Lymph nodes detection and the mesorectal excision quality evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: Detection and examination of proper number of lymph nodes in patients after rectal resection is important for next treatment and management of patients with rectal carcinoma. There are no clear guideliness for minimal count of lymph nodes, variant recommendations agree on the number of 12 (1014) nodes. There are situations, when is not easy to reach this count, mainly in older age groups and in patients after neoadjuvant, especially radiation therapy. As a modality for improvement of lymph nodes harvesting seems to be establishing of defined protocols originally designed for mesorectal excision quality evaluation. METHODS: The investigation group was formed by patients examined in 2 three-years intervals before and after implementation of the protocol. Elevation in count of harvested lymph nodes was rated generaly and in relation to age groups and gender. RESULTS: The average count of lymph nodes increased from 10 to 15 nodes, in subset of patients whose received neoadjuvant therapy from 7 to almost 14 nodes. The recommended number of lymph nodes was obtained in all investigated age groups. By the increased number of lymph nodes, rises also possibility of positive nodes found, that can lead to upstaging of the disease, in subset of patients whose received neoadjuvant therapy it is more than 4%. CONCLUSION: Our conclusions show, that forming of multidisciplinary cooperative groups (chiefly surgeon-pathologist), implementation of defined protocol of surgery, specimen manipulation and investigation by detached specialists lead to benefit consequences for further management and treatment of the patients with colorectal cancer.

[Parametric monitoring of the quality of total mesorectal excision and surgical treatment of rectal carcinoma results of a multicenter study]. / Parametrické sledování kvality totální mezorektální excize a chirurgické lécby karcinomu rekta výsledky multicentrické studie.

INTRODUCTION: Tumour size and the quality of its complete surgical removal are the main prognostic factors in rectal cancer treatment. The number of postoperative local recurrences depends on whether the mesorectum has been completely removed - total mesorectal excision (TME) - and whether tumour-free resection margins have been achieved. The surgery itself and its quality depend on the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis and detection of risk areas in the rectum and mesorectum, on the surgeons skills, and finally on pathological assessment evaluating whether complete tumour excision has been accomplished including circumferential margins of the tumour, and whether mesorectal excision is complete. The aim of our study was to implement and standardize a new method of evaluation of the quality of the surgical procedure - TME - in rectal cancer treatment using an assessment of its circumferential margins (CRO) and completeness of the excision. METHODS: The study consisted of two parts. The first, multi-centre retrospective phase with 288 patients analysed individual partial parameters of the diagnosis, operations and histological examinations of the rectal cancer. Critical points were identified and a unified follow-up protocol was prepared. In the second, prospective part of this study 600 patients were monitored parametrically focusing on the quality of the TME and its effect on the oncological treatment results. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with restaging following neoadjuvant therapy increased from 60.0% to 81.7% based on preoperative diagnosis. The number of specimens missing an assessment of the mesorectal excision quality decreased from 52.9% in the retrospective part of to the study to 22.8% in the prospective part. The proportion of actually complete TMEs rose from 22.6% to 26.0%, and that of nearly complete TMEs from 10.1% to 24.0%. CONCLUSION: The introduction of parametric monitoring into routine clinical practice improved the quality of pre-treatment and preoperative diagnosis, examination of the tissue specimen, and consequently improved quality of the surgical procedure was achieved. KEY WORDS: rectal cancer TME - parametric monitoring - quality control.

[Mesenteric venous thrombosis--a shift in therapeutic strategy?]. / Mezenteriální zilní trombózy--posun v lécebné strategii?

The authors present a group of nine patients suffering from mesenteric venous thrombosis, which were treated in three hospitals with participation of the first author. Basic principles of diagnostic and therapeutic procedure are summarized and a shift in the treatment strategy over the last 10 years is pointed out. The patient after a very radical intestinal resection may expect to survive and entertain an acceptable quality of life, provided the surgery is followed by an extensive team care in the post-operation period, later accompanied by the care of specialists in modern ways of nutrition.