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Biomedical subjects

D J Mathisen

Publications and source records attributed to D J Mathisen.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Preoperative chemotherapy, surgical resection, and selective postoperative therapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

In an attempt to improve on the long-term survival rate of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, we designed a study in which treatment included preoperative chemotherapy with fluorouracil and cisplatin, surgical resection, and selective postoperative chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Between 1981 and 1986, 35 patients with potentially resectable lesions were entered into the study. After chemotherapy, 13 of 35 patients (37%) had a complete clinical response, 7 (20%) had a partial response, and 15 (43%) had no response. One patient sustained a serious toxic reaction (renal failure). Twenty-seven patients underwent surgical resection, with 1 hospital death (3.7%). Selective postoperative radiotherapy or chemotherapy was administered to 69%. The actuarial survival of all resected patients at 42 months was 54% (standard error, 10%). Multivariate analysis showed significant factors associated with 3-year survival were: (1) complete clinical response to chemotherapy; (2) absence of wall penetration in the specimen; and (3) microscopic or no disease in the specimen. We conclude that this multimodality treatment method improves the intermediate-term survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

Surgical management of tracheal strictures.

Tracheal strictures are complications of prolonged endotracheal intubation or tracheostomy. Successful management requires knowledge of tracheal anatomy, principles of anesthesia, and principles of tracheal surgery. Strictures involving up to one half of the adult trachea can be successfully managed by resection and primary anastomosis in over 90 per cent of the patients.

Anesthesia↗

Concomitant therapy with infusion of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil plus radiation in stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Based on our experience with head and neck cancer, we have developed an every-other-week, split-course schedule for giving combined cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil infusion and radiation to patients with regionally advanced non-small cell lung cancer for a limited number of cycles prior to planned resection. Sixty-four patients having stage III disease without distant metastases were treated with 4 cycles of combined chemotherapy and radiation to 40 Gy and were offered surgical resection. Thirty-nine patients (61%) underwent surgery. Nine had no residual cancer. No correlation was noted between clinical and histologic responses in the surgery group, but histologic response correlated with subsequent outcome. Survival was 58% at 1 year, 33% at 2 years, and 22% at 3 years. Although encouraging, the overall dismal prognosis of this disease has led us to pursue further improvements in protocol design prior to phase III testing of this concept. To this end, etoposide has been added to the above regimen, extending the cycles from every other week to every third week.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

The omentum in the management of complicated cardiothoracic problems.

The pedicled omentum finds use in cardiothoracic surgery for management of complicated problems and prevention of serious complications. Its blood supply is excellent and is capable of inducing neovascularity. Based on the right gastroepiploic artery, it reaches anywhere in the thorax or neck. Its bulk helps to fill infected spaces. Thirty-seven patients have been treated with the pedicled omentum. In 16 patients the goal was preventive, to avoid bleeding, anastomotic leakage, or infection or to provide a source of fibroplasia or neovascularity. In eight patients with cervical exenteration the flap protected against innominate artery erosion and esophageal leakage, generally in an irradiated field. In six patients it permitted primary healing of heavily irradiated trachea--formerly unlikely. It was also used to provide coverage of a chest wall prosthesis in two patients. In 21 patients the omentum was used to obtain healing in the presence of infection. Bronchopleural fistulas were successfully closed in eight of nine patients. Six mediastinal infections that developed after cardiac operations were successfully treated. Four unusual vascular infections necessitated the use of omentum. Two patients had closure of esophageal perforations buttressed with omentum. This series demonstrates the efficacy of the omentum in the management of complex cardiac, vascular, esophageal, tracheal, bronchial, pleural, and chest wall problems.

Bronchial Fistula↗

Simultaneous cisplatin fluorouracil infusion and radiation followed by surgical resection in regionally localized stage III, non-small cell lung cancer.

Sixty-four patients with stage III (M omicron) non-small cell lung cancer were treated with cisplatin fluorouracil infusion chemotherapy and simultaneous radiation therapy for 5 days every other week. A total of 4 cycles (40 Gy) was followed by attempted surgical resection. Clinical response to the preoperative treatment included 5 (8%) complete and 32 (48%) partial responses. Thirty-nine (61%) underwent the planned operation, and in 9 (23%) of these patients the resected specimens were histologically negative. Clinical assessment failed to predict histological response. With 17 months median follow-up (range, 2.4-29 months), estimated 1-year survival was 61% and median survival was 16 months for all patients.

Adult↗

Laryngotracheal trauma.

Laryngotracheal trauma can be an immediately life-threatening injury. Failure to recognize such injuries and promptly secure an airway may have fatal consequences. Failure to recognize acute injuries or to observe the principles of management can lead to laryngotracheal stenosis. We have seen 10 patients with acute injuries. Blunt trauma was responsible in 5, penetrating trauma in 4, and iatrogenic injury in 1. Esophageal transection was present in 1 patient. Thoracotomy was required in 2 patients with injury of the carina, and cervical exposure was adequate in 8. All patients underwent successful repair of the injuries. Seventeen patients have been treated for delayed traumatic laryngotracheal stenosis. Vocal cord paralysis was apparent in 14. Concomitant esophageal injury was repaired in 4 patients. Eight patients required intralaryngeal procedures prior to repair of the laryngotracheal stenosis. All patients except 1 have a good airway, and 16 of the 17 have a good voice.

Adolescent↗

Superior sulcus lung tumors. Results of combined treatment (irradiation and radical resection).

Twenty-one patients underwent combined therapy (irradiation and radical resection) for a Pancoast tumor at the Massachusetts General Hospital between 1976 and 1985. All patients underwent en bloc removal of the apical chest wall and underlying lung. In addition four patients required subclavian artery resection, and in five patients a portion of the vertebral body was resected. There were three operative deaths. Median survival was 24 months and actuarial survival rate was 55% at 3 years and 27% at 5 years. Long-term palliation of pain was achieved in 72% of the patients. Involvement of the subclavian artery, vertebral body, or rib did not preclude long-term survival. Computed tomographic scanning in these patients is often indeterminate regarding invasion of chest wall structures but is more helpful than plain films alone. When compared to recent series in which irradiation alone was used, the combined approach appears to produce better results.

Actuarial Analysis↗

Bronchial sleeve resection with and without pulmonary resection.

Sleeve resection with and without pulmonary resection is safe, effective, and appropriate treatment for a wide range of endobronchial lesions including neoplasms of low-grade malignant potential and selected cases of bronchogenic carcinoma. Sixty-three patients underwent 64 sleeve resection procedures (47 with concomitant pulmonary resection and 17 without) at the Massachusetts General Hospital between 1962 in 1986 with a 30 day mortality rate of 4.7%. Applicability of the technique for bronchial lesions which do not require concomitant pulmonary resection is emphasized. Types of disease included a heterogeneous collection of 31 benign tumors, neoplasms of low-grade malignant potential, and bronchostenosis and 33 bronchogenic carcinomas. Actuarial disease-free survival rate for the former group was 100% at 5 years. Quality of life was excellent for this group. Five-year survival rates for bronchogenic carcinoma (24 squamous cell, seven adenocarcinoma, two undifferentiated) were 58% +/- 25% (+/- standard error), 69 +/- 18%, and 38% +/- 13% in Stages I, II, and III, respectively. The 5 year survival rate of 31% +/- 16% in 14 patients selected because of decreased respiratory reserve compared with 60% +/- 14% in 19 patients for whom sleeve was the operation of choice on the sole basis of anatomic suitability. Sleeve resection is the ideal form of excisional therapy for benign endobronchial tumors, bronchostenosis, tumors of low-grade malignant potential, and for selected cases of carcinoma.

Adult↗

Preoperative chemotherapy followed by surgery with possible postoperative radiotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus: evaluation of the chemotherapy component.

Twenty-four patients with squamous cell cancer of the esophagus were entered into a treatment protocol consisting of preoperative chemotherapy (CT), surgical resection (SR), and possible postoperative CT or radiation therapy (RT) beginning August 1981. CT consisted of two cycles of 5-fluorouracil, 1,000 mg/m2, by continuous intravenous infusion for 4 days and cisplatin, 100 mg/m2, on day 4 with mannitol-induced diuresis at 4-week intervals. Postoperatively, RT was administered when resection margins were minimal or if paraesophageal nodes were abnormal; the RT consisted of 5,000 to 5,400 cGy to the tumor area plus a 800- to 1,200-cGy boost to known abnormal tumor margins. Nineteen of 24 patients were resectable (79%). There was one SR death (5%). One of 22 had a normal barium swallow post-CT, no visible tumor at SR, and no pathologic evidence of any residual disease. There was complete radiologic and gross clinical disappearance of tumor post-CT or post-SR in ten of 22 patients (45%). Four of 22 (18%) had greater than or equal to 50% regression, and five of 22 (23%) had no response. Toxicity of CT was mild. Eight of 19 patients (42%) received RT, and six of 19 (32%) received CT postoperatively. Sixteen of 24 (67%) are alive with a median duration of observation of 9.5 months. Eight of 24 (33%) are dead, five of whom had not responded to preoperative CT. Ten of 14 responders are alive and disease free. The mean survival time for nonresponders was 6.70 months and for responders, 20.40 months, with the longest survivor disease free at 45 months.

Aged↗

Survival following resection for second and third primary lung cancers.

The performance of sequential resections and the consideration of new lesions as second or third primary lung cancers remain controversial issues. Criteria to define these as new primary lesions depend upon a difference in histologic types, a prolonged interval between initial and second or third resections, and location in the contralateral lung or a different ipsilateral lobe. Ninety patients have undergone multiple resections for bronchogenic carcinoma from 1960 to December, 1983. There were 10 examples of synchronous lesions and the remaining 80 were metachronous with the longest interval between resections being 17 years, 4 months. The initial surgical procedure was pneumonectomy in 11, lobectomy in 43, sleeve lobectomy in eight, segmentectomy in 27, and carinal resection in one. At the second operation, the procedures were segmentectomy in 55, lobectomy in 11, completion lobectomy in six, and completion pneumonectomy in 15. Two patients had sternotomy with bilateral resections and one patient had a tracheal resection. At the third operation, the procedures were segmentectomy in seven, completion lobectomy in two, and completion pneumonectomy in two. In 20 patients undergoing the second procedure and three undergoing a third resection, a different cell type was identified. The perioperative mortality following the second operation was seven of 90 patients (8%) and there were no deaths in those patients undergoing three resections. The cumulative survival rate following second resection in 80 patients with metachronous tumors was 33% at 5 years and 20% at 10 years. These data support continued aggressive surgical approach to second and third primary lung cancers.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Valve surgery in patients over the age of sixty-five.

Two hundred one patients over the age of 65 underwent valvular heart surgery with a hospital mortality of 5.5% and a late mortality of 18.4%. One hundred forty-one patients underwent isolated valve replacement (90 AVR, 51 MVR) with a hospital mortality of 1.5% (AVR 1%, MVR 2%). Multiple procedures carried a significantly higher hospital mortality (16%). Analysis of hospital and late deaths does not suggest that age alone should be accepted as a decisive factor in selection for surgery. There is a significantly higher late mortality in those who have had MVR (30%) compared with those having had AVR (14.6%). The importance of associated coronary artery disease as a risk factor has not been defined, but there is some evidence to suggest it is more important in this respect when found in association with mitral valve rather than aortic valve disease. An improved quality of life postoperatively was evident in the majority of survivors.

Age Factors↗

Prospective randomized study of the role of N-acetyl cysteine in reversing doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy.

We conducted a randomized prospective trial in 19 disease-free soft tissue sarcoma patients with doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy identified by ECG radionuclide angiography at rest and during exercise to determine the efficacy of the free radical scavenger, N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), in reversing the drug's cardiotoxic effect. Of the 19 patients, 11 received oral NAC (5.5 gm/m2 daily for 30 days) and eight patients served as controls. Patients were stratified for age less than greater than 45 years, time from final dose of doxorubicin to randomization less than greater than 8 months, and history of treatment with mediastinal irradiation. The two groups were well-matched for all parameters. Cumulative mean doxorubicin dose (523 mg/m2 and 532 mg/m2) and range 500-600 mg/m2 was comparable. Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction before randomization was not significantly different between the two groups either at rest (39 +/- 10% control, 38 +/- 13% NAC) or during exercise (38 +/- 12% control, 35 +/- 11% NAC). Neither rest nor exercise ejection fraction values changed significantly in either group between prerandomization and 1-month postrandomization studies. Late studies performed in seven NAC patients 3-5 months after randomization revealed no difference in LV ejection fraction compared to 1-month postrandomization values. Clinical course in patients with overt congestive heart failure was similar in both groups. LV function did not return to normal in any patient in either group. We conclude that N-Acetyl Cysteine has no effect in reversing long standing doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy.

Acetylcysteine↗

Preservation of arterial flow to the liver: goal in treatment of extrahepatic and post-traumatic intrahepatic aneurysms of the hepatic artery.

Post-traumatic intrahepatic aneurysms are frequent sources of intrahepatic and intrabiliary bleeding. The authors describe selective management of ten recent post-traumatic intrahepatic aneurysms, five extrahepatic aneurysms, and one ruptured hepatic artery in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Twelve patients had gastrointestinal bleeding or jaundice. Intraperitoneal rupture occurred twice. One aneurysm grew to 9 cm in diameter during nine years. Angiography should precede surgery whenever possible, and transcatheter occlusion should in general receive first priority. Aneurysms of the common hepatic artery usually can be excluded by proximal and distal ligation. Arterial bypass or serial angiographic occlusion is preferred for aneurysms of the proper hepatic artery. Intrahepatic aneurysms should usually be treated by angiographic thrombosis. Eigation of the proper hepatic artery or its branches should be reserved for exsanguination from unsuspected intrahepatic aneurysms encountered in the operating room. Lobectomy is required rarely.

Adolescent↗

Doxorubicin cardiotoxicity: assessment of late left ventricular dysfunction by radionuclide cineangiography.

Radionuclide cineangiography was used to evaluate 32 patients who sustained long-term remission of soft tissue sarcoma after adjuvant therapy with a cumulative doxorubicin dose from 480 to 550 mg/m body surface area. Left ventricular ejection fraction at rest was below normal (less than 45%) in eight of 32 patients. The abnormal response of ejection fraction to exercise identified an additional 12 patients with diminished left ventricular functional reserve. Ejection fraction determined at rest or during exercise did not differ 1 to 9 months) and those studied 30 months (range, 21 to 43 months) after completing doxorubicin treatment. Sequential studies in 13 patients, done 6 to 15 months after initial post-doxorubicin evaluation also showed persistent depression of average ejection fraction at rest and with exercise, with the continued deterioration of left ventricular function in six patients. Left ventricular dysfunction, evident in over half of asymptomatic patients even long after "acceptable" cumulative doses of doxorubicin, may persist for years.

Adolescent↗

En bloc resection of inferior vena cava in cytoreductive surgery for bulky retroperitoneal metastatic testicular cancer.

En bloc resection of the inferior vena cava (IVC) has been demonstrated to be of benefit in removing bulky retroperitoneal testicular tumor metastases. The major indications for its use have been to increase the amount of tumor resected, to allow access to large amounts of tumor located posterior to the aorta which would otherwise be inaccesible, to diminish the possibility of massive pulmonary embolism from clot or tumor located in the IVC, and to decrease the risk of major hemorrhage from injury to the IVC, aorta, or one of their branches. To date the surgical morbidity has been acceptable, and no direct mortality has been associated with it.

Adult↗