Doege-Potter syndrome by malignant solitary fibrous tumor of the liver: A case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Solitary fibrous tumor of the liver (SFTL) is a rare occurrence with a low number of cases reported in literature. SFTL is usually benign but, 10%-20% cases are reported to be malignant with a tendency to metastasize. The majority of malignant SFTL cases are associated with a paraneoplastic hypoglycaemia defined as Doege-Potter syndrome. Surgery is the best therapeutic treatment, however, long- life follow-up is recommended. CASE SUMMARY: A 74-year-old man, was admitted to the emergency department after a syncopal episode with detection of hypoglycaemia resistant to medical treatment. The computed tomography revealed a solid mass measuring 15 cm of the left liver. An open left hepatectomy was performed with complete resection of tumor. Histopathological analyses confirmed a malignant SFTL. CONCLUSION: Large series with long-term follow-up have not been published neither have clinical trials been undertaken. Consequently, the methodical long-term follow-up of surgically treated SFTLs is strongly recommended.

A new clinical-ultrasound score to predict difficult videolaparocholecystectomies: A prospective study.

BACKGROUND: The gold standard treatment of symptomatic cholelithiasis is videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy (VLC). The aim of this study is to produce a predictive clinical ultrasound (US) score for difficult VLC to reduce the rate of conversion to open cholecystectomy surgery and intra and/or post-operative complications. METHODS: In this prospective study carried out in 2017 we enrolled 135 patients (pts) who underwent VLC in our General Surgery Unit. A specific pre-operative abdominal ultrasound scan was performed to assess gallbladder characteristics for each patient. All US and patients' characteristics were recorded in a standard form in order to obtain a preoperative score and were then added to the intra-operative variables. RESULTS: The analysis revealed a statistical significance between post-operative characteristics and parietal thickness, adhesions, stratifications and volume of gallstones. Comparing the degree of difficulty VLC assessed in the pre-operative stage to the intraoperative score, the sensitivity of the preoperative US scan test is 91.8% while the specificity is 76.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The variables which proved statistically significant in predicting a difficult cholecystectomy were: age, parietal thickness >3 mm, adhesions, stratifications, gallstones >2 cm and fixed gallstones. We have definitively defined a predictive score for difficult VLC for which a VLC is to be considered potentially difficult whenever it presents a pre-operative score equal or greater than 4 (and a "easy" one with a pre-operative score less than 4). These findings may prove helpful in further reducing the conversion rate and the rate of intra- and/or post-operative complications.

Laparoscopic management of pancreatic cancer. Our experience.

AIM: Minimally invasive techniques have a definite role in the surgical treatment of several gastrointestinal tract cancers but there is still no widespread use of the laparoscopic approach for cancers of the head of the pancreas. The aim of this retrospective study is to review our experience from 2003 to 2013 in the management of pancreatic cancer with particular emphasis on the clinical application of minimally invasive techniques. METHODS: One hundred fifty-eight pancreatic cancer patients (median age 69,7±12,6 years) with obstructive jaundice were enrolled in our study. One hundred eighteen (74,7%) had an endoscopic biliary stent, 68 patients (43,03%) were eligible for surgery. Only 22 of the patients eligible for surgical intervention underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD): 14 had open PD and 8 had laparoscopic PD (LPD). Thirteen of the PD patients had a pylorus-preserving procedure (8 open and 5 laparoscopic procedures) whereas in 9 the pylorus was not preserved (6 open and 3 laparoscopic procedures). The other 46 patients had un-resectable tumors and 34 of them underwent palliative surgery consisting of gastrojejunal and hepatojejunal anastomosis (18 open and 6 laparoscopic procedures), and gastrojejunal anastomosis in 10 patients (4 open and 6 laparoscopic procedures). Ten patients had only explorative laparoscopy and 2 only explorative laparotomy. RESULTS: The resectability rate was 13,9%. The median age in patients treated with an endoscopic biliary stent was significantly higher than in those who underwent surgery (73,2±13,3 years vs 64,4±9,6 years; p < 0,05). Operative time in LPD patients was significantly longer than in PD patients (521±68 minutes vs 381±88 minutes; p<0.05). The hospital stay of patients who underwent PD was significantly longer than that of those who underwent palliative surgery (27±4 days vs 10±5 days; p < 0.05). in PD patients the morbidity rate was 22,72 % and the mortality rate 4.5%. CONCLUSIONS: In recent years laparoscopic surgery has become very important in oncologic surgery because it is minimally invasive and reduces postoperative complications and because there is sufficient evidence based data showing that results in terms of complications and survival are as good as the results of conventional surgery. However the learning curve for laparoscopic cancer surgery of the head of the pancreas is steep and our results indicate that in LPD operative time is significantly longer than in PD, and moreover the laparoscopic approach is not associated with a shorter hospital stay. Therefore LPD should be performed only in well-established laparoscopic and oncological centers with a multidisciplinary team. KEY WORDS: Laparoscopy, Pancreatic cancer, Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

[Laparoscopic appendectomy. Our experience]. / Appendicectomia laparoscopica. Esperienza personale.

The advantages and applications of the videolaparoscopic technique (VL) versus open surgery in the treatment of acute and complicated appendicitis are not well defined. Our study examined 150 patients, 67 males and 83 females. They underwent surgery for acute appendicitis in emergency. The choice between open or laparoscopic tecnique was due to patient's clinical conditions and surgeon's experience. Two of these patients had no infiammatory process. Eleven patients were affected by gynaecological diseases. The last 137 patients underwent surgery for acute appendicitis and the diagnosis was confirmed. Among them, 35 (25%) were affected by a complicated appendicitis with diffuse or clearly defined peritonitis. In 134 patients the surgery was completed laparoscopically. The conversion rate was 2%. Morbility rate was 3%, due to intra abdominal abscesses secondary to acute complicated appendicitis. The mean operative time was 76 min and the mean hospital stay was 4.8 days. The death rate was 0%. In our experience, laparoscopic appendectomy has significant advantages over traditional open surgery in both acute and complicated appendicitis, especially in young women. In this way, we can diagnose pelvic disease that could be characterized by the same symptoms of acute appendicitis, then we suggest laparoscopic appendectomy even just to complete the diagnostic iter. Laparoscopy is useful in terms of convalescence, postoperative pain, hospital stay, aesthetic outcome and an easier exploration of the peritoneal cavity.

[Incidental carcinoma in thyroid pathology: our experience and review of the literature]. / Il carcinoma incidentale nella patologia tiroidea. La nostra esperienza e revisione della letteratura.

The diagnosis of incidental thyroid carcinoma in patients submitted to thyroidectomy for a benign disease is quite frequent. A retrospective analysis was performed on 240 patients submitted to surgical intervention in order to establish the incidence of the carcinoma. One hundred sixty five patients (68.75%) were affected by benign disease (132 multinodular goiter, 30 uninodular goiter, 2 Plummer and 1 Basedow) and 75 (31.25%) by carcinoma. In 30 of 165 patients (18.2 %), affected by benign disease, occurred a histological diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma, (18 papillary carcinoma, 6 follicular carcinoma, 5 papillary carcinoma follicular variant and 1 oncocytic carcinoma). In this study it's considered incidental thyroid carcinoma the one occurred in patients who never underwent FNA and there were no suspicious features in all exams that may suggest the presence of carcinoma. Fifteen of the 30 incidental carcinoma (50%) were microcarcinomas; in the other 13, dimensions were more than 1 cm, but less than 2 cm in 9 cases. Two patients had a synchronous carcinoma. Actually these patients are still in a follow up program and no recurrency of disease is occasionally observed. This study shows that the only way to put doubts on the real benignity of the disease is the fine needle aspiration; there are no other instruments that could let think about the occurrence of the carcinoma. Moreover in the majority of cases the incidental carcinoma is a microcarcinoma, it doesn't reach significant volume, may be not centered by a FNAB, but in must cases it's not really biologically aggressive.