Litiasis coledociana: resultados de la colangiografa intraoperatoria en nuestro medio / Choledocholithiasis: results of the intraoperative cholangiography in our community

The term choledocholithiasis refers to a condition when a gallstone or gallstones become lodged within any duct of the bile system. We can find pigment gallstones, cholesterol gallstones and mixed. During surgery to remove the gallbladder you may have a procedure called intraoperative cholangiogram to look for gallstones that may be in the common bileduct. Stones in the bile ducts are classified as either primary (arising the novo), secondary (migrating from the gallbladder), recurrent (reforming after biliary tract surgery) or retained (overlooked at the time of surgery). The prevalence of choledocholithiasis in patients with simptomatic gallbladder lithiasis can be a reason for enlargement of the hospital stay, and eventually in the complexity on the prevented surgical procedure. Our aim was to investigate its prevalence in our Hospital, and the results with the empoyement of the intraoperative cholangiography accordin to our surgical protoco, and the recognized guideliness from other Centers. The results obtained are discused

Biopsia del ganglio centinela en melanomas en nuestro medio / Sentinel node biopsy in patients with melanomas

A sentinel node biopsy is a procedure in which the sentinel lymph node is identified, removed and examined to determine whether cancer cells are present. It´s used most commonly in evaluating breast cancer and melanoma. The sentinel nodes are the first few lymph nodes into which a tumor drains. The sentinel nodes are removed and analyzed in a laboratory. Melanoma is a tumor of melanocyte origin. There is a considerable evidence that early recognition and surgical removal of melanoma makes this a highly curable cancer. Because early detection of melanoma results in a high frequency of cure it is important to recognize the lesion in the earliest stages. Malignant melanoma is a type of cancer that develops from the pigment-containing cells known as melanocytes, and is the most aggressive and life-threatening skin cancer. Sentinel node biopsy is a surgical procedure to determine whether cancer has spread beyond a primary tumor into the lymphatic system. Removal and examination of the sentinel lymph node to which cancer cells are likely to spread from the primary tumor, are supposed to be an useful tool to prevent early this spread. In this paper the authors present their experience with the management of this procedure.