From adjustable gastric banding to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass - case report.

INTRODUCTION: Adjustable gastric banding (AGB) used to be a popular bariatric procedure. However, it fails in more than half of those operated on in the long term, becomes ineffective and must be removed. Therefore, the use of AGB has been in decline globally. Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) are the most used bariatric revision surgeries when AGB is removed. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a woman after AGB removal and conversion to SG who developed a stenosis of the sleeve. Therefore, a decision was made to convert to RYGB with a good effect. CONCLUSION: Revisional procedures are more technically challenging than primary procedures and have higher complication rates. The most performed revisional operations include SG and RYGB. Stenosis of the sleeve can occur after SG, with a negative impact on the patient's nutritional status and quality of life. This can be managed by endoscopic dilatation, and where this solution proves ineffective, RYGB can be indicated.

Sleeve gastrectomy - still popular bariatric method.

INTRODUCTION: Obesity is currently the most common multifactorial disease affecting almost all social strata of the population. Conservative therapy of obesity usually succeeds in reducing excess weight by an average of 10-15%. After surgical treatment of severe obesity (bariatric surgery), the average decrease in excess weight is several times greater and, in most cases, has a long-term positive effect on the overall clinical condition of the patients. METHODS: Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is the most used bariatric method of treating severe obesity today. The principle of SG is a vertical resection of a major portion of the gastric greater curvature. After the resection, the residual stomach has the shape of a sleeve with a remaining volume of about 120-150 ml. The effect of the method is both restrictive and hormonal, because after SG, the plasma level of active ghrelin decreases in the long term, among other things. CONCLUSION: Obesity is considered one of the most serious global health problems today. In 2018 a total of 696,191 bariatric procedures were performed worldwide. Sleeve gastrectomy was originally used in high-risk severely obese patients as the first stage of a duodenal switch (DS) or gastric bypass. Since 2003, this method has been used independently because for most of the patients, SG had a sufficient effect on weight reduction and improvement of comorbidities, and that is why since 2015, SG has become the most frequently used bariatric method.

Ten years of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at the Military University Hospital in Prague.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate a group of bariatric patients operated at the Military University Hospital in Prague during the last 10 years (20112020), in whom laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy was performed. METHODS: Retrospective survey of the internal operation database. The search used the following combination of keywords: “sleeve“, “LSG“ and the diagnosis “E6*“. A total of 279 operated patients were enrolled. We evaluated the sex, age at the time of surgery, complications, need for drainage, weight, BMI, presence of type two diabetes mellitus and any effect of the surgery on its improvement, length of hospital stay, follow-up duration and % excess weight loss. RESULTS: A total of 279 patients, including 195 women and 84 men, underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in the period of 10 years. The mean age was 44.46 years. The average operating time was 111 minutes. The mean BMI of the patients before surgery was 42.24 and the weight was 123.4 kg. The mean BMI one year after the surgery corresponded to a decrease of approximately 10 and the mean weight of 93.8 kg. Rather severe acute postoperative complications occurred in 2.87% patients. An improvement or complete cure of type two diabetes mellitus was observed in 57.8% patients. CONCLUSION: Currently, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is the most common bariatric operation at the Military University Hospital in Prague. This study demonstrates a satisfactory effect of bariatric surgery in terms of long-term significant weight loss and an improvement or even cure of associated diseases such as type two diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and others.

Sex-linked differences in the course of thioacetamide-induced acute liver failure in Lewis rats.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a clinical syndrome with high mortality rate, resulting from widespread hepatocyte damage. Its pathophysiological background is still poorly understood and preclinical studies evaluating pathophysiology and new potential therapeutic measures are needed. The model of ALF induced by administration of thioacetamide (TAA) in Lewis rats is recommended as optimal; however, the limitation of previous studies was that they were performed predominantly in male rats. In view of the growing recognition that sex as a biological variable should be taken into consideration in preclinical research, we examined its role in the development of TAA-induced ALF in Lewis rats. We found that, first, intact male Lewis rats showed lower survival rate than their female counterparts, due to augmented liver injury documented by higher plasma ammonia, and bilirubin levels and alanine aminotransferase activity. Second, in female rats castration did not alter the course of TAA-induced ALF whereas in the male gonadectomy improved the survival rate and attenuated liver injury, reducing it to levels observed in their female counterparts. In conclusion, we found that Lewis rats show a remarkable sexual dimorphism with respect to TAA-induced ALF, and male rats display dramatically poorer prognosis as compared with the females. We showed that testosterone is responsible for the deterioration of the course of TAA-induced ALF in male rats. In most general terms, our findings indicate that in the preclinical studies of the pathophysiology and treatment of ALF (at least of the TAA-induced form) the sex-linked differences should be seriously considered.

Pharmacological stimulation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway attenuates the course of thioacetamide-induced acute liver failure.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is known for extremely high mortality rate, the result of widespread damage of hepatocytes. Orthotopic liver transplantation is the only effective therapy but its application is limited by the scarcity of donor organs. Given the importance in the liver biology of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway, we hypothesized that its stimulation could enhance hepatocyte regeneration and attenuate the course of thioacetamide (TAA)-induced ALF in Lewis rats. Chronic treatment with Wnt agonist was started either immediately after hepatotoxic insult ("early treatment") or when signs of ALF had developed ("late treatment"). Only 23 % of untreated Lewis rats survived till the end of experiment. They showed marked increases in plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity and bilirubin and ammonia (NH3) levels; plasma albumin decreased significantly. "Early" and "late" Wnt agonist treatment raised the final survival rate to 69 % and 63 %, respectively, and normalized ALT, NH3, bilirubin and albumin levels. In conclusion, the results show that treatment with Wnt agonist attenuates the course of TAA-induced ALF in Lewis rats, both with treatment initiated immediately after hepatotoxic insult and in the phase when ALF has already developed. Thus, the pharmacological stimulation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway can present a new approach to ALF treatment.

SADIS Single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy as a second step after sleeve gastrectomy.

INTRODUCTION: Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is the most popular bariatric method at present. In case of unsatisfactory effect of the SG, i.e. in case of insufficient weight loss, improving or threatening diabetes or metabolic syndrome or regain of weight, bariatry offers a second possible step. One of the possible methods is biliopancreatic diversion type SADIS (BPD/SADIS). METHOD: Between the years 2009 and 2017, 327 morbidly obese patients underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at our surgical department. Between mid-2011 to the end of 2017, 37 (11.3 %) patients after SG with unsatisfactory effect on diabetes or on metabolic syndrome or in case of weight regain in 23.7 (1548) months after the SG underwent the second step - BPD/SADIS. The weight loss, change of the BMI and level of the HbA1c were evaluated during two years after procedure. RESULTS: 31 (83.7 %) patients were evaluated, the others were rejected due to an incomplete follow-up (FU) or a short time elapsed since the procedure. Two years after the SADIS, the average %EBMIL was 47.1 (41.552.7) %, average %EWL was 73.9 (65.183.7) %, average final BMI was 29.4 (24.6-38.2) kg/m2, which means average decrease of the BMI was 9.3 (2.914.1) kg/m2. Average level of the HbA1c was 37.9 (2842) mmol/mol, type 2 diabetes was cured in 20 (64.5 %) cases. CONCLUSION: Biliopancreatic diversion type SADIS offers a satisfactory weight loss effect as well as an improvement of the metabolic syndrome in morbidly obese patients after SG with unsatisfactory result. In comparison with the classic BPD/DS, SADIS is a technically easier method with lesser incidence of complications along with acceptable rate of malnutrition.

Hepatocyte transplantation attenuates the course of acute liver failure induced by thioacetamide in Lewis rats.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a clinical syndrome resulting from widespread damage of hepatocytes, with extremely high mortality rate. Urgent orthotopic liver transplantation was shown to be the most effective therapy for ALF but this treatment option is limited by scarcity of donor organs. Therefore, hepatocyte transplantation (Tx) has emerged as a new therapeutical measure for ALF, however, the first clinical applications proved unsatisfactory. Apparently, extensive preclinical studies are needed. Our aim was to examine if hepatocytes isolated from transgenic "firefly luciferase" Lewis rats into the recipient liver would attenuate the course of thioacetamide (TAA)-induced ALF in Lewis rats. Untreated Lewis rats after TAA administration showed a profound decrease in survival rate; no animal survived 54 h. The rats showed marked increases in plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities, in plasma level of bilirubin and ammonia (NH(3)), and in a significant decrease in plasma albumin. Hepatocyte Tx attenuated the course of TAA-induced ALF Lewis rats which was reflected by improved survival rate and reduced degree of liver injury showing as lowering of elevated plasma ALT, AST, NH(3) and bilirubin levels and increasing plasma albumin. In addition, bioluminescence imaging analyses have shown that in the TAA-damaged livers the transplanted hepatocyte were fully viable throughout the experiment. In conclusion, the results show that hepatocyte Tx into the liver can attenuate the course of TAA-induced ALF in Lewis rats. This information should be considered in attempts to develop new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of ALF.

[Surgery of the hiatal hernia and gastroesophageal reflux dinase, Nissen or Toupet?]. / Chirurgie hiátové kýly a refluxní choroby jícnu, Nissen, nebo Toupet?

INTRODUCTION: In 2016 60 years will have elapsed from the first publication by Nissen about his surgical method of 360° fundoplication around distal esophagus and its final effect. Nissens fundoplication is currently the most common surgical method for the gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and hiatal hernia (HH) probably. Incidence of HH ranges between 25-50% in the western population. Current prevalence of GER ranges between 4-10% in Europe and 5-7% in North America, but some studies report even 10-20%. METHODS: From 2010 to 2015, 157 laparoscopic procedures for HH or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) were done at the Department of Surgery, the Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Central Military Hospital in Prague. Most of the patients were operated because of symptomatic HH with/without GERD. Only very few patients were operated only for GERD without HH. The group of the patients included 73 men and 84 women with the mean age 53.9 years in the range 20-88 years. 11 patients of the group were operated because of the upside-down stomach syndrome. 109 (69.4%) patients underwent Nissens 360° fundoplication (NFP) and 48 (30.6%) patients underwent Toupets 270° fundoplication (TFP). The patients were followed after 3 month, 6 month, 12 month and then once a year after the surgery. Symptoms such as heartburn, dysphagia, belching, bloating or recurrence of HH or GERD were collected prospectively and analyzed retrospectively. Methods of descriptive statistics and explorative unidirectional analysis were used. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2015, 157 laparoscopic procedures were done for HH or GERD. No death occurred in the group of the patients in connection with the surgery. Similar rates of considerable improvement or resolution of the symptoms such as the reflux, heartburn, and epigastric pain were observed after three months from the surgery among patients after NFP or TFP. Postoperative dysphagia resolved in 4-7 weeks in the group after NFP, and in 3-5 weeks in the group after TFP. Disease recurrence was observed in 36 (22.9%) patients in 2 to 5 years after the surgery. Recurrence of only the gastroesophageal reflux without HH was observed in 22 patients (14 after NFP; 8 after TFP), shown by endoscopy or x-ray assessment, with a satisfactory response to PPI medication. Laparoscopic rehiatoplasty and refundoplication according to Nissen were performed in 14 patients with HH recurrence with/without the reflux (8 after NFP; 6 after TFP). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic antireflux surgery of GERD and HH is safe and is associated with very low perioperative morbidity and minimal morbidity. Both NFP and TFP have a similar effect on restoration of the mechanical gastroesophageal barrier against gastric reflux, with significant effect on resolution of GERD and HH symptoms and with a marked improvement of the patients quality of life. As regards morbid obese patients, weight reduction is needed before the surgery. Hiatoplasty done at the same time with the bariatric procedure is recommended in morbid obese patients with HH indicated for the bariatric-metabolic surgery.

[Urgent surgical treatment of gastric volvulus related to upside-down stomach syndrome]. / Urgentní chirurgické resení volvulu zaludku pri "upside-down stomach syndrome".

Upside-down stomach syndrome is a rare type of a large paraoesophageal hiatal hernia, which requires an immediate surgical treatment in case of incarceration. The authors present a case report of a 53-year-old male patient with gastric volvulus related to the upside-down stomach syndrome. Surgical treatment was complicated by an injury to distal oesophagus, which was successfully treated using a self-expandable metallic stent among other methods. Despite the complicated postoperative course with a necessity of reoperation, insertion of an oesophageal stent, thoracotomy for a mediastinal abscess and secondary healing of the laparotomy, the patient was discharged in a good condition with healed oesophageal perforation and laparotomy after 52 days.

Acute liver failure induced by thioacetamide: selection of optimal dosage in Wistar and Lewis rats.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a clinical condition with very high mortality rate. Its pathophysiological background is still poorly understood, which necessitates a search for optimal experimental ALF models with features resembling those of the human disorder. Taking into consideration reproducibility of induction of ALF, adequate animal size, cost of animals, the required time gap between insult and death of animals ("therapeutic window"), potential risk to investigator and other aspects, administration of thioacetamide (TAA) in rats is currently most recommended. However, the fundamental details of this ALF model have not yet been evaluated. This prompted us to investigate, first, the course of ALF as induced by intraperitoneal TAA at doses increasing from 175 to 700 mg/kg BW per day. The animals' survival rate, plasma alanine and aspartate aminotransferase activities, and bilirubin and ammonia levels were determined over the follow-up period. Second, we examined whether Wistar and Lewis rats exhibit any differences in the course of ALF induced by different TAA doses. We found that the optimal dose for ALF induction in rats is 350 mg.kg(-1) i.p., given as a single injection. Wistar rats proved more susceptible to the development of TAA-induced ALF compared with Lewis rats. Collectively, our present findings provide a sound methodological background for experimental studies aimed at evaluation of pathophysiology and development of new approaches in the therapy of ALF.

Fractionated plasma separation and adsorption significantly decreases intracranial pressure in acute liver failure: experimental study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to determine the influence of fractionated plasma separation and absorption (FPSA) on intracranial pressure (ICP) in acute liver failure (ALF). METHODS: A surgical model of ALF in pigs (35-40 kg) was used. We compared laboratory data and haemodynamic parameters from the ALF control group to the ALF group treated by Prometheus using ANOVA with repeated measures and grouping factors, by calculating the area under the curve, and by the Mann-Whitney rank test. RESULTS: Bilirubin levels differed significantly in favour of the FPSA treatment group: after 6 h 12.81 +/- 6.54 versus 29.84 +/- 9.99, after 9 h 11.94 +/- 4.14 versus 29.95 +/- 12.36 (p < 0.01) and after 12 h 13.88 +/- 6.31 versus 26.10 +/- 12.23 mmol/l (p < 0.05). ICP values differed significantly in favour of the FPSA treatment group: after 9 h 19.1 +/- 4.09 versus 24.1 +/- 2.85 (p < 0.01), after 10 h 21.9 +/- 3.63 versus 25.1 +/- 2.19, after 11 h 22.5 +/- 3.98 versus 26.3 +/- 3.50, and after 12 h 24.0 +/- 4.66 versus 29.8 +/- 5.88 mm Hg (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The authors demonstrated that a significant decrease in ICP was found in pigs with ALF following treatment by FPSA.

[Biological and non-biological elimination therapy of acute liver failure. Experimental study on large laboratory animal]. / Biologická a nebiologická eliminacní lécba akutního selhání jater experimentální práce na velkém laboratorním zvíreti.

BACKGROUND: Development of biological and non-biological artificial liver devices in the previous 20 years enabled effective treatment of acute liver failure (ALF) of patients waiting for liver transplantation or for spontaneous liver parenchyma regeneration. Aim of the study was the evaluation of the effectiveness of biological (BAL - bioartificial liver) and non-biological (FPSA - Fractionated plasma separation and adsorption) methods in the treatment of experimental ALF on large laboratory animal. METHODS AND RESULTS: Surgical model of ALF with liver devascularization in pigs (weight 25-40 kg) was provided following monitoring of ALF markers (AST, ALT, bilirubin, ammoniac, glycaemia, INR) including intracranial pressure (ICP). Control group included animals without treatment of ALF. Results of both experimental groups were compared and statistically worked-out with that of controls by T-test and Mann-Whitney non-parametric test by EXCEL and QUATRO. BAL group: 10 pigs (weight 30 +/- 5 kg) with ALF were treated by BAL with isolated hepatocytes. When plasma bilirubin was compared, significant differences (p < 0.05) in 6 and 9 hours interval were found favouring BAL group (18.1 vs. 13.1, 22.9 vs. 13.2 mmol/l). The value of ICP in both groups was no significant. Prometheus group: 14 pigs weight 35 kg (35 +/- 5 kg) with the identical ALF were treated by Prometheus (FPSA). Level of serum bilirubin in experimental group when compared to control group was significantly lower (p < 0.01) at 6 hour interval 12.81 +/- 6.54 vs. 29.84 +/- 9.99 at 9 hour 11.94 +/- 4.14 vs. 29.95 +/- 12.36 and at 12 hour 13.88 +/- 6.31 vs. 26.10 +/- 12.23 mmol/l. No significant difference in serum ammonia level was found. ICP was significantly different from 9 hour to 12 hour interval in favour of FPSA group (p < 0.01): 9 hour 19.1 +/- 4.09 vs. 24.1 +/- 2.85, 10 hour 21.9 +/- 3.63 vs. 25.1 +/- 2.19, 11 hour 22.5 +/- 3.98 vs. 26.3 +/- 3.50 and 12 hour 24.0 +/- 4.66 vs. 29.8 +/- 5.88 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS: Significant improvement of bilirubin and ICP levels resulting from the treatment with fractionated plasma separation and adsorption (Prometheus) were observed in the case of experimental ALE Except the bilirubin levels, bioartificial liver provided by O. liver Performer with isolated hepatocytes did not bring any significant improvement of laboratory markers, including ICP.