Background

The aim of this systematic study was to investigate patient outcomes and nutritional deficiencies following sleeve gastrectomy (SG) during a median follow-up of two years.

Methods

Over a period of 56 months, all consecutive patients who underwent SG were documented in this prospective, single-center, observational study. The study endpoints included complication rates, nutritional deficiencies and percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL).

Results

From September 26, 2005 to May 28, 2009, 100 patients (female: male = 59:41) with a mean age of 43.6 years (range: 22–64) and a preoperative BMI of 52.3 kg/² (range: 36–77) underwent SG. The mean operative time was 86.4 min (range: 35–275). Major complications were observed in 8.0 % of the patients. During the follow-up period, 25 patients (25.0 %) underwent a second bariatric intervention (22 DS and 3 RYGBP). Out of the total 100 patients, 48 % were supplemented with iron, 33 % with zinc, 34 % with a combination of calcium carbonate and cholecalciferol, 24 % with vitamin D, 42 % with vitamin B12 and 40 % with folic acid. The patients who received only a SG (n = 75) had %EWL of 53.6, 65.8 and 62.6 % after 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively.

Conclusions

SG is a highly effective bariatric intervention for morbidly obese patients. Nutritional deficiencies resulting from the procedure can be detected by routine nutritional screening. Results of the study show that Vitamin B12 supplementation should suggested routinely.

This is the first case ever reported showing a combination of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with tumour thrombus into inferior vena cava (IVC), horseshoe kidney and doubled right kidney that was successfully treated. Even in advanced tumour lesions of the kidney, curative treatment is a feasible and safe option by using interdisciplinary cooperation and expertise. However, this requires an adequate diagnostic work-up to clarify resectability and optimal perioperative and postoperative care, and also advanced surgical skills exhausting all potential options for complete tumour resection in a centre of excellence. Achieving R0 resection with a reasonable risk-benefit ratio for the patient, which should be the primary aim, can distinctly improve survival chances as published cases in literature have indicated. RCC-derived IVC tumour thrombus as an extra-renal tumour manifestation by continuous intravascular tumour growth (also classified as secondary IVC tumour lesion) can be considered no serious contraindication to aim for curative surgery.

Background. The aim of this study was to investigate patient outcomes and nutritional deficiencies following sleeve gastrectomy (SG) during a follow-up of two years. Methods. Over a period of 56 months, all consecutive patients who underwent SG were documented in this prospective, single-center, observational study. The study endpoints included operative time, complication rates, nutritional deficiencies and percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL). Results. From September 26, 2005 to May 28, 2009, 82 patients (female : male = 48 : 34) with a mean age of 43.3 years (range: 22–64) and a preoperative BMI of 52.5 kg/m² (range: 36.8–77.0) underwent SG. Major complications were observed in 9.8% of the patients, with 1 death. During follow up 51.2% of patients were supplemented with iron, 36.6% with zinc, 37.8% with calcium, 26.8% with vitamin D, 46.3% with vitamin B12 and 41.5% with folic acid. %EWL was 54.3, 65.3 and 62.6% after 6, 12 and 24 months. Conclusion. SG as a single step procedure is an effective bariatric intervention. Nutritional deficiencies after SG can be detected by routine nutritional screening. Our results show that Vitamin B12 supplementation should suggest routinely after SG.

A testicular tumour-like lesion or a solid extratesticular mass are serious postnatal problems with a broad spectrum of inflammatory or tumorous causes and possible differential diagnoses. In this case report, an extraordinary case of a newborn boy with a rare cause of a periorchitis is described.

A premature boy infant (25-year-old mother with obesity) was diagnosed as having a disturbance of prosperity. A plain film of the abdomen showed a dilated intestine (no pathological findings in abdominal ultrasound, in particular, no ascites). After 3 postnatal months of clinical observation at the hospital including temporary parenteral nutrition, hydrocele at both sides was diagnosed. Therefore, the boy underwent surgical exploration. Intraoperatively, the processus vaginalis peritonei was surprisingly filled with meconium; because of that, the situs was extensively rinsed. In addition, the boy underwent an operation for the right and left hydrocele. The testes were preserved (on follow-up investigation there were no further problems).

Pathohistological investigation confirmed meconium periorchitis, which is a rare postnatal disease and which can only develop in cases of former meconium peritonitis and if the processus vaginalis peritonei is open. The precise details of cause and pathophysiology in this case may significantly help in avoiding unnecessary orchiectomy.

Objectives: We aim to demonstrate that endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided transgastric pancreaticography/drainage of the pancreatic duct is feasible and successful in healing a persisting pancreaticocutaneous fistula.

Methods: By means of a case report, we describe the following alternative therapeutic procedure. A 76-year-old male had: (1) 10 surgical interventions because of necrotizing acute pancreatitis with a persisting pancreaticocutaneous fistula (volume 200–300 ml/day); (2) an unsuccessful attempt of transpapillary drainage (disrupted duct after necrosectomy). He then underwent a EUS-guided transluminal pancreaticography/drainage of the pancreatic duct. A transgastric puncture was performed followed by, insertion of a guide wire into the dilated tail segment, and expansion of the gastropancreaticostomy using a 10-Fr retriever. A 10-Fr Amsterdam prosthesis was then placed through the guide wire.

Results: The procedure was both a technical and clinical success as indicated by fistula occlusion and sufficient internal drainage of the pancreatic juice via the gastropancreaticostomy. No severe complications such as bleeding, perforation stent occlusion or migration were observed during the 15-month follow-up.

Conclusions: Transgastric pancreaticography and EUS-guided drainage of the enlarged pancreatic duct are elegant and feasible alternative options for the treatment of specific pancreatic lesions such as persisting pancreaticocutaneous fistula (complication after necrotizing pancreatitis), after pancreatic resective surgery, chronic pancreatitis and anomaly of the congenital pancreatic or postoperative gastrointestinal anatomy. Moreover, the procedure may represent a valid tool to avoid surgery and more invasive interventions.

Chronic complaints and non-specific symptoms are always challenging for the selection of adequate diagnostic management and therapeutic decision making (eg, in uncharacteristic metallic taste). In this extraordinary, but exemplary case, the successful outcome for a 51-year-old woman with a chronic complaint of metallic taste (believed to be the first report in the literature as a cause of copper overload) is described. The patient underwent, after appropriate diagnostic measures, including MRI (detection), laboratory analysis of serum copper level (increased) and endoscopic ultrasound scan (localising the site), a minimal invasive treatment using endoscopic mucosectomy to remove a detected needle-like copper-containing foreign body from the intramural site of the gastric wall.

Background. Gastric banding (GB) is a common bariatric procedure that is performed worldwide. Weight loss can be substantial after this procedure, but it is not sufficient in a significant portion of patients. Long-term rates for associated complications increase with every year of follow up, and only a few long-term studies have been published that examine these rates. We present our results after 14 years of postoperative follow up. Methods. Two hundred patients were operated upon form 01.02.1995 to 31.01.2009. Data collection was performed prospectively. In retrospective analysis, we analyzed weight loss, short- and long-term complications, amelioration of comorbidities and long-term outcome. Results. The mean postoperative follow up time was 94.4 months (range 2–144). The follow up rate was 83.5%. The incidence of postoperative complications for slippage was 2.5%, for pouch dilatation was 9.5%, for band migration was 5.5% and 12.0% for overall band removal. After 14 years, the reoperation rate was 30.5% with a reoperation rate of 2.2% for every year of follow up. Excess weight loss was 40.2% after 1 year, 46.3% after 2 years, 45.9% after 3 years, 41.9% after five years, 33.3% after 8 years, 30.8% after 10 years, 33.3% after 12 years and 15.6% after 14 years of follow up. Conclusion. The complication and reoperation rate after GB is high. Nevertheless, GB is still a therapeutic option in morbid obese patients, but the criteria for patient selection should be carefully evaluated.

Particular alleles of the interleukin-1B (IL-1B) gene have been correlated with increased risk of atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer in the populations of East Asia and Europe. No such data exist from Peru, a developing country with a population genotypically different from others studied and with a high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer. We conducted a case-control study comparing 334 hospitalized patients with atrophic gastritis or gastric cancer with 158 nonatrophic gastritis patients (controls). Conditional logistic regression analysis revealed that an increased risk of atrophic gastritis (odds ratio, 5.60) and gastric cancer (odds ratio, 2.36) was associated with the IL-1B-511 C allele. Our study is the first to establish this allele as a risk for these conditions. Given the high prevalence of H. pylori and recurrence rate after treatment, IL-1B-511 single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis may identify those individuals who would benefit most from robust H. pylori eradication efforts in Peru.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) are a rare cause of echo-poor pancreatic head enlargement. Histologically, IMTs are characterized by spindle-shaped myofibroblasts or fibroblasts accompanied by a mixed immune cell infiltration. The most common localizations of IMTs have been reported in lung, mesentery and omentum, especially in children and young adults. IMTs show infiltrating growth, multilocular appearance and also metastasis have been reported. Curative resection is the only therapeutic option so far. In the palliative situation, evident data and clear guidelines for this rare tumor entity are missing. We report on a 44-year-old male with an unresectable IMT of the pancreatic head causing recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis that resulted in a chronic obstructive course of the disease. The patient entered a palliative therapeutic regimen including radiation therapy and antiinflammatory medication. In a regular follow-up of 12 months, he presented with stable disease after initial progression. This case of local progressive IMT of the pancreatic head was managed with a palliative therapeutic regimen and is discussed based on the current literature.

Esophageal Barrett's adenocarcinoma (BA) develops through a multistage process, which is associated with the transcriptional silencing of tumor-suppressor genes by promoter CpG island hypermethylation. In this study, we explored the promoter hypermethylation and protein expression of proapoptotic deathassociated protein kinase (DAPK) during the multistep Barrett's carcinogenesis cascade. Early BA and paired samples of premalignant lesions of 61 patients were analyzed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. For the association of clinicopathological markers and protein expression, an immunohistochemical tissue microarray analysis of 66 additional BAs of advanced tumor stages was performed. Hypermethylation of DAPK promoter was detected in 20% of normal mucosa, 50% of Barrett's metaplasia, 53% of dysplasia, and 60% of adenocarcinomas, and resulted in a marked decrease in DAPK protein expression (P < .01). The loss of DAPK protein was significantly associated with advanced depth of tumor invasion and advanced tumor stages (P < .001). Moreover, the severity of reflux esophagitis correlated significantly with the hypermethylation rate of the DAPK promoter (P < .003). Thus, we consider DAPK inactivation by promoter hypermethylation as an early event in Barrett's carcinogenesis and suggest that a decreased protein expression of DAPK likely plays a role in the development and progression of BA.

Abstract

According to recent reports, some cancer types exhibit nonrandom allele loss at codon 72 in exon 4 of the p53 gene [coding for proline (72Pro) or arginine (72Arg)]. To clarify this phenomenon for colorectal cancer and to find out if this preferential loss might have any functional significance, p53 loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and p53 mutations were investigated in a group of 61 colorectal cancers and 28 liver metastases, and were correlated with clinicopathologic factors. A comparison of a patient's blood codon 72 status with a healthy control group did not reveal an enhanced risk of developing colorectal tumors for one of the two isoforms. p53-LOH and p53 mutations were found in 62.2% and 39.4% of primary tumors, respectively, and in 57.9% and 25% of hepatic metastases, respectively. In 14 heterozygous cases showing exon 4-LOH, only the 72Pro allele was lost and the retained 72Arg was preferentially mutated. In general, p53 mutations were significantly associated with the 72Arg tumor status (P < .001). Distal tumors showed allelic losses of the p53 gene more commonly than proximal tumors (P = .054). The prevalence of 72Arg increased in frequency with higher Dukes stage (P = .056). We suggest that either the preferential loss of 72Pro or the mutation of the 72Arg in colorectal cancer and hepatic metastases is associated with malignant potential and might reflect carcinogenic exposure, particularly in the distal part of the large intestines.

The gastric inflammatory and immune response in Helicobacter pylori infection may be due to the effect of different H. pylori products on innate immune mechanisms. The aim of this study was to determine whether bacterial components could modulate cytokine production in vitro and thus contribute to Th1 polarization of the gastric immune response observed in vivo. The effect of H. pylori recombinant urease, bacterial lysate, intact bacteria, and bacterial DNA on proliferation and cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from H. pylori-negative donors was examined as a model for innate cytokine responses. Each of the different H. pylori preparations induced gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-12p40 (IL-12p40), but not IL-2 or IL-5, production, and all but H. pylori DNA stimulated release of IL-10. Addition of anti-IL-12 antibody to cultures partially inhibited IFN-γ production. In addition, each bacterial product inhibited mitogen-stimulated IL-2 production by PBMCs and Jurkat T cells. The inhibitory effect of bacterial products on IL-2 production correlated with inhibition of mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation, although urease inhibited IL-2 production without inhibiting proliferation, suggesting that inhibition of IL-2 production alone is not sufficient to inhibit lymphocyte proliferation. The results of these studies demonstrate that Th1 polarization of the gastric immune response may be due in part to the direct effects of multiple different H. pylori components that enhance IFN-γ and IL-12 production while inhibiting both IL-2 production and cell proliferation that may be necessary for Th2 responses.