Indications for pylorus-preserving gastrectomy for gastric cancer based on lymph node metastasis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is necessary to study the relation between lymph node metastasis in the suprapyloric or lesser curvature regions and clinicopathologic findings in order to determine the indications for pylorus-preserving gastrectomy. METHODOLOGY: We reviewed all pertinent data from the cases of 109 patients with gastric cancer located mainly in the middle third of the stomach focusing particularly on status of lymph node metastasis and clinicopathologic findings. All patients had been treated by conventional gastrectomy with regional lymph node dissection (D2 or D3). RESULTS: Lymph node metastases were found in the lesser curvature or suprapyloric regions in 18 patients. Primary tumors were located in the lesser curvature side in 15 of these 18 patients and in the greater curvature side in only 3. Primary tumors in the greater curvature side with involvement in the lesser curvature or suprapyloric lymph nodes were greater than 4.0 cm in diameter, whereas primary tumors in the lesser curvature side with such metastasis were greater than 1.3 cm. CONCLUSIONS: Indications for pylorus-preserving gastrectomy with preserving of the pyloric branch of the vagal nerve perhaps can be expanded to middle stomach cancer located in the greater curvature side that is less than 4.0 cm in diameter.

Ethanol injection therapy of an isolated bile duct associated with a biliary-cutaneous fistula.

Bile leakage after hepatic resection often results in the formation of a biliary-cutaneous fistula. Such a fistula, when caused by an isolated bile duct in the remnant liver, can be intractable. We report a successful case of ethanol injection therapy of an isolated bile duct. A 73-year-old man underwent right hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma. Bile leakage occurred after surgery, and the patient developed a biliary-cutaneous fistula. Fistulography revealed an isolated bile duct in the remnant portion of the caudate lobe without communication to the main biliary system. As conservative management with simple drainage was ineffective, injection therapy with ethanol was performed with a balloon occlusion catheter. After 11 therapy sessions, the bile duct was eradicated, and the biliary- cutaneous fistula was completely healed. The post-treatment course was uneventful. Ethanol injection therapy can be a choice for management of patients with a biliary fistula caused by an isolated bile duct.

Surgical results of proximal gastrectomy for early-stage gastric cancer: jejunal interposition and gastric tube reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: The frequency of tumors in the upper one-third of the stomach has been increasing. The standard operation for proximal gastric cancer has been total or proximal gastrectomy. The aim of this study was to present the pathologic and surgical results of 30 patients with early-stage proximal gastric cancer managed by proximal gastrectomy.METHODS: A consecutive series of 30 patients who underwent proximal gastrectomy for early-stage proximal gastric cancer was studied. Sixteen patients underwent jejunal interposition, while 14 underwent gastric tube reconstruction, which consisted of a direct anastomosis between the esophagus and the remnant of the tube-like stomach.RESULTS: Twenty patients (67%) had no abdominal symptoms and the lesions were detected by screening gastric fiberscopy. The tumors were mostly located along the lesser curvature (73%), were grossly depressed type (IIc) (70%), and histologically well differentiated type (63%). The depth of wall invasion was the mucosa in 12 patients, submucosa in 15, and muscularis propria in 3; lymph node metastasis was absent in 28 patients (93%). When compared with patients with jejunal interposition, patients with gastric tube reconstruction had a shorter operation time (327 vs 165 min), less blood loss (508 vs 151 g), and shorter hospital stay after operation (31 vs 17 days). Endoscopy and 24-h pH monitoring showed no evidence of reflux esophagitis, except in 1 patient with gastric tube reconstruction, and no patient died of recurrence.CONCLUSIONS: Early-stage proximal gastric cancer can be successfully treated by proximal gastrectomy. Since gastric tube reconstruction is a simple, easy, and safe procedure, proximal gastrectomy followed by gastric tube reconstruction is recommended for patients with early-stage proximal gastric cancer.