BACKGROUND: The prognosis after surgical treatment for type 4 gastric cancer, including linitis plastica, remains poor. The most frequent recurrence mode is retroperitoneal involvement. To remove the tumor and microinvasion surrounding the stomach, extended surgery, left upper abdominal exenteration plus the Appleby's method (LUAE + Apl), has been performed for type 4 cancers since 1983. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 54 patients with type 4 cancer underwent extended surgery (LUAE + Apl) over the past 11 years. In the LUAE + Apl surgical procedure, the whole stomach, pancreas body and tail, spleen, gallbladder, transverse colon, and left adrenal were removed en bloc. The results of this treatment are reported and the most beneficial application of this procedure (group A) is evaluated and compared with findings in similar patients who underwent common surgery between 1973 and 1983 (group B). RESULTS: As postoperative complications, pancreatic fistula (30%; control 19%), liver dysfunction (15%; 14%), anastomosis failure (6%; 9%), and infection (4%; 1%) were observed (NS). In group A, one patient died of liver dysfunction and another of multiple organ failure due to major pancreatic fistula. In stage III, the 5-year survival rate of group A (40%) was better than that of group B (20%; p < 0.05). In stage IV, the 5-year survival rate of group A (5%; 3% in group B) was not improved. CONCLUSION: LUAE + Apl improved the survival of patients with scirrhous cancer in stage III, but it was not effective for those in stage IV. To improve the survival of patients in stage IV, a new concept of treatment and supportive therapy needs to be used.

Adenocarcinoma, Scirrhous↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Inhalation of low-dose nitric oxide to evaluate pulmonary vascular reactivity in children with congenital heart disease.

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of low-dose nitric oxide (NO). The study used fifteen consecutive Japanese preoperative patients (7 males and 8 females) with congenital heart disease and pulmonary hyptertension (mean pulmonary arterial pressure >30 mmHg), 6 of these patients had Down's syndrome. Hemodynamic measurements were taken in room air, 100% oxygen, 5 and 40 parts per million NO (NO5 and NO40) by inhalation. The differences between two observations within the same group were determined by the two-tailed paired t-test. A pulmonary vascular resistance (Rp) regression curve was constructed by using linear regression analysis. The percentage change in pulmonary arterial pressure per systemic arterial pressure (Pp/Ps) with NO40 (Pp/Ps-40) exceeded that of Pp/Ps-5 (p < 0.0001). The percentage change for the Rp with NO40 (Rp-40) was larger than that for the Rp-5 (p = 0.0003). The percentage change of Pp/Ps-5 and that with oxygen were similar (p = 0.266). The relationship between Rp-5 and Rp-40 was linear. In conclusion, the effects of NO5 were equivalent to 100% oxygen but less than NO40. NO5 should initially be used to test pulmonary reactivity. If there is no response, patients should still be given NO40.

Administration, Inhalation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The propensity to malignancy of dispermic heterozygous moles.

Complete hydatidiform moles may originate from either the fertilization of an empty egg by a haploid sperm followed by duplication (producing a monospermic, homozygous mole) or the fertilization of such an egg by two haploid sperms (producing a dispermic, heterozygous mole). This difference in the mechanism leading to the formation of complete moles raises the question of whether the risk of subsequent malignancy is influenced by the zygosity of the mole. We have compared the incidence of postmolar sequelae in patients with homozygous and heterozygous moles. Using chromosomal heteromorphisms, human lymphocyte antigen (HLA) and phosphoglucuromutase 1 (PGM1) polymorphisms, we established the androgenetic origin of complete mole in 84 of 91 cases. Homozygosity was confirmed in 51 moles, and we found ten heterozygous moles. Five of ten patients with heterozygous moles developed postmolar trophoblastic disease, whereas only two of the 51 patients with homozygous moles had postmolar trophoblastic disease (an additional five patients showed signs of degenerating residual trophoblasts). The XY sex chromosome constitution of the two in vitro choriocarcinoma cell lines examined here provides further evidence of the propensity to malignancy of heterozygous moles.

Choriocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Geometric response to nerve growth factor is preserved in aged rat sensory neurons: a single-neuron culture study.

We previously established a single-neuron culture system to analyze the primary effects of neurotrophic factors and reported that NGF promoted neurite extension in young adult (4- to 6-month-old) rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons by promoting neurite arborization. In this study, we demonstrated that the effects of NGF on neurite regeneration in DRG neurons was well preserved in aged rats (20- to 24-month-old and 33-month-old). NGF did not increase the percent process-bearing neurons in aged rats, which indicated that neuronal survival was not promoted by NGF, but it significantly enhanced the number of branching points, total neurite length, and soma size in aged neurons. These effects of NGF on neurite geometry tended to be reduced to some extent in aged neurons and the initiation of neurite-outgrowth in aged neurons was also delayed as compared with young adult neurons. NGF-responsive subpopulation of neurons, found in the entire range of neuronal size, were preserved in aged rats. These findings indicate that NGF could play an important role in regeneration of injured DRG neurons of aged animals.

Aging↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Radioisotopic detection of portal hemodynamic changes after liver surgery.

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Hemodynamics↗