Pretreatment Primary Tumor Stage is a Risk Factor for Recurrence in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Who Achieve Pathological Complete Response After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy

Annals of Surgical Oncology - Although pathological complete response (pCR) after multimodal treatment for esophageal cancer is associated to the best prognosis, recurrence may occur in...     

New anatomical reference systems for the bones of the foot and ankle complex: definitions and exploitation on clinical conditions

Medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) is one of the most common lower leg injuries in sporting populations. It accounts for between 6 and 16% of all running injuries, and up to 53% of lower leg injuries in military recruits. Various treatment modalities are available with varying degrees of success. In recalcitrant cases, surgery is often the only option. To evaluate whether ultrasound-guided injection of 15% dextrose for treatment of recalcitrant MTSS decreases pain and facilitates a return to desired activity levels for those who may otherwise be considering surgery or giving up the sport. The study design was a prospective consecutive case series involving eighteen patients: fifteen male and three female; (mean age = 31.2 years) with recalcitrant MTSS. They were referred from sports injury clinics across the UK, having failed all available conservative treatment. An ultrasound-guided sub-periosteal injection of 15% dextrose was administered by the same clinician (NP) along the length of the symptomatic area. Typically, 1 mL of solution was injected per cm of the symptomatic area. Pain was assessed using a 10-cm visual analog scale (VAS) at baseline, short-term, medium-term (mean 18 weeks), and long-term (mean 52 weeks) follow-up. Symptom resolution and return to activity were measured using a Likert scale at medium and long-term follow-up. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS for Mac version 19.0.0 (IBM, New York, NY, US). The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to evaluate the normality of the distribution of data. Friedman’s non-parametric test was used to compare the within-patient treatment response over time. Post-hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Bonferroni corrections were performed to determine VAS average pain response to treatment over five paired periods. Patients reported a significant (p < 0.01) reduction in median VAS pain score at medium and long-term follow-up compared to baseline. Median improvement per patient was 4.5/10. Patients rated their condition as ‘much improved’ at medium-term follow-up and the median return to sports score was ‘returned to desired but not pre-injury level’ at medium-term and long-term follow-up. No adverse events were reported. Ultrasound-guided 15% dextrose prolotherapy injection has a significant medium-term effect on pain in MTSS. This benefit may be maintained long-term; however, more robust trials are required to validate these findings in the absence of controls. Clinicians should consider the use of ultrasound-guided injection of 15% dextrose as a viable treatment option to reduce pain and aid return to activity for patients with recalcitrant MTSS.     

Robotic transanal total mesorectal excision: Is the future now?

Total mesorectal excision (TME) is the standard surgical treatment for the curative radical resection of rectal cancers. Minimally invasive TME has been gaining ground favored by the continuous technological advancements. New procedures, such as transanal TME (TaTME), have been introduced to overcome some technical limitations, especially in low rectal tumors, obese patients, and/or narrow pelvis. The earliest TaTME reports showed promising results when compared with the conventional laparoscopic TME. However, recent publications raised concerns regarding the high rates of anastomotic leaks or local recurrences observed in national series. Robotic TaTME (R-TaTME) has been proposed as a novel technique incorporating the potential benefits of a perineal dissection together with precise control of the distal margins, and also offers all those advantages provided by the robotic technology in terms of improved precision and dexterity. Encouraging short-term results have been reported for R-TaTME, but further studies are needed to assess the real role of the new technique in the long-term oncological or functional outcomes. The present review aims to provide a general overview of R-TaTME by analyzing the body of the available literature, with a special focus on the potential benefits, harms, and future perspectives for this novel approach.     

Healthy by Association: The relationship between social participation and self-rated physical and psychological health

This paper investigates the relationship between social participation and subjective health. Using individual-level data from the British Household Panel Survey, we show that being an active member of a social or sport organisation increases self-rated physical and psychological health. For men, the benefits of social interaction work primarily via physical pathways, while women report a more psychosocial channel. We separate the main results by occupation and document some heterogeneity. Manual workers find more physical and psychological relief via social involvement, whereas non-manual workers are more likely to take relief from sport participation. Interestingly, as the number of associations in which the individual is active increases, the incremental increase in social benefits diminishes. Our findings point to the importance of promoting social and sport activities in health communication and policy making.     

Effects of 6-hydroxydopamine on pre- and post-junctional 5-HT1-like receptor-mediated responses in dog saphenous vein

Summary To investigate whether 5-HT₁-like receptor-mediated inhibition of adenosine 3 : 5-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP) accumulation occurs in nerves or smooth muscle of saphenous vein, infusions of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) were administered to dogs with the aim of inducing sympathetic nerve damage. The effects of 6-OHDA on other 5-HT₁-like receptor-mediated responses at the pre- and post-junctional level were investigated for comparison by studying 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)-induced inhibition of ³H-noradrenaline release and contraction of smooth muscle respectively.Disruption of nerve function by 6-OHDA was revealed by the lack of catecholaminergic fluorescence and neurogenic contractile responses in saphenous veins from dogs treated with 6-OHDA. In addition, severe impairment of neuronal uptake mechanisms were apparent since basal efflux of ³H-noradrenaline, electrically-evoked release of ³H-noradrenaline and remaining ³H-noradrenaline content were considerably reduced. Some ³H-noradrenaline was taken up and released in 6-OHDA treated tissues which is consistent with the existence of nerve varicosities resistant to the present dosing regime of 6-OHDA, an observation substantiated by electron microscopy studies showing inconsistent lesions of nerve terminals.6-OHDA pre-treatment potentiated the smooth muscle contractile responses mediated by 5-HT₁-like receptors as well as potentiating 5-HT-evoked inhibition of prostaglandin E₂-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation. It did not, however, affect 5-HT-induced inhibition of ³H-noradrenaline release. The present results suggest that inhibition of cyclic AMP accumulation by 5-HT occurs predominantly in smooth muscle. Correspondence to A. J. Kaumann at the above address     

Chemokine production by human vascular smooth muscle cells: modulation by IL-13

1. The production of chemokines by vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, although the factors regulating chemokine production by these cells are incompletely characterized.
2. We describe the differential stimulation of interleukin-(IL)-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 and regulated on activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) synthesis following treatment of human vascular SMC with IL-1α or tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα). Under basal conditions, cultured SMC release very low amounts of IL-8, MCP-1 and RANTES as assessed by specific ELISA. Concentration-response studies with IL-1α or TNFα revealed that each stimulus induced a similar amount of MCP-1. In contrast approximately three fold more IL-8 was induced by IL-1α than by TNFα whereas significant RANTES production was induced only by TNFα. These findings point to a divergence in the regulation of synthesis of the different chemokines in response to IL-1α or TNFα stimulation.
3. The T-cell derived cytokines IL-10 and IL-13 were also found to have differential effects on chemokine production by SMC. IL-13, but not IL-10, significantly enhanced IL-8 and MCP-1 release in response to IL-1α or TNFα. This increase in chemokine release appeared to be accounted for by increased mRNA expression.
4. These findings provide support for the concept that smooth muscle cells can have an active role in a local immune response via the production of chemokines which can be selectively modulated by T-cell derived cytokines.

     

Isolation perfusion in extracorporeal circulation with interleukin-2 and lymphokine-activated killer cells in the treatment of in-transit metastases from limb cutaneous melanoma

Background: Therapies of advanced melanoma patients with interleukin-2 (IL-2) and cytotoxic lymphocytes have produced interesting results, but a larger diffusion of these treatments is limited by the severe side effects due to IL-2 systemic infusion. A strictly regional administration of IL-2 and cells by an isolation perfusion (IP) in extracorporeal circulation (ECC) for the treatment of regional melanoma metastases could improve tolerability and efficacy of this specific modality of immunotherapy. Methods: Ten patients were submitted to adoptive immunotherapy with IL-2 and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells by IP in ECC. The schedule of treatment included the first course of a 5-day systemic administration of IL-2 (Proleukin, EuroCetus 9–12 × 10⁶ IU/M²/day continuous infusion); autologous LAK cells were obtained via leukapheresis and after in vitro activation were given (range 8–28 × 10⁹) along with IL-2 (120-2,400 IU/ml of perfusion priming) to the affected limb by IP; IL-2 (9–12×10⁶ IU/m²/day) was also administered by systemic continuous infusion for 5 days starting on the day after IP. Results: All patients concluded the treatment without any major local or systemic toxicities. Clinical responses included one complete and six partial remissions; three patients had stable disease. All patients are alive. Follow-up after IP ranged from 12 to 35 months (median: 22). The analysis of circulating lymphocytes revealed the rapid disappearance of LAK cells, suggesting their extravasation and/or endothelial adhesion in perfused tissues. Conclusions: IP with IL-2 and LAK cells is a new approach for the treatment of in-transit metastases due to cutaneous melanoma. The treatment appears to be feasible and reliable. Further biological and immunological studies should permit amelioration of the present modality of treatment.     

Pregnancies in an 18-Year Follow-up after Biliopancreatic Diversion

Background: 239 pregnancies occurred in 1136 women who had undergone biliopancreatic diversion (BPD). Methods: There were 73 abortions, and 14 pregnancies are presently in their course. The 152 term pregnancies (six twins) occurred in 129 women 2-173 months (mean 42.7) after BPD. Mean age and current excess weight were 31.4 years (20-42) and 29.1% (-6.9-78.2), and mean excess weight loss was 72.9% (30.4-110.5). Results: Mean weight gain during pregnancy was 6.2 kg (-21-25). In 32 patients (21%), parenteral nutritional support was needed. In all the other patients (79%), the usual supplementations were given. Of the newborns, 122 were delivered at term (84.7%) with a mean weight of 2842.4 g (1760-4600 g) and a mean length of 48.5 cm (43-59 cm), while the 22 preterm babies (15.3%) weighed 2151.1 g (1400-3850 g) and had a length of 44.6 cm (33-56 cm). Forty infants (27.8%) were small for gestational age but 17 of them weighed more than 2500 g. Eleven twins (one abortion at 26th week) were also delivered, with a mean weight of 2088.6 g (1200-3100 g) and a mean length of 45.6 cm (35-50 cm). Delivery was spontaneous in 85 instances (56%), while vacuum extractor was used in one, and 66 cesarean sections were performed. There were two birth malformations, one infant died after surgery for meconium obstruction and two died from unknown causes. Of the 129 women, 35 had been infertile before BPD. Conclusions: Disappearance of infertility and decrease of pregnancy risk are to be considered among the beneficial effects of weight reduction following BPD.     

Digital film viewer versus conventional view boxes in the identification of bone and joint disorders

PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of a digital film viewer (Smartlight 2000 Plus) versus a conventional view box for the identification of bone and joint disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In order to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative differences of digital and conventional film viewers, 100 plain films of patients with bone and joint disorders taken in an emergency room January through May 1998 were reviewed utilizing both types of view boxes. Three radiologists expert of bone and joint disorders, independently compared the films, filled a form about the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the lesions depicted for each patient, and reported a few notes on the technical quality of the plain films in terms of exposure. The results were compared using the chi-square test (p < 0.005). RESULTS: Data analysis showed that the digital film viewer permitted a quicker reading of the film while decreasing the perception threshold for elementary lesions and ocular fatigue. All the radiographs read with the digital film viewer were considered technically adequate: the film quality was considered good in 10 cases and sufficient in 2. Two of the same radiographs read with the conventional view box were considered of good quality, nine were considered sufficient and one was considered insufficient due to overexposure. There were six cases of agreement and six of disagreement for the diagnosis: four were due to overexposure of the radiograph and two to better conspicuity provided by the digital film viewer. DISCUSSION: Correct image illumination is the first element a radiologist evaluates when reading a radiograph. A conventional view box may, when it is not properly maintained or when the radiograph is overexposed, decrease the radiologist's visual capacity. This increases the time required to read the radiograph and, therefore, physical and ocular fatigue, which in turn increases the risk of missing or misevaluating a lesion. A digital film viewer emits light with a variable intensity which is proportional to the optical density of the film. This increases the visual capacity of the radiologist and the lesion contrast, while reducing the factors which affect the radiograph reading. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a digital film viewer increased the visual capacity of the radiologist and eliminated the negative elements which complicated the radiograph reading and permitted the use of radiographs that would otherwise have been considered of poor quality due to overexposure. This, combined with the experience of the radiologist, decreased of the risk of missing or misevaluating a lesion.