General anesthesia for a patient with Noonan's syndrome and long-term antidepressant therapy

Noonan's syndrome is associated with cardiovascular, spinal and airway abnormalities. We experienced general anesthesia for a patient with Noonan's syndrome and long-term antidepressant therapy. A 42-year-old man was scheduled for radical operation for ventral hernia. He had been diagnosed as Noonan's syndrome by his facial and spinal abnormalities. He was intubated under bronchofiberscopy for his previous general anesthesia. He had received amitriptyline 50 mg daily for ten years. Anesthesia was induced with midazolam 3 mg, fentanyl 50 microg, droperidol 1.25 mg. He was intubated under bronchofiberscopy after topical lidocaine 400 mg application. Then thiopental 125 mg and sevoflurane 0.4% was administered. Blood pressure decreased after intubation to 70/40 mmHg, which was resistant to ephedrine 10 mg. After starting surgery, blood pressure increased to 100/70 mmHg and was stable until the end of surgery. This patient presented a problem of difficult intubation as Noonan's syndrome and had a history of a long-term use of antidepressant, which might induce sympathomimetic resistant hypotension.     

General anesthesia for diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy in a patient with myasthenia gravis and severe gibbus

We experienced a case of diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy complicated with myasthenia gravis (MG) and gibbus. A 66-year-old woman was scheduled for diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy. She had a 10-year history of MG graded Osserman classification IIA. She had received prednisolone and pyridostigmine. After epidural catheter insertion into T 6-7 interspinal space, anesthesia was induced with sevoflurane 5% and maintained with sevoflurane 1%, nitrous oxide 3 l x min(-1) in oxygen 3 l x min(-1) and epidural block using 1% mepivacaine. Surgery was completed in 75 minutes. She was extubated without any complications 45 minutes after the end of surgery. Using muscle relaxant in this case with MG and gibbus might place her under artificial ventilation after surgery. For diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy adequate muscle relaxation is necessary. Thus, we used sevoflurane and epidural block. We successfully anesthetized a patient for diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy complicated with myasthenia gravis and gibbus by sevoflurane and epidural block.     

Changes in 18F-fluorothymidine and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging in patients with head and neck cancer treated with chemoradiotherapy

Objective

This study compared change of ¹⁸F-fluorothymidine (FLT) uptake with that of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) patients during and after treatment and evaluated the utility for early monitoring of response to chemoradiotherapy.

Methods

Thirty patients with newly diagnosed HNSCCs treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy underwent FLT and FDG PET in pre-treatment (PET1), mid-treatment (PET2) and post-treatment (PET3) stages. The PET images were evaluated quantitatively using maximum standardized uptake values (SUVs). Ratios between SUVs at PET2 and PET3 were also calculated.

Results

According to the SUVs, no significant differences were found with primary site location, cellular differentiation and T category in all PET scans. About a 78 % median decrease in FLT SUV was observed at the total dose (TD) of 30 Gy and no apparent change was observed thereafter. About a 40 % decrease in FDG SUV was observed at TD 30 Gy and significant decreases were then found at the 4- and 6-week time points after the therapy. FLT PET demonstrated no recurrence regions in patients with a PET3/PET2 ratio of <1.5. In comparison, FLT SUVs in PET3 with recurrence were increased more than three times. However, no significant difference was found between the values with recurrence and those with no recurrence in FDG PET.

Conclusion

FLT PET signal change preceded FDG PET change and the increase of FLT uptake after the therapy can imply recurrence or a residual tumor. FLT PET seems promising for early evaluation of chemoradiation effects in HNSCCs.     

A case report of a young patient with invasive bladder cancer

A 29-year-old male with bladder cancer was referred to our hospital. Histological examination of transurethral biopsy showed transitional cell carcinoma with invasion into prostate (T4aN0M0, grade 3). Nerve-sparing radical cystectomy with ileal neobladder reconstruction was performed after 3 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Methotrexate, Epirubicin and Cisplatin. Continence and erectile function were preserved and no recurrence has been observed for 18 months after the operation. This is the sixth case of an invasive bladder cancer in Japanese patients under 30 years old.     

Intermittent oral hormonal chemotherapy using estramustine phosphate and etoposide for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer

Seventeen patients were given lower dose and intermittent oral administration of estramustine phosphate (6 mg/kg/day) and etoposide (30 mg/m2/day) for 7 days. Then administration was discontinued for 7 days. This administration cycle was repeated. Therapy was continued until evidence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred. Fifteen of the 17 patients were finally evaluated for PSA response. Overall, the pretreatment PSA levels were lowered at least 50% from baseline in 7 (47%) of the 15 patients. The median survival was 65 weeks. Five of the 17 patients complained of anorexia or nausea during the treatment, but none of them showed over grade 2 anorexia, none requiring transfusion or hospitalization. None of the patients showed edema, deep venous thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, anemia or myocardial infarction. Because of its rare and mild adverse effects, this intermittent administration of oral estramustine and oral etoposide may be a useful and secure regimen for hormone refractory prostate cancer.     

Late massive hemoptysis after transbronchial biopsy of hamartoma: an involvement of pulmonary artery and vein.

Pulmonary hamartoma is a common benign neoplasm that is usually asymptomatic and that arises in the periphery of the lung. However, when the tumor is growing without showing characteristic findings of hamartoma, such as involving calcification, fat density, and chondromatous contents in chest X-rays or computed tomography, the diagnosis is sometimes that problematic and definitive histological diagnosis should be established. We herein report a case with a massive hemoptysis 10 days after a successful transbronchial biopsy. A 69-year-old man who underwent mitral valve plasty 6 years earlier presented a left lung shadow during a routine chest X-ray. The shadow was seen to be growing by a series of chest X-rays. A week after warfarin had been stopped, a bronchoscopic biopsy was performed. No bronchial hemorrhage was observed during the procedure, and warfarin was not restarted. The patient began noticing bloody sputa once or twice a day, and 10 days after the biopsy, 400 mL of hemoptysis was suddenly disgorged. An emergency left upper lobectomy of the lung was performed, and the hemoptysis soon disappeared postoperatively. The patient is well without respiratory symptoms 36 months after the surgery.     

Prognosis of Japanese Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients in the Cytokine Era: A Cooperative Group Report of 1463 Patients

Background

Incidence rate of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) differs among countries. The rates of Asian countries are lower than those of countries in North America or Europe but are exceptionally high in Japanese males. Approximately 30% of patients with RCC have metastasis at initial diagnosis, and another 30% have metastasis after nephrectomy. Clinical studies of risk factors in patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC) are mainly based on data from non-Asian patients.

Objectives

We aimed to investigate the prognosis of Japanese patients and their prognostic factors.

Design, setting, and participants

The subjects of this study were 1463 patients who were clinically diagnosed with RCC with metastasis in 40 Japanese hospitals between January 1988 and November 2002.

Measurements

The primary end point was overall survival calculated from first diagnosis of mRCC to death or last follow-up. We also investigated the relationship between survival and clinical features.

Results and limitations

The median overall survival time was 21.4 mo. The estimated survival rates at 1, 3, 5, and 10 yr were 64.2%, 35.2%, 22.5%, and 9.1%, respectively; they contrasted with data from the United States of 54%, 19%, 10%, and 6%, respectively for the same periods. A high percentage of patients had undergone nephrectomy (80.5%) and metastasectomy (20.8%), both of which were shown to prolong survival.

Conclusions

The median survival time in the present study was approximately twice as long as that of previous studies from North America or Europe. Early diagnosis of metastasis, nephrectomy, metastasectomy, and cytokine-based therapy seemed to improve the prognosis of RCC patients in the present study.     

Intravenous ketamine attenuates arterial pressure changes during the induction of anaesthesia with propofol

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the administration of ketamine before induction with propofol produces a smaller decrease in arterial pressure. METHODS: Twenty-two patients were assigned to one of two groups to receive either propofol with ketamine (n = 11) or propofol alone (n = 11, control). Anaesthesia was induced with 2 mg kg-1 propofol and 0.5 mg kg-1 ketamine or 2 mg kg-1 propofol alone. Ketamine was administered 1 min prior to induction with propofol. Immediately after induction with propofol, vecuronium (0.15 mg kg-1) was administered. Four minutes after administration of vecuronium, tracheal intubation was performed. Anaesthesia was maintained using sevoflurane (0.5%) in 66% nitrous oxide until 3 min after intubation. Systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure and heart rate were recorded on arrival, directly before induction with propofol, prior to tracheal intubation, immediately after intubation and at 3 min after intubation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Administration of ketamine before induction with propofol preserved haemodynamic stability compared with induction with propofol alone.