Genoveffa Balducci

Short-term oral zinc supplementation does not improve chronic hepatic encephalopathy : results of a double-blind crossover trial

The effect of short-term oral zinc supplementation (zinc sulfate 600 mg/day) on hepatic encephalopathy, was assessed in a double-blind, crossover trial. Fifteen cirrhotic patients with stable, chronic hepatic encephalopathy were randomized to receive either oral zinc or a placebo for 10 days. Following a two-week washout period, these were crossed over to the alternate treatment. Conns index, which comprises the evaluation of the mental state, asterixis, number connection test, EEG record, and plasma ammonia, was used to score the degree of hepatic encephalopathy, both at the beginning and end of each treatment period. Serum zinc was significantly raised after oral zinc administration and reached the levels observed in cirrhotics without hepatic encephalopathy. Despite this, however, no modification in the parameters included in Conns index were observed. In conclusion, this study failed to confirm that short-term oral zinc supplementation improves chronic hepatic encephalopathy.

Hemoperitoneum from a Spontaneous Rupture of a Giant Hemangioma of the Liver: Report of a Case

Hemangioma is the most common benign tumor of the liver and it is often asymptomatic. Spontaneous or traumatic rupture, intratumoral bleeding, consumption coagulopathy, and rapid growth are mandatory surgical indications. We report a case of giant hemangioma of hepatic segments II and III, which presented as hemoperitoneum, and were treated successfully with preoperative transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) and hepatic bisegmentectomy. A PubMed Medline search has identified up to now 32 cases of spontaneous rupture of hepatic hemangioma in adults (age >14 years) without a history of trauma, including the present case. Twenty-seven out of these were reviewed. Sixteen (84.2%) of 19 tumors of known size were giant hemangiomas (mean diameter 14.8 cm; range 6–25). Twenty-two (95.7%) patients underwent surgery. Thirteen patients (59.1%) had a resection, 5 (22.8%) were sutured, and 4 (18.1%) underwent tamponade. Three (23%) out of the 13 resected patients died. Four patients (30.8%) underwent TAE prior to elective hepatic resection without any operative mortality. Among the 5 sutured patients, 2 (40%) died as well as 3 (75%) out of 4 patients who underwent tamponade. The mortality rate of all surgery patients was 36.4% (8/22).

Malnutrition and pancreatic surgery: Prevalence and outcomes†

Pancreatic surgery is associated with severe postoperative morbidity. Identification of patients at high risk may provide a way to allocate resources objectively and focus care on those patients in greater need. The Authors evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition and its effect on the postoperative morbidity of patients undergoing pancreatic surgery for malignant tumors.

Prognostic assessment of different lymph node staging methods for pancreatic cancer with R0 resection: pN staging, lymph node ratio, log odds of positive lymph nodes

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Survival after surgical resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma is poor. Several prognostic factors such as the status of the resection margin, lymph node status, or tumour grading have been identified. The aims of the present study were to evaluate and compare the prognostic assessment of different lymph nodes staging methods: standard lymph node (pN) staging, metastatic lymph node ratio (LNR), and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in pancreatic cancer after pancreatic resection. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data were retrospectively collected from 143 patients who had undergone R0 pancreatic resection for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Survival curves (Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard models), accuracy, and homogeneity of the 3 methods (LNR, LODDS, and pN) were compared to evaluate the prognostic effects. RESULTS Multivariate analysis demonstrated that LODDS and LNR were an independent prognostic factors, but not pN classification. The scatter plots of the relationship between LODDS and the LNR suggested that the LODDS stage had power to divide patients with the same ratio of node metastasis into different groups. For patients in each of the pN or LNR classifications, significant differences in survival could be observed among patients in different LODDS stages. CONCLUSION LODDS and LNR are more powerful predictors of survival than the lymph node status in patients undergoing pancreatic resection for ductal adenocarcinoma. LODDS allows better prognostic stratification comparing LNR in node negative patients.

Procalcitonin Reveals Early Dehiscence in Colorectal Surgery: The PREDICS Study.

Objectives:We designed a multicentric, observational study to test if Procalcitonin (PCT) might be an early and reliable marker of anastomotic leak (AL) after colorectal surgery (ClinicalTrials.govIdentifier:NCT01817647). Background:Procalcitonin is a biomarker used to monitor bacterial infections and guide antibiotic therapy. Anastomotic leak after colorectal surgery is a severe complication associated with relevant short and long-term sequelae. Methods:Between January 2013 and September 2014, 504 patients underwent colorectal surgery, for malignant colorectal diseases, in elective setting. White blood count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP) and PCT levels were measured in 3rd and 5th postoperative day (POD). AL and all postoperative complications were recorded. Results:We registered 28 (5.6%) anastomotic leaks. Specificity and negative predictive value for AL with PCT less than 2.7 and 2.3 ng/mL were, respectively, 91.7% and 96.9% in 3rd POD and 93% and 98.3% in 5th POD. Receiver operating characteristic curve for biomarkers shows that in 3rd POD, PCT and CRP have similar area under the curve (AUC) (0.775 vs 0.772), both better than WBC (0.601); in 5th POD, PCT has a better AUC than CRP and WBC (0.862 vs 0.806 vs 0.611). Measuring together PCT and CRP significantly improves AL diagnosis in 5th POD (AUC: 0.901). Conclusions:PCT and CRP demonstrated to have a good negative predictive value for AL, both in 3rd and in 5th POD. Low levels of PCT, together with low CRP values, seem to be early and reliable markers of AL after colorectal surgery. These biomarkers might be safely added as additional criteria of discharge protocols after colorectal surgery.

Procalcitonin, as an early biomarker of colorectal anastomotic leak, facilitates enhanced recovery after surgery

PURPOSE Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker used to help sepsis diagnosing and monitoring and guide antibiotic therapy. Anastomotic leak (AL) after colorectal surgery is a severe complication associated with relevant short- and long-term sequelae. The aim of our study is to assess the predictive value of PCT levels to early diagnose AL after colorectal surgery. METHODS Between September 2011 and September 2012, a series of 99 patients underwent colorectal surgery in our institution. In all cases, white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), and PCT levels were measured in first, third, and fifth postoperative day (POD). Anastomotic leaks and all other postoperative complications were recorded. RESULTS We registered 7 ALs (7.1%). Decreased PCT levels had a significant negative predictive value (NPV) for AL in third and fifth POD (96.7% and 96.7%, respectively), compared with CRP and WBC. The best diagnostic performance was obtained with the combination of PCT and CRP measurements in third and fifth POD (area under the curve, 0.87 and 0.94, respectively). In 5th POD, PCT improves diagnosis, but not in a statistically significant way (area under the curve, 0.86). CONCLUSIONS Compared with more established biochemical values such as CRP and WBC, PCT is an earlier, more sensitive, and reliable marker of AL. Increased PCT levels in early PODs after colorectal surgery may provide a more effective way to detect AL, before clinical symptoms appear. Moreover, normal PCT values might be also a useful marker to facilitate a safe and early discharge of selected patients after colorectal surgery.

Post-operative morbidity and mortality in pancreatic surgery. The role of surgical Apgar score

BACKGROUND Morbidity and mortality rates after pancreatic resection still remain high. The surgical Apgar score (SAS) has been recently introduced as predictive value of perioperative outcomes after pancreatic surgery. Aim of the study was to detect significant parameters affecting post-operative outcomes in pancreatic surgery, and to evaluate the role of SAS in predicting morbidity, pancreatic fistulas and mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data were collected from 143 patients who had undergone pancreatic resection for pancreatic and periampullary adenocarcinoma. Pre-operative and intra-operative parameters were statistically analyzed to evaluate their potential prognostic effects. RESULTS A low SAS (p = 0.001), hypo-albuminemia (p = 0.003), and the need for blood transfusions (p = 0.05) were significant independent predictors of postoperative morbidity. The SAS was demonstrated to significantly predict major complications (p = 0.001) surgical site infections (p = 0.001) and mortality (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION The SAS provides a simple, immediate, and objective means of measuring patient outcomes in surgery. This score should be used to identify patients at high risk of major complications and death after pancreatic surgery and may be useful to optimize the use of postoperative critical care beds and hospital resources.

Pseudoachalasia: A peculiar case report and review of the literature.

Pseudoachalasia is a rare secondary achalasia, which accounts for only a small subgroup of patients. We describe a 77-year-old woman with recent onset of dysphagia and typical esophageal manometric findings of achalasia. Moreover, esophageal manometric findings of vascular compression at 36 cm from the nose were associated with dysphagia. An upper endoscopy showed the absence of lesions both in the esophagus and gastro-esophageal junction, whilst a 15-mm ulcer on the gastric angulus was detected. The gastric ulcer resulted in being a diffuse signet ring cell carcinoma at histology, suggesting pseudoachalasia. An abdominal computed tomography scan showed an irregular concentric thickening of the gastro-esophageal junction wall extending for 7 cm and a dilated ascending thoracic aorta with no presence of the inferior vena cava, with an enlarged azygos as the source of vascular compression of esophagus. Moreover, cardia involvement from diffuse signet ring cell carcinoma of the gastric angulus was also recognized as the cause of dysphagia. The cancer was not suitable for a surgical approach in an old patient with cardiovascular comorbidities and support therapy was started. In our ambulatory series, pseudoachalasia was eventually diagnosed in 4.7% of 234 consecutive patients with esophageal manometric finding suggestive of achalasia. We also reviewed cases in the literature and aimed to evaluate the reported causes of pseudoachalasia.

Ischemic Postconditioning of the Liver Graft in Adult Liver Transplantation.

Background Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is the main cause of graft failure in liver transplantation (LT). Ischemic postconditioning (IPo) has shown to be beneficial against I/R injury. Our objective was to compare the results of LT with or without IPo. Methods One hundred patients undergoing LT alternatively received IPo or not. At the time of arterial reperfusion, IPo consisted of three 1-minute arterial occlusions, interspersed with 1-minute reperfusion pauses. The primary endpoint was postoperative aspartate aminotransferase (AST) peak value; early graft dysfunction and histological I/R injury were secondary endpoints. Results Median postoperative AST peak values was similar in both groups (426 vs 463 IU/L, P = 0.21); no difference was found in other postoperative liver function tests. In the IPo group, fewer grafts presented severe histological I/R injury (12% vs 28%; P = 0.029). Ischemic postconditioning did not induce changes in cellular apoptosis but triggered autophagy in periportal areas. Independent predictors of severe I/R injury were IPo (odds ratio, 0.20; P = 0.008) and arterial warm ischemia duration (odds ratio, 1.05; P = 0.008). Early graft dysfunction rate was similar in both groups (20% versus 26%, P = 0.47) and was associated with severe histological I/R injury and longer cold ischemia. Morbidity, mortality, and 1-year graft and patient survival were similar in both groups. Conclusions Ischemic postconditioning did not influence postoperative AST peak values or other liver function tests. However, our results showed a better tolerance to I/R injury on histological findings of grafts receiving IPo. Future studies are necessary to optimize the IPo protocol in LT, to clarify its clinical impact, and to deepen the molecular understanding.

Lymph-node ratio classification strongly correlates with cancer survivals of patients who underwent R0 resection for gastric cancer with more than 15 nodes harvested

Background: During the last few years, the gastric cancer nodal staging has been extensively revised. Lately, a new system emerged in this field with the purpose of implementing the prognostic stratification: the lymph-node ratio (LNR). The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of the LNR in relation to cancer survivors undergoing resection for gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods: Off 227 patients undergoing surgical resection for gastric cancer at our Department, 129 curative gastric resections with more than 15 nodes harvested were selected. The LNR was calculated and patients were stratified into 6 subgroups based on the ratio values. The subgroups were compared for data analysis. Survivals were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and the mean follow-up period was 40 months. ROC curves were calculated in order to analyze the performance of the LNR system. Results: LNR stratification correlated with the stage of the disease, with the rate of patients undergoing chemotherapy and patients presenting with a relapse of disease at follow-up. Moreover, an increased ratio correlated with a worse overall, a disease-free and a disease-specific survival of the patients. The ROC curves documented a significant performance of the stratification system with the endpoints of disease-free and disease-specific survivals. Conclusion: LNR stratification correlated with cancer-related survivals in our case series. It is a reliable system that might improve current nodal staging and thereby the identification of patients with a higher risk of recurrence or cancer-related mortality.