Painful lower limb nodules as first symptom of resectable pancreatic acinar cell cancer: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic panniculitis is characterized by subcutaneous fat necrosis and is a rare presentation of an underlying pancreatic disease, appearing in approximately 2-3% of all patients with a pancreatic disease. The nodules usually involve the lower extremities. Pancreatic panniculitis is commonly associated with acute or chronic pancreatitis, and occasionally with pancreatic cancer, especially acinar cell carcinoma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 77-year-old Caucasian woman with no significant medical history was referred to our center with multiple painful, itchy, and warm red/blue cutaneous nodules on the left lower leg. These skin lesions were consistent with the clinical diagnosis of panniculitis. The skin biopsy obtained showed a predominantly lobular panniculitis with fat necrosis of which the aspect was highly suspicious for pancreatic panniculitis. Further analysis revealed high lipase serum of > 3000 U/L (normal range < 60 U/L), and on computed tomography scan a mass located between the stomach and the left pancreas was seen. Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of acinar cell carcinoma. After discussing the patient in the pancreatobiliary multidisciplinary team meeting, laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy including splenectomy and en bloc wedge resection of the stomach due to tumor in-growth was performed. The cutaneous nodules on both legs disappeared 1-2 days after surgery. No long-term complications were reported during follow-up. One year after surgery, the patient presented with similar symptoms as preoperatively. Computed tomography scan showed local recurrence and distal metastases, which were subsequently confirmed by biopsy. She started with palliative folinic acid-fluorouracil-irinotecan-oxaliplatin chemotherapy but stopped after two cycles because of disease progression. The patient died 2 months later, 13 months after surgical resection. CONCLUSION: This case illustrates the importance of clinically recognizing cutaneous nodules and pathological recognizing the specific microscopic changes as sign of a (malignant) pancreatic disease.

Inter-particle biomolecular reactivity tuned by surface crowders.

The rate at which colloidal particles can form biomolecular bonds controls the kinetics of applications such as particle-based biosensing, targeted drug delivery and directed colloidal assembly. Here we study how the reactivity of the particle surface depends on its molecular composition, quantified by the inter-particle rate of aggregation in an optomagnetic cluster experiment. Particles were functionalized with DNA or with proteins for specific binding, and with polyethylene glycol as a passive surface crowder. The data show that the inter-particle binding kinetics are dominated by specific interactions, which surprisingly can be tuned by the passive crowder molecules for both the DNA and the protein system. The experimental results are interpreted using model simulations, which show that the crowder-induced decrease of the particle surface reactivity can be described as a reduced reactivity of the specific binder molecules on the particle surface.

Systematic review of team performance in minimally invasive abdominal surgery.

Background: Adverse events in the operating theatre related to non-technical skills and teamwork are still an issue. The influence of minimally invasive techniques on team performance and subsequent impact on patient safety remains unclear. The aim of this review was to assess the methodology used to objectify and rate team performance in minimally invasive abdominal surgery. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. Studies on assessment of surgical team performance or non-technical skills of the surgical team in the setting of minimally invasive abdominal surgery were included. Study aim, methodology, results and conclusion were extracted for qualitative synthesis. Results: Sixteen studies involving 677 surgical procedures were included. All studies consisted of observational case series that used heterogeneous methodologies to assess team performance and were of low methodological quality. The most commonly used team performance objectification tools were 'construct'- and 'incident'-based tools. Evidence of validity for the assessed outcome was spread widely across objectification tools, ranging from low to high. Diverse and poorly defined outcomes were reported. Conclusion: Team demands for minimally invasive approaches to abdominal procedures remain unclear. The current literature consists of studies with heterogeneous methodology and poorly defined outcomes.