ABSTRACT
Two young patients with documented episodes of symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation have been referred for pulmonary vein isolation. Both patients had a history of concomitant regular tachycardia. in both cases pulmonaryvein isolation has not been performed but in each patient a supraventricular tachycardia (right focal atrial tachycardia/atrioventricular reentry tachycardia) could be induced and ablated instead. Concomitant supraventricular tachycardia acting as a trigger arrhythmia is frequent in young patients with atrial fibrillation without underlying cardiacdisease. In these patients a concomitant supra-ventricular tachycardia should beexcluded by electrophysiological study or ablated before pulmonary vein isolation or initiating an antiarrhythmic drug therapy. In most cases ablation of supraventricular tachycardia is safe and successful whereas the risks of ablative therapy of atrial fibrillation can not be neglected and success is moderate.
Subject(s)
Atrial Fibrillation/diagnosis , Atrial Fibrillation/surgery , Catheter Ablation , Tachycardia/surgery , Accessory Atrioventricular Bundle/diagnosis , Accessory Atrioventricular Bundle/surgery , Adult , Bundle-Branch Block/diagnosis , Bundle-Branch Block/surgery , Electrocardiography , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted , Tachycardia/diagnosis , Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry/diagnosis , Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry/surgeryABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Obstetric trauma is one of the most common causes of faecal incontinence, and the standard therapy for clear sphincter defects is overlapping sphincter repair. We aimed to assess the short-term success rates of sphincter repair using modified V-Y plastic without covering colostomy and with primary closure of the perineum. METHODS: Between November 1997 and March 2002, 21 patients were operated on for faecal incontinence due to obstetric trauma. Cleveland Clinic Incontinence Score (CCIS), patients' subjective assessment, and pathophysiological parameters were evaluated pre- and postoperatively. RESULTS: At follow-up, 19 patients (90%) reported improvements in continence symptoms over their preoperative situations. Three patients (14%) classified themselves subjectively as fully continent, six (28%) as highly improved, ten (48%) as improved, and two (10%) as unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that faecal diversion is not necessary in sphincter repair and that primary perineal wound closure should be performed. Patients' subjective assessments and CCIS are suitable tools for evaluating improvements in faecal incontinence.
Subject(s)
Anal Canal/injuries , Anal Canal/surgery , Fecal Incontinence/surgery , Obstetric Labor Complications/surgery , Adult , Aged , Fecal Incontinence/etiology , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Manometry , Middle Aged , Patient Satisfaction , Pregnancy , Suture TechniquesABSTRACT
Complications due to diagnostic colonoscopy are very rare. Perforation is the most frequent colon-related event. So far only ten cases of acute appendicitis after colonoscopy have been reported in the literature. We present the case of a 79-year-old man who developed acute appendicitis after diagnostic colonoscopy. Diagnosis was aggravated by the fact that in the patient's history an appendectomy had been performed 65 years earlier. Because of the rarity of this event it is doubtful whether the endoscopic examination was causal or coincidental. However, in cases of pain after colonoscopy, appendicitis has to be included in the differential diagnosis.
Subject(s)
Abdomen, Acute/etiology , Appendicitis/etiology , Colonoscopy/adverse effects , Abdomen, Acute/surgery , Aged , Appendectomy , Appendicitis/surgery , Causality , Colonic Pouches , Combined Modality Therapy , Diagnosis, Differential , Humans , Male , Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/diagnosis , Neoplasm Staging , Peritonitis/etiology , Peritonitis/surgery , Postoperative Complications/diagnosis , Postoperative Complications/etiology , Postoperative Complications/surgery , Radiotherapy, Adjuvant , Rectal Neoplasms/pathology , Rectal Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Rectal Neoplasms/surgery , ReoperationABSTRACT
5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) remains the mainstay of treatment for advanced colorectal carcinoma, although response rates are generally less than 20%. Improved therapeutic efficacy has been reported using biochemical modulation of 5-FU by leucovorin (LV) or interferon alpha (IFN), the combination of 5-FU/LV frequently considered as standard therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer. In an attempt to enhance the cytotoxicity of 5-FU, a prospective randomised trial was initiated to compare 5-FU/LV with 5-FU/LV plus IFN. Patients were randomised to receive either LV, 100 mg/m2 intravenously (i.v.), followed by 5-FU, 500 mg/m2 as a 1-h i.v. infusion, daily for 4 days, followed by weekly infusions until week 8, or the same regimen of 5-FU/LV plus IFN-alpha-2c, 30 micrograms subcutaneously (s.c.), three times weekly. Cycles were repeated after a 2-week rest period. Among 269 enrolled patients, 219 were available for response and 243 for toxicity. An objective tumour response was observed in 38 of 107 (36%) and 28 of 112 (25%) patients in the treatment arms with and without IFN, respectively (difference not significant). There was no significant difference between the two groups in response duration (median 8.4 versus 12.1 months), time to treatment failure (median 6.5 versus 4.9 months), or overall survival (median 10.0 versus 12.6 months). However, patients in the IFN arm experienced significantly more haematological and gastrointestinal toxicity and more frequent alopecia. In conclusion, the addition of IFN to 5-FU/LV in the schedules and doses used in the study did not provide any clinical benefit over 5-FU/LV alone and cannot be recommended for routine use in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.
