Long-term results of management of type I choledochal cysts in adults.

Choledochal cysts in adults is a rare condition. The present study describes our experience with this abnormality of the biliary tree. During a 16-year period (1978-1993) eight adults with type I choledochal cyst were treated surgically in our departments. They were 4 men and 4 women with a mean age of 38.9 years (range 20-84). Symptoms, clinical findings and abnormalities in laboratory investigations included pain in all patients, history of cholangitis (n = 3), cholangitis (n = 2), acute pancreatitis (n = 1), palpable mass (n = 2), abdominal tenderness (n = 4), leucocytocis (n = 2), and increased levels of serum total bilirubin (n = 4), SGOT (n = 2), and serum alkaline phosphatase (n = 4). Diagnosis was established by intravenous cholangiography in one case, by CT-scanning in one, by ultrasonography in 5 and by intraoperative cholangiography in one. All the patients were treated surgically. Three of them underwent a Roux-en-Y choledochocystojejunostomy and one a choledochocystoduodenostomy. The other 4 patients were treated with cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. There were no deaths among our patients. The mean follow-up period was 6.7 years (range 1-17). So far, five episodes of mild ascending cholangitis have occurred in the patient treated with choledochocystoduodenostomy. One patient in whom a Roux-en-Y choledochocystojejunostomy was performed had 2 episodes of right upper quadrant colic pain and one episode of cholangitis. Both these patients were treated conservatively. The other 6 patients had no episodes of pain cholangitis or jaundice. In conclusion, the primary treatment of choledochal cyst type I is the excision of the cyst with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. The Roux-en-Y choledochocystojejunostomy is indicated in cases where, for various reasons, the cyst can not be safely removed.

Emergency operations in the elderly: management and outcome.

For the purpose of highlighting the problems that arise in emergency surgical procedures in elderly patients and of defining safe management, the records of 797 patients aged over 70, operated urgently during a 22-year period, were reviewed. The mortality was 18.4% in the emergency and 4.5% in the elective operations (p < 0.0001). There was no correlation between mortality rates in different age groups. The majority of the patients (67.3%) with coexisting cardio or pulmonary diseases expired. The mortality was significantly lower in the second 11-year period (1982-1992) (14%) than in the first one (1971-1981) (23.8%), (p < 0.0001). In conclusion, age is not a contraindication for an emergency operation and does not affect mortality which appears to be directly related to the severity and nature of the disease and to the coexisting cardio pulmonary diseases. We must advise the elderly to be operated on timely. In some severe surgical conditions it is wise to perform ad hoc the most conservative operation.

Complications of congenital posterolateral diaphragmatic hernia in the adult. Report of two cases and literature review.

The literature on incarceration in Bochdalek hernias in adults is rather limited. Our purpose is to present two cases of this lesion that were treated surgically in the past ten years. The first patient, a 32 year old female was admitted in shock with an 8h history of left chest pain and dyspnoea. Chest X-ray showed a pleural effusion in the left hemithorax. Chest tube drainage revealed gastric fluid. We operated on her immediately, through a left thoracotomy, and found rupture of the stomach into the left pleural cavity. Strangulation of the fundus of the stomach due to congenital diaphragmatic hernia, Bochdalek's type, was found to be the cause of the rupture. We performed resection of the gangrenous segment of the stomach with primary closure. The second patient a 48 year old man was admitted with symptoms of large bowel obstruction. Per os gastrographin study showed the splenic flexure herniated into the left hemithorax. At the operation, through a paramedian left incision, the herniated large bowel was reduced back into the abdomen. In both cases the defect of the left hemidiaphragm was sutured with interrupted silk sutures. Both patients had an uneventful postoperative course. The diagnosis of Bochdalek hernia in the adult is usually made in case of complications, and that demands an immediate surgical repair.