Medical complications in total laryngectomy: incidence and risk factors.

The prevention and management of medical complications are important components in the surgical treatment of head and neck malignancies. We retrospectively evaluated the postoperative medical complications in 414 patients who underwent total laryngectomy between 1973 and 1987. The mortality rate was 1.2% (five deaths); while major, nonfatal medical complications occurred in 6.3% (24 of 384 patients)--seven strokes, three myocardial infarctions, two pulmonary emboli, and 12 respiratory failures requiring mechanical ventilation. Elderly patients did not experience more frequent or more severe medical complications, and the overall pattern of complications was different from that of other surgical specialties. Only specific cardiovascular and pulmonary risk factors were associated with these complications. We conclude that medical complications are a significant cause of morbidity in total laryngectomy; a focused preanesthetic risk factor analysis by a medical team familiar with head and neck cancer patients assures prompt identification and management of these complications.

The intravenous pyelogram in acute pyelonephritis.

In a cohort of 67 otherwise healthy patients with acute pyelonephritis that was severe enough to warrant hospitalization and uroradiography, 8% had a genitourinary abnormality that influenced management. Consequently, over 90% of patients had studies that did not alter their care. In an attempt to identify clinical clues that might increase specificity without compromising sensitivity of the intravenous pyelogram in acute pyelonephritis, only the fever curve was statistically useful. Confined to patients who were febrile through 72 hours of appropriate antibiotic treatment, the yield of urography in demonstrating anomalies of immediate clinical significance rose from 8% to 36%. The likelihood of an acutely important abnormality was also increased fivefold in both diabetic patients and patients with a urinary pathogen other than ampicillin-sensitive Escherichia coli, but small numbers precluded statistical significance. Bacteremia was common (27%), but not helpful other than in confirming the microbiological diagnosis. Nonacute structural abnormalities were present in 43% of the patients, three to nine times more frequently than in reported cases without upper tract infection.

Pyoderma gangrenosum with myelofibrosis.

Pyoderma gangrenosum is a papulovesicular skin disorder commonly associated with underlying systemic disease, but rarely with the myeloproliferative syndromes. A case of rapidly progressive pyoderma is cited in a 77-year-old white man who had no other evidence of disease aside from macrocytic anemia. Bone marrow biopsy revealed proliferation of fibroblasts and a dense reticulin network consistent with myelofibrosis. Response of the pyoderma to steroid therapy was dramatic. Although pyoderma gangrenosum is more commonly associated with inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis, this is the fifth reported case of its coexistence with idiopathic myelofibrosis.