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The authors present a retrospective study concerning 135 cases of untreated synchronous metastases from colorectal cancer. The median survival is 5.5 months and the natural history is depending on the percentage of liver replacement, on the "performance status" of each patient and on the stage of primary tumors classified according to Dukes. The seric levels of Alkaline Phosphatase and CEA are other useful prognostic factors. The age of patients and systemic chemotherapy (5-Fluorouracil) are not able to influence the evolution of the disease. At last different techniques, both curative and palliative, used in the current treatment of liver metastases from colorectal cancer are discussed and the reported survival improvements reaching with these forms of treatment are compared to the natural history of the disease.

The authors report 611 cases of inguinal hernias of childhood operated between 1967 and 1985, which represent 28% of operations performed in all children in the same period. The mean age of patients was 33 +/- 4.1 months and the ratio M:F = 5.43:1. The right side was the most frequently affected (64.64%) with a bilaterality of 14.89%. The incarceration, observed at the rate of 13.23%, needed the surgical treatment in urgency in the 35.63% of the cases. A relapsing hernia appeared only two times (0.45%) and the incidence of contralateral metacronous hernias was 7.99%. They perform herniorrhaphy in the only symptomatic side without preoperative herniorrhaphy and operate on the silent contralateral side only when there a hernia will became symptomatic, as they think that herniorrhaphy and bilateral inguinal exploration cause a high number of unnecessary, sometimes harmful operations.

The authors report 5 cases of Total Pancreatectomy (T.P.) treated with Total Parenteral Nutrition (T.P.N.) in which the non-protein calorie supply consisted of lipids and carbohydrates ("dual energy system"). This form of nutrition, which provided a high energy supply with a reduced glucose intake, prevented the problems associated with hypertonic glucose solutions in the unstable diabetes which follows total pancreatectomy. The authors compared these cases with an earlier series of 11 cases of Total pancreatectomy who were not treated with Total Parenteral Nutrition and observed that the patients treated with TPN had a better recovery, a better glucose homeostasis, a reduction in the complications and mortality and a decreased length of stay in hospital.