Surgical treatment of extrahepatic recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinicopathological features of extrahepatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after hepatectomy in order to schedule optimal treatment strategies for better long-term outcomes.

Methods

A cohort of 206 patients who had undergone curative hepatectomy for HCC was analysed; 133 patients had developed relapse. Among them, 101 patients had intrahepatic recurrence only (IHR), and 32 patients had extrahepatic recurrence (EHR). Clinicopathological and survival data were compared between the two groups.

Results

The overall survival rate after hepatectomy was better in the IHR than in the EHR group (p?p?p?=?0.0295). Patients with more than two risk factors for EHR showed poor prognosis in comparison with patients without any risk factors (p?p?=?0.0098). Furthermore, among EHR patients with concomitant IHR, patients with controllable IHR had significantly better survival than those with uncontrollable IHR (524 vs. 147 days, p?=?0.0131).

Conclusions

EHR of HCC was associated with early recurrence, and risk factors for the occurrence of EHR included the presence of high PIVKA II, large tumours, and microscopic portal vein invasion. Resection of recurrent tumour and local control of concomitant IHR may improve the prognosis of EHR patients.     

Effectiveness of patient education focusing on circadian pain rhythms: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUNDNeuropathic pain management should aim at improving quality of life and daily living activities of patients; therefore, emphasis should be placed on pain management including understanding the pain patterns during daily activity. Therefore, lifestyle guidance should be based on a detailed understanding of pain; however, previous studies commonly evaluated pain intensity at a single point in time. We report a case on patient education intervention based on the relationship between pain circadian rhythms and detailed physical activity during the day.CASE SUMMARYA man in his 60s, who suffered a brachial plexus injury in a traffic accident, presented with neuropathic pain. Early assessment of the importance of daily living activities to the patient, pain rhythmicity, and physical activity, was performed. The early assessments showed that the pain intensity was lower on days when more light-intensity physical activity (LIPA) was performed, than on days when less LIPA was performed. Consequently, patient education focused on methods to decrease the pain intensity that tended to worsen in the afternoon, and encouraged behavioral changes by suggesting the patient to take walks,” which could be used to maintain LIPA in the afternoon. On reassessment, the afternoon LIPA, which had been the focus of attention, had increased and a change was noted in the circadian rhythm of pain.CONCLUSIONPatient education based on a composite assessment elicited positive results in relation to the pain circadian rhythm and physical activity.     

Can Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Offer Clinical Benefit for Thick-Walled Gallbladders?

Background

No previous studies have compared cytology obtained under endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder drainage (ETGD) and EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for thick-walled gallbladders.

Aim

The present study investigated the diagnostic yield of bile cytology under ETGD and EUS-FNA for gallbladder tumors.

Methods

A total of 69 patients were diagnosed as having gallbladder wall thickening. Among these patients, 28 patients were diagnosed by clinical follow-up, solely by imaging such as computed tomography or by histological examination of surgical specimens. The remaining 41 patients underwent ETGD and/or EUS-FNA. In these 41 patients, the clinical data collected included gender, age, diameter of gallbladder wall, site of gallbladder wall thickening, final diagnosis, adverse events, and diagnostic yield of ETGD and EUS-FNA.

Results

Cyto-histological diagnosis with EUS-FNA was higher than that with ETGD, with a sensitivity of 100 versus 71 %, specificity of 100 versus 94 %, and accuracy of 100 versus 88 %, respectively, in the two groups. In addition, the sampling adequacy of EUS-FNA was 100 %. Adverse events were seen in five patients in the ETGD group (mild pancreatitis), although no adverse events were seen in the EUS-FNA group (P = 0.08).

Conclusion

Our results suggest that EUS-FNA can be safely performed for the diagnosis of gallbladder lesions. Further, this procedure may be the diagnostic method of choice over cytology of bile juice obtained via ETGD to obtain histological evidence of gallbladder cancer.     

Inutility of endoscopic sphincterotomy to prevent pancreatitis after biliary metal stent placement in the patients without pancreatic duct obstruction

Abstract

Background: The incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) has been reported to be significantly higher in patients without main pancreatic duct (MPD) obstruction who undergo transpapillary biliary metal stent (MS) placement than in those with ordinary ERCP setting.

Objective: To evaluate the benefit of endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) prior to MS placement in preventing PEP in patients with distal malignant biliary obstruction (MBO) without MPD obstruction.

Materials and methods: In total, 160 patients who underwent initial MS placement for MBO were enrolled. Eighty-two patients underwent ES immediately prior to MS placement, whereas 78 underwent MS placement without ES. An inverse probability of treatment weighting method was adopted to adjust the differences of the patients’ characteristics. The primary outcome was the incidence of PEP. The secondary outcomes included the incidence of other adverse events (bleeding, cholangitis, perforation and stent dislocation) and time to recurrent biliary obstruction.

Results: The incidence of PEP was 26.8% in the ES and 23.1% in the non-ES (unadjusted odds ratio [OR] [95%CI]: 1.22, [0.60–2.51], adjusted OR [95%CI]: 1.23, [0.53–2.81], p?=?.63). Logistic-regression analysis revealed no factors that could be attributed to the occurrence of PEP. The incidence of other adverse events was not different between the groups. The median time to recurrent biliary obstruction was 131 (2–465) days and 200 (4–864) days in the ES and non-ES, respectively (p?=?.215).

Conclusions: ES prior to MS placement for patients with distal MBO without MPD obstruction does not reduce the incidence of PEP.     

Orexin neurons suppress narcolepsy via 2 distinct efferent pathways

The loss of orexin neurons in humans is associated with the sleep disorder narcolepsy, which is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy. Mice lacking orexin peptides, orexin neurons, or orexin receptors recapitulate human narcolepsy phenotypes, further highlighting a critical role for orexin signaling in the maintenance of wakefulness. Despite the known role of orexin neurons in narcolepsy, the precise neural mechanisms downstream of these neurons remain unknown. We found that targeted restoration of orexin receptor expression in the dorsal raphe (DR) and in the locus coeruleus (LC) of mice lacking orexin receptors inhibited cataplexy-like episodes and pathological fragmentation of wakefulness (i.e., sleepiness), respectively. The suppression of cataplexy-like episodes correlated with the number of serotonergic neurons restored with orexin receptor expression in the DR, while the consolidation of fragmented wakefulness correlated with the number of noradrenergic neurons restored in the LC. Furthermore, pharmacogenetic activation of these neurons using designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drug (DREADD) technology ameliorated narcolepsy in mice lacking orexin neurons. These results suggest that DR serotonergic and LC noradrenergic neurons play differential roles in orexin neuron–dependent regulation of sleep/wakefulness and highlight a pharmacogenetic approach for the amelioration of narcolepsy.     

Dysmotility by mechanical bowel preparation using polyethylene glycol

Background

The effects of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) on morbidity (e.g., anastomotic leakage and surgical site infection) have been evaluated. Its effect on early recovery after surgery has drawn renewed attention, and its use is discouraged in the postsurgical management of enhanced recovery. However, most surgeons in Japan prefer polyethylene glycol (PEG) for MBP. We investigated the effect of MBP with PEG on postoperative intestinal motility.

Materials and methods

We prospectively evaluated a consecutive series of 258 colon cancer patients who underwent colonic resection and primary anastomosis. We orally administered 2000 mL of PEG in the PEG group and did not administer PEG to patients in the no-PEG group. Postoperative gastrointestinal motility was assessed with radiopaque markers. All patients ingested radiopaque markers 2 h before surgery. Postoperative intestinal motility was radiologically assessed by counting the number of residual markers. Abdominal radiography was conducted on postoperative days 1, 3, and 5 to count residual markers in the large and small intestines.

Results

The total number of residual markers in the no-PEG group was less than that in the PEG group on day 5 (P < 0.01) but not on days 1 and 3. On all 3 d, the numbers of residual markers in the small intestine were significantly less in the no-PEG group than in the PEG group (P < 0.001). There were no differences in postoperative complications between the no-PEG and PEG groups.

Conclusions

PEG can negatively affect postoperative intestinal motility, and MBP using PEG is unnecessary in elective colon cancer surgery.