groups of patients applied to the steady and the augmented blood flow rates. The beneficial role of prophylactic heparinization was shown to act significantly in patients undergoing minor surgery, in obese subjects and in those suffering malignant disease. Patients undergoing major surgery also benefited significantly from prophylactic heparinization apart from their steady venous blood flow during the first postoperative day.

Tamponade and injection sclerotherapy in the management of bleeding oesophageal varices.

One hundred patients with bleeding oesophageal varices were randomized into two treatment groups after resuscitation. One group was managed by tamponade only (group 1); the other group (group 2) was treated by endoscopic injection of oesophageal varices. The patients in group 2 were further subdivided into 25 patients (group 2a), who had tamponade applied immediately after sclerotherapy, and 25 patients (group 2b), who had sclerotherapy without subsequent tamponade. Injection of varices controlled the acute bleeding episode more effectively than tamponade (74 per cent in group 2 v. 42 per cent in group 1). There was no significant difference in the overall mortality rate of the two groups, but group 2 had a significantly higher proportion of Child's grade C patients (38/50 v. 29/50 = 76 v. 58 per cent). If only Child's grade C patients are considered, 16 out of 29 (55 per cent) died in group 1, whereas only 12 out of 38 (32 per cent) died in group 2 (P less than 0.05). Tamponade applied after sclerotherapy had no demonstrable effect on the outcome of sclerotherapy. The long term follow-up of patients (maximum 4 years) showed that recurrence of bleeding was less in the sclerotherapy group (8.1 per cent) than in the tamponade only group (27.6 per cent; P less than 0.05).

The complications of injection sclerotherapy of bleeding oesophageal varices.

The complications of injection sclerotherapy were retrospectively studied in 122 patients with acute variceal bleeding. Initial control of bleeding was achieved in 72.5 per cent of patients and the final success rate of sclerotherapy was 86.1 per cent. The overall morbidity rate was 30.3 per cent. Minor complications occurred in 13.9 per cent of patients and major complications were recorded in 16.4 per cent. Twenty patients developed complications directly attributable to sclerotherapy: 14 minor and 6 major. The overall mortality rate was 21.3 per cent, and 7.4 per cent of the patients died due to complications. Pulmonary complications occurred in 15 patients and resulted in 3 deaths. Retrosternal pain developed in 8 patients, but dysphagia and oesophageal ulceration were rare. No stricture was recorded. The incidence of liver failure in 17 Child's grade C cases was almost certainly a complication of the underlying disease rather than the injection therapy. It is suggested that injection sclerotherapy is an effective and relatively safe treatment for variceal bleeding.

The dose-time relationship in the radiotherapy of carcinoma of the cervix uteri: an application of the CRE formalism.

A correlation could be obtained between the likelihood of control of central and nodal disease and the corresponding local CRE levels attained in a group of 79 cases of carcinoma of the cervix uteri treated according to a multistage protocol involving a combination of external telecobalt irradiation and intracavitary radium application. A nodal CRE level of 1700 reu and a central CRE value of 2900 reu seemed to be optimal for control of modal metastases and central disease respectively. These CRE levels seemed to be well tolerated even if salvage surgery had to be performed.

Fibrous histiocytoma: benign and malignant variants.

Twenty cases of benign and malignant fibrous histiocytoma are presented. Six were benign, 11 malignant fibrous, and 3 pure malignant histiocytomas. These tumours arise from tissue histiocytes and have a wide range of histological appearances. The characteristic histological features are described and the variable clinical picture and different lines of treatment and management are discussed.

Technical aspects of injection sclerotherapy of acute oesophageal variceal haemorrhage as seen by radiography.

Certain aspects of the technique of injection sclerotherapy are illustrated in a series of 15 patients presenting with acute oesophageal variceal haemorrhage due to bilharzial hepatic fibrosis. The results of this form of treatment are shown. The actual process of variceal injection was done under visual fluoroscopic control, using a mixture of 76 per cent Urografin and 5 per cent ethanolamine oleate. The findings showed that: (a) the sclerosant did not reach the gastric varices which could be a possible source of re-bleeding; (b) intravariceally injected material rapidly escaped from the submucosal varices, where it should stay, to the peri-oesophageal veins; (c) sclerosant remaining on the variceal walls was minimal by the time the Sengestaken tube was inflated.

The effect of experimental haemorrhagic shock on the bacterial content of thoracic duct lymph.

The effect of haemorrhagic shock on the simultaneous appearance of enteric micro-organisms in the central lymph and the portal blood was studied in 30 dogs. Irreversible haemorrhagic shock results in portal bacteraemia but the lymph remains sterile. Thoracic duct drainage is harmful and hastens the onset of irreversibility.