Clinical significance of revised microscopic positive resection margin status in ductal adenocarcinoma of pancreatic head

PURPOSE: Recent studies have suggested microscopic positive resection margin should be revised according to the presence of tumor cells within 1mm of the margin surface in resected specimens of pancreatic cancer. However, the clinical meaning of this revised margin status for R1 resection margin was not fully clarified. METHODS: From July 2012 to December 2014, the medical records of 194 consecutive patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head were analyzed retrospectively. They were divided into 3 groups on margin status; revised microscopic negative margin (rR0) – tumor exists more than 1 mm from surgical margin, revised microscopic positive margin (rR1) – tumor present within less than 1 mm from surgical margin, classic microscopic positive margin (cR1) – tumor is exposed to surgical margin. RESULTS: There were 76 rR0 (39.2%), 100 rR1 (51.5%), and 18 cR1 (9.3%). There was significant difference in disease-free survival rates between cR1 vs. rR1 (8.4 months vs. 24.0 months, P = 0.013). Margin status correlated with local recurrence rate (17.1% in rR0, 26.0% in rR1, and 44.4% in cR1, P = 0.048). There is significant difference in recurrence at tumor bed (11.8% in rR0 vs. 23.0 in rR1, P = 0.050). Of rR1, adjuvant treatment was found to be an independent risk factor for local recurrence (hazard ratio, 0.297; 95% confidence interval, 0.127–0.693, P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Revised R1 resection margin (rR1) affects recurrence at the tumor bed. Adjuvant treatment significantly reduced local recurrence of rR1. Accordingly, adjuvant chemoradiation for rR1 group should be taken into account.

Long-term clinical outcomes after endovascular management of ruptured pseudoaneurysm in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy

PURPOSE: Recent studies have analyzed the short-term clinical outcomes of ndovascular management. However, the long-term outcomes are unknown. This study aimed to investigate clinical outcomes after endovascular management for ruptured pseudoaneurysm in patients after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). METHODS: The medical records of 2,783 patients who underwent PD were retrospectively reviewed at a single center. Of 62 patients who received intervention after pseudonaeurysm rupture, 57 patients (91.9%) experienced eventual success of hemostasis. The patients were composed as follows: (embolization only [EMB], n = 30), (stent-graft placement only [STENT], n = 19) and (both embolization and stent-graft placement simultaneously or different times [EMB + STENT], n = 8). Long-term complications were defined as events that occur more than 30 days after the last successful endovascular treatment. RESULTS: Among 57 patients, short-term stent-graft related complications developed in 3 patients (5.3%) and clinical complication developed in 18 patients (31.5%). Nine (15.8%) had long-term stent-graft related complications, which involved partial thrombosis in 5 cases, occlusion in 3 cases and migration in 1 case. Except for 1 death, the remaining 8 cases did not experience clinical complications. The stent graft primary patency rate was 88.9% after 1 month, 84.2% after 1 year, and 63.2% after 2 years. Of 57 patients, 30 days mortality occurred in 8 patients (14.0%). CONCLUSION: After recovery from initial complication, most of patients did not experience fatal clinical complication during long-term follow-up. Endovascular management is an effective and safe management of pseudoaneurysm rupture after PD in terms of long-term safety.

Laparoscopic left hepatectomy in patients with intrahepatic duct stones and recurrent pyogenic cholangitis

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Recently many studies have been reported the early results of a hepatectomy for various intrahepatic lesions. Also various types of laparoscopic hepatectomies are being performed in many centers. Some reports about the safety of laparoscopic parenchymal dissection of the liver have been published. In this study, we reported our experiences of laparoscopic left hepatectomies in patients with an intrahepatic duct (IHD) stone with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis (RPC), and investigated whether the total laparoscopic parenchymal dissection is as safe as open surgery. METHODS: From April 2008 to December 2010, 25 patients had been admitted for left IHD stones with RPC. Preoperatively, the type of surgery was decided with the intention of treating each patient. Initially 10 patients underwent a laparoscopy-assisted left hepatectomy and the next 15 patients underwent total laparoscopic left hepatectomy as our experience grew. Demographics, peri- and postoperative results were collected and analyzed comparatively. RESULTS: The mean age, gender ratio, preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, accompanied acute cholangitis and biliary pancreatitis, and the number of preoperative percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) inserted cases were not different between the two groups who had undergone laparoscopy-assisted and totally laparoscopic left hepatectomy. The operation time, intraoperative transfusions and postoperative complications also showed no difference between them. The postoperative hospital stay did not show a significant difference statistically. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we concluded that a laparoscopic left hepatectomy can be adapted to the patients with a left IHD stone with RPC. Also laparoscopic parenchymal dissection is safe and equivalent to an open procedure.