Intraoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of neuroblastoma: report of a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: External beam radiotherapy in advanced neuroblastoma is limited by the volume of normal radiosensitive tissues included in the radiation field. Limitations to external radiation are the late effects to these tissues. Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) delivers a single high-radiation dose to a tumor while displacing normal tissues that would have been included in an external field. Standard external radiotherapy can still be done after "boost" IORT. METHODS: Eight advanced-stage neuroblastoma patients who received IORT as part of their multimodality therapy were reviewed to identify the impact of IORT on operative time, complications, and tumor control in the treatment field. The IORT was accomplished by patient transport from the OR to the radiation therapy suite; these were separated by three floors. RESULTS: IORT added 30-75 min to the operative procedure. Tumors in the resection/IORT fields showed no evidence of disease (one), stable tumor size (six), and tumor recurrence (one). Two complications were identified: a urinary fistula and CO2 retention, which was detected and corrected before the IORT. Neither of these complications was related to the IORT. Two patients who had subsequent tumor resection after IORT demonstrated tumor differentiation to ganglioneuromatous tissue. CONCLUSIONS: IORT usually can be completed in less than an hour. No IORT-associated complications were identified. IORT along with maximal tumor resection, external radiation, and chemotherapy enhances local tumor control.

The impact of prior intra-abdominal surgery on laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

The presence of abdominal wall scarring and intra-abdominal adhesions following prior abdominal surgery has been proposed as a relative contraindication to the performance of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The impact of prior abdominal surgery on the management of symptomatic gall bladder disease was retrospectively reviewed. Three groups were evaluated: open, laparoscopic, and laparoscopic converted to open cholecystectomy. Clinical factors analyzed included lengths of operative time, postoperative hospitalization stay, medical risk (ASA Classification), and postoperative complications. In addition, factors contributing to the conversion from a laparoscopic to open procedure were evaluated to determine the impact of prior surgery on conversion. The records of 504 consecutive patients undergoing open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy were reviewed. Individuals having additional intra-abdominal procedures were excluded. A total of 175 patients were identified who had prior abdominal surgery and underwent a cholecystectomy. In patients requiring cholecystectomy who have had prior abdominal surgery, the following observations can be made regarding laparoscopic cholecystectomy: 1) The operative time is less compared to open cholecystectomy. 2) The advantage of a shorter postoperative stay is realized. 3) The conversion rate (7/158) is low. Five of the seven conversions were due to the dense adhesion that prevented safe needle/trocar placement. 4) The complication rate is not increased. 5) The successful completion rate of laparoscopic cholecystectomy following prior intra-abdominal surgery (95.6%) is high.

Factors influencing survival in advanced gastric cancer.

Even though the incidence of gastric carcinoma is decreasing, the prognosis remains poor. A review of 88 patients with advanced gastric cancer was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis to determine prognostic factors. Univariate analysis showed that both "curative" resection (P = 0.006) and adjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.02) were important therapy variables. These factors were not independent when evaluated by multivariate analysis. However, when they were combined and re-evaluated by multivariate analysis, the combination of "curative" surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved survival in advanced gastric cancer (P = 0.04).

Seroma prevention after modified radical mastectomy.

The most common mastectomy-associated complication is seroma formation. Seromas can be associated with other more serious complications such as skin flap necrosis, delayed wound healing, infection, and lymphedema. The flap tacking procedure that closes the axillary fossa dead space and tacks the mastectomy flaps to the chest wall has been suggested as one potential technique to reduce the incidence of postmastectomy seromas. This institution-wide study of modified radical mastectomies demonstrated a significant decrease (P < 0.0381) in the incidence of seroma when flap tacking was performed. Women who developed a seroma, compared to those who did not, averaged nearly twice as any office visits in the first 2 months after the operation. Distribution of office visits between the seroma patients and nonseroma patients was significant (P < 0.0001). When practiced by several surgeons, the flap tacking procedure 1) reduces postmastectomy seromas and 2) reduces the amount of postoperative patient office visits and care.

Iatrogenic bile duct injuries. The real incidence and contributing factors--implications for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has achieved wide acceptance as the preferred treatment for symptomatic gallbladder disease. Yet there are alarming reports of iatrogenic bile duct injuries. To establish a comparison standard, the incidence of iatrogenic bile duct injury during conventional cholecystectomy has to be known. A single institutional retrospective review of 1,617 consecutive open cholecystectomies between 1980 and 1989 was performed. Eight patients (0.49%) sustained iatrogenic bile duct injury in this study. Inflammation, anatomic variation, or both were contributing factors in all injuries. Operative cholangiography identified the injury at the initial operation in three patients. Treatment consisted of either primary ductal repair, ductal repair over a stent, or ductal-enteric anastomosis. There were no late complications after surgery (follow-up 26 to 97 months; mean 50.9 months). The implications for laparoscopic cholecystectomy are apparent. Iatrogenic bile duct injuries are associated with acute inflammation and/or variant ductal anatomy; routine operative cholangiography assumes increased importance; and immediate repair of the injury minimizes long-term complications.

Radioimmunodetection of implanted tumors with gamma probe.

Tumor uptake of 125I- and 131I-radiolabeled anti-CEA antibodies was compared in female Swiss nude mice, each bearing a CEA-producing human colon adenocarcinoma xenografted in one flank. Counts from the tumor and contralateral flank were recorded with a manipulatable, cadmium-telluride crystal gamma detector at 24, 48, and 72 hours following injection. The animals were killed, and the tumors and other organs were removed, weighed, and then assessed in an automatic gamma counter. The cadmium-telluride counter was more efficient at counting 125I-labeled antibodies than 131I antibodies. The tumor to contralateral flank ratios improved with the use of a monoclonal anti-CEA and polyclonal anti-CEA in combination compared with the single antibodies. The investigation of the external counting characteristics of the portable gamma detector demonstrated the potential of the adjunctive use of intraoperative detection with external radioimmunoscintigraphy for detection and localization of gastrointestinal tumors.

Use of drug resistance markers to recover clonogenic tumor cells from occult metastases in host tissues.

A variant of metastatic mouse mammary tumor line 410.4 was produced which is resistant to both 60 microM thioguanine and 3 mM ouabain. Occult tumor cells which result from the metastatic spread of this subline are detected by plating cell suspensions from host tissues in selective media containing thioguanine and ouabain (TO). Only the tumor cells survive and form colonies. Tumor cell colonies were recovered when as few as 6 tumor cells mixed with 1 X 10(6) lymph node cells or normal lung cells were plated in TO. Thus, the method potentially will detect the presence of clonogenic tumor cells when the host tissue contains less than 0.0006% tumor cells. Results suggest that, within 15 min of intravenous injection, less than 10% of the injected cells are clonogenic. In addition, clonogenic tumor cells can be detected in draining lymph nodes prior to the appearance of a palpable tumor implant in the subcutis.

The "pinch-off sign": a warning of impending problems with permanent subclavian catheters.

The roentgenographic presence of the pinch-off sign indicates potential serious problems with central venous Silastic catheters and is an indication for immediate catheter removal and replacement at another site or position.

Local cutaneous recurrence after conservative excision of malignant melanoma.

We examined the risk factors for the development of local recurrence in patients treated with a conservative wide local excision, which was defined as being less than the historical 5-cm margin. There were 118 patients with clinical stage I disease followed up for a minimum of 60 months or until death. The extent of wide local excision varied from 0.6 to 8.5 cm. The majority (76.3%) had a resection margin of 30 mm or less. Four patients (3.4%) had local recurrence within 5 cm of the primary closure scar or skin graft edge. The primary lesion in the patients with local recurrence had deeper invasion and larger diameters than the lesion in patients who did not have local recurrence. Other recognized risk factors, such as ulceration, satellitosis , and unrecognized subclinical stage II disease, at the time of initial diagnosis were noted in the patients eventually displaying local recurrence. Tumor aggressiveness was recognized. The patients who had local recurrence had excisions with wider margins (mean, 4.75 cm; range, 2.5 to 8.5 cm) than the patients without local recurrence (mean, 2.87 cm; range, 0.6 to 6.0 cm). A tumor-field effect did not contribute to local recurrence.

A gamma-detecting probe for radioimmune detection of CEA-producing tumors. Successful experimental use and clinical case report.

The detection of tumors with radiolabeled antibodies against CEA is possible; however, current nuclear medicine scanning cameras rarely detect tumors smaller than 2 cm in diameter. One of the limitations to tumor detection is the inability to place a detecting camera near a deeply seated intra-abdominal tumor. A hand-held gamma-detecting probe, suitable for intraoperative use, was designed to locate radioactive tumors. Experimental work with CEA-producing colon tumor xenografts in nude mice suggests this probe is more sensitive than external scanners in detecting small tumors. A case report documents the clinical use of this new intraoperative probe.

Portable gamma probe for radioimmune localization of experimental colon tumor xenografts.

Tumor radioimmune detection as presently practiced utilizes a gamma scintillation camera to image tumors. A major clinical limitation is the inability to detect tumors smaller than 2 cm. This limitation is due in part to the inverse square law which states: the number of detected radioactive counts is inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating a radioactive source from the detecting device. A hand-held gamma-detecting probe (GDP) suitable for intraoperative use has been developed. The GDP can be placed near radioactive tumors and take advantage of the inverse square law in a way not possible with external scanning cameras. The use of radiolabeled baboon carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-specific antisera produced increased tumor isotope localization in CEA-producing tumors compared to the injection of nonspecific antisera. Tumor isotope-antisera localization was not influenced by tumor volume or time since tumor implantation. The GDP probe counts demonstrated a high degree of correlation with gamma well tissue counts. The probe was able to detect preferential tumor localization in doses lower than could be detected with external scintillation cameras.

Prevention of seromas following mastectomy and axillary dissection.

Controlling seroma formation by the use of closed suction drainage and flap attachment to the chest wall lowered the incidence of seroma formation after mastectomy and axillary dissection below that in other reports. The presumed advantage would be fewer seroma-associated complications, such as infection, impaired shoulder motion and lymphedema.

The extent of primary melanoma excision. A re-evaluation--how wide is wide?

A retrospective review of 118 clinical Stage I melanoma patients, including the re-examination of histologic slides in 57 cases, was performed to define factors important to survival. The majority (76.7%) had excision margins of 30 mm or less (range = 6-85 mm, mean--29.3 mm). The adjusted 5-year survival was 77.3%. Local recurrences within 5 cm of the primary closure scar developed in 3.4%. The recurrences occurred in patients with satellitosis (1), unrecognized subclinical Stage II disease (1), or as the first evidence of disseminated Stage III disease (2). Margins less than 20 mm were associated with an increased risk of dying if the tumor diameter was more than 10 mm (p = 0.0105) or if the depth of invasion was more than 2.0 mm (p = 0.0491). Increasing the margin to 25 mm improved survival. However, no further protection was evident for margins over 30 mm. For smaller and shallower lesions, no optimal margin could be identified. It appears that a 30 mm margin is adequate for large and deep clinical Stage I melanomas, and mortality and local recurrences are due to factors other than the extent of excision.

Central venous access in oncology patients: the "peel-away" sheath for rapid insertion.

A safe, fluoroscopically controlled method of rapid silastic catheter introduction in oncology patients provides long-term access to a high blood flow area near the right atrium. A "peel-away" disposable sheath and introducer have been adapted for the rapid introduction of the catheter. Benefits of the use of this technique are that (1) it can be easily adapted from the widely known technique of central venous line placement, (2) catheter position is easily confirmed by fluoroscopy, and (3) the procedure can be performed under local anesthesia, minimizing anesthetic risks and expense.

The changing pattern of hemolytic streptococcal gangrene.

We reviewed nine cases in which either limg-threatening or life-threatening complications developed due to streptococcal infection. Our findings indicate important changes in the pattern of this fulminating illness since its original description in 1924. A higher mortality reflects increased longevity with a greater frequency of impaired host resistance and degenerative diseases involving vital organs. Initial symptoms and signs often mimic acute thrombophlebitis, acute arthritis, deep soft-tissue trauma, or acute vascular occlusion. The emergence of multiple organ failure and serious coagulation disorders are a challenge to current therapy. A diagnostic algorithm was developed to aid in the early diagnosis and management of this life-threatening infection.

Obstruction of defunctionalized small bowel: its occurrence after bypass surgery for morbid obesity.

Complications associated with jejunoileal bypass for morbid obesity are being recognized more frequently. A variety of mechanical obstructions in the defunctionalized small-bowel segment have recently been corrected in seven surgical patients. Volvulus of the defunctional limb was the most frequent cause of obstruction. Intussusception, bypass enteritis, fascial hernia, and adhesive bands were also causes of obstruction. Radiographic contrast studies were valuable in establishing the preoperative diagnosis. The altered small-intestinal anatomy predisposed these patients to a uniquely subtle and dangerous form of closed-loop obstruction. Prompt recognition was based on patient history and physical findings. Characteristic roentgenographic findings often confirmed the diagnosis. Clinical suspicision of these small-bowel obstructive syndromes may lead to early surgical treatment.

Gastric volvulus in the newborn.

A review of the world literature has revealed only 11 cases of gastric volvulus symptomatic in the first month of life. To those 11, this report adds two cases of intrathoracic organoaxial gastric volvulus that were observed in the first week of life and were managed operatively. Gastric volvulus should be considered in the differential diagnosis of newborn infants initially observed to have persisting regurgitation, vomiting, and respiratory distress. The diagnosis can be made with plain thoracoabdominal roentgenograms and confirmed by upper gastrointestinal contrast studies. Prompt surgical management is indicated and should include reduction and fixation of the stomach and repair of associated anomalies. The results of early surgery are excellent.