Effects of Mosapride Citrate on Patients after Vagal Nerve Preserving Distal Gastrectomy Reconstructed by Interposition of a Jejunal J Pouch with a Jejunal Conduit for Early Gastric Cancer

Background Vagal nerve–preserving distal gastrectomy reconstructed by interposition of a jejunal J pouch with a jejunal conduit (hereinafter called DGP) is a function-preserving operation for early gastric cancer. However, some patients after DGP have suffered from postprandial stasis in the substitute stomach, and postprandial stasis leads to abdominal symptoms. To clarify the significance of mosapride citrate (MS) for prevention of food stasis in the substitute stomach for patients after DGP, we studied the effects of MS before and after administration of MS. Materials and Methods In a total of 18 patients (10 men, 8 women; aged 34 to 70 years, average 63.1 years) during 5 years after DGP for early gastric cancer (Billroth I, D1 + α lymph node dissection, curability A), the relationship between their postoperative quality of life (QOL) and emptying function of the substitute stomach (EFS) was compared using a radioisotope method before MS therapy and after MS therapy at an oral dose of 15 mg/day for 3 months. Results (1) Interview. After MS therapy patients evidently had more appetite and ate more, with a slightly increase in body weight (0.5 ∼ 2 kg) compared with patients before MS therapy. Before and after MS therapy no patients had early dumping symptoms, and after MS therapy all patients clearly had fewer symptoms such as reflux esophagitis, nausea, and abdominal pain compared with before MS therapy. After MS therapy they also had significantly decreased abdominal fullness compared with before MS therapy (P = 0.0026). Endoscopically, we found reflux esophagitis in 2 patients from the before MS therapy group but in no patients from the after MS therapy group. All patients in the before MS therapy group showed residual contents in the substitute stomach, and seven patients in the after MS therapy group showed residual contents in the substitute stomach (P < 0.0001). There was a significant difference between before and after MS therapy (P < 0.0001). (2) EFS; The time to 50% residual rate of the before MS therapy group (80.5 ± 16.2 min) was significantly slower than that of the after MS therapy patients (65.6 ± 9.4 min) (P = 0.0091). After MS therapy (28.4% ± 5.2%), the residual rates at 120 minutes were significantly decreased compared with patients before MS therapy (38.2% ± 5.7%) (P = 0.0372). Conclusions Patients from the after MS therapy group clearly had improved gastric stasis compared with the before MS therapy group. These results showed more satisfactory QOL in patients after MS therapy. It is possible that MS therapy improves abdominal fullness due to the postprandial stasis in the substitute stomach, contributing to the improvement of QOL of patients after DGP.     

Meningeal relapse after double peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in IgD myeloma

A 54-year-old man diagnosed with IgD myeloma (stage IIIA) in complete remission (CR) received peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) twice with an interval of 4 months using high-dose melphalan 200mg/m2. However 9 months after the second PBSCT, he was readmitted because of lumbago, lower left hemiparesis, speech disturbance and left facial nerve palsy. A lumbar puncture revealed myeloma cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The patient did not respond to any salvage chemotherapy and died of sepsis 27 months after the initial diagnosis. The findings in this patient suggest that another treatment modality including prophylactic intrathecal injection of an anti-cancer drug as well as allogeneic cell therapy is probably necessary in patients with high-risk IgD myeloma.     

A case of pancreatic cancer complicated by gemcitabine-induced peripheral edema

Gemcitabine mono-therapy was carried out in an unresectable pancreatic cancer. After six courses of treatment, pitting edema appeared and gradually became worse especially after gemcitabine infusion. Gemcitabine-induced edema was suspected after exclusion of other causes. Diuretics and steroids were useful to control the peripheral edema in this case, and gemcitabine therapy could be continued.     

Pulse-oximetery is useful in determining the indications for adeno-tonsillectomy in pediatric sleep-disordered breathing

OBJECTIVE: Although first line therapy of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children is adeno-tonsillectomy, the indications for this operation have not yet been clearly established. We investigated whether pulse-oximetry is useful for determining the optional treatment modality for pediatric SDB. METHOD: Two hundred and thirty-two children presenting with snoring and gasping had their oxygen saturation levels examined during sleep. Among them, 86 underwent on adeno-tonsillectomy and were evaluated pre- and post-surgery. We also examined 25 healthy children as controls. RESULTS: Little desaturation was observed in healthy children. The difference in oxygen saturation levels of the patients between pre- and post-surgery was closely correlated with the pre-surgery levels. We examined the reaction operation characteristics and concluded that children with an oxygen desaturation index of 4% or more (ODI4) of more than 1.5 and/or ODI3 of more than 3.5 should undergo surgery. CONCLUSION: Pulse-oximetry is useful in determining the indications for adeno-tonsillectomy.     

Spontaneous localized intestinal perforation and intestinal dilatation in very-low-birthweight infants

AIM: To elucidate how spontaneous localized intestinal perforation (SLIP) is related to intestinal morphological features such as dilatation in very-low-birthweight (VLBW) infants. METHODS: The medical records of 13 VLBW infants (<1500 g) undergoing laparotomy between 1983 and 2003 for presumed SLIP were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical findings including maternal, prenatal and perinatal factors were analysed, and the clinical and surgical findings upon laparotomy were compared. RESULTS: Postnatal pathological conditions included patent ductus arteriosus (n=7), sepsis (n=2), respiratory distress syndrome (n=7), intraventricular haemorrhage (n=2), an indwelling catheter via the umbilical vein (n=1) and pneumonia (n=1). Indomethacin was used in seven neonates with patent ductus arteriosus, and dexamethasone preventive therapy was employed in one neonate for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Operative findings revealed a localized small punched-out perforation in the ileum. Five patients had intestinal dilatation: two with a perforation in the middle of the dilated intestine, and three with a perforation proximal to the region of dilatation. The muscularis propria was absent in the dilated intestine of four patients. CONCLUSION: This study found no significant relationship between perforation and dilatation of the intestine. Perforation may occur in any portion of the ischaemic intestine when circulatory failure becomes severe, and is not necessarily restricted to the dilated intestine. We believe that SLIP and intestinal dilatation may occur on the same basis in low-birthweight infants; however, the disease process may be aetiologically different.     

A novel surgical procedure of vagal nerve, lower esophageal sphincter, and pyloric sphincter-preserving nearly total gastrectomy reconstructed by single jejunal interposition, and postoperative quality of life

BACKGROUND/AIMS: For early gastric cancer total gastrectomy (TG) has so far been essentially unavoidable. We performed the nearly TG reconstructed by single jejunal interposition preservation of the vagal nerve, lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and pyloric sphincter (D1 or D2 lymph node dissection, curability A) as a function-preserving surgical technique (i.e. NTG) to improve postoperative quality of life (QOL). In this report, the application criteria and points of the technique are outlined. QOL in patients after NTG was also compared with those after TG. METHODOLOGY: Sixteen subjects who underwent NTG (12 men and 4 women subjects at age 30 to 70 years, mean 55.6 years) were interviewed to inquire about abdominal symptoms and compared with 20 patients after conventional TG (excision with D2 lymph node, radical curability A) reconstructed by single jejunal interposition without preserving the vagal nerve, LES, and pyloric sphincter (i.e. TGI; 14 men and 6 women at age 26 to 70 years, mean 54.8 years). The former was named group A and the latter group B. Included were cases with early cancer localizing at the upper third and middle stomach, 2cm or further in distance from oral-side margin of the cancer to esophagogastric mucosal junction; and 3.5cm or further in distance from anal-side margin of the cancer to the pyloric sphincter. In excision with the lymph node, hepatic and celiac branches were preserved. To preserve LES, the abdominal esophagus was completely preserved. The pyloric antrum was also preserved at 1.5cm from the pyloric sphincter. The substitute stomach was created as a 30-cm-long single jejunal segment having orthodromic peristaltic movement. RESULTS: The operative procedure in group A significantly improved postoperative gastrointestinal symptoms such as appetite loss (p=0.0004), weight loss (p=0.0369), reflux esophagitis (RE) (p=0.0163), early dumping syndrome (p=0.0163), endoscopic RE (p=0.0311), and postgastrectomy cholecystolithiasis (p=0.0163) compared with group B. Oral intake per one meal 5 years after operation compared with that before operation was better in group A than in group B (p=0.0703). Postoperative epigastric fullness was significantly detected in group A compared with group B (p=0.0072). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed surgical technique of NTG is a function-preserving surgery appropriate to improve QOL of subjects with early gastric cancer. There was a defect in this technique of postprandial feeling of epigastric fullness. We think that a gut motility improvement agent is necessary to improve postprandial epigastric fullness after NTG.     

Association of CD20 levels with clinicopathological parameters and its prognostic significance for patients with DLBCL

Diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) express CD20. CD20 expression is described as negative, weak, or normal as determined by flow cytometry (FCM) and is an important target for the treatment of DLBCL. However, the impact of CD20 levels at onset of the disease on patient prognosis has not been fully elucidated. We analyzed 174 DLBCL cases newly diagnosed between January 1998 and April 2010. The relationship of the association between CD20 levels and patients' backgrounds and prognoses was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression. Of the 174 patients, three cases (1.7%) were defined as CD20 negative based on immunohistochemistry (IHC). Although the other 171 cases were positive by IHC, eight cases (4.7%) were defined as negative and 33 cases (19.3%) were defined as weak when analyzed by FCM. Of the 105 patients who received rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone therapy, those who were CD20 negative (FCM) showed significantly inferior overall (hazard ratios (HR): 6.79, 95% CI: 1.32-34.96, p = 0.04) and progression-free survival (HR: 7.3, 95% CI: 1.49-35.8, p = 0.04) compared to patients who were CD20 normal. Our findings indicate that the CD20 level (FCM) at onset is an independent predictor of the prognosis of patients with DLBCL.     

Immunohistochemical detection of a specific receptor for lipocalin2 (solute carrier family 22 member 17, SLC22A17) and its prognostic significance in endometrial carcinoma

Background

We previously reported the overexpression of lipocalin2 (LCN2), a 25 kDa secretory protein involved in iron-transportation, in endometrial carcinoma and its possible contribution to endometrial carcinogenesis. Recently, a specific receptor for LCN2, solute carrier family 22 member 17 (SLC22A17), was identified. The present study was undertaken to investigate the expression of SLC22A17 in endometrial carcinoma.

Methods

The expression of the SLC22A17 and LCN2 proteins was examined immunohistochemically using 69 cases of endometrial carcinoma and adjacent normal endometrial tissues. Immunoreactivity was evaluated according to the percentage of positive cells and described as a positivity index (PI, full score 100).

Results

The expression of SLC22A17 was negligible in normal endometria, but positive staining for SLC22A17 (PI ≧ 1) was observed in 35 cases of endometrial carcinoma. The PI for SLC22A17 was significantly higher in cases with histological grade 3 (P < 0.0005), advanced FIGO stage (P = 0.002), deep myometrial invasion (P = 0.029), positive lymph-vascular space invasion (P = 0.029), positive intraperitoneal cytology (P = 0.020) and adnexal metastasis (P = 0.029). The expression of SLC22A17 and LCN2 was positively correlated with a significant difference (P = 0.002), and the patients who overexpressed both SLC22A17 and LCN2 showed poorer survival than those without the expression of SLC22A17 or LCN2 (P = 0.002). Moreover, the overexpression of both SLC22A17 and LCN2 was indicated to be an independent prognostic factor by multivariable analysis.

Conclusions

These results suggested that SLC22A17, in cooperation with LCN2, to be involved in the acquisition of aggressive behavior among endometrial carcinoma cells.     

Methylated cyclin D2 gene circulating in the blood as a prognosis predictor of hepatocellular carcinoma

BackgroundPrognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poor because of high recurrence rate. We examined preoperatively the methylated CCND2 gene levels present in the serum following release from HCC cells as a prognosis predictor in patients undergoing curative hepatectomy.MethodsQuantitative real-time RT-PCR and quantitative methylation-specific PCR were used to measure methylated CCND2 gene and its mRNA levels.ResultsThe CCND2 mRNA levels were down-regulated in HCC with early intrahepatic recurrence (IHR) within 1 year of curative hepatectomy. We also identified that this down-regulation was due to promoter hypermethylation. In 70 HCC patients who underwent curative hepatectomy, 39 patients sero-positive for the methylated CCND2 gene (> 70 pg/ml serum) exhibited a significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) period (P = 0.02) than the 31 patients who were sero-negative for the methylated CCND2 gene. None of the sero-negative patients demonstrated early IHR, and this method of serum testing did not produce any false-negative predictions for early IHR. Multivariate analysis showed that the serum level of methylated CCND2 was an independent risk factor for DFS (hazard ratio of 1.866, 95% CI: 1.106–3.149).ConclusionMethylated CCND2 gene in the serum serves as a prognosis predictor of HCC after curative hepatectomy.     

Total gastrectomy reconstructed by interposition of a jejunal J pouch with preservation of hepatic vagus branch and lower esophageal sphincter for T2 gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In order to improve postgastrectomy disorders of patients with T2 (MP or SS) gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis, which mainly locates in the middle third of stomach, we have performed a total gastrectomy preserving both hepatic vagus branches and the lower esophageal sphincter as a function-preserving surgical procedure. METHODOLOGY: In the present study, the application criteria and points of the technique are outlined, and postoperative quality of life is clinically investigated. Twenty-four subjects who underwent this surgical operation (group A; 16 men and 8 women subjects aged 46 to 73 years, mean age 62.2 years) were interviewed regarding appetite, weight loss, reflux esophagitis, dumping syndrome, and microgastria. Cholelithiasis following total gastrectomy was also checked by abdominal ultrasonography. Group A was compared with 26 cases of conventional total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy, excision of lower esophageal sphincter, total vagotomy, and single jejunal interposition (B group; 19 men and 7 women subjects aged 42 to 75 years, mean age 64.8 years). Application criteria of the technique: Included were cases with T2 cancer of N0 mainly localizing at the middle-third of the stomach which was 4 cm or further in distance from the oral-side margin of the cancer to the esophagogastric mucosa junction. Points of the technique: In lymphadenectomy, hepatic branches of the vagal nerve only preserved. To preserve lower esophageal sphincter, the abdominal esophagus was severed at the level of His angle to the longitudinal axis of the esophagus. Substitute stomach was created as a 15-cm jejunal pouch with a 5-cm-long jejunal conduit for isoperistaltic movement. RESULTS: In group A the food ingestion rate was significantly greater than that of group B (P<0.001) at 6 months and 2.0 years after operation, with no reflux esophagitis or dumping syndrome being noticed at 2.0 years after operation. In group B, loss of appetite 2.0 years after operation was significantly higher than that in group A (P<0.01). In addition, symptomatic reflux esophagitis (heartburn, dyspepsia, regurgitation) developed more significantly in group B than in group A (P<0.05). For food ingestion per time, group B was significantly delayed compared with group A (P<0.05). Body weight loss in group B was significantly higher than that in group A (P<0.01). Postgastrectomy cholelithiasis was detected significantly more in group B than in group A (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that the surgical technique proposed is safe and leads to a satisfactory symptomatic and nutritional result, and that this procedure is a function-preserving gastric surgery appropriate to prevent postgastrectomy disorders of subjects for T2 gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis, mainly located in the middle-third of stomach.