Comparison of clinical outcome of single-incision laparoscopic surgery using a simplified access system with conventional laparoscopic surgery for malignant colorectal disease.

AIM: Instrument crowding is encountered in single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). Our aim was to compare the results of SILS with those of conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) for malignant colorectal disease. METHODS: The records of 27 patients who received SILS for the treatment of malignant disease using a home-made multiple-port system were compared with those of 68 patients who received CLS performed in a standard manner using four to five trocar sites. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age, gender, disease stage, tumour location or tumour size between the SILS and CLS groups. The most common surgery was high anterior resection in both groups (SILS, 63.0%vs CLS, 58.8%). There were no significant differences between the groups in types of surgery performed, length of bowel resected, resection margin, blood loss, duration of surgery or postoperative complications. Postoperative pain scores were significantly higher in the SILS group than in the CLS group (3.07 ± 1.14 vs 2.41 ± 0.63, respectively, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: SILS is as effective as CLS, and is not associated with increased duration of surgery, blood loss or complications.

Off-midline retroperitoneal choriocarcinoma presenting as neurologic symptoms.

A 28-year-old woman suffered from frequent headaches. She had a history of a dilatation and curettage for hydatidiform moles. This admission showed markedly elevated levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and lactate dehydrogenase. Brain MRI showed a hemorrhagic mass in the left temporal area, with rapid growth. Histology of tumors obtained from multiple areas including retroperitoneum was consistent with choriocarcinoma.

Left-lateralized N170 response to unpronounceable pseudo but not false Chinese characters-the key role of orthography.

A negative event-related potential (ERP) component, known as N170, can be readily recorded over the posterior left brain region when skilled readers are presented with visual words. This left-lateralized word-related N170 has been attributed either to linguistic processes, particularly phonological processing, or to the role of orthographic regularity, emphasizing a perceptual origin. This debate, however, is difficult to resolve in the context of alphabetic scripts because of the tight relations between orthography and phonology. In contrast, Chinese characters have arbitrary mappings between orthographic and sound forms, making it possible to tease apart these two properties of visual words. We therefore addressed this issue by examining ERP responses to Chinese characters and three types of structurally matched but unpronounceable stimuli: pseudo-characters, false-characters, and stroke combinations. A content-irrelevant color matching task was adopted to minimize potentially different top-down modulations across stimulus types. Results show that, relative to false-characters and stroke combinations, real- and pseudo-characters evoked greater N170 in the left posterior brain region. Critically, despite being unpronounceable, pseudo-characters produced the same amplitude and left-lateralized N170, just as real-characters. These results provide strong evidence that orthography rather than phonology serves as the main driver for the enhanced and left-lateralized N170 to visual words.

Self-expanding nitinol stents in recanalisation of long-length superficial femoral artery occlusions in patients with critical limb ischaemia.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to evaluate our experience with self-expanding nitinol stent- enabled recanalisation of long-length occlusions (30 cm or more) of the superficial femoral artery (SFA). METHODS: 573 patients underwent 842 lower limb interventions from August 2006 to December 2008. A retrospective review of patients undergoing recanalisation of long-length SFA occlusions with self-expanding nitinol stents and an evaluation of their patency and impact on limb salvage, were done. RESULTS: 22 patients (mean age 62.5 years, male: female ratio 11:11) underwent 22 long-length SFA stenting procedures. The spectrum of critical limb ischaemia included rest pain (five), ulcer (six) and gangrene (11). Length of occlusions varied from 30 cm to 45 cm (average length 36.4 cm). Five patients had stents placed through the ipsilateral popliteal artery approach, and the rest had stents placed through the femoral artery approach. All patients were followed up over an average duration of 12 months. One patient died due to associated medical conditions during this period. Six out of 21 (28.6 percent) of the stents thrombosed completely on one year follow-up. Of these, two patients underwent amputation, one patient had a bypass, and the stent in two patients were recanalised with balloon angioplasty. All remaining patent stents showed varying degrees of stenoses at one year. The overall limb salvage rate at one year following stent placement was 81 percent. CONCLUSION: Our experience showed the beneficial result of long-length SFA stent placement with good limb salvage outcome. Repeat interventions may be required to maintain the patency of stents in these patients.

Spectrum of imaging findings in melioidosis.

This pictorial review aims to highlight the clinical and imaging features of melioidosis in various organ systems. The patients were from two centres: one in Thailand and one in Singapore. The annual average incidence of melioidosis is estimated to be 4.4 in 100 000 in north-eastern Thailand and 1.7 in 100 000 in Singapore. Melioidosis affects many different organs and produces a spectrum of imaging features. The lung is the most frequently involved organ and, on radiographs and computed tomography, melioidosis may manifest as acute pulmonary consolidation, multiple nodules and abscesses. The finding of multiple small discrete abscesses in both the liver and the spleen is highly suggestive of visceral melioidosis and is best diagnosed on ultrasonography and computed tomography. Bone and soft tissue musculoskeletal involvement is usually part of disseminated melioidosis, with changes being seen on radiographs and MRI. Although imaging findings of melioidosis are not specific, this infection requires a high index of clinical suspicion, particularly in patients with pre-disposing comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, alcoholism or malignancy, those who are immunosuppressed as the result of either diseases or drug treatment, and those living in or with a history of travel to endemic areas.

Enhancement of chemosensitivity toward peplomycin by calpastatin-stabilized NF-kappaB p65 in esophageal carcinoma cells: possible involvement of Fas/Fas-L synergism.

Chemosensitivity to anticancer drugs was compared between two human esophageal carcinoma cell lines, T.Tn and YES-6 cells. T.Tn cells were more resistant than YES-6 cells to peplomycin (PEP) but not to the other anticancer drugs such as camptothecin, mitomycin C and cytosine arabinoside. Western blot analysis showed higher expression levels of m-calpain and activated mu-calpain in T.Tn cells than in YES-6 cells. On the other hand, YES-6 cells showed a high expression level of calpastatin, which is a calpain-specific endogenous inhibitor. To investigate whether calpain activity was involved in the chemosensitivity, T.Tn cells were transfected with calpastatin cDNA in an inducible expression vector. The induction of calpastatin was accompanied by increased chemosensitivity to PEP. The increases in calpastatin levels were followed by serial increases in the expression levels of NF-kappaB p65 and Fas. Since purified m- or mu-calpain degraded NF-kappaB p65 in vitro, it is possible that calpastatin suppressed calpain-mediated degradation of NF-kappaB p65. Fas ligand (Fas-L) protein levels increased after treatment of the parental T.Tn and calpastatin-transfected cells with PEP, suggesting the synergism between calpastatin-induced Fas and PEP-induced Fas-L. These results suggest that calpain/calpastatin expression levels are effective markers for predicting the sensitivity of human esophageal carcinoma cells to PEP.

[The predomination of rotavirus G3 serotype among children with diarrhea in Lulong County in 1998].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhea among children in rural population. METHODS: 120 stool specimens collected from children with diarrhea during the winter of 1998 in Lulong County, Hebei Province were examined for rotavirus by PAGE and ELISA and for serotype by ELISA and PCR. RESULTS: Rotavirus was detected in children aged between 2-24 months. The positive rate of rotavirus was 39.2% and the ratio of male to female was 1-1.47. All rotavirus RNA profiles were long pattern. The distribution of rotavirus serotypes was type 3(61.7%), followed by type 1(36.2%), and type 4(6.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhea during 1998 rotavirus season in Lulong County was similar to that of other regions in China, but rotavirus serotype G3 was a prevalent strain in Lulong County, which was uncommon and different from the predominant G1 in other places throughout China.

Retrograde lymphatic spread: a likely route for metastatic ovarian cancers of gastrointestinal origin.

In order to outline the pathways of gastrointestinal malignancies metastasizing to the ovaries, we reviewed 103 cases of metastatic ovarian tumors, and also performed para-aortic lymph node sampling on 11 patients at operation for metastatic ovarian tumors. Of the 103 patients, 74% (26/35) with gastric cancer and 67% (45/67) with colorectal cancer had lymph node metastasis at or before the diagnosis of ovarian tumor. Intraperitoneal metastases presented in 49 and 42% of patients with gastric and with colorectal cancers, respectively. Twenty-three percent of gastric cancer patients and 25% of colorectal cancer patients presented with both lymph node and intraperitoneal metastases. The ovary was the first or among the early metastatic organs diagnosed in 51 of the 53 patients with metachronous ovarian metastases. Only 4 patients with colorectal cancer and none with gastric cancer showed parenchymal organ metastases. These 4 patients also showed intraperitoneal lesions, and 3 of these 4 patients had node metastasis. Among the 11 patients who underwent prospective para-aortic lymph node sampling during operation for the ovarian tumors, only 1 had enlarged para-aortic nodes depicted by computed tomography, 2 had grossly enlarged (>/=1.5 cm) para-aortic lymph nodes noted at surgery, and 6 of the 7 patients with gastric cancer and all 3 with colorectal cancer had metastatic nodes histologically. Among the 58 nodes taken from these patients, 67% showed metastatic foci. We concluded that lymph node metastasis is frequently seen in patients with metastatic ovarian tumors of gastrointestinal origin, and hypothesized that retrograde lymphatic spread is a likely route for the metastases.

Primary diffusely infiltrative adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum.

BACKGROUND: Primary diffusely infiltrative colorectal adenocarcinoma is rare. About 100 cases have been reported in the literature. The mucosal alterations in this type of tumor and their clinicopathological characteristics in relation to survival are not clear. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 30 cases of primary diffusely infiltrative colorectal adenocarcinoma operated upon in a single institution. RESULTS: Eighteen (60%) of these 30 patients were women. The average age at diagnosis was 47.4 (SD, 19.3) years. Eighteen tumors (60%) were located in the rectum. The tumors could be classified into two major types. A type 1 tumor had minimal mucosal alteration and no discrete ulcer. A type 2 tumor was associated with a discrete ulcer. The type 1 tumor was more frequently associated with intracellular or extracellular mucin production and stage IV disease. Hematogenous spread (including peritoneal carcinomatosis) was more frequently seen in type 1 than in the type 2 tumors (61% vs. 18%, p = 0.013). The overall median cancer-specific survival time was 15 (SE, 3; 95% confidence interval, 10-21) months. TNM stage is the only significant factor in predicting outcome (p = 0.016). When compared with stages II and III, the odds of death for stage IV was 2.9 (95% confidence interval: 1.1-7.4). CONCLUSION: Diffusely infiltrative colorectal cancer can be separated into two subtypes according to the presence of a discrete ulcer. The type 1 tumor (without a discrete ulcer) was associated with a higher frequency of hematogenous spread. TNM Stage was the only important clinicopathological factor in determining outcome.

Survival impact of lymph node metastasis in TNM stage III carcinoma of the colon and rectum.

BACKGROUND: Node-positive (TNM stage III) adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum consists of tumors with a widely variable prognosis. To predict the outcome of patients with stage III carcinoma, we assessed the survival impact of the number and level of lymph node metastasis and other clinicopathological variables. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study was performed on 538 patients with stage III carcinoma of the colon and rectum who underwent curative resection at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital between 1980 and 1989. Ten or more lymph nodes in each resected specimen were identified microscopically. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the independent variables. RESULTS: The relative survival rates at five and ten years were 52 and 42 percent, respectively. Tumor morphology, depth or tumor penetration, histologic grade, and the status (number and level) of nodal involvement were significant in the univariate analyses. Only grade and nodal status remained significant in the multivariate analysis. Based on the nodal status, these patients were separated into three groups: stage IIIA (one to three positive nodes and absence of pN3 metastasis), IIIB (four to nine nodes and absence of pN3), and IIIC (ten or more nodes or presence of pN3). The five-year survival rates for patients with stages IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC disease were 69, 44, and 29 percent, respectively. Compared with patients with stage IIIA disease, the odds of death for patients with stages IIIB and IIIC carcinoma were 2.1 (95 percent confidence interval: 1.5 to 2.8, p = 0.0001) and 3.3 (95 percent confidence interval 2.4 to 4.5, p = 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that stage III adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum be divided into three substages: IIIA (one to three positive nodes and absence of pN3 metastasis), IIIB (four to nine nodes and absence of pN3), and IIIC (ten or more positive nodes or presence of pN3.

Dead on arrival study in Kaohsiung area.

Dead on arrival (DOA) is a distressful situation for most medical personnel and families. There are few papers about this topic in Taiwan though most DOAs are unexpected and sudden with or without underlying disease as predisposing factors. From January 1, 1993 to December 31, 1993, 487 DOA patients were sent to 4 large hospitals in the Kaohsiung area (including Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County). A retrospective study was carried out through questionnaires. The incidence was 0.22%, the male to female ratio was 2.25, and the largest age group was 61 to 75 years old. Most patients were sent to nearby hospitals and sent by non-medical personnel with non-ambulance motor vehicles. It is hard to define the exact time from arrest to arrival at the hospital, but the initial cardiac rhythm was mostly asystole. Only 1.44% of DOA patients survived and only 9.24% responded to resuscitation. About 31.42% of patients had no evident cause of death, 40.04% non-trauma deaths, and 28.54% trauma deaths. Most of the underlying diseases were treated regularly by medical specialists if past history could be traced. Though our emergency medical service system (EMSS) has been active since 1990, there are still several drawbacks. Public education of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, easy access to EMSS, and appropriate management in hospitals must be stressed. With the improvement of prehospital care, EMSS, and in-hospital care, there will be a decrease in DOA patients.

The association between perioperative blood transfusion and survival of patients with colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The authors undertook this study to test the hypothesis that perioperative blood transfusion has an adverse effect on survival of patients with colorectal cancer. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 725 patients who underwent curative resection for Dukes Stage B and C colorectal cancers in our institution between 1981-1985 and who were followed for 5-11 years. RESULTS: Rectal cancers occurred more frequently in the transfused than in the nontransfused patients (64% versus 47%; P = 0.0001). In the patients with colon cancer, no significant effect of transfusion on recurrence-free survival was seen (P = 0.8, log-rank; P = 0.49, Cox regression analysis). The cumulative 5-year survival rate was 77% (95% confidence interval, 69-85%) for the nontransfused and 78% (72-83%) for the transfused patients. In patients with rectal cancer, the 5-year survival rate was 79% (67-87%) for the nontransfused and 67% (59-71%) for the transfused patients. A significant association was noted in patients with Stage B cancer (P = 0.002, log-rank; P = 0.02, Cox regression analysis), but not in those with Stage C cancer (P = 0.05, log-rank; P = 0.15, Cox regression analysis). In patients with Stage B rectal cancer, more frequent abdominoperineal resections (APR) were performed among the transfused patients (65% versus 32%; P = 0.0001). This subgroup was further stratified by operative procedure and reanalyzed using the same Cox regression model. Transfusion had no effect on survival of patients treated by APR (P = 0.31) or of those having a sphincter-saving procedure (P = 0.53). CONCLUSION: The seemingly adverse effect of perioperative blood transfusion on the survival of patients with colorectal cancer may be explained by other covariates.

Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy in Astler-Coller stages B2 and C rectal cancer.

Between 1979 and 1983, 127 patients with Stages B2 or C rectal cancer treated with surgery plus postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy (RT group) and 122 patients treated with surgery alone (S group) were compared to evaluate the effect of postoperative radiotherapy on survival and disease recurrence. Each group was stratified into subgroups according to stage and tumor differentiation as follows: Subgroups BW (Stage B2 and well-differentiated tumor), BM (Stage B2 and moderately differentiated tumor), CW (Stage C and well-differentiated tumor), CM (Stage C and moderately differentiated tumor), and P (poorly differentiated tumor). Ninety-five percent of the patients were followed until death or, if alive, to five years after surgery. Postoperative radiotherapy was associated with a reduced five-year survival rate in Subgroup BW (67 vs. 87 percent; P = 0.02). In the remaining subgroups of the RT group, there was a statistically insignificant trend toward a worse survival rate (56 vs. 65 percent, 47 vs. 64 percent, 41 vs. 46 percent, and 50 vs. 36 percent for Subgroups BM, CW, CM, and P, respectively). The local failure rates for the S group and RT group were 10 vs. 23 percent (P = 0.15) in Subgroup BW, 32 vs. 21 percent (P = 0.4) in Subgroup BM, 24 vs. 25 percent (P = 0.6) in Subgroup CW, and 18 vs. 18 percent (P = 0.6) in Subgroup CM, respectively. Eight percent (9/127) had severe or life-threatening radiation-related complications. Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy alone did not improve the survival of patients with Stages B2 or C rectal cancers. It may have led to worsened survival in the subgroup of patients with well-differentiated Stage B2 rectal cancer.

Decapitation ischemia-induced release of free fatty acids in mouse brain. Relationship with diacylglycerols and lysophospholipids.

In this study, the release of lysophospholipids (to depict phospholipase A2 activity) and diacylglycerols (DG) (to depict stimulated hydrolysis of polyphosphoinositides) was related to the decapitation-induced release of free fatty acid (FFA) in the mouse brain. To assay for lysophospholipids, Balb/c mice were injected intracerebrally with either [3H]choline or [3H]inositol for 16 h in order to label their respective phospholipids. These lipids were examined at various times (30 s to 30.5 min) after decapitation. Between 30 s and 1.5 min after decapitation, the rate of FFA release (3 micrograms FA/mg FA in phospholipids/min) was three times more rapid than that between 10 and 15 min (0.8 microgram FA/mg FA in phospholipids/min). FFA released during the initial phase were enriched in 20:4 and 18:0 whereas those released during the latter phase were nonspecific. The DG fatty acids are enriched in 18:0 and 20:4. Ischemia induced a rapid release of DG as measured by its fatty acid content (3.2 micrograms FA/mg FA in phospholipids/min). Unlike FFA, the level of DG reached a plateau after 1.5 min and remained elevated for the entire 30.5 min. In agreement with previous notions indicating the involvement of phospholipase A2 in ischemic insult, steady increases in radioactivity of both lysophosphatidylcholines and lysophosphatidylinositols were observed with time after decapitation. Based on the preferential increase in both 18:0 and 20:4 during the initial time period, the results suggest that poly-PI hydrolysis coupled to DG-lipase may contribute to the initial release of FFA, whereas the FFA released subsequent to the initial phase may be mainly a result of activation of phospholipase A2 acting on phosphatidylcholines and phosphatidylinositols.

Aerosol, humidity and oxygenation.

Patients with artificial airways frequently need aerosol or humidity therapy. For this study, we used aerosols generated from a heated Puritan all-purpose nebulizer and humidity generated from a heated Bennett cascade humidifier to determine the effects of these therapies in spontaneously breathing neurosurgical patients with nasal endotracheal tubes and normal lungs. Crossover comparison of oxygenation status before and after aerosol or humidity therapy was done by analyzing P(A-a)O2 in these patients. We found that aerosols have a detrimental effect on the patient's oxygenation status, suggesting that humidity is preferable in maintaining adequate oxygenation in a patient with a normal lung plus artificial airway. The arterial pH and PaCO2 were not affected by aerosol therapy. Care should be exercised with regard to the adverse hypoxemic effect of bland aerosols when a large-reservoir jet nebulizer is used in an intubated patient who already has impaired cardiopulmonary function or borderline PaO2.

[The clinic diagnostic value of the rigid sigmoidoscopy].

Rigid sigmoidoscopy is beneficial as it detects rectal or distal sigmoidal lesions very efficiently and precisely. But it also has some complications, e. g. rectal injury, rectal perforation or transient bacteremia. In this prospective study, 800 cases were collected and divided into two groups. In group I, 400 O.P.D. symptomatic cases were chosen randomly and in group II 400 cases registered for routine physical examination were picked up. The positive detection rate was 7% in group I versus 2% in group II. The lesions detected in group I are 15 cases of cancer, 7 cases of polyp, 4 cases of irradiation proctitis, 2 cases of ulcerative colitis and 1 case of pseudomembranous colitis. Only 8 polyps are found in group II. The routine sigmoidoscopy is mandatory for symptomatic patients but it is not cost-effective for routine check-ups. The stool occult blood is the best screening test for detecting colorectal lesions. For routine physical examination, stool occult blood test is safe and easy to perform. If the stool occult blood test is positive, then further examinations will be necessary.

Perianal Paget's disease--report of 4 cases.

Over the past nine years (from 1981 to 1989), four patients with perianal Paget's disease were treated. All were male with an average age of 58.5 years. Clinically, perianal Paget's disease manifests as a slowly enlarging eczematous, and sharply demarcated perianal skin rash that may be oozing or itching. In the characteristic pathology finding, Paget's cells appear as large, rounded signet-ring cells with abundant mucin stain positive cytoplasm in the basal layer of the acanthotic epidermis. All but one, who suffered from primary sweat gland carcinoma, had underlying rectal adenocarcinoma. The first two cases expired soon after a delayed diagnosis of terminal underlying malignancy. Only in the later two cases was there a preoperative suspicion of perianal Paget's disease. There is often a delay in diagnosis due to clinical ignorance. Patients with persisting perianal skin rash should be biopsied frequently. If perianal Paget's disease is diagnosed, the underlying malignancy should be surveyed and managed thoroughly.

Non-traumatic perforation of colon and rectum.

Free perforation of the colon and rectum is an acute surgical condition. Possible factors affecting the prognosis include age, sex, underlying disease, surgical procedures, duration from onset to surgical treatment, general condition before surgery and degree of contamination. A series of 50 cases with acute, nontraumatic perforation of the colon and rectum treated at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from 1979 to 1986 were reviewed and studied retrospectively according to these prognostic factors. The mortality rate was highest in the group with colo-rectal cancer (45%). The mortality rate was 50% in the group who underwent primary closure with proximal diversion and 40% in the group who underwent resection without anastomosis. The mortality may not be related to the surgical procedure: the selection of the procedure was based on the seriousness of the illness. The mortality rate was 87% in patients with septic shock, 62% when treatment was delayed for more than 72 hours, 72% with severe contamination and 56% with poor nutritional status. Age, sex and underlying diseases were not significant contributing factors.