Search

Introduction. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an infrequent, but highly aggressive neuroendocrine neoplasm of the skin with a propensity for recurrence and metastasis. We report a rare case of gastric metastatic localization of this cancer by focusing on the diagnostic, clinical and surgical approach to the patient. Case report. Clinical presentation begins with a peripheral lymphadenopathy whose immunohistochemical characterization identifies the lymphatic dissemination of the disease. Gradually the patient develops a severe anaemic state which requires several blood transfusions and surgical gastric resection to remove a large bleeding lesion of the antral region. The histopathological analysis of the specimen confirms the metastatic origin from MCC, but the primitive lesion remains unknown. Discussion. Since this clinical situation is very rare, we conducted a review of the literature selecting the few cases reported, in order to evaluate the current knowledge on this topic. Metastatic involvement of the stomach from Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare presentation of this disease progression with a frequent delay in formulating the correct diagnosis and in further treatment which may be life-threatening for the patient. As regards the local treatment, there is no specific guideline, and the therapeutic indication should be tailored on the specific case.

Sutureless anastomosis of the gastrointestinal tract using fibrin glue and sliding absorbable intraluminal nontoxic stents (SAINTs) has two shortcomings, stent shaft breakage and the lack of a transanal insertion device (TID) for low anterior resection. Reinforcement of the sucrose base SAINT (R-SAINT) is described. Sutureless anastomosis is attempted using a stapleless mechanical stapler (SS) and used as preprototype to screen histologically and mechanically for TID anastomoses in the small intestine. Finally, a prototype absorbable head SAINT placement device (SAINT-PD) intended for TID, similar to the SS, is utilized on the small intestine. Fifty-seven Landrace pigs weighing 25-35 kg were used to perform 58 anastomoses, including the small intestine (15 manual, 19 SAINT, 11 SS, 5 R-SAINT, 6 SAINT-PD) and large intestine (2 R-SAINT). All anastomoses performed with the R-SAINT succeeded on the first attempt even if the shaft cracked. The SS technique proved impractical, but the histological screen results from 7 to 60 days did approximate those of corresponding SAINT anastomoses. The SAINT-PD demonstrated operational improvement over the SS, but the histological results were similar to both the SS and SAINT. The advantages of the R-SAINT and SAINT-PD are that they leave no foreign bodies or pressure clamping devices at the anastomostic site. Larger studies may show the R-SAINT and the SAINT-PD to be practical, new surgical tools in sutureless fibrin glue anastomosis.

Surgical resection is the mainstay treatment for resectable esophageal cancer. Minimally invasive esophagectomy is performed with increasing frequency and proves to be a safe and effective surgical alternative to the open technique. Minimally invasive esophagectomy using thoracoscopic esophageal mobilization with the patient in prone position seems to offer some advantages with regard to surgeon ergonomics and clinical outcome. Between July 2005 and September 2010, 46 patients (35 men and 11 women) underwent minimally invasive esophagectomy in the prone position at the authors’ institution. Three patients had previously undergone a thoracic intervention (one patient had previously undergone left pneumonectomy because of lung cancer). The preoperative indication was squamous cell carcinoma for 35 patients and adenocarcinoma for 11 patients. In one case, the histology of the biopsy samples showed a squamous cell carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation. Neoadjuvant treatment was administered to 15 patients. All 46 patients underwent esophagectomy using minimally invasive thoracic mobilization of the esophagus with the patient in prone position. The abdominal stage of intervention was performed by laparoscopy for 37 patients and by laparotomy for 9 patients. No thoracotomic conversion was performed. In all cases, a cervical end-to-side anastomosis was performed using a circular stapler. The mean operative time was 263 min. The median intensive care unit stay was 2 days, and the median postoperative hospital stay was 15 days. The mean number of procured lymph nodes was 13. The perioperative morbidity rate was 37%, and the perioperative mortality rate was 4.4%. Minimally invasive esophagectomy is safe and technically feasible. It entails a lower mortality rate and a shorter hospital stay than those reported in most open series. Thoracoscopy with the patient in prone position offers results comparable with those obtained using other minimally invasive techniques regarding the number of procured lymph nodes. This technique shows considerable advantages such as improved surgeon ergonomics, increased operative field exposure, and satisfactory respiratory results.

3612 Background: BRAF mutation is widely recognised as a strong negative prognostic factor in advanced CRC, while the prognostic value of KRAS mutations in codons 12-13 remains controversial. Exploring mutations in other downstream components of the EGFR pathway may have an impact on survival. Methods: A consecutive cohort of 201 metastatic CRC patients treated with systemic chemotherapy were analysed for KRAS (12-13-61-146), BRAF, PIK3CA and NRAS genotypes by pyrosequencing on PyroMarkTMQ96 ID instrument (Qiagen, Germany) with commercially available kits Anti-EGFR MoAb response (Diatech Pharmacogenetics, Italy). Accurate microdissection guaranteed more than 70% of cancer cells for each sample. For the purpose of the survival analysis 4 categories were created: (1) KRAS mutated (codons 12-13 only); (2) BRAF mutated; (3) any of KRAS codons 61-146, PIK3CA or NRAS mutations; (4) all-wild type. Log-rank and Cox proportional tests were applied for statistical analysis. Results: KRAS mutations were present in 96 (47.8%) patients: 86 (42.8%) were in codons 12-13. BRAF mutations were found in 11 (5.5%) samples while PIK3CA and NRAS in 33 (16.4%) and 7 (3.5%), respectively. All mutations were mutually exclusive except for 24 (11.9%) patients with concomitant KRAS/PIK3CA mutations. Median survivals for different categories are shown. Patients harbouring BRAF mutation had the worst outcome (p=0.0006). Mutations of any codon of KRAS (12-13-61-146) also negatively impacted on survival (p=0.026), while the all wild-type (KRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA/NRAS) patients had the longest survival (p=0.002). Conclusions: This study suggests the usefulness for early molecular profiling for advanced CRC patients. Mutational analysis of all EGFR pathway components may identify different prognostic subgroups. This information may drive treatment selection in clinical practice and stratification in clinical trials. [Table: see text]

Twenty-nine patients with symptomatic hydatid disease of the liver were evaluated preoperatively by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in the years 1982-1987. In the same period, 6 patients who previously underwent surgery for the parasitic disease also underwent ERCP because of postoperative symptoms of biliary obstruction. Findings at ERCP excluded biliary tract involvement in 11 cases. Positive findings were shown in 24 patients, including compression of the bile ducts in 4, small cysto-biliary communications in 5, intrabiliary rupture in 9, residual hydatid material in the common bile duct, and sclerosing cholangitis in 3. Endoscopic removal of migrated hydatid debris was achieved in 8 patients, avoiding reoperation in 4.