Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: a case-control study.

This case-control study assesses laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in patients with end-stage renal disease treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Eleven patients receiving peritoneal dialysis treatment and 33 patients without end-stage renal disease who had undergone an elective LC were compared. Medical records were reviewed, and laboratory values and outcomes and results were analyzed. The peritoneal dialysis group showed a higher frequency of associated disease and previous abdominal surgery; a lower hemoglobin and platelet count; and elevated alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine values. Statistically significant between-group differences were found with regard to postoperative complications and postoperative hospital stay days. One procedure in each group was converted to an open cholecystectomy. No patient in the peritoneal dialysis group who underwent a LC had peritonitis. No other catheter-related complications occurred. LC may be performed with low complication rates in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis with an experienced team.

Treatment approaches for spontaneous retroperitoneal bleeding.

In this study, we investigated critical issues in the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous retroperitoneal bleeding. The medical records of 16 patients who were admitted to the emergency department and were diagnosed as having spontaneous retroperitoneal bleeding were reviewed retrospectively. Retroperitoneal bleeding was diagnosed by intravenous contrast-enhanced computed tomography in 8 men and 8 women (median age, 70.5 years; mean hemoglobin level, 7.4 +/- 1.3 mg/dl). Thirteen patients (81%) received conservative treatment. Bleeding was controlled by therapeutic angiographic intervention in two patients (12%) and by surgery in one patient (6%). Two patients (12%) died. Clinicians should suspect retroperitoneal bleeding in anemic patients who are admitted to an emergency department. If active bleeding is detected, interventional radiologic methods should be used as the initial treatment, and surgery can be performed if conservative and interventional radiologic methods fail.

Effects of heparin on bacterial translocation and gut epithelial apoptosis after burn injury in the rat: dose-dependent inhibition of the complement cascade.

This study investigated levels of complement inhibition, apoptosis of gut epithelium, and bacterial translocation (BT) associated with different doses of heparin in rats with severe burns. After burn injury, the animals in Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 received intravenous tail-vein bolus heparin doses of 150, 300, 600, and 1200 U/kg, respectively. Group 5 received no heparin after burn injury. Group 6 served as control group. According to the results, Group 2 had the highest rate of positive staining for C3, and Group 4 had the lowest rate. There were significant differences between these two groups with respect to distribution of immunoflouresein scores for C3 (p=0.01). Group 5 had the highest mean TUNEL index of all the groups (258/10) (p=0.01). On electron microscopy, the connective tissue cells in the ileal submucosa from Groups 4 and 5 showed more significant apoptotic changes than the corresponding cells in the other groups. The total BT values in Group 4 (129 x 10(4) CFU) and Group 5 (100 x 10(4) CFU) were both significantly higher than those in the other groups (p=0.01). Group 1 had the lowest total BT value (6.1 x 10(2) CFU) (p=0.001). In summary, our results confirm that heparin administration after significant burn injury in rats can reduce BT, and that the effect is related to dose. The findings also indicate that levels of BT after burn injury increase in parallel with the extent of gut epithelial cell apoptosis.

Management strategies for patients with nipple discharge.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess management strategies for patients with nipple discharge (ND). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The records of 13,443 women with breast-related complaints who were examined by the same surgeon between 1 January 1960 and 31 December 2000 were retrospectively assessed. Patients with ND were grouped according to whether they had had a spontaneous or provoked discharge. The parameters investigated in each group were age, physical findings, number of pregnancies, duration of lactation, duration of discharge, colour of discharge, and histopathological features. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: ND was the presenting symptom in 603 (4.5%) of the cases. Two hundred and eighty-seven (48%) of the 603 patients showed spontaneous nipple discharge (SND group) and the other 316 (52%) showed provoked nipple discharge (PND group). In the SND group, 124 (43%) tissue specimens were obtained by either biopsy or sub-areolar exploration. Histopathological examination revealed that the most frequent causes of ND in these cases were intraductal papilloma (49 patients; 40%), intraductal carcinoma (35 patients; 28%), and cystic disease (15 patients; 12%). Twenty tissue specimens were obtained from the group with PND. In these cases, the most frequently identified causes of ND were cystic disease (seven patients; 35%), intraductal papilloma (six patients; 30%), ductal ectasia (two patients; 10%), and carcinoma (one patient; 5%). The SND and PND groups differed significantly with respect to age (P = 0.001) and duration of ND (P = 0.008). The incidence of cancer was higher in the SND specimens than in the PND specimens (28% vs 5%, respectively; P = 0.01). The number of pregnancies was significantly higher and the duration of lactation was significantly longer in the SND group (P = 0.03 and P = 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSION: The study confirms previous reports that patients with SND have a higher incidence of carcinoma than those with PND. The results suggest that older age, higher number of pregnancies, and longer duration of lactation may predispose to cancer development in patients with SND. The possibility of breast cancer should also be kept in mind when one is assessing patients with PND. Careful physical examination and close follow-up is the optimal management strategy for patients with any type of ND.

Management of bilateral breast carcinoma: long-term results.

The aim of this study was to document the clinical features and long-term outcomes in 43 cases of bilateral breast carcinoma. All the women were diagnosed by a single surgeon who had evaluated 13,443 patients with breast-related complaints over a 40-year period. At the initial cancer diagnosis, 28 patients (65%) were of premenopausal age (< or = 46 years; group 1) and 15 (35%) were postmenopausal (> 46 years; group 2). The median interval between initial and subsequent cancer was 24 months (range, 12-288 months) in group 1 and 20 months (range, 14-252 months) in group 2 (P > 0.05). The distribution of initial cancer types based on pathological examination was ductal adenocarcinoma in 28 (65%) cases; lobular carcinoma in 5 (12%) cases; comedocarcinoma in 5 (12%) cases; papillary carcinoma in 2 (4.5%) cases; papillary combined with squamous cell carcinoma in 1 (2%) case; and lobular combined with medullary carcinoma in 2 (4.5%) cases. There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to the distribution of types of surgery used for the initial and subsequent carcinomas. Tumor locations were symmetrical in 26 (60%) patients. The mean palpable mass sizes for the initial and subsequent tumors in group 1 were 3 +/- 1.4 (range, 1-8 cm) and 1.3 +/- 0.5 cm (range, 1-2 cm), respectively. The corresponding means for group 2 were 2.3 +/- 1.8 (range, 0.9-7 cm) and 1.3 +/- 0.5 cm (range, 1-2 cm). The 10- and 20-year disease-free survival rates for group 1 versus group 2 were 32% versus 27% and 10% versus 8%, respectively. The rates of axillary lymph node metastasis from the primary cancer in groups 1 and 2 were statistically similar; however, the rate of axillary lymph node metastasis from subsequent cancer in group 1 was significantly higher than that in group 2 (P = 0.02). The lactation period (after each child born) in group 1 was significantly longer than that in group 2 (P = 0.04). Group 1 had a higher rate of distant metastasis at 20 years (P = 0.03), but the groups' local recurrence rates at this stage were similar. Log-rank analysis revealed no significant differences between the groups' 10- and 20-year patient survival rates. Subsequent breast cancer was not detected on mammography in 4 (9%) of the 43 patients. In these cases, the tumors were diagnosed by ultrasonography after physical examination revealed suspicious findings at symmetrical locations. The findings suggest that women who are diagnosed with primary cancer before menopause are at greater risk for distant metastasis than postmenopausal women, when subsequent cancer is detected in the contralateral breast. Herein, the risk for metastasis is only assessed after cancer is detected in the other breast. The premenopausal women had a significantly longer mean lactation period. Extended lactation may be a risk factor for breast cancer development in this age group, but this needs further investigation.

The impact of transient elevation of intra-abdominal pressure on liver regeneration in the rat.

Transient increased intra-abdominal pressure (IIAP) due to carbon dioxide insufflation is suspected to cause a form of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Considering this, a study was designed to assess the effect of transient IIAP on liver regeneration in a rat model. Six groups of animals (each n = 6) were studied. While experiments in Group 1 (IIAP+PHR) were subjected to IIAP, following partial hepatic resection (PHR), those in Group 2 (IIAP) experiments were subjected to IIAP. Animals in Group 3 (IR+PHR) were subjected to liver ischemia-reperfusion (IR) following PHR, and those in Group 4 (IR) underwent only IR. Group 5 (PHR) and Group 6 (healthy) served as controls. Blood was taken for assessment of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at day 5 postoperatively. Each rat was then given a lethal injection of pentobarbital. Gravimetric analysis and immunohistochemistry staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were used for assessments of liver regeneration. Apoptosis was assessed by immunohistochemical TUNEL index, expressed as the number of positive cells/per total number of cells at the same time. Although mean liver regeneration rates of Group 1 and Group 3 were the same, that of Group 5 was the highest (p = .04). Serum TNF-alpha levels of Group 1 versus Group 3 were 340 pg/ml versus 352 pg/ml. Serum IL-l levels of Group 1 versus Group 3 were 124 pg/ml versus 135 pg/ml. Serum TNl-alpha and IL-6 levels of Group 1 and Group 3 were the same at the first day of surgical procedure (p > .05). Mean serum TNF-alpha levels of Group 5 (387 pg/ml) were significantly higher than those of both Group 1 and Group 3 at 24 h of operation. Serum IL-6 levels of Group 5 (174 pg/ml) at the same time was higher than those of Group 1 and Group 3 at the same time (p = .01). Proliferating cell nuclear antigen indices of Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, and Group 6 were the same; however, the mean PCNA-labeling index of Group 5 was higher than those of the others. There were no significant differences between the groups (p > .05). Liver regeneration is suppressed by transient IIAP. However, the effect of IIAP on liver apoptosis needs to be clarified.

Atypical presentation of chronic pancreatic fistula: a case successfully managed with long-acting somatostatin.

Pancreatic fistula is a potential complication of trauma or inflammation of the pancreatic duct or accessory pancreatic ducts. These fistulous tracts tend to form external to the pancreas; internal cases are rare. Pharmacological inhibition of pancreatic exocrine secretion and conservative approaches such as percutaneous endoscopic interventions are widely used to treat pancreatic fistulae. However, these fistulae are still associated with significant mortality and morbidity. In this report, we describe a case with post-splenectomy pancreatic fistulae and related recurrent abdominal abscess who was successfully managed with long-acting somatostatin.