Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M M Murr.
A 42-year-old man developed recurrent epidural abscesses from an enteroepidural fistula arising from a J pouch. Lower-extremity neurologic deficit in patients with an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis should alert the physician to this rare complication.
We describe a newborn boy on whom prenatal ultrasonography demonstrated intrauterine growth retardation, multiple vertebral anomalies, cystic kidneys, and oligohydramnios. Autopsy findings included multiple vertebral anomalies, cloacal dysgenesis (imperforate anus, vesicorectal fistula, and bilateral renal dysplasia), sacral absence, single umbilical artery, pulmonary hypoplasia, scoliosis, and hexadactyly of the left thumb. Although our case resembles a previously described case, a definitive diagnosis could not be made. The differential diagnosis included a variant of spondylocostal dysostosis and the VATER association.
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Symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease is common in our experience after vertical banded gastroplasty. Our aim was to determine the safety and efficacy of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in the treatment of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease complicating vertical banded gastroplasty. We evaluated prospectively collected data on 25 patients who underwent revisional bariatric surgery because of severe gastroesophageal reflux disease after vertical banded gastroplasty. Only 4 of 25 patients had gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms prior to vertical banded gastroplasty. Endoscopic findings in 24 patients included esophagitis (58%), Barrett's esophagus (28%), pouchitis (29%), and gastritis (21%);7 (28%) of 25 patients had evidence of stenosis at the pouch outlet. Mean follow-up (complete in all 25) after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was 37 +/- 7 months (range 3 to 102 months). There were no deaths. Postoperative complications occurred in six patients: pneumonia in two, wound infection in two, prolonged drainage of the defunctionalized stomach via gastrostomy in one, and fever in one. Median hospitalization was 7 days (range 5 to 43 days). At follow-up (37 +/- 7 months), 24 (96%) of 25 are completely or almost completely symptom free. Body mass index was 33 +/- 2 kg/m(2) before and 28 +/- 2 kg/m(2) after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (P = 0. 001). Symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease are common after vertical banded gastroplasty. Conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is safe, relieves gastroesophageal reflux disease, and promotes further weight loss. Moreover, maladaptive eating (vomiting, and so forth) induced by vertical banded gastroplasty is relieved.
Others have suggested that in certain technically challenging operations, outcome and experience are related. Because pancreaticoduodenectomy is a technically complex procedure, this study was undertaken to evaluate mortality, length of hospital stay, and hospital charges when compared to volume of experience. The database of the State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration was queried for pancreaticoduodenectomies undertaken during a recent 33-month period. Length of stay, hospital charges, and in-hospital mortality were stratified by the frequency of pancreaticoduodenectomy. A total of 282 surgeons performed 698 pancreaticoduodenectomies over 33 months. Eighty-nine percent of surgeons performed one pancreaticoduodenectomy per year or less and accounted for 52% of the procedures. Overall mortality rate was 5.1%. Average hospital charges were $72,171.64. The more frequently pancreaticoduodenectomy was undertaken, the shorter the hospital stay (P = 0.025, regression analysis) and the lower the hospital charges (P = 0.008, regression analysis) and in-hospital mortality (P = 0.036, log likelihood ratio test). Surgeons who undertake pancreaticoduodenectomy more frequently have patients with shorter hospital stays, lower hospital charges, and lower in-hospital mortality rates, independent of hospital volume. Variations exist among surgeons and among different areas of the state. Data regarding cost and mortality are available for use in programs of cost and quality improvement.
Previous work from our laboratory showed that spontaneous contractile activity of jejunal smooth muscle increases after small bowel transplantation. Our aim was to determine whether small bowel transplantation alters the function of nonadrenergic, noncholinergic (NANC) nerves. Seven groups of rats (n>or=7 in each group) were studied as follows: 1 week after sham celiotomy and 1 week and 8 weeks after 45 minutes of ischemia/reperfusion (IR1 and IR8), jejunal and ileal transection and reanastomosis (TR1 and TR8), or orthotopic small bowel transplantation (TX1 and TX8). Contractility of jejunal circular muscle strips was studied in vitro. Spontaneous contractile activity increased in the IR1, TR1, and TX1 and TX8 groups (P<0.01). Under NANC conditions, spontaneous activity increased in TR1 and in both TX1 and TX8 (P<0.01) despite the lack of an increase in the frequency of contractions in TX1. Electrical field stimulation inhibited contractile activity at low frequencies, but under NANC conditions this inhibition persisted at higher frequencies. The calculated equieffective frequency (F100) that produced a response equal to baseline contractile activity was similar in all groups, but under NANC conditions was greater in TX1 (P<0.025). Functional alterations of NANC nerves are partly responsible for the increase in spontaneous activity in rat jejunal circular muscle strips after a limited ischemia/reperfusion injury, after selective disruption of enteric neural continuity (transection/reanastomosis), and after small bowel transplantation. These findings may provide important insight into graft dysfunction after small bowel transplantation in humans.
The aim of the present study was to determine the long-term effects of isogeneic small bowel transplantation (SBT) on jejunal and ileal circular smooth muscle contractile activity in the rat. Transmural strips of circular muscle were prepared from proximal jejunum and distal ileum of 1-year-old control rats and rats 1 year after SBT (SBT-1Y) to measure isometric force. Spontaneous contractile activity and the dose-responses to bethanechol and norepinephrine were studied. Electrical field stimulation (EFS) at varying frequencies (1 to 20 Hz) was evaluated under adrenergic and cholinergic blockade to investigate inhibitory nerves. Spontaneous activity both in the jejunum and ileum in SBT-1Y rats was not different compared to control rats. Sensitivity to bethanechol did not differ between control and SBT-1Y rats in the jejunum or ileum. Sensitivity to norepinephrine, however, was significantly increased after SBT in the ileum but not in the jejunum. During EFS, inhibition was seen at low frequencies, and contractions were induced at high frequencies in all groups. The degree of inhibition did not differ between control and SBT-1Y rats in the jejunum; however, it tended to be increased in the ileum after SBT. The long-term adaptive response of smooth muscle to the extrinsic denervation accompanying SBT differs between the jejunum and the ileum.
The aim of this study was to evaluate results of completion gastrectomy for severe postgastrectomy gastric stasis. A total of 51 women and 11 men underwent completion gastrectomy for gastric stasis between 1985 and 1996; follow-up was complete in 98% at 5.4 +/- 5 years. All patients had modified Visick scores preoperatively of grade III (37%) or IV (63%). Presentation included combinations of nausea, vomiting, postprandial pain, chronic abdominal pain, and chronic narcotic use. All had undergone prior vagotomy and had a median of four previous gastric operations. Hospital mortality was zero. Complications occurred in 25 patients (40%) and included the following: narcotic withdrawal syndrome (18%), ileus (10%), wound infection (5%), intestinal obstruction (2%), and anastomotic leak (5%). All or most symptoms were relieved in 43% (Visick grade I or II), but 57% of the patients remained in Visick grade III or IV. Nausea, vomiting, and postprandial pain were reduced from 93% to 50%, 79% to 30%, and 58% to 30%, respectively (P<0.05), but chronic pain, diarrhea, and dumping syndrome were not significantly affected. Univariate analysis revealed no preoperative characteristic to be predictive of good outcome. Logistic regression analysis suggested that the combination of nausea, need for total parenteral nutrition, and retained food in the stomach predicted a poor outcome (P<0.05). Completion gastrectomy is successful in 43% of patients. The combination of nausea, need for total parenteral nutrition, and retained food at endoscopy are negative prognostic factors.
The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of two malabsorptive procedures for severe obesity. Prospectively collected data from eight men and three women who underwent partial biliopancreatic bypass (PBB) and 19 men and seven women who underwent very very long limb Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (VVLGB) for superobesity (preoperative weight >225% above ideal body weight) were evaluated. Age (42 +/- 3 years and 40 +/- 2 years), body mass index (64 +/- 4 kg/m(2) and 67 +/- 3 kg/m(2)), and percentage of excess body weight (183% +/- 17% and 203% +/- 12%) were similar (mean +/- standard error of the mean). Median follow-up was 96 months (range 72 to 108 months) and 24 months (range 18 to 60 months) for the PBB and VVLGB groups, respectively. Weight loss expressed as percentage of excess body weight was 68% +/- 4% 2 years and 71% +/- 5% 4 years after PBB, and 53% +/- 7% 2 years and 57% +/- 5% 4 years after VVLGB. Current body mass indexes are 37 +/- 2 kg/m(2) and 42 +/- 2 kg/m(2) in the PBB and VVLGB groups, respectively. Hospital mortality was zero. Morbidity occurred in five patients after VVLGB (wound infection in four, wound seroma in one, and pulmonary embolus in one) and in two patients after PBB (abscess in two, anastomotic leak in one, and gastrointestinal bleeding in one). After PBB, one woman died of refractory liver failure 18 months postoperatively and two other patients developed metabolic bone disease. No such known complications have occurred to date after VVLGB. We conclude that VVLGB is safe and effective for clinically significant obesity, results in sustained weight loss, and improves quality of life.
A prospective study was undertaken to determine the safety of femoral vein catheterization in patients with burns. Forty-two patients had a total of 275 catheterizations and were divided into two groups: group 1, femoral vein catheterization = 80 catheters and group 2, nonfemoral vein catheterization = 195 catheters (180 subclavian, 8 internal jugular, and 7 supraclavicular). All catheters were changed to new sites every 48 hours, and dressings were changed every 24 hours. Bacteriologic surveillance was accomplished by submitting the tip and subcutaneous segment of the catheter for semiquantitative cultures. Skin exit-site cultures were obtained, and blood was drawn through the catheters for fungal-isolator cultures before removal. Catheter colonization was defined as greater than or equal to 5 colony-forming units on either the subcutaneous segment or the catheter tip. Catheter-related sepsis was diagnosed when the same organism was recovered from the fungal isolator bottle and either part of the catheter and when there was no other identifiable source of sepsis. The rate of occurrence of colonized catheters was 7.5% (6 of 80) in the femoral vein catheterization group and 13.8% (27 of 195) in the nonfemoral vein catheterization group. Catheter-related sepsis occurred in 2.5% (2 of 80) of femoral and 1% (2 of 195) of nonfemoral catheters. None of these differences are statistically significant. There were no noninfectious complications from femoral vein catheterization. Two subclavian catheters had to be repositioned. This study suggests that central venous access in patients with burns can be safely employed with the use of the femoral vein.
Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease for the patient and presents challenging diagnostic and management problems for the physician. A range of serologic and radiologic studies are available for evaluation and staging of this disease. However, invasive studies, including laparotomy, are often necessary to establish the diagnosis and resectability. Despite advances in diagnostic technology that have shortened the interval between onset of symptoms and definitive treatment, no appreciable impact on survival has been demonstrated conclusively. Operative resection offers the only hope for cure, but fewer than 15 percent of patients have resectable disease at the time of diagnosis. Palliative therapy, whether operative or nonoperative, can be performed with low morbidity and provides significant relief of symptoms. Combined-modality treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy prolongs survival following curative resection.