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Unlabelled: Genotype-guided warfarin dosing have been proposed to improve patient’s management. This study is aimed to determine whether a CYP2C9- VKORC1- CYP4F2-based pharmacogenetic algorithm is superior to a standard, clinically adopted, pharmacodynamic method. Two-hundred naïve patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to trial arms and 180 completed the study. No significant differences were found in the number of out-of-range INRs (INR<2.0 or >3.0) (p = 0.79) and in the mean percentage of time spent in the therapeutic range (TTR) after 19 days in the pharmacogenetic (51.9%) and in the control arm (53.2%, p = 0.71). The percentage of time spent at INR>4.0 was significantly lower in the pharmacogenetic (0.7%) than in the control arm (1.8%) (p = 0.02). Genotype-guided warfarin dosing is not superior in overall anticoagulation control when compared to accurate clinical standard of care., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01178034.

We carried out a prospective, randomized study over a 1-year period to compare the efficacy of a single layer of continuous absorbable monofilament (Maxon) with that of a single layer of interrupted Polyglactin sutures (Vicryl) in the performance of cervical esophagogastric anastomoses. Forty-two consecutive patients with carcinoma of the esophagus or cardia, in whom the stomach was transposed through the mediastinal route after esophagectomy, were enrolled in the study. There were 21 patients in each group. There was no hospital mortality. One asymptomatic anastomotic leak and two early anastomotic strictures requiring dilation occurred in patients in whom an interrupted technique was employed. The continuous technique required significantly less operative time (p < 0.0001), and the cost of the suture material was reduced markedly. We conclude that either a continuous or an interrupted monolayer esophagogastric anastomosis can give satisfactory results after esophagectomy for cancer, provided that the vascular supply to the gastric fundus is maintained adequately. The continuous technique has the advantages of being time-saving, cheaper, and easier to perform and to teach.

Between January 1969 and May 1990, 100 patients were operated on for discrete subaortic stenosis. Three patients died in the perioperative period. Patients with intrinsic lesions, prosthetic replacement, or extensive operative remodeling of the aortic valve were excluded from the analysis. The 67 remaining patients had a median follow-up of 62 months. Preoperatively, 8 patients had aortic valve competence, 51 had mild incompetence, and 8 patients moderate aortic valve incompetence. At follow-up mild incompetence persisted in 27 and moderate incompetence in 6 patients. In 1 patient it worsened from no incompetence to mild and in another patient from mild to moderate. The probability of aortic incompetence at follow-up was significantly and simultaneously related (multivariate ordinal logistic model) to (1) older age at operation (logarithm of months, p = 0.007), (2) higher preoperative gradient (third power of milligrams of mercury, p = 0.0004), (3) preoperative cardiomegaly (p = 0.04), and (4) surgical myectomy (p = 0.002). There was an interaction between age and gradient (p = 0.03). Two nomograms are proposed as a generalizable aid to decision making. The data support the policy of early repair of subaortic stenosis.

Between 1980 and 1989, 355 patients with cancer of the esophagus and 54 with cancer of the cardia underwent push-through intubation because of advanced tumor stage or medical contraindications to tumor resection. In 36 other patients (8.1%), the attempt at transtumoral intubation failed. The hospital mortality rate after intubation was 3.4%. The following complications were observed: hemorrhage in 2.0% of the patients, esophageal perforation in 4.9%, tube dislodgment in 12.7%, and tube obstruction in 4.4%. Early resumption of semisolid oral feeding was possible in 80% of the discharged patients. The actuarial 1-year survival rate was 7.7% and the median survival, 3.9 months. In conclusion, push-through intubation represents a valid therapeutic choice, which is indicated mainly for patients with a long, infiltrating, and circumferential stricture of the thoracic esophagus or cardia that is inoperable and for patients with an esophagorespiratory or esophagomediastinal fistula.