Laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty. A multicenter prospective study of 200 procedures.

BACKGROUND: The commonest surgical procedure for management of morbid obesity in Europe is laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), even though laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty (LVBG) is still considered to be a gold standard restrictive option in bariatric surgery. A multicenter prospective study was designed to to assess the efficacy of LVBG in terms of weight loss and complication rates for obese patients who have indications for a restrictive procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two-hundred morbidly obese patients (84.5% female) with a mean age of 41 years and mean body mass index (BMI) of 43.2 kg/m(2) underwent LVBG as described by MacLean. Five trocars were placed in standard positions as per laparoscopic upper gastrointestinal surgery. A vertical gastric pouch (30 ml) was created with circular (21 or 25mm) and endolinear stapling techniques, enabling definitive separation of the two parts of the stomach. The gastric outlet was calibrated with either a polypropylene mesh (5.5 cm in length and 1cm in width) or a nonadjustable silicone band. The median follow-up period was 30 months (range, 1-72 months). RESULTS: One case had to be converted to open surgery (gastric perforation) and there was one death secondary to peritonitis of unknown etiology. The morbidity rate was 24%, comprising the following complications: gastric outlet stenosis (8%); staple line leak (2.5%); food trapping (1.5%); peritonitis (1%); thrombophlebitis (1.5%); pulmonary embolism (0.5%); and gastroesophageal reflux (9%). The excess weight loss achieved was 56.7% (1 year), 68.3% (2 years), and 65.1% (3 years). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty is an effective procedure for the surgical management of morbid obesity, especially for patients who present hyperphagia but are unable to manage the constraints of adjustable gastric banding. Laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty is safe, as demonstrated by an acceptable complication rate, of which gastric outlet stenosis, staple line leakage, and gastroesophageal reflux predominate.

Orthotopic liver transplantation with vena cava preservation in cirrhotic patients: is systematic temporary portacaval anastomosis a justified procedure?

INTRODUCTION: We evaluated the peri- and postoperative effects of the lack of a temporary portocaval anastomosis (TPCA) during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in 84 patients with cirrhosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From December 1996 to December 2002, 156 liver transplant recipients included (54%; 60 men and 24 women) of mean age 52 +/- 9 years with portal hypertension. In whom peri- and postoperative data were analyzed. RESULTS: The median fall in mean arterial pressure upon vascular clamping and unclampings was 20 mm Hg (range 15 to 75), while the median duration of portal vein clamping was 77 minutes. The median amount of blood autotransfusion was 1100 mL (range 0 to 5400). The median number of red blood cell and fresh-frozen plasma units transfused were 5 and 6.5, respectively. The median intraoperative urinary output was 72 mL/h (range 11 to 221). Three patients (3.5%) presented a perioperative complication, but no perioperative death was observed. Six patients experienced an early postoperative complication (<10 days): five hemodynamic complications and one transient renal failure, which did not require hemodialysis. One patient (1%) died at 12 hours after OLT from acute pulmonary edema. CONCLUSION: This study shows that systematic TPCA during OLT with preservation of the native retrohepatic vena cava in cirrhotic patients does not appear to be justified. In contrast, peri- and postoperative hemodynamic parameters as well as blood component requirements were comparable to those of the literature reporting OLT with straightforward TPCA.

[Surgical treatment of bleeding peptic lesions: our experience]. / Il trattamento chirurgico delle lesioni peptiche sanguinanti: nostra esperienza.

The authors report their experience on surgical treatment of peptic bleeding lesions. From January 1994 till April 1999 they observed and surgically treated 35 patients (mean age 65) suffering from bleeding gastroduodenal ulcer. Complications linked to surgical treatment had an incidence of 17.5%, while those ones linked to the patient's general conditions of 21%; mortality was 20%. Surgery has been gradually substituted by endoscopy which represent the principal examination for diagnosis of bleeding gastroduodenal ulcer with the aid of different hemostatic techniques, so that surgery has been relegated to the last place in uncontrollable bleeding treatment. Observed results, following those ones of other authors, show the unfavourable prognosis linked to patient's different conditions when surgeon operates.

Porcine orthotopic liver autotransplantation: facilitated technique.

The technique of a liver autograft in the pig has three advantages: (1) It provides an excellent training model of liver transplantation, (2) it provides an experimental model for cancer research, and (3) it is more economical than liver allotransplant. We describe a facilitated technique of liver autograft, which can be employed to develop experimental models without the use of a biopump. Mean blood arterial pressure, heart rate, pH, and lactates were tested during the liver grafting and at the end of the procedure in pigs that underwent autografting of the liver and compared with pigs that underwent an orthotopic liver allotransplantation. The cell damage was assessed in the same two groups of animals by monitoring aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) blood levels and with the MEGX test, 15 min after the beginning of reperfusion. The surgical procedure may be divided into three parts: hepatectomy, side-to-side portocaval shunt with passive caval-jugular shunt, and reimplantation. This procedure could have a clinical indication for otherwise unresectable liver tumors.

[Polypropylene mesh in the surgical treatment of inguinal and crural hernia: our experience with 500 cases]. / La rete di polipropilene nel trattamento chirurgico delle ernie inguinali e crurali: nostra esperienza su 500 casi.

The authors guided by their personal experience (612 abdominal hernioplasties performed between 1992 and 1998) after using for the cure of inguinal and femoral hernias diverse prosthesis illustrate the characteristics of the polipropene prosthesis which in their opinion possesses every requirement necessary to enable it to become the defining ideal prosthesis. The authors underline again the use of this routinely applied prosthesis, also in a local anaesthesia it has favoured the development of the tension-free and suture-less technique which hes allowed hernioplasty to spread in day-surgery.

[The surgical treatment of liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma: our experience]. / Il trattamento chirurgico delle metastasi epatiche da carcinoma colo-rettale: nostra esperienza.

Data from twelve patients who had hepatic resections for colorectal liver metastases were retrospectively analyzed to determine: 1) whether the use of the ultrasonic surgical dissector and the Argon laser can significantly simplify major hepatic resections and decrease both perioperative blood loss and postoperative morbidity and mortality, and 2) whether an adequate patients selection for surgery can effectively determine an improvement in recurrence rate. We performed 4 bisegmentectomies (2 of V and VI; 2 of VI and VII); 1 trisegmentectomy (V, VI, VII); 2 left lobectomies; 1 right hepatectomy and 4 wedge resections, using both the ultrasonic surgical dissector to fractionate and aspirate the hepatic parenchyma and to clear major vascular and biliary structures and the Argon laser for the coagulation of minor vascular and biliary vessels. The resected metastases averaged 5.5 cm (range: 1.5-7.5); blood transfusion requirements were significantly reduced from previous reports, averaging only 1.25 units (range: 0.3); the average operative time was 238 minutes (110 to 420 minutes). There were no operative deaths, operative morbidity rate was 16.6. The results indicate that the ultrasonic surgical dissector and the Argon laser have made a significant contribution to our marked decrease in the average blood loss and transfusion requirement. The long-term results seems to be improved by an adequate patients selection.

Correlation between cytochrome P-450 system and liver function tests during experimental liver transplantation.

The aims of this investigation are: 1) to assess the function of the hepatocyte in transplanted porcine liver, immediately after reperfusion, by monitoring both LFTs and the MEGX levels; 2) to search for correlation between MEGX and LFTS, in an effort to evaluate the metabolic mechanisms occurring in the early liver transplantation revascularization phase. The MEGX test was found to be less than 50 micrograms/ml in all the recipients and all the LFTS tested have been reported to be out the normal range. Furthermore our data has shown a statistically significant correlationship between the MEGX values and those of alkaline phosphatase and prothrombin and a highly significant correlationship with cholinesterase.

Possible role of beta-blockers in the prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

The prevention of sudden cardiac death remains one of the greatest challenges in the field of cardiovascular medicine today. Despite the difficulty in predicting which individuals are going to die suddenly, much knowledge has accumulated in recent years in regard to independent risk factors for SCD and moreover, different pharmacological interventions have been evaluated for the prevention of sudden coronary death. Currently, the beta-blockers are the only pharmacological agents that have been shown to reduce sudden cardiac deaths in clinical trials. The reduction in sudden death may involve several mechanisms that include antiatherosclerotic effects, antithrombotic effects, cardiac anti-ischemic effects and antifibrillatory effects.

Electrocardiographic ambulatory monitoring with a real-time analysis system.

The analysis of records collected during long-term ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring has traditionally involved the review of massive data, either manually or with the aid of interactive scanning computers. Many factors complicate this analysis, including the use of analog tape for storage of electrocardiographic waveforms, the need to analyze 100,000 waveforms from an average 24-hour study, and the need to deal with an interface that compresses 24 hours of data into as little as 6 minutes on a screen. Today, the computer incorporated in the monitor can scrutinize each cardiac cycle in real time. The system produces a statistical report based on every heart beat and also performs data reduction and storage of electrocardiograph samples. To assess real-time analysis we examined data collected from the Circadian CircaMed ambulatory electrocardiography system. We found that it could detect and quantify simple or complex ventricular ectopic beats, brady- or tachyarrhythmic events, and ST-segment deviation. One hundred fifty patients 21 to 85 years old with symptoms or clinical finding suggestive of ischemia, cardiac arrhythmia, or conductive defects were referred to our electrocardiography laboratory for ambulatory monitoring. The results demonstrate that this system can detect the full range of cardiac disease found with the traditional method. Of the 150 patients, ambulatory electrocardiographic tests were positive in 93 (62%). In addition, we developed a methodology for lead placement when using two bipolar leads, as is typical for ambulatory electrocardiography. We present a procedure for determining the optimum lead placement that is based on the patient's history and a 12-lead electrocardiogram.

[Non-prolapsing atrial myxoma. Description of a clinical and echocardiographic case]. / Mixoma atriale non prolassante. Descrizione di un caso clinico ed ecocardiografico.

A clinically and sonographically identified case of atrial myxoma with no prolapse due to its short peduncle is described with emphasis on the importance of 2D echocardiography given the lack of both clinical symptoms and Time Motion ultrasound data in atrial myxomas prolapsing through the mitral anulus into the ventricular cavity. In fact 2D echocardiography shows up the systolic-diastolic swing of the tumour mass between the lower third of the left atrium and the atrioventricular valvular plane.