Fishbone-induced perforated appendicitis.

We review the literature and describe a case of fishbone-induced appendicitis. A 63-year-old man presented with abdominal pain. Work up including a focused history and imaging revealed fishbone-induced perforated appendicitis. The patient was managed safely and successfully with laparoscopic removal of the foreign body and appendectomy.

Early-stage non-Spitzoid cutaneous melanoma in patients younger than 22 years of age at diagnosis: long-term follow-up and survival analysis.

PURPOSE: We evaluated prognostic factors among young patients with early stage melanoma, with particular attention to survival, recurrence, and development of a second primary melanoma. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients (age <22 years) with pathologically confirmed in-situ and stage 1 non-Spitzoid melanoma treated at our institution from 1980-2010, assessing demographics, clinical presentation, treatment, disease-specific survival, recurrence-free survival, and probability of developing a second primary melanoma. RESULTS: One hundred patients with in-situ melanoma (n=16) or stage 1A (n=48) or 1B (n=36) melanoma were identified. Median age was 19.4 years (range, 11.2-21.9), and median follow-up was 7.6 years (range, 0.1-31.7). Median tumor thickness was 0.76 mm (range, 0.23-2.0). No lesions were ulcerated. All patients underwent wide local excision with negative margins, and 21 had a concomitant negative sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). Sixteen patients developed recurrences, and 8 subsequently died of progressive melanoma. There were 2 non-melanoma-related deaths. Endpoints were 20-year overall survival (77.4%), melanoma-specific mortality (20.1%), recurrence rate (34.0%), and probability of developing a second primary melanoma (24.7%). Greater tumor depth and Clark level were associated with worse prognosis, but age, sex, and tumor mitotic rate were not correlated with recurrence or survival. CONCLUSION: Among younger early-stage melanoma patients, greater lesion depth conferred higher recurrence risk and mortality. Our data did not define the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in this group.

"Trap-door" and "clamshell" surgical approaches for the management of pediatric tumors of the cervicothoracic junction and mediastinum.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: For pediatric tumors of the cervicothoracic junction, an isolated cervical or thoracic surgical approach provides insufficient exposure for achieving complete resection. We retrospectively examined "trap-door" and "clamshell" pediatric thoracotomies as a surgical approach to these tumors. METHODS: We searched our database for pediatric patients with cervicothoracic tumors who underwent clamshell or trap-door thoracotomy between 1991 and 2013, reviewing tumor characteristics, surgical technique, completeness of resection, morbidity, and outcome. RESULTS: Trap-door (n=13) and clamshell (n=4) thoracotomies were performed for neuroblastoma (n=9), non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma (n=4), germ cell tumor (n=2), rhabdomyosarcoma (n=1), and neuroendocrine small cell carcinoma (n=1). Fourteen of these cervicothoracic tumors were primary, and three were metastatic. Gross total resection was achieved in 15 patients (94%). Operative complications included vocal cord paralysis (n=2), mild upper-extremity neuropraxia (n=2), and hemidiaphragm paralysis (n=1), All but one involved encased nerves. Overall survival was 61% for the series and 80% for patients with primary tumors. Eleven (73%) of 15 patients who underwent gross total resection had no evidence of recurrence. Three patients with metastatic disease died of distant progression within 1.3years. CONCLUSIONS: Gross total resection of primary cervicothoracic tumors can be accomplished with specialized exposure in pediatric patients with minimal morbidity.

Pulmonary metastasectomy in pediatric/adolescent patients with synovial sarcoma: an institutional review.

PURPOSE: Synovial sarcoma (SS) often metastasizes to the lung; however, the indications for and outcomes of pulmonary metastasectomy have not been evaluated in pediatric/adolescent patients. METHODS: The records of pediatric patients (age <22years) with pathologically confirmed SS and pulmonary metastasis treated between June 1971 and May 2011 at our institution were retrospectively reviewed for the number and type of surgical metastasectomies, tumor characteristics, and survival outcomes. RESULTS: Forty-one patients (mean age: 15.9years) were identified and 31 (76%) underwent at least one metastasectomy. Seventy-two resections (range, 1-8/patient) were performed. Two- and 5-year survival rates after metastasis diagnosis were 65% and 24% for patients who underwent metastasectomy. Patients who did not undergo a metastasectomy survived no more than 2years from the diagnosis of pulmonary disease (P<0.001). Longer time to progression after primary tumor resection (>1year) and complete resection of pulmonary disease correlated with greater OS (P=0.02 and P<0.001, respectively). Palliative debulking did not improve OS. Survival was unaffected by tumor histological subtype, bilateral pulmonary disease, number of surgical resections, or number and size of resected metastatic lesions. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary metastasectomy may be associated with improved survival in pediatric/adolescent patients with SS and pulmonary metastases if complete resection is achieved.

Pediatric and adolescent synovial sarcoma: multivariate analysis of prognostic factors and survival outcomes.

PURPOSE: Treatment of synovial sarcoma (SS) is challenging because of its unpredictable clinical behavior. We reviewed our institutional experience with pediatric SS to identify prognostic indicators and survival outcomes. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all pediatric/adolescent patients (age<22 years) with confirmed SS treated from 1970 to 2010. Patient and clinical characteristics were evaluated for prognostic significance and survival outcomes. RESULTS: We identified 111 patients. The median age was 15.4 years. Sixty-seven tumors (60%) were monophasic, 42 (38%) were biphasic, and 2 (2%) were of unknown histology. Median follow-up was 5.3 years (range 0.8-36.8 years), 5-year overall survival (OS) was 73%, and 10-year OS was 65%. Greater tumor size (stratified as ≤5 cm, >5 cm, or ≥10 cm) (P=0.001) and depth (P=0.03) correlated with decreased OS. Primary tumor location in the upper extremity correlated with increased OS when compared with lower-extremity and central lesions (P=0.05). Bone and/or neurovascular invasion negatively impacted survival (P=0.02). Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size (trichotomized) was the dominant and sole factor in discriminating survival risk. Neither radiotherapy nor chemotherapy correlated with improved 5-year survival. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor size, depth, invasion, and primary location affect survival in pediatric SS. The role of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for SS warrants future study.

Prognostic factors and survival in pediatric and adolescent liposarcoma.

Purpose. Liposarcoma is extremely rare in the pediatric population. To identify prognostic factors and determine treatment outcomes, we reviewed our institutional experience with pediatric liposarcoma. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed all pediatric patients (age <22 years) with confirmed liposarcoma treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Histologic subtype, tumor location, margin status, recurrence, and adjuvant therapy were analyzed and correlated with overall survival. Results. Thirty-four patients (56% male) with a median age of 18.1 years were identified. Twenty-two (65%) had peripheral tumors and 12 (35%) had centrally located tumors. Histologically, 29 (85%) tumors were low grade, and 5 (15%) were high grade pleomorphic. Eleven (32%) had recurrent disease, 9 patients with central tumors and 2 patients with peripheral lesions. Eight deaths occurred, all in patients with central disease. Five-year overall survival was 78%, with a median follow-up time of 5.4 years (range, 0.3-30.3 years). Tumor grade (P = .003), histologic subtype (P = .01), and primary location (P < .001) all correlated with survival, as did stage (P < .001) and margin status (P = .001). Conclusions. Central location of the primary tumor, high tumor grade, and positive surgical margins are strongly correlated with poor survival in pediatric patients with liposarcoma.

Staging laparoscopy enhances the detection of occult metastases in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The use of staging laparoscopy has been highly institutional dependent. We sought to assess the incidence of occult intra-abdominal metastases identified at the time of staging laparoscopy for patients with either potentially resectable or locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma (LAPC). We also compared the rate of occult metastases in patients who underwent staging laparoscopy versus laparotomy. METHODS: Patients were confirmed to have potentially resectable or LAPC at a multidisciplinary hepatopancreaticobiliary conference. Patients with potentially resectable lesions were initially explored via staging laparoscopy or laparotomy, based on surgeon preference. RESULTS: Over a 4-year period, 25 patients with potentially resectable tumors and 33 patients with LAPC were staged with laparoscopy, with an equivalent prevalence of occult metastases found at laparoscopy (28% potentially resectable vs. 33% LAPC, P = 0.8). Fifty-two patients with potentially resectable lesions were explored initially via laparotomy. Occult peritoneal metastases were more likely to be detected in patients with potentially resectable tumors that were explored via laparoscopy than via laparotomy (32% vs. 10%, P = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Staging laparoscopy is more likely than open exploration to detect occult metastases. Current preoperative imaging inadequately identifies unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma; therefore, all patients with potentially resectable disease should undergo staging laparoscopy.