Port site recurrences after laparoscopic and thoracoscopic procedures in malignancy.

PURPOSE AND METHODS: A review of the literature was performed to determine the number of cases of port site recurrences (PSR) after laparoscopy or thoracoscopy. CANCERLINE and MEDLINE were searched, as were citings from retrieved and related papers. RESULTS: There have been 35 reported cases of PSR after laparoscopic colectomy for colorectal carcinoma, and 23 cases after thoracoscopic procedures for lung neoplasms. All of these have been reported since 1993. Since 1991, 12 cases have been described after laparoscopic cholecystectomy of unsuspected gallbladder carcinoma, and another case after biopsy of a known gallbladder carcinoma. Ten cases of PSR have been reported after laparoscopic procedures for ovarian lesions, often in the presence of peritoneal seeding at diagnosis. Other rare PSRs have been documented after several procedures in various malignancies. CONCLUSION: Enrollment of patients onto the ongoing intergroup study evaluating open versus laparoscopic resection of colon cancer should be encouraged. Until valid prospective data on PSR frequency are available, laparoscopic or thoracoscopic resection of malignancy off-protocol should be undertaken with circumspection.

Tracheal occlusion from an intrathoracic stomach.

A patient presented with recurrent respiratory failure following esophagectomy. Systematic evaluation detected a previously unreported process causing this problem. Simple therapeutic measures were effective once the diagnosis was established.

Thymic carcinoid in association with MEN syndromes.

Although carcinoid tumors in association with multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome (MEN) has been well described, thymic carcinoid in association with MEN is extremely rare (only 23 cases in the world literature). A patient with thymic carcinoid and MEN-I was treated with surgical resection and postoperative radiation therapy, which was later followed by subtotal parathyroidectomy for hyperparathyroidism. Four years later, a symptomatic recurrence of his thymic carcinoid was resected from below his right clavicle. Six years after his original operation, the patient came to the hospital with pancreatitis, and a 5 cm, distal, pancreatic metastasis was resected. He now has symptomatic paraspinal and pleural metastases and is receiving somatostatin. Review of the world's literature shows that the majority of patients with thymic carcinoid and MEN-I are men with an average age of 37 years. Their clinical course is indolent, and surgery represents the only means of cure. Adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy confer no survival advantage. The surgical decision making involved in treating a patient with thymic carcinoid and hyperparathyroidism associated with MEN is also discussed.

An unusual occurrence of endometriosis in the right groin: a case report and review of the literature.

A case of endometriosis involving the superficial femoral lymphatic chain is presented. We feel that it is significant due to the rare location and the implications for diagnosis and therapy. It is our opinion that endometriosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of groin masses in menstruating women. A brief review of pertinent literature is also presented.

Adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum in patients less than 40 years of age.

From 1962 to 1988, 50 of 801 patients with adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum treated at the National Naval Medical Center were less than 40 years old. Symptoms were present in 47 of the younger patients at presentation. The mean duration of time from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis in this group was 4.9 months. Risk factors for carcinoma of the colon and rectum were identified in 14 of 50 patients less than 40 years old. A significantly greater proportion of patients less than 40 years old had Stage C disease compared with the older group of patients (42 versus 22 per cent, p = 0.014). Stage B disease was more common in patients more than 40 years of age (44.8 versus 26.0 per cent, p = 0.014). The proportion of patients with Stages A and D disease was similar in both age groups. The cumulative survival rate in this group at five and ten years was 43 and 34 per cent, respectively. The five year survival rate in patients less than 40 years old with Stage B disease was 76 per cent and with Stage C disease, 37 per cent. All young patients with Stage D disease were dead at 28 months. Synchronous and metachronous carcinomas of the colon and rectum were uncommon in patients less than 40 years old. Patients less than 40 years of age with carcinoma of the colon and rectum are usually symptomatic and have advanced disease at the time of presentation. Survival time for these patients for each stage of disease is similar to the over-all population of patients with carcinoma of the colon and rectum.