Significance of Biomarkers in Early Diagnosis of Abdominal Sepsis.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: Peritonitis is one of the most important sources of abdominal sepsis. Since intra-abdominal infection leads to the activation of the inflammatory response, this suggested that some of these mediators could be used as markers of the severity of newly formed sepsis, but primarily to identify or rule out new-onset sepsis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of serum markers of inflammation: C-reactive protein, procalcitonin and serum amyloid A in the serum of patients with diffuse secondary peritonitis. Methods: The prospective cohort study was conducted at the Clinic for Emergency Surgery of the Clinical Center of Serbia in Belgrade. The study group consisted of 100 patients aged 18 to 70 years, with signs of acute abdomen due to diffuse secondary peritonitis. Results: CRP and PCT are so far among the most valuable preoperative markers for distinguishing sepsis from SIRS. On the first postoperative day the analysis of the relationship between sensitivity and specificity at the different breakpoints used indicates a greater diagnostic accuracy and greater sensitivity of SAA compared to CRP and PCT. In the remaining postoperative period in our study, the ROC curve mostly coincided with the diagonal line, so CRP, PCT, and SAA had little diagnostic accuracy. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggest that finding a specific marker for the diagnosis of abdominal sepsis, a marker that would differentiate between SIRS and sepsis, pre- and postoperatively, would be very useful.

Is Colorectal Cancer Stage Affected by COVID-19 Pandemic?

Background: Causing healthcare systems overload, COVID-19 pandemic has a huge influence on patients with colorectal cancer. The aim of our study was to assess the potential impact of COVID-19 on the stage of colorectal cancer. Methods: In our retrospective study, two groups of patients operated for colorectal cancer were analyzed at the Clinic for Surgery "Nikola Spasic", Zvezdara University Medical Center. The study group consisted of 49 patients operated in the period from March 15, 2020 to April 2021, during COVID-19 pandemic. The control group consisted of 152 patients, who were operated on in the period from January 1, 2019. to December 31, 2019. Results: There were no difference in surgical approach, prevalence of stoma, percentages of postoperative complications and rates of hospital readmission between both groups. T4b tumor stage was statistically significant more common in the study group (12.2% vs 3.3%, p=0.027). Locally advanced tumors, stage IIC, were statistically significantly more common in the group of patients operated on during the COVID-19 pandemic (10.2% vs 1.3%, p=0.01). Conclusion: Higher number of locally advanced tumors in study group could probably be caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare system.

Colorectal cancer and trace elements alteration.

BACKGROUND: Trace elements have important influence on body function primarily because of the vital role they have in many physiological processes. Their alterations have been found in many disorders, including cancer. It has been well known for decades that disturbances in elemental concentration may lead to cell damaging, DNA injuries and imbalance in oxidative burden. Our study tried to determine the difference of trace elements concentrations between colorectal adenocarcinoma and adjacent healthy intestinal tissue. METHODS: 59 subjects participated in this study. Healthy colon mucosa samples and colon tumor tissue samples were obtained from patients previously diagnosed with colon carcinoma by standard diagnostic procedures. Analysis of the elements was performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). RESULTS: The results showed that Na, K, Mg, Ca, Cu, Zn, Se, Mn, Cd, Cr and Hg significantly differ between malignant tissue of colorectal cancer (CRC) and adjacent healthy bowel tissue. We have, also, found that Cu/Zn tissue ratio was significantly higher in CRC compared to a healthy tissue and that patients with higher CRC stages had also significantly higher ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Since this is the first such study in Balkan region, we assume that results of our study could be a good indicator of elemental alterations in colorectal cancer of Balkan population, due to similarity in lifestyle, dietary intake, pollution and exposure to toxic elements.