Percutaneous irreversible electroporation for treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer following chemotherapy or radiochemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a non-thermal based tumor ablation method used close to vessels and ducts and has the potential of treating locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IRE in patients with LAPC after chemo- and/or radio-chemotherapy. METHOD: Twenty-four patients with biopsy proven LAPC and who had received chemo- and/or radio-chemotherapy with no signs of metastases were included and treated with ultrasound guided percutaneous IRE under general anesthesia. RESULTS: The median overall survival from diagnosis of LAPC was 17.9 months; this included 7.0 months after IRE. Median time from IRE was 6.1 months to local progression and 2.7 months to observation of metastases. Local control was observed in nine patients. IRE related complications were observed in 11 patients, three of which were serious complications. There was no IRE related mortality. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous IRE is reasonably safe in LAPC after chemo-/radio-chemotherapy and with promising results regarding efficacy.

Late Complications following Endoscopic Sphincterotomy for Choledocholithiasis: A Swedish Population-Based Study.

In order to assess the risk of long-term complications following endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) for common bile duct stones (CBDS), we conducted a cohort study. The study included 1,113 patients who underwent ES for CBDS in six different hospitals in central Sweden between 1977 and 1990. Through the use of the Swedish population registry, each patient was assigned five population-based controls matched for sex and age. Linkage to the Inpatient Registry yielded information on morbidity and mortality for the patients as well as for the controls. After one year of washout, there were 964 patients available for follow-up. The mean age was 70.6 years, 57% were women, and the mean length of follow-up was 8.9 years. The patients' overall morbidity was significantly higher and we observed a tendency towards increased mortality as well. Recurrent CBDS was diagnosed in 4.1% of the patients. Acute cholangitis with a hazard ratio (HR) of 36 (95%CI 11-119.4) was associated with recurrent CBDS in 39% of the patients. HR for acute pancreatitis was 6.2 (95%CI 3.4-11.3) and only one patient had CBDS at the same time. In conclusion, we consider acute pancreatitis and cholangitis both as probable long-term complications after ES.

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy in high-risk surgical patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In critically ill patients, cholecystectomy is associated with a high mortality rate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety, efficacy and long-term outcome of ultrasound-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy (USGPC) in critically ill patients with acute cholecystitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical records of 51 patients, all considered high-risk surgical patients, with acute cholecystitis treated with USGPC between 1987 and 1999, were retrospectively reviewed. Response was defined as improvement in clinical symptoms and signs, and/or reduction in c-reactive protein and white blood count levels within 72 h. Long-term results were evaluated by means of clinical records and written correspondence. RESULTS: Gallbladder stones were seen in 28 patients whereas 23 had acalculous cholecystitis. Ninety percent showed clinical improvement after USGPC. Cholecystectomy was performed in 16%, of which 6% after recurrent cholecystitis. Recurrence of cholecystitis occurred in 22%. Hospital mortality was 16%. None of the deaths was procedure related or related to acute cholecystitis alone. Major complications relating to the USGPC were rare (4%), while minor catheter-related complications were quite common. CONCLUSIONS: USGPC is a procedure with few complications and a high success rate. In patients with acalculous cholecystitis as well as in many patients with calculous cholecystitis, no further treatment was needed.

Cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract among patients with pernicious anemia: a case-cohort study.

BACKGROUND: An association between pernicious anemia and stomach cancer has been established in several studies. An increased risk of pancreatic and esophageal cancers has also been reported among pernicious anemia patients. The aim of this case-cohort study was to identify additional risk factors for cancer of the esophagus, stomach, and pancreas among patients with pernicious anemia. METHODS: A population-based cohort of 4586 patients with pernicious anemia was linked to the Swedish Cancer Registry to identify patients who subsequently developed cancers of the esophagus, stomach, or pancreas using a case-cohort design. A subcohort consisting of 4% of the cohort was randomly selected to serve as the comparison group. Information on medical history, smoking habits, and alcohol use was retrieved from medical charts and analyzed for cancer patients and subcohort members. RESULTS: We could not identify any risk factors other than pernicious anemia for stomach cancer. For pancreatic and esophageal cancer, younger age at diagnosis of pernicious anemia was associated with an increased risk. A prior gastric resection, smoking and alcohol abuse were more frequent among esophageal cancer cases than in the subcohort. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that a causal relationship between pernicious anemia and subsequent development of esophageal or pancreatic cancers still remains unproven. For esophageal cancer, confounding by smoking and alcohol use is the likely explanation of earlier reports of an association. In the case of stomach cancer, both the inflammatory process, secondary to the pernicious anemia, and pernicious anemia per se may be factors leading to malignant transformation.

Time trends in obesity surgery 1987 through 1996 in Sweden--a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The Swedish health-care system is well suited for surveys of incidence of surgical procedures including those for morbid obesity, since almost all hospital care is provided by public hospitals funded by a public health-care insurance system. The National Board of Health and Welfare keeps a nation-wide registry of all in-patient hospital care. In order to describe the practice of obesity surgery, we extracted data for all patients who had undergone obesity surgery between 1987 and 1996. MATERIAL: 6,339 patients had at least one obesity surgery procedure between Jan. 1987 and Dec. 1996. A total of 7,176 procedures were identified. 77.2% were women, and the mean age was 39 years. Hospital stay averaged 8 days. RESULTS: There was a 3-fold increase in the annual incidence from 312 procedures/year in 1987 to 952 in 1996. 14% of the patients operated in1996 had previously undergone obesity surgery during the study period. The hospital mortality was 0.4%. Simple gastric restrictive procedures dominated (76%), and gastric bypass and jejuno-ileal bypass were performed in 7.5% and 5%, respectively. There was a trend that gastric bypass was performed more frequently towards the end of the study period. An increased number of procedures were performed in smaller hospitals during 1994-96, and there were obvious geographical variations. CONCLUSION: There has been 3-fold increase in obesity surgery in Sweden between 1987 and 1996, accounted for by increased performance of simple gastric restrictive procedures. The operative mortality is low, but the incidence of a second obesity surgery procedure is high.

Abdominal US for diagnosis of pancreatic tumor: prospective cohort analysis.

PURPOSE: To elucidate the accuracy of abdominal ultrasonography (US) in the diagnosis of pancreatic tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In all patients referred for pancreatic US during 1988-1990, data on malignant disease and survival were analyzed by using the Swedish Death and Cancer Registries. Nine hundred nineteen patients were entered into the analysis. In 140 of them, a clinical diagnosis of tumor in the pancreatic area was confirmed within 1 year after US. These tumors were primary pancreatic tumors (n = 102), common bile duct and duodenal cancers (n = 17), and metastases in the pancreatic area (n = 21). RESULTS: The sensitivity of US in the detection of all tumors in the pancreatic area was 88.6% (124 of 140 patients), which was similar to that for the detection of exocrine pancreatic cancer, 90% (79 of 88 patients). There were nine false-positive US examinations, for a specificity of 98.8% (770 of 779 patients). Systematic sampling of 94 investigations confirmed an association between US accuracy and presence of clinical symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Significant differences in the sensitivity (P < .05) and accuracy (P < .01) of diagnosis were observed between three experienced investigators. CONCLUSION: Study results support the use of US as a first-line diagnostic examination in patients suspected of having pancreatic tumor. Dependency on the investigator's experience with US mandates continuous evaluation of its performance.

Intraarterial chemoembolisation with lipiodol and epirubicin in hepatocellular cancer--improved survival in some patients?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Arterial chemoembolisation with lipiodol and a cytotoxic drug is reported to give equivocal results in irresectable primary hepatocellular cancer (HCC). In order to further elucidate the possible response to this treatment, we analysed the results of all patients with irresectable HCC treated with chemoembolisation at our hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 58 consecutive patients with HCC were treated with lipiodolepirubicin chemoembolisation between February 1988 - October 1994 and followed until death or October 1998. RESULTS: The average survival was 11.7 months and median survival was 6 months. 17 patients had only one treatment mostly due to death within 6 weeks after the first treatment. Patients with an open portal system at inclusion (50% of all) were found to have significantly increased survival after 6 and 12 months compared to those with portal obstruction. The subgroup of patients displaying a decrease in tumour size as judged by repeated CT scan 6 months after inclusion had significantly increased survival; all survived more than 12 months (median survival 30 months). CONCLUSIONS: Chemoembolisation with lipiodol-epirubicin may have an impact on survival on selected patients with irresectable hepatocellular cancer. The treatment may justifiably be offered patients with an open portal venous system and without liver failure.

Parity and the risk of pancreatic cancer: a nested case-control study.

Smoking is the only generally accepted risk factor for pancreatic cancer. Reproductive history has in recent studies been associated with pancreatic cancer, but with contradictory results. In order to evaluate a possible association between age at first birth and the number of births and pancreatic cancer, we conducted a nested case-control study by linking 2 Swedish nationwide registries: the Cancer Registry and The Fertility Registry. Among women born between 1925 and 1970, 1,015 patients with pancreatic cancer were compared with 5,073 age-matched controls. No association between pancreatic cancer and number of births was found. Age at first birth was inversely related with the risk of pancreatic cancer (OR per 5 years = 0.90; 95% CI 0.83-0.97; p = 0.01), an association mainly confined to women with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer before 50 years of age (OR per 5 years = 0.85; 95% CI 0.73-1.00; p = 0.04). This trend remained after adjustment for parity, but was less prominent. Young age at first birth and high parity in Sweden are, however, associated with an increased frequency of smoking, thus at least some of the increased risk for pancreatic cancer in women with young age at first birth is likely to be explained by smoking acting as a confounder.

Population-based study of cancer risk and relative survival following sphincterotomy for stones in the common bile duct.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic sphincterotomy was introduced in 1974 as a procedure for removing stones in the common bile duct. To assess the long-term risk of cancer and relative survival, all patients who underwent this procedure at six different hospitals between 1977 and 1985 were identified. METHODS: A total of 992 patients was identified and they were followed by linkage to the Swedish Death Registry and the Swedish Cancer Registry. RESULTS: At 1 year or more after sphincterotomy there was no increased risk of cancer in the liver, gallbladder, bile duct or pancreas (standardized incidence ratio 0.80, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.3-1.9). Relative survival was lowered slightly in the first year after sphincterotomy, but did not differ from that of the background population thereafter. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic sphincterotomy for stones in the common bile duct does not appear to affect the risk of cancer in the pancreas, liver or bile ducts, nor does it affect long-term survival.

The risk of pancreatic cancer following pancreatitis: an association due to confounding?

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Chronic pancreatitis has been suggested as a causal risk factor for pancreatic cancer in a recent study. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. METHODS: All patients in the Swedish inpatient Register with a discharge diagnosis of pancreatitis from 1965 to 1983 were identified. They were stratified into subcohorts as follows: (1) one episode of unspecified pancreatitis (n = 823); (2) one episode of acute pancreatitis (n = 24,753); (3) recurrent pancreatitis (n = 7328); and (4) chronic pancreatitis (n = 4546). We also identified those with associated diagnoses indicating gallbladder disease or alcoholism. The patients were followed up through record linkage to the nationwide Swedish Cancer Register, Death Register, and Migration Register. RESULTS: After exclusion of cancers occurring in the first year, there were excess risks for pancreatic cancer in all subcohorts. However, the risks declined with time in all subcohorts. A persistent excess risk after 10 years was restricted to patients with associated alcohol abuse (standardized incidence ratio, 3.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-7.9). CONCLUSIONS: The findings are not consistent with reports that pancreatitis is causally associated with a long-term risk of pancreatic cancer. Selection bias, alcohol consumption, and smoking may contribute to some of the patterns of risk that have been observed.

Efficiency of percutaneous core biopsy in pancreatic tumor diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Radiologic diagnosis of pancreatic tumors exhibits limited precision. The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome and complications of pancreatic core biopsy in patients with suspected pancreatic neoplasms. METHODS: One hundred patients underwent ultrasonography-guided core biopsy of 1.2 mm external diameter. Medical charts were examined for biochemical and clinical signs of complications. Final diagnosis was settled by operation, autopsy, and clinical signs of the disease including survival with at least 2.3 years of follow-up. RESULTS: Histopathologic biopsy evaluation showed correct discrimination between exocrine and endocrine tumors and nonneoplastic conditions in 89 patients. No false-positive cancer diagnosis was found, and guidance on nature of primary tumors was obtained for eight of eight metastases. The sensitivity was 91% for exocrine and 87% for endocrine pancreatic tumors, and negative predictive values of these diagnoses were 83% and 97%, respectively. No clinically significant complications were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Core biopsy is an attractive alternative to diagnostic laparotomy in unresectable pancreatic cancer and efficiently provides diagnosis of endocrine tumors and pancreatic metastases in conjunction with rare complications. Benign biopsy findings cannot be used to exclude presence of primary or metastatic pancreatic neoplasms.

[Polyploidization of cardiac myocytes as a programmed event of ontogenesis]. / Poliploidizatsiia serdechnykh miotsitov kak programmirovannoe sobytie ontogeneza.

The pieces of ventricles of newborn rats, which consist of diploid myocytes in more than 95%, were transplanted under the renal capsule of a syngeneic adult rat. Within 35 days the transplants contained 40 to 60% of the cells with the double or even greater DNA content in the mononuclear and binuclear classes. The composition of the classes was similar unlike the number of the cells of a certain class in the transplant and in the heart of a 35 day old rat. A conclusion has been drawn that the polyploidization is programmed and the realization of this programme depends on the growth, work, and other factors but is expressed even at their minimal action in the transplant. The growth of the transplanted myocytes was weaker than in the heart. It is supposed that, unlike the polyploidization, the growth of the myocytes outside the cycle is, predominantly, functional-dependent.