Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: report of an audit and review of the literature.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), tumors characterized by c-KIT mutations, are the most frequent mesenchymal tumors of the digestive tract. The stomach is the most commonly involved site. Localization, size and mitotic rate are reliable predictors of survival and the two milestones of GISTs treatment are surgery and imatinib. This article is aimed to report the data of an audit, carried out on the morphological and clinical aspects of the disease and to review the present knowledge on GISTs. A total of 172 patients with GISTs (M : F=1 : 1; mean age 65 years) were recruited. The stomach was the most frequently involved site. In 50% of the cases the tumor was smaller than 5 cm, whereas major symptoms were observed in 43% of the cases. Predictors of progressive disease were present only in a small percentage of cases but the disease was in the metastatic phase in over 25% of the cases at diagnosis. Familial aggregation was rare but a consistent share of the patients (21%) had other synchronous or metachronous cancers. The most frequent mutations were in-frame deletions and point mutations of c-KIT exon 11. This report confirms in part the available data on GIST in a consecutive series of patients recruited in Italy and shows that only large collaborative multicenter studies provide data sound enough to enable making reasonable clinical and therapeutic choices, and suggests that, as a measure of secondary prevention, a diagnostic definition should be obtained in all submucosal lesions of the GI tract and that GIST patients should be screened for second tumors.

Endovascular treatment of acute pseudoaneurysm associated to pancreaticoduodenectomy.

The study aim is to confirm feasibility and usefulness of endovascular stent-graft placement for superior mesenteric artery acute bleeding in presence of local sepsis. A superior mesenteric artery resection concomitant to a pancreaticoduodenectomy for carcinoma of the pancreas was followed by a saphenous vein bypass. A pancreatic leak associated to infection developed early in the postoperative course. Three weeks later, a massive haemorrhage due to rupture of an acute pseudoaneurysm was successfully treated with an endoluminal covered stent. This occluded two weeks later without important signs of bowel ischemia. The covered-stent placement allowed obtaining primary hemostasis and bowel perfusion preservation in spite of early occlusion. The patient did well after chemotherapy for one year and presented local recurrence at 16 months. Endovascular treatment of acute haemorrhage in presence of an intra-abdominal sepsis is feasible and useful following pancreatic surgery.

A systematic review on the clinical diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this work was to assess the prevalence of symptoms of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and the diagnostic yield of clinical procedures for its diagnosis. METHODS: Medical databases were consulted between 1998 and 2006 for potentially relevant publications. All studies dealing with the clinical presentation of GIST and related diagnostic procedures were included. Two researchers worked independently on the study selection, quality assessment, data extraction, and analysis phases of the study. RESULTS: Forty-six observational studies were included with a total of 4,534 patients. Gastrointestinal bleeding was the most common clinical presentation. Twenty studies provided adequate information on the diagnostic yield of various procedures. The pooled diagnostic yield of endoscopy + mucosal biopsy and of intestinal contrast radiography was 33.8% (0-100%) and 35.1% (11-100%), respectively, while that of EUS and that of EUS-FNA was 68.7% (40-100%) and 84.0% (73.8-100%), respectively. Abdominal CT scan and MRI had similar pooled diagnostic yields: 73.6% (34.8-100%), and 91.7% (75-100%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Endoscopy + mucosal biopsy should be reserved to patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. EUS-FNA provides direct visualization of the neoplasm and adequate samples for molecular diagnosis. EUS, abdominal CT and MRI may be considered valid alternatives whenever EUS-FNA is unavailable or a cytological diagnosis is unnecessary.

Prognosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors (GIMT) of the gut. The aim of this retrospective study is to correlate the histological risk factors with the survival of our patients operated for GIST. METHODOLOGY: In our department, from 1980 to October 2003, 15 patients were operated for GIST. Their mean age was 58 years old and 8 of them were males; 10 (67%) were localized in the stomach and 5 (33%) in the small bowel. In 7 cases liver metastases were present at laparotomy and 4 of them also had peritoneal diffusion. We performed immunohistochemistry for c-Kit, SMA and S100p. Mitotic index (MI) and size neoplasm were the main pathological criteria for malignity. The patients with c-kit (CD117) positive neoplasms were divided according to NIH Consensus Conference risk class, MI, tumor size, localization, SMA or S100p presence, liver metastasis and peritoneal metastasis to compare the different 5-year survival rates. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test and a p < 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: Global survival rate after 5 years was 40% and the mortality was, in all cases, due to GIST. In our experience gender, age, tumor size, localization and S100p positivity did not play any role in predicting the prognosis of GIST. On the contrary high MI and SMA positivity are significantly associated to a lower survival rate (33% vs. 86% and 39% vs. 100% at 5 years, respectively). Finally patients with metastases at laparotomy have a significantly lower 5-year survival rate (hepatic 29% vs. 100%, hepatic and peritoneal 25% us. 78%). CONCLUSIONS: In our experience high MI and in some cases SMA expression can be considered assessed risk factors. On the other hand, criteria of benign behavior did not completely predict the long-term clinical outcome.

Urologic complications in Crohn's disease: suspicion criteria.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Genitourinary complications occur in 4 to 35% of Crohn's disease patients. The aim of this study was to assess the threshold to suspect urologic involvement in Crohn's disease in order to plan the correct surgical management. METHODOLOGY: Medical records of 258 consecutive patients who have undergone bowel resection for Crohn's disease were reviewed. We evaluated recurrent urinary tract infections, fever, dysuria, pneumaturia, fecaluria, abdominal mass at palpation or lower back pain at percussion, abdominal ultrasound and computerized tomography scan reports. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were performed with Fisher exact and log-linear tests respectively. RESULTS: Urologic complications were found in 11 patients (4.3%). Fistulizing disease, female gender and inflammatory mass were significantly increased in Crohn's disease patients with urinary tract involvement (p < 0.01). Ultrasound and computerized tomography scan demonstrated good specificity, sensibility, positive and negative predicting values for urologic complications. CONCLUSIONS: In the presence of abdominal mass in a Crohn's disease patient, the following step should be abdominal ultrasound or computerized tomography scan to rule out involvement of the ureter that should be treated previously to improve the intraoperative picture and patient general status.

Minimally invasive management of Crohn's disease complicated by ureteral stenosis.

Ureteral involvement due to Crohn's disease occurs in 3% to 6% of cases. Herein, we present a case of a 22-year-old woman with ileocolic Crohn's disease with right hydronephrosis due to compression of the ureter that was resolved with a 3-stage, minimally invasive procedure (preoperative percutaneous nephrostomy, ureteral stent placement, and sequential laparoscopically assisted ileocolectomy). Percutaneous right nephrostomy drainage permitted us to prevent renal damage before surgery, and successive ureteral double-J catheter placement minimized the risk of ureteral damage during the laparoscopic procedure. The safety and feasibility of sequential minimally invasive management of ileocolonic Crohn's disease involving the right ureter was assessed, and a good cosmetic result was achieved.

Role of stapled and hand-sewn anastomoses in recurrence of Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Anastomotic recurrence after bowel resection is a major problem in Crohn's disease surgery. The aim of this study is to compare recurrence rate after stapled side-to-side ileo-colonic anastomosis to those after stapled end-to-side or hand-sewn side-to-side anastomosis to distinguish the role of suture technique and anastomotic configuration in the prevention of Crohn's disease recurrence. METHODOLOGY: Eighty-four consecutive patients who had undergone ileo-colonic resection for Crohn's disease were enrolled: 12 of them had stapled side-to-side anastomosis, 36 stapled end-to-side anastomosis and 36 hand-sewn side-to-side anastomosis. We evaluated duration of operation, first bowel movement after operation, postoperative hospital staying, postoperative surgical complications, clinical recurrence and reoperation rate. The statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test and Fisher exact test. Cumulative recurrence rates were compared using F Cox test and Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference between the three groups was observed in early postoperative follow up. The stapled side-to-side anastomosis group obtained a better symptom-free survival than the stapled end-to-side group (p=0.04). In the stapled and hand-sewn side-to-side groups reoperation rates were significantly lower than in the stapled end-to-side group (p=0.01 and p=0.05 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: All the three types of anastomosis were demonstrated to be equally safe in early postoperative outcome. A longer follow-up showed a significantly lower incidence of reoperation recurrence in the stapled and hand-sewn side-to-side anastomosis compared to the stapled end-to-side anastomosis group. This result may suggest the configuration of the anastomosis as the key point in the recurrence of anastomotic Crohn's disease.

Risk factors for recurrence of stenosis in Crohn's disease.

A major problem in Crohn's disease (CD) surgery is the high frequency of recurrence after bowel resection. Several factors are thought to influence this phenomenon. CD "phenotype" was identified as one of this factors and obstructing CD seems to be a low risk. We analysed the reoperation rate in patients operated for obstructing CD to identify risk factors for postoperative recurrence avoiding any bias due to an high risk phenotype. We reviewed the records of 120 patients treated for stenosing CD and survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method. Younger age, acute obstruction, emergency conditions, postoperative complications, small bowel disease, ileo-ileal anastomosis and type of suture resulted to be risk factors for CD recurrence.