Liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: lessons learned and future directions

The past 2 decades have witnessed an exponential increase in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States and, concurrently, the development of liver transplantation as an effective modality in its treatment. "Early" HCC has been defined, allowing patients with unresectable HCC to be granted priority for transplant over the past decade. This situation has produced a dramatic increase in the number of transplants for HCC. The challenge has been how to expand the indications of liver transplant for HCC with improved cancer-free survival and fewer transplant-related complications without adversely affecting non-HCC transplant candidates.     

Heart fatty acid-binding protein offers similar diagnostic performance to high-sensitivity troponin T in emergency room patients presenting with chest pain

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in comparison to heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and pentraxin 3 (PTX3). METHODS AND REsults: Patients (n=432) with chest pain were recruited for the analysis. ACS was diagnosed in 298 patients (69%). The diagnostic accuracy of measurements obtained at presentation, as quantified by the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC), was highest for hsTnT (AUC=0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.78-0.87) and H-FABP (AUC=0.83; 95%CI: 0.78-0.87). Sensitivity (87.9%) and negative likelihood (LH; 0.2) for hsTnT were the highest and lowest, respectively, but H-FABP had the highest specificity (78.5%) and positive LH (3.6). Among patients who presented within 2h after the onset of chest pain, MPO had the highest AUC (0.82; 95%CI: 0.69-0.94). Combined use of H-FABP and MPO measurements yielded a sensitivity of 69.2%, specificity of 84.2%, positive LH of 4.4, and negative LH of 0.4. CONCLUSIONS: The hsTnT assay offers excellent diagnostic performance to rule out ACS, but it is prone to false-positive results. H-FABP offers similar overall diagnostic performance, while the combination of H-FABP and MPO assays may improve the diagnosis of ACS, particularly in patients with recent onset of chest pain.     

A case of refractory perforation at the floor of the mouth with ectopic bone formation

Although most fistulae are not problematic, surgeons occasionally encounter recurrent and/or refractory fistulae in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery. In this case report, the authors describe a case in which a patient experienced a recurrent and refractory fistula or perforation at his oral floor through the submandible, with heterotopic bone formation arising on both sides of the mylohyoid line. These heterotopic bones were connected to each other, forming a bone bridge at the center of the oral floor. A fistulectomy and wound closure with a tongue flap was successful. The perforation has not recurred after over four years of follow-up, and the bone bridge is still present.     

Sigmoid colon carcinoma that developed from a sessile-type cancer in a short period of time

We report a case of sigmoid colon carcinoma that developed from a sessile-type cancer in a short period of time. An 83-year-old man was found to have a round sessile polyp, about 2 cm in diameter, in the sigmoid colon. Because he had taken anticoagulants, immediate endoscopic mucosal resection and biopsy were not performed. Forty-three days later, the apical surface of the sessile polyp had become depressed and ulcerated, and we judged that an endoscopic resection was not indicated for this lesion. The histologic diagnosis of the biopsy specimens was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. We recommended surgical treatment; however, the patient was not in favor of surgical treatment and would not consent to surgery. Two more examinations were performed and the tumor was found to have developed into an invasive cancer with ulcerated, nodular margins involving 3/4 of the colonic lumen. At 271 days after the initial examination, the patient finally consented to surgery and a partial resection of the sigmoid colon was performed. The tumor was classified as stage I (T2N0M0). The several examinations performed from presentation within a short time span provide evidence of the morphologic changes that occur when a sessile-type cancer develops into an ulcerating invasive cancer. We hypothesize that remarkable configuration changes and development take place when a tumor becomes invasive in the muscularis propria from massive submucosal invasion. Our findings suggest that among the tumors discovered as typical ulcerating invasive type colon cancers are those that developed from protuberant tumors in a short period of time.     

Body surface area index predicts outcome in orthotopic liver transplantation

Background/Purpose

In living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), matching of liver volume between donor and recipient is critical to the success of the procedure; mismatch can result in ??small- or large-for-size syndrome??. In orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), matching criteria are less stringent and non-uniform. We sought to determine whether a new parameter, the ratio of donor to recipient body surface area (BSAi), is predictive of size mismatch and/or post-transplant morbidity or mortality.

Methods

We reviewed data on 1228 OLT recipients and stratified this data according to three categories: small-for-size (BSAi <0.6), control (BSAi?=?0.6?C1.4), and large-for-size (BSAi >1.4) donors.

Results

We found that: (1) matching of grafts at the upper and lower extremes of BSAi had significantly reduced graft survival; (2) matches with lower BSAi sustained a less severe form of intraoperative post-reperfusion syndrome, and the incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis was high postoperatively in these grafts; (3) BSAi and donor age correlated well with the severity of intraoperative post-reperfusion hypotension; and (4) small-for-size (BSAi <0.6) and large-for-size (BSAi >1.4) grafts, as well as preoperative total bilirubin, were significant risk factors for decreased graft survival.

Conclusion

We conclude that the BSAi can predict clinically significant size mismatch and adverse outcomes in cadaveric whole OLT.