Family Caregivers' Subjective Caregiving Burden,Quality of Life,and Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With Terminally Ill Cancer Patients' Distinct Patterns of Conjoint Symptom Distress and Functional Impairment in Their Last Six Months of Life

Context

Family caregivers constitute a critical component of the end-of-life care system with considerable cost to themselves. However, the joint association of terminally ill cancer patients' symptom distress and functional impairment with caregivers' subjective caregiving burden, quality of life (QOL), and depressive symptoms remains unknown.

Per‐oral transgastric abdominal surgery

Laparoscopic surgery has several advantages over traditional surgery because it has been shown to be less invasive. The next logical step in the evolution of minimally invasive surgery may be to eliminate all abdominal incisions. The natural orifices provide a port of entry via the gastrointestinal tract to the peritoneal cavity. This approach would require the creation of a perforation, which is considered to be a major complication of endoscopy with significant morbidity and mortality. However, there are several recent studies that have described the technical feasibility and safety of a per‐oral transgastric approach to the peritoneal cavity using conventional endoscopes. Theoretically, this approach could reduce postoperative abdominal wall pain, wound infection, hernia formation, and adhesions. This article aims to summarize the current status of transgastric surgery, currently referred to as natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), and to address some of its future challenges.     

Littoral‐cell angioma as a rare cause of splenomegaly

We report the case of a littoral‐cell angioma of the spleen, a recently described benign vascular tumour, whose imaging and pathological characteristics have been discussed only by a few authors. The diagnosis was made after elective splenectomy. The CT images, scintigraphy and histological specimens are presented, and differential diagnoses discussed.