Successful management of an aorto-gastric fistula occurring 15 years after oesophagectomy with covered aortic stent graft placement followed by open surgery.

Aorto-gastric fistula (AGF) is an uncommon and life threatening complication of oesophagectomy. Usually occurring in the immediate weeks following the procedure at anastomosis lines, this case describes a rare development of an AGF 15 years after an oesophagectomy due to the presence of a benign ulcer. Initially successful endovascular stenting of the thoracic aorta was followed by re-bleed, further stenting but eventually open surgery was required.

Asymptomatic renal cell carcinoma with metastasis to the skin and duodenum: a case report and review of the literature.

Renal cell carcinoma is known to have blood-borne metastasis. This is usually to the bone, lungs and brain. Other unusual metastatic presentations such as skin and bowel metastasis have also been described. In most cases, the metastasis occurs as a late manifestation in a patient with known primary renal cell carcinoma. A rare synchronous presentation of skin and duodenal metastasis in an otherwise asymptomatic patient is reported here. This patient presented with a skin lesion that, on excision, brought up the diagnosis of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. While the patient was waiting for surgery, she also developed melena that, on gastroscopy, confirmed a duodenal metastasis. This case highlights the importance of early recognition of otherwise unrelated lesions as presentations for an advanced renal malignancy.

Randomised trial of topical 0.2% glyceryl trinitrate and lateral internal sphincterotomy for the treatment of patients with chronic anal fissure: long-term follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To compare outcomes 24 months after treatment of chronic anal fissure with 0.2% glyceryl trinitrate ointment (GTN) or lateral internal sphincterotomy. DESIGN: Prospective, randomised trial. SETTING: One teaching, one private, and 3 district hospitals, U.K. SUBJECTS: Seventy patients were randomised into two groups of 35 each to use 0.2% GTN ointment or have a lateral internal sphincterotomy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Resolution of symptoms and healing of fissures assessed after 24 months. RESULTS: All those operated on were initially cured but one fissure recurred after 8 months. Nineteen of 35 fissures treated with GTN healed. The remaining 16 patients randomised to use GTN ointment whose fissures did not heal were then treated by sphincterotomy. Three patients whose fissures healed successfully with GTN developed recurrences within 6 months of completing treatment. The remaining 16 of 19 patients treated with GTN whose fissures healed were free of symptoms with no clinical evidence of recurrence after 24 months follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Many anal fissures heal with topical treatment with GTN. Lateral internal sphincterotomy remains effective but should be reserved for patients who fail to respond to initial chemical sphincterotomy.