Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy for pancreatic arteriovenous malformation complicated with portal hypertension.

Pancreatic arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is defined as a vascular anomaly with an abnormal anastomosis of the arterial and portal networks within the pancreas. Treatment modalities of PAVM include transarterial embolisation (TAE), irradiation and operation. Most patients treated with TAE alone will experience recurrence, so surgery is the best radical treatment. A female patient was admitted to our institution for the treatment of haematemesis. Examination revealed varices in the oesophagus and stomach, collateral circulation development caused by portal hypertension and PAVM of the pancreas. Surgical treatment was intended to reduce left portal hypertension. In this case, collateral circulation were considered dangerous points for unexpected bleeding. TAE was performed on the splenic artery before surgery to reduce blood flow in the areas with collateral circulation. En bloc resection of retroperitoneal tissue using the surgical procedure of radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy was effective to minimise blood loss.

Hemobilia-a rare complication after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND: Biliary bleeding is a condition reported by Sandblom as hemobilia. The most common cause of hemobilia is iatrogenicity. But it has also been reported as a rare complication after laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). CASE PRESENTATION: A man in his 60s underwent a LC. He was taking a direct Xa inhibitor for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (pAf) and had a history of thrombectomy. There was variation in the bifurcation of the hepatic artery and cystic artery. The right hepatic artery branches from the common hepatic artery by itself, and the cystic artery is double. He complained of right upper quadrant pain, nausea, and vomiting on the third postoperative day (3POD). Non-contrast computed tomography (CT) showed that a high absorption area was found to fill the common bile duct. Contrast CT showed no pseudoaneurysm formation. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with postoperative hemobilia. Angiographic examination selective for the cystic artery branching from the middle hepatic artery revealed leakage of the contrast agent and a micro-pseudoaneurysm. CONCLUSIONS: We encountered a case of hemobilia after LC. In this case, it was presumed that in addition to the chronic inflammatory changes of the gallbladder wall, extraordinary bifurcation of the hepatic artery and the cystic arteries and easy bleeding due to resumption of a direct Xa inhibitor synergistically caused a micro-pseudoaneurysm and postoperative hemobilia. It was difficult to identify the cause of hemobilia by contrast CT alone. Angiographic examination was useful for identifying and treating the causative artery and needs to perform aggressively.

Clinical Significance of Adjuvant Surgical Resection for Initially Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer Responsive to Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We have reported a clinically meaningful local-control effect and a hepatic metastatic tumor-regression effect of transcatheter peripancreatic arterial embolization-hepatic and splenic arterial infusion chemotherapy (TPPAE-HSAIC) for unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance, of adjuvant surgical resection after TPPAE-HSAIC. METHODOLOGY: We assessed histopathological findings and outcomes of 6 patients who underwent surgical resection of tumors judged to be radically resectable after attaining tumor down-staging or long-term tumor control following TPPAE-HSAIC for pancreatic cancer initially diagnosed as unresectable. RESULTS: Clinical stage at the initial diagnosis was T4N0M0 Stage III in 4 patients and T4N0M1 Stage IV in 2 patients. The durations of TPPAE-HSAIC ranged from 5 to 46 months with a median of 19 months. An R0 resection was performed in 5 of the 6 patients (83%) and pathological down-staging, from the viewpoint of clinical stage, was observed in 4 patients. Of the 5 patients with R0 resection, one died from a postoperative complication at 7 months and another from pulmonary metastasis at 30 months post-operatively, while the other 3 patients have survived for 45 to 83 months to date. CONCLUSIONS: If surgical resection of pancreatic cancer initially diagnosed as unresectable can be carried out in patients responding favorably to TPPAE-HSAIC, the likelihood of long-term survival might be increased.

Large solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas with aberrant protein expression and mutation of ß-catenin: a case report and literature review of the distribution of ß-catenin mutation.

Solid-pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPN) are rare pancreatic tumors. The etiology of SPN involves mutations in the gene that encodes ß-catenin (CTNNB1). We herein report the case of a 23-year-old woman with a large SPN with proliferating tumor cells that displayed both solid and pseudo-papillary patterns. The simultaneous nuclear accumulation and loss of membrane localization of ß-catenin and E-cadherin was specifically observed in the tumor cells. Further, the tumor cells were shown to harbor a missense mutation in exon 3 of CTNNB1. We also present a review of the literature describing the clustering of CTNNB1 mutations in patients with SPN.

Efficacy of cholangiography under helical computed tomography for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PURPOSE: Although laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is known to be safe, the optimal imaging technique for examining the common bile duct and cystic duct prior to laparoscopic intervention remains controversial. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cholangiography under helical computed tomography (helical CT cholangiography) for LC. METHODS: We studied 53 consecutive patients who underwent LC carried out by the same surgeon. The data of 23 of these patients who had undergone LC before the introduction of helical CT were used as the reference standard. Among the 53 patients, 28 were prospectively randomized for preoperative biliary tract evaluation with versus without helical CT cholangiography, into a CT/+ group (n = 13) and a CT/- group (n = 15), respectively. Two patients were excluded from the study preoperatively. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age or laboratory findings, including liver function tests or the serum amylase level before or after surgery, between the two groups. In the CT/- group, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography-related pancreatitis developed in one patient, and one patient required conversion to open surgery. In contrast, in the CT/+ group, there were no preoperative complications and no patient required conversion to open surgery. The mean operative time was significantly shorter in the CT/+ group than in the CT/- group (P = 0.0137). CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence to support the advantages of helical CT cholangiography in relation to operative time, conversion, and procedure-related preoperative complications.