Traumatic subclavian arterial rupture: a case report and review of literature

ABSTRACT: Subclavian artery injuries represent an uncommon complication of blunt chest trauma, this structure being protected by subclavius muscle, the clavicle, the first rib, and the deep cervical fascia as well as the costo-coracoid ligament, a clavi-coraco-axillary fascia portion. Subclavian artery injury appears early after trauma, and arterial rupture may cause life-treatening haemorrages, pseudo-aneurysm formation and compression of brachial plexus. These clinical eveniences must be carefully worked out by accurate physical examination of the upper limb: skin color, temperature, sensation as well as radial pulse and hand motility represent the key points of physical examination in this setting. The presence of large hematomas and pulsatile palpable mass in supraclavicular region should raise the suspicion of serious vascular injury. Since the first reports of endovascular treatment for traumatic vascular injuries in the 90's, an increasing number of vascular lesions have been treated this way. We report a case of traumatic subclavian arterial rupture after blunt chest trauma due to a 4 meters fall, treated by endovascular stent grafting, providing a complete review of the past twenty years' literature.     

Air-Filled vs Water-Filled Intragastric Balloon: a Prospective Randomized Study

Background

The positioning of an intragastric saline-filled balloon has been developed as temporary and reversible therapeutic option for treatment of morbid obesity. Recently, an air-filled balloon was also developed. The aim of this study is to prospectively compare these two devices in terms of weight loss parameters, safety, and tolerance.

Methods

Sixty patients were randomized into two groups: group A (Bioenterics Intragastric Balloon?CBIB; n?=?30; 20?F/10?M, mean age 36.7?±?10.9; mean BMI 46.5?±?5.9) and group B (Endobag-Heliosphere; n?=?30; 20?F/10?M, mean age 37.8?±?10.6; mean BMI 46.1?±?5.6). All patients of both groups were sedated with midazolam (5?mg)?+?Propofol (2?mg/kg i.v.). The Heliosphere Bag was air-filled with 950?ml while BIB? was inflated with 500?ml of saline and 10?ml of methylene blue. Percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) and body mass index (BMI) were evaluated. Student t test, Fisher exact test, and ?? ² test were used for statistical analysis.

Results

Similar weight loss parameters were observed in patients treated with liquid or air-filled balloon at time of removal: mean BMI was 40.8?±?6.2 and 41.9?±?6.5(p?=?ns), and mean %EWL was 20?±?12 and 18?±?14 (p?=?ns) in groups A and B, respectively. Significant longer extraction time, with high patient discomfort, was observed in group B due to difficult passage through the cardia and the lower pharynx.

Conclusions

Air-filled balloon can be another valid therapeutic option in the temporary treatment of obesity, but at this time, the quality of the device must be improved to ameliorate the patient compliance at removal and avoid the spontaneous deflations.     

Simple Enucleation Versus Radical Nephrectomy in the Treatment of pT1a and pT1b Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background

Simple tumor enucleation (TE) showed excellent oncologic results in large retrospective series. No study has compared oncologic outcomes after TE and radical nephrectomy (RN) for the treatment of pT1 renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The aim of the present study is to compare the oncologic outcomes after TE and RN in pT1 RCCs.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 475 patients who underwent TE or RN for pT1 RCC, N0, M0, between 1995 and 2007. TE was performed in 332 patients and RN in 143. Local recurrence, progression-free survival (PFS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were the main outcomes of this study. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival functions, and differences were assessed with the log rank statistic. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were also used.

Results

The 5- and 10-year PFS estimates were 91.3 and 88.7% after RN and 95.3 and 92.8% after TE (P?=?NS), respectively. The 5- and 10-year CSS estimates were 92.1 and 89.4% after RN and 94.4% (5- and 10-year CSS) after TE (P?=?NS), respectively. No statistically significant differences between RN and TE were found after adjusting CSS probabilities according to age at surgery, grade, stage, or clear cell subtype. Surgical treatment was not a predictor of PFS or CSS by both univariate and multivariate analyses. The potential limitation of this study is that the data originate from a retrospective review.

Conclusions

TE can achieve oncologic results similar to those of RN for the treatment of pT1 RCCs, provided tumors are carefully selected on the basis of their safe and complete removal.     

Imaging in urinary tract infections: current strategies and new trends

The aim of imaging in a child with urinary tract infection (UTI) is to detect abnormalities that require appropriate treatment or findings that can be acted on to prevent development of complications (hypertension, chronic renal failure or pregnancy-related complications). Imaging protocols in pediatric urinary tract infections are evolving. From strategies based on extensive investigations in all children younger than 7 years of age, we are slowly moving to imaging strategies focused on children at risk of developing renal damage and possibly long-term complications. The article provides an overview on urinary tract infections, their complications and the use of imaging in their management. The different imaging strategies in children with UTIs (including the recommendation of excluding from imaging certain groups of patients) still needs full evaluation. It is interesting to note, however, a slow move from wide use of cystography in all children with UTI, which has been standard practice for many years but was probably not based on solid scientific evidence, toward a more focused use of cystograms in specific groups of children.     

IS20I,a specific alphavbeta3 integrin inhibitor,reduces glioma growth in vivo

OBJECTIVE: The biological features of malignant gliomas include high cell proliferation, extensive local infiltration of tumor cells into normal brain, and marked neovascularization. alphavbeta3 integrin is highly expressed in malignant gliomas and plays a role in glioma growth. This article investigates the in vitro and in vivo effects of a synthetic alphavbeta3 integrin inhibitor called IS20I on human malignant gliomas. METHODS: The in vitro effects of IS20I were studied by performing adhesion assays, competition studies, semi-in vivo angiogenic assays, and migration and proliferation assays. For the in vivo experiments, IS20I was administered systemically in nude mouse intracranial and subcutaneous malignant glioma models. RESULTS: IS20I reacted selectively to alphavbeta3 integrin in glioma cells and tissues. In vitro, IS20I strongly inhibited angiogenesis and simultaneously exhibited potent antimitotic and antimigratory effects on numerous tumor and endothelial cell lines. In addition, at high concentrations, IS20I induced endothelial and tumor cell apoptosis. In vivo, when IS20I was administered intraperitoneally in subcutaneous and intracranial nude mouse glioma models, it potently reduced malignant glioma growth. Inhibition levels of 76 and 82% were observed at concentrations of 1 and 5 mg/kg, respectively, in the U87 intracranial model. The suppression of tumor growth is associated with a decrease in tumor vascularity, an increase in apoptosis, and a decrease in tumor cell proliferation. CONCLUSION: This work expands the understanding of the effects of anti-alphavbeta3 integrin inhibitors on malignant gliomas. In addition to direct proapoptotic and antiangiogenic effects, IS20I inhibits tumor and endothelial cell proliferation and migration, resulting in a potent inhibition of glioma growth in vivo.     

Are extended biopsies really necessary to improve prostate cancer detection?

The aim of this study is to understand the value of specific sites in extended peripheral and transition zone biopsy schemes in order to define the optimal systematic biopsy regimen correlated with the percentage of positivity of each single bioptic site. A total of 165 consecutive patients underwent transrectal ultrasonography examination to detect prostate cancer followed by a lesion-directed and systematic 14-step biopsy scheme. The detection rate was examined for the lesion-directed and for each zone region biopsy. The frequency of positive biopsies in the various prostate regions was determined to evaluate the diagnostic yield of each biopsy site. Analysis was stratified for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), free-to-total PSA ratio, age, prostate size and digital rectal examination. The biopsy protocol detected 40% of patients (66/165) as positive and 55.1% (91/165) as negative for cancer. Standard sextant biopsy was expected to detect only 51 cancer on 66, lateral peripheral (PZ), transition (TZ) and central zone (CZ) biopsies only 56 cancer on 66, while the combination of sextant, PZ, TZ and CZ biopsies, for a total of 14 zone biopsies, detected 64 on 66 patients with cancer (97%) at recruitment. Sampling only the eight prostate regions with higher frequency of positive cancer biopsy was expected to detect 61 cancer patients against the 64 found with the 14-step scheme. This eight-biopsy regimen outperforms the conventional sextant regimen in cancer detection rate (93 vs 77%) and has an overall detection rate lower by only 3.1% (36.9 vs 40%) compared to the 14-biopsy regimen. This difference in detection rate is even smaller in patients with PSA values <10 ng/ml, age <70 y and prostate size <50 ml. This eight-biopsy scheme, including sampling in PZ and TZ toward the base, should be considered in an initial biopsy scheme to maintain a similar detection rate of an extensive biopsy scheme reducing the number of biopsies.     

Technical and immunologic progress in simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation

BACKGROUND: During the past few years the use of new immunosuppressants and refinements in surgical technique of simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation have resulted in markedly improved outcomes. This is a retrospective study of 208 SPK transplants performed at Northwestern University, demonstrating the advances made at a single center that are reflective of the field at large. METHODS: An 8.5-year time span was split into 4 distinct eras marking sequential changes in immunosuppression and surgical technique that ensued. SPK transplant outcomes of patient and graft survival and rejection rates were compared. Also examined were end points related to the changing risk profile of the recipients, as well as quality of allograft function and rates of rehospitalizations. RESULTS: Recipients receiving tacrolimus/mycophenolate mofetil-based immunosuppression had patient, kidney, and pancreas survival rates significantly higher than those of earlier cohorts. The elimination of corticosteroids did not reduce survival rates or increase rejection risk. The use of pancreatic exocrine enteric drainage technique over bladder drainage reduced rehospitalizations. CONCLUSIONS: Advances in immunosuppression management combined with technical refinements have made SPK transplantation a safer and more effective treatment option for the diabetic, uremic patient.     

Pretransplant evaluation of renal transplant candidates

Kidney transplantation should be strongly considered for all medically suitable patients with chronic and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Improvements in outcomes after renal transplantation have resulted in a more liberal selection of patients. High-risk category patients including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive, highly sensitized patients, T-cell positive cross-match, and ABO blood group-incompatible patients are now considered potential renal transplant candidates. Unfortunately, the demand for kidney transplants far exceeds the supply of available organs, causing a persistent increase in the number of patients on the waiting list with a parallel increase in the waiting time for a cadaveric kidney transplant. This has 2 major consequences. First, patients on the waiting list are getting sicker and older. Second, living donors have assumed increasing importance in renal transplantation. Pre-existing morbidities including malignancies, cardiovascular disease, infections, and coagulopathies should be extensively evaluated before proceeding to transplantation. Special attention should be given to cardiovascular risk factors because the leading cause of death after renal transplant is cardiovascular disease. A full immunologic evaluation with ABO blood group determination, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, screening for antibody to HLA phenotypes, and cross-matching need to be gathered before transplantation to avoid antibody-mediated hyperacute rejection or to proceed with specific protocols in highly sensitized or in positive T-cell cross-match patients. With the increased rate of donation from living donors, regular follow-up evaluation of kidney donors is recommended to detect hypertension or proteinuria in those who may develop it.     

Duplication of the male urethra

Duplication of the male urethra is an uncommon congenital malformation. The majority of cases are diagnosed during infancy, and are detected by observing two urethral meatus, or by the appearance of some form of complication, normally of an obstructive nature. Micturitional cystourethrography is an essential test, both in confirming diagnosis of this pathology, and in determining the type of urethral duplication. Excretory urography is also recommended due to its association with other possible urological and extra-urological congenital disorders. Treatment is based on the patient's clinical symptoms, with a waiting period considered advisable for asymptomatic cases. Here we present a case of incomplete urethral duplication, diagnosed from a bladder outlet obstruction, secondary to stenosis of the urethra, which was treated with an endoscopic urethrotomy and distal septotomy, obtaining excellent clinical results.