Complete intraoperative Sonde enteroscopy in the evaluation of recurrent partial small-bowel obstruction.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M J Lopez.
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Since the 1960s, the potential benefits of early detection of breast cancer through screening with physical examination and mammography have been studied. In a mass screening study begun in 1973 by the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP), mammography detected 90% of the cancers that were diagnosed. Of the women aged 35 to 74 years from the BCDDP study who were diagnosed with minimal breast cancer, the 20-year cumulative breast cancer survival rates were 95.8% for 469 women with in situ breast cancer and 82.8% for 769 women with invasive breast cancers 1 cm or smaller in size.
A 2-year-old heifer was presented with masses on her anus that were interfering with cervical manipulation during embryo flushing. The masses had broad stalks attached within the anal sphinchter. Recovery was without incident after surgical resection. No recurrence of the masses had occurred 3 months later. Histologic diagnosis was benign leiomyoma.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the relation between epidural injectate volume (ml/kg of body weight) and its craniad migration in calves and pigs. ANIMALS: 23 neonatal calves and 26 feeder pigs. PROCEDURE: Animals were randomly assigned to receive different volumes of new methylene blue (NMB, 1.2 mg/ml in 0.9% saline solution). Injections were made into the sacrococcygeal intervertebral space in calves and the lumbosacral intervertebral space in pigs, immediately after euthanasia. Sagittal sections of the spine were made at necropsy, and craniad migration of NMB was determined and rounded to the nearest intervertebral space. RESULTS: In calves treated with 0.05, 0.1, or 0.15 ml of NMB/kg, mean +/- SEM number of stained spinal segments was 5 +/- 0.3, 8 +/- 0.6, and 8 +/- 0.6, respectively. Craniad migration of NMB was significantly greater for 0.15 and 0.1 ml/kg volumes versus 0.05 ml/kg. In pigs treated with 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, of 0.3 ml of NMB/kg, mean number of stained spinal segments was 8 +/- 1.1, 8 +/- 0.9, 10 +/- 1.2, and 18 +/- 2.0. Craniad dye migration was significantly greater in the 0.3 ml/kg group versus the 3 lower volume groups. Linear regression performed on both sets of data after logarithmic transformation of spaces migrated to correct for non-normality was significant (P < 0.05), and R2 values of 0.49 and 0.55 were obtained for calves and pigs, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant correlation between volume (ml/kg) of NMB injected in the epidural space and its craniad migration in calves and pigs. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results provide a basis for determination of volume of injectate to be given to reach a minimal desired level and should be a useful baseline for future investigations of epidural drug administration.
OBJECTIVE: To review our experience with intraoperative small-bowel Sonde enteroscopy in evaluating occult bleeding in the small intestine. DESIGN: Retrospective study with 100% follow-up. SETTING: University-affiliated, tertiary-care teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Sixteen consecutive patients referred with occult gastrointestinal bleeding in whom esophagogastro-duodenoscopy , push enteroscopy, and colonoscopy had failed to identify the source of bleeding. Fourteen of the 16 patients had required one or more transfusions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Completeness of visualization, diagnostic accuracy, and complications of the procedure and follow-up for recurrent bleeding. RESULTS: In all 16 patients, intraoperative Sonde enteroscopy allowed visualization of the entire small bowel. In 14 of the 16, it revealed the cause of bleeding, which was ileal angiodysplasia in three patients, ileal ulcers in six patients, neoplasia in two patients, and ileal ulcers caused by Crohn's disease, small-intestinal enteropathy and varices caused by portal hypertension, and radiation stricture in one patient each. Two patients had normal small bowel mucosa. The patients with mucosal disease underwent small-bowel resection or oversewing of bleeding sites. Two surgical complications occurred: prolonged postoperative ileus (one patient) and small-bowel obstruction that resolved without surgery (one patient). Two of the patients with angiodysplasia had recurrent bleeding postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative Sonde enteroscopy is safe and effective in localizing small-intestinal bleeding sites, providing complete visualization of the small-bowel mucosa without enterotomy while avoiding the trauma that can be caused by push endoscopy. It is the diagnostic assessment of choice in selected patients with occult gastrointestinal bleeding of presumed small-bowel origin.
Prophylactic mastectomy has a role in preventing breast cancer in the woman at high risk. The rare indications for this operation are based on genetic and histologic factors that affect relative or cumulative risk. Evaluation of women at high risk must draw on multidisciplinary expertise, including genetic counseling. If prophylactic mastectomy is recommended, skin-sparing total mastectomy (not subcutaneous) with autogenous tissue reconstruction is the preferred approach.
Recent data suggest that breast cancer in elderly women does not present as more advanced disease, nor is survival significantly inferior to that in younger women. Unfortunately, until recently, older women have been excluded from clinical trials that have determined survival benefit in both screening and treatment modalities. Unless co-morbid conditions adversely affect one's life expectancy or tolerance to therapy, older women should be treated with standard surgical procedures (including breast conservation, if so desired) for early-stage disease, as outcome is comparable to that in younger patients. Adjuvant tamoxifen therapy has proven survival benefit in women over 70 years of age with estrogen receptor-positive tumors and should be considered in all women with tumors greater than 1 cm in size. Older women may experience more chemotherapy-related toxicities. However, for those with a significant risk of recurrence due to tumor size or lymph node status, chemotherapy can be safely administered when factors such as age-related decline in creatinine clearance and co-morbid conditions are considered. Hormonal therapy (tamoxifen) is usually the first-line treatment option over chemotherapy for metastatic disease in the elderly unless the patient has an estrogen receptor-negative tumor, visceral-dominant disease, or significant disease-related symptoms. In the latter settings, chemotherapy can provide improved or more rapid response proportions but does not affect long-term survival.
Multimodal therapy with induction chemotherapy has improved significantly local disease control and overall survival in patients with IBC. This is now considered standard therapy for patients with this disease. Although survival has been improved, well over 50% of these patients will succumb to this disease. Ongoing and future investigations may better define the optimal approach for local control, the optimal duration of maintenance chemotherapy, and the possible role of biologic response modifiers and growth factors in further improving the outcome for patients with this disease.
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The use of transanal excision to remove rectal carcinomas is a relatively new application of this surgical procedure, which may require full thickness excision. Retroperitoneal and abdominal wall emphysema are potential complications of surgical procedures that breach the wall of the colon and rectum. Computed tomographic scans provide the clearest diagnostic picture of developing emphysema, and prompt diagnosis through accurate interpretation of the scans is essential to minimize morbidity and mortality. When the diagnosis is made early and no active infection accompanies the emphysema, the preferred approach to initial treatment is nonsurgical. This article presents a case in which local transanal excision was performed on a 70-year-old male to remove a superficial adenocarcinoma from the lower rectal wall. He developed postoperative retroperitoneal and abdominal wall emphysema. Conservative treatment is discussed.
Around half of all humans with essential hypertension are resistant to salt (blood pressure does not change by more than 5 mm Hg when salt intake is high), and although various inbred strains of rats display salt-insensitive elevated blood pressure, a gene defect to account for the phenotype has not been described. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is released from the heart in response to atrial stretch and is thought to mediate its natriuretic and vaso-relaxant effects through the guanylyl cyclase-A receptor (GC-A). Here we report that disruption of the GC-A gene results in chronic elevations of blood pressure in mice on a normal salt diet. Unexpectedly, the blood pressure remains elevated and unchanged in response to either minimal or high salt diets. Aldosterone and ANP concentrations are not affected by the genotype. Therefore, mutations in the GC-A gene could explain some salt-resistant forms of essential hypertension and, coupled with previous work, further suggest that the GC-A signaling pathway dominates at the level of peripheral resistance, where it can operate independently of ANP.
We have produced transgenic mice expressing fusion genes consisting of 1.6 kilobase pairs of the secretin gene 5' flanking region to direct the expression of human growth hormone (hGH) or simian virus 40 large T antigen to secretin-producing cells. Analysis of different mouse tissues for hGH transcripts revealed expression in each of the major secretin-producing tissues, namely the intestine and endocrine pancrease. Multiple label immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the transgene was correctly directed to secretin cells in the intestinal tract, including a previously unrecognized population of secretin cells in the colon of adult and developing mice. In the small intestine, subpopulations of hGH-containing cells frequently coexpressed substance P, serotonin, and cholecystokinin, whereas in the colon, cells expressing hGH frequently coexpressed glucagon, peptide YY, or neurotensin. Transgenic mice expressing large T antigen in secretin cells developed poorly differentiated neuroendocrine tumors of the small intestine, well differentiated colonic tumors containing glucagon-expressing cells, and insulin-producing tumors in pancreas. These studies indicate that the major cis-regulatory sequences necessary for secretin expression in enteroendocrine cells and fetal islets are localized with 1.6 kilobase pairs of the transcriptional start site. Coexpression of reporter transgenes with several gastrointestinal hormones suggests a potential relationships between secretin cells and other enteroendocrine cell types, as well as pancreatic beta cells.
Expression of the gene encoding the hormone secretin is restricted to a specific enteroendocrine cell type and to beta-cells in developing pancreatic islets. To characterize regulatory elements in the secretin gene responsible for its expression in secretin-producing cells, we used a series of reporter genes for transient expression assays in transfection studies carried out in secretin-producing islet cell lines. Analysis of the transcriptional activity of deletion mutants identified a positive cis regulatory domain between 174 and 53 base pairs upstream from the transcriptional initiation site which was required for secretin gene expression in secretin-producing HIT insulinoma cells. Within this enhancer were sequences resembling two binding sites for the transcription factor Sp1, as well as a consensus sequence for binding to helix-loop-helix proteins. Analysis of these three elements by site-directed mutagenesis suggests that each is important for full transcriptional activity. The role of proximal enhancer sequences in directing secretin gene expression to appropriate tissues is further supported by studies in transgenic mice revealing that 1.6 kilobases of the secretin gene 5' flanking sequence were sufficient to direct the expression of either human growth hormone or simian virus 40 large T-antigen reporter genes to all major secretin-producing tissues.
OBJECTIVE: To review a 50-year experience with total pelvic exenteration for treatment of advanced pelvic cancer. DESIGN: Retrospective study with 100% follow-up. SETTING: Cancer hospital. PATIENTS: Two hundred thirty-two patients referred for treatment of advanced pelvic cancer who underwent total pelvic exenteration. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates of operative mortality, complications, recurrence, and 5-year survival. RESULTS: The morbidity rate was 45%. The operative death rate was 14% during the 50-year period, but decreased from 16.8% in the first three decades to 10% thereafter. Eighty-nine patients (38%) had recurrences. The overall 5-year survival rate was 42%. CONCLUSIONS: Operative mortality and morbidity have declined over 50 years, largely because of proper patient selection, increasing experience, and advances in perioperative care. Exenteration has a major role in the treatment of advanced pelvic cancer.
We retrospectively studied the relationship between nutritional status as indicated by the presence or absence of the cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity response and treatment-related morbidity, disease recurrence, and survival at 2 years in 67 consecutive patients with head and neck carcinoma. Serial nutritional assessments were conducted throughout the course of combined initial antineoplastic treatment and nutritional support. The presence of cell-mediated immunity at the end of treatment was associated with a 2-year survival rate of 100%, whereas patients who were anergic at the end of treatment had a 2-year survival rate of 48% (P < 0.01). Morbidity due to surgical therapy and tumor recurrence rates were also higher in the anergic group (P < 0.01). Prognosis in head and neck cancer is based on many factors, but vigorous nutritional support during initial treatment may have some effect on morbidity, tumor recurrence, and survival time.
Ninety-six patients referred for radiation therapy to Washington University affiliated institutions with tumors of the extrahepatic biliary tree form the basis of this report. Patients were examined with regard to demographic factors, tumor primary site, presenting symptoms, methods of diagnosis, and methods of management. The median survival of all 96 patients in this series was 11 months. There was no significant difference between patients with gallbladder cancer and patients with cancer of the biliary ductal system. There was a statistically significant improvement in survival in those patients undergoing resection as management or as a component of the management of their tumors (P = 0.02). Patients receiving > 4,000 cGy of radiation therapy had an improved survival compared to those patients receiving < or = 4,000 cGy of radiation therapy (P = 0.003). While surgical resection improved survival for those patients undergoing removal of all gross tumor, this effect was noted especially in patients with gallbladder cancer.