[Laser endoscopy: diagnosis and therapy. 5. Laser endoscopy therapy of digestive system neoplasms].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · Search PubMed
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The present study deals with data from an on-going collaborative programme of early diagnosis for upper aero-digestive tract tumors established since 1990 by three ENT Departments of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Northeastern Italy. The aim of the study was firstly to evaluate the socio-economic characteristics and clinical features of alcoholics in treatment who were offered a free ENT check-up, and secondly to test the feasibility of this type of referral of high-risk patients from non-medical associations to the ENT specialist. A total of 683 patients, of which 151 (78%) were males and 151 (22%) were females, underwent ENT examination. About 25% of the patients were symptomatic, the most frequent symptom being dysphonia (50%) followed by cough (19%), while dyspnoea, dysphagia and pain were present in about 5% of the patients. Other than nearly 50% negative findings, ENT examination revealed a high percentage of inflammatory lesions (30%) of the upper aero-digestive tract. In 37 patients (6%) a precancerous lesion was found and in four cases an histologically confirmed tumor was diagnosed. Although the present study cannot be considered a complete screening, it did clearly evaluate the amount of response given by this high-risk population of alcoholics in treatment to the offer of an ENT examination and gives encouraging results concerning the feasibility of early diagnosis programmes for upper aero-digestive tract tumors which do not follow the normal routine of a sanitary referral by a general practitioner.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
An epidemiological survey, carried out from 1978 to 1982 in 460 public and private institutions randomly selected from all parts of France, provided an assessment of the activity performed in digestive surgery. The sample included 37,967 patients, yielding an annual estimation of 700,000 patients operated on in the entire country. Digestive surgery was the first surgical domain (20 p. 100 of the entire surgical activity); 51.5 p. 100 of the patients were males and 53 p. 100 were under 35 yr of age. The annual incidence of these operations was 1.3 per 100 population. The first reason for operation was appendicitis (43 p. 100), followed by hernia (17.2 p. 100), gallbladder and biliary tract (10 p. 100), and anal diseases (7.7 p. 100). Digestive cancers led to 32,000 operations each year, with a majority of colonic cancers (40 p. 100). Except for appendectomy and operations on the gallbladder and biliary tract, most procedures were more frequent in males, especially operations on the stomach and esophagus. Incidences of appendectomy, cholecystectomy, inguinal hernia repair and operations for digestive cancers were assessed by sex and age. Incidence of appendectomy was 3 to 4 times greater than in other countries. Intraoperative and immediate postoperative (less than 24 h) mortality was higher for digestive operations (4.7 p. 1000) than for surgery as a whole (2 p. 1000). It increased with age and was higher in males.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The concentration of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in serum was determined in 58 patients (35 males and 23 females) aged from 38 to 87 years treated surgically for malignant tumours of the digestive tract, including colonic carcinoma in 30, gastric carcinoma in 11, pancreatic carcinoma in 10 and oesophageal carcinoma in 7 cases. In 33 patients the tumour was disseminated (into the liver in 22 cases). On the ground of AFP concentration determinations in 40 patients (19 males and 21 females) aged 22 to 80 years operated on for non-neoplastic abdominal diseases the upper normal range was accepted as 9.42 ng/ml. Raised AFP concentration was found in only patient with advanced pancreatic carcinoma and multiple metastases to the liver and lymph nodes. The study showed that serum AFP level in cases of digestive tract malignancies is of limited diagnostic value.
The deaths caused by tumours of the digestive system (oesophagus, stomach, colon-rectum, gallbladder and pancreas) recorded in the province of Soria between 1950 and 1985 have been analyzed according to risk and mortality rates. Standardized (adjusted) rates in relation to sex and site of residence (urban-rural) of the deceased were calculated for the decades 1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979 and the period between 1980 and 1985. Standard errors were calculated to establish confidence limits according to Miettinen's method. The data were obtained from the death certificates of the various registries of the Soria province, including name and surnames, sex, age and site of the tumour according to the 9th revision of the International Classification of Diseases. There is a significant decrease in the mortality risk for tumours of the stomach in both sexes (p less than 0.01) and in liver tumours in females (p less than 0.01). On the other hand, there is an increased risk in both sexes for pancreatic cancer (p less than 0.05 M, p less than 0.01 F) and for oesophageal tumours in men (p less than 0.05). Similarly, during 1980-1985 men were at a significantly greater risk of dying from oesophageal, gastric and liver cancer (p less than 0.01) as well as rectum and colon (p less than 0.05). As far as stomach tumours are concerned there are significant differences between rural and urban areas both in males (p less than 0.01) and in females (p less than 0.05).
One hundred ninety-six patients undergoing surgical treatment for digestive tract cancer were recruited in a polycentric, multistep study to value significant differences of pre-operative nutritional and immunologic parameters between patients with or without post-operative infections. Such parameters might be useful for the identification of "septic risk" patients. Primarily, 63 patients were given a complete anthropometric evaluation, laboratory screening and immunologic assessment (surface marker analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, polymorphonuclears in vitro chemotaxis and phagocytosis). Only a few serologic parameters were significantly reduced in patients with post-operative infections, namely: total serum proteins (p less than 0.02), albumin (p less than 0.02), beta-globulins (p less than 0.01), and C3c (p less than 0.05). These parameters were elaborated with Fisher's linear discriminant function to detect the optimal discriminant threshold able to identify "septic risk" patients. The predictivity of this discriminant function was validated in a second group of patients (n = 49) in which total serum protein with electrophoresis were pre-operatively assayed as well as skin test reactivity to intradermal injection of recall antigens (Multitest skin-testing); discriminant sensitivity was 80%, the specificity 50%, and positive predictivity 62%. This low discriminant power of the equation based only on serum proteins assessment coupled with the significant negative relationship between skin testing and post-operative infections (male, p less than 0.005; female, less than 0.025) suggested a re-elaboration of the discriminant function, including the skin-testing score. The definite assessment of this new discriminant equation was evaluated in the third sample of patients (n = 84) which showed 67% sensitivity, 88% specificity, and 76% positive predictivity, thus suggesting the high reliability of this test for the pre-operative selection of "septic risk" patients.