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Purpose:To study the neuroanatomic characteristics of patients with Duane’s retraction syndrome with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.Methods:The study included 11 consecutive cases, including five patients with type I, one patient with type II, four patients with type III, and one patient with inverse Duane’s retraction syndrome. The patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, brain stem, cavernous sinus, and orbits.Results:In 10 patients, the abducens nerve (cranial nerve VI) was absent or showed hypoplasia in the brain stem, cavernous sinus, and orbit. However, these findings were not seen in the patient who had inverse Duane’s retraction syndrome. In two children, magnetic resonance imaging showed that the cavernous sinuses were smaller on the affected side. The inferior division of the oculomotor nerve (cranial nerve III) was traced to enter the lateral rectus muscle or had intimate continuity with the lateral rectus muscle in nine patients with type I and type III Duane’s retraction syndrome. In one patient with type III Duane’s retraction syndrome, the oculomotor foramen was significantly larger on the affected side than on the sound side. In the patient with type II Duane’s retraction syndrome, the superior division of cranial nerve III was enlarged and had three branches. In the patient with inverse Duane’s retraction syndrome, the inferior division of cranial nerve III sent two branches to the medial rectus muscle, and the patient had superior oblique muscle hypoplasia.Conclusion:Neuroimaging findings showed that the absence of cranial nerve VI, hypoplasia in the brain stem, and an extra branch of the inferior division of cranial nerve III to the lateral rectus muscle is the most common presentation of Duane’s retraction syndrome, but not the only one. The aberrant branches likely correspond to the abnormal eye movement seen in patients with this disorder.

Summary Backgrounds: A multicenter phase II trial was initiated in order to evaluate the weekly, high-dose 24-hour infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus folinic acid (FA) in patients with unresectable colorectal cancer hepatic metastases. Paitents and method: A weekly hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) of FA 500 mg/m2 followed by a 24-hour infusion of 5-FU 2,600 mg/m2 (later reduced to 2,200 mg/m2) was given via a surgically implanted intra-arterial port system. One treatment cycle consisted of six weekly applications followed by a two-week rest period. Toxicity was assessed according to the WHO criteria. Chemotherapy was continued until disease progression or complete response occured. Results: A total of 50 patients (40 chemonaive, 10 pretreated) entered this trial. An objective tumor response occurred in 28 patients (56%), while 13 patients (26%) had stable disease. The median progression free survival was 12 months, and the median survival 22.3 months. Due to a high rate of gastrointestinal side-effects in the initial phase of the trial, the dosage of 5-FU was reduced to 2, 200 mg/m2 for all subsequent patients. Diarrhea and nausea led to a dose reduction in 40% of applications and 24% of patients, respectively. One patient died of cardiac insufficiency unrelated to chemotherapy before response evaluation. Conclusions This HAI approach using high-dose 5-FU was relatively well tolerated when 2,200 mg/m2 instead of 2,600 mg/m2 was used. The activity of this regimen is promising and warrants further evaluation and modification.

Adjustable gastric banding is a popular bariatric operation in Europe. The rate of long-term complications like pouch dilatation, slippage and band migration and the long-term effect of weight loss are reported in meta-analysis and few studies for a period of more than five years. We report on experiences after gastric banding.Over a period of 10 years 168 patients with morbid obesity were treated with gastric banding. Preoperative data, postoperative weight loss and long-term complications were prospectively obtained and retrospectively analyzed.Mean age of the patients was 41.7 years with a mean preoperative BMI of 49.6 kg/m2. No intraoperative or postoperative death occurred in the first 30 postoperative days. Intraoperative conversion rate was 7.1 %. 79.8 % of the patients (n = 134) were available for follow up (mean follow-up time 66.7 months). Long-term complications occurred in 22.5 % of the patients. 30 complications (17.8 %) were related to the band and 8 (4.7 %) to the access-port or to the tube. Mean excess weight loss was 39.6, 47.3, 44.2, 43.4 and 32 % after 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8 years.Laparoscopic gastric banding can achieve an effective weight loss. However band-related and functional complications will influence the late outcome. Pathways to choose the best surgical method for the individual patient are necessary to reduce failures after gastric banding.

Recurrence after resection of colorectal liver metastases occurs after 9-12 months in up to 80% of patients. Half of the relapses is isolated to the liver. An intraarterial chemotherapy with 5-FU and folinic acid was compared to only resection. Main objective of the trial was survival. Within 14 days after resection followed the 6-month therapy with 5-FU 1000 mg/m2 continuously over 5d/28d and Folinic Acid 200 mg/m2 over 15 minutes 5d/28d. The first interim-analysis with 226 randomised patients showed in the intention-to-treat-analysis a median survival of 34.5 months (m.) with therapy versus 40.8 months (p = 0.1519 with a negative trend. (95%-Confidence interval for hazard ratio: [0.5; 1.15]) and time to progression of 14.2 m. with therapy versus 13.7 m. Severe toxicities (WHO grade III/IV) occurred in 25.6% of cycles and 62.9% of patients. Mainly registered were stomatitis (57.6%) and nausea (55.4%). The recruitment of patients for study was terminated, because in best case the risk to die could be lowered only by 15% and therefore clinical relevant prolongation of survival is not to achieve with this type of adjuvant therapy.

From 1984 to 2001, 486 operations were carried out at the surgical clinic in Gera for pancreatic neoplasms, including 49 patients with rare neoplasms of the pancreas. In 23 patients malignant pancreatic tumors were present (9 solitary metastases, 9 endocrine carcinomas, 2 cystadenocarcinomas, 2 schwannomas and one non-Hodgkin's lymphoma). In 28 benign lesions a resection of the tumor was performed, concerning 8 insulinomas, 8 serous cystadenomas, 3 mucinous cystadenomas and 4 rare cystic tumors. A sarcoidosis, an autoimmune pancreatitis and a radiation fibrosis were diagnosed in 3 patients operated under the suspicion of a malignant pancreatic tumor. By means of own case examples and data from the literature these rare entities are described with their diagnostic and therapeutic special features.

The analgetic treatment of inoperable pancreatic cancer patients is of paramount importance. The relative ineffectiveness of pharmacological agents has led many investigators to recommend chemical neurolysis of the celiac ganglions for pain control. However, the assessment of the results and the effectiveness of the block carried out during laparotomy have been unclear.After 41 intraoperative celiac neurolytic blocks pain intensity was retrospectively analysed in 38 patients suffering from unresectable pancreatic carcinoma. The mean age of the patients was 59 years, the observation period after neurolysis ranged to 6 months. All patients underwent definitive neurolysis using 50 % ethanol in 0.5 % prilocaine. Immediate and long-term efficacy, analgetic consumption and mortality were evaluated at follow-up. The calculated parenteral equivalent morphine dosage (mg per day) was evaluated before as well as at different time points after treatment as an objective parameter to describe pain intensity.7 to 34 days (at discharge from the hospital) after block pain intensity was statistically highly significant reduced (p=0.016). Long-term results were obtained from 17 (10 to 12 weeks after intervention) and 9 (up to 20 weeks after intervention) patients respectively, demonstrating a long-lasting effect of the neurolysis. A statistical analysis was not possible because of the small patient 's number.Intraoperative celiac neurolytic block is a safe and effective method of pain treatment in patients with unresectable pancreatic carcinoma. However, it alone provides complete pain relief until death only in a few cases. Therefore, it should be considered as an adjuvant treatment in the analgesic strategy. Combined palliative therapy is necessary in most of the cases.

Chronic pancreatitis leads to changes of nearby organs with possible acute and chronic complications including lesions of the spleen. Among 341 patients operated upon between January 1981 and June 2002 in the surgical department Gera, we found 7 spontaneous spleen ruptures or such after minimal trauma and 4 pseudocysts, which expanded to the splenic hilus. In all cases splenectomy was carried out with resection of the tail of the pancreas with or without drainage of the pancreas. 2 patients with a history of splenectomy after minimal trauma underwent duodenum-preserving resection of the pancreatic head to Frey, and distal pancreatectomy, resp.Lesions of the spleen belong to the rare complications of chronic pancreatitis. With known case history and mostly delayed course, the operative concept must be concentrated not only on the splenic lesion but also on the therapy of the chronic pancreatitis.

Monopolar electrosurgery is querried because of the availability of new preparation-techniques in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The advantage of simple handling, cheap application and high efficiency has to be set against the danger of tissue lesions e. g. the damage of the bile duct as demonstrated by four own cases. Especially the bipolar preparation-method and ultrasonic dissection are safer, but expensive and not as fast and effective as monopolar technique. Laser-heated instruments exist but are not in wide clinical use. The danger of tissue-lesions can be reduced by accurate preparation-principles and caution in dissection of the Calot-triangle.

Since 1983 gastric banding has become a proven operative method, which reduces effectively excess weight in morbid obesity. Gastric banding has been popularized as a minimally invasive, completely reversible surgical treatment for morbid obesity. We report here our 4 year experiences of gastric banding with special reference to complications.There were 109 patients in total, of whom 92 were women. Median age was 41.5 years (range 17-62 years) and median body-mass-index (BMI) was 49.6 kg/m2 (range 36.7-82.6 kg/m2). From February 1995 to June 1997 39 patients were operated upon with the open technique. In June 1997 we started the laparoscopic gastric banding. 70 patients were treated with this method from June 1997 to February 1999.The weight loss 6 months postoperatively after gastric banding was 35.3% and 12 months after the operation 43.0% of the overweight. In 17 cases a re-operation was necessary. Indications for re-operations included pouch dilatation in 4 cases, slippage in 3 cases and complications connected with the port system. The operation technique and the kind of band fixation influenced the frequency of complications.A lot of complications especially after laparoscopic gastric banding can be prevented by a strong indication. Using the laparoscopic technique complications like pouch dilatation are diminished compared to the open technique. A standardized operation technique decreases the complication and re-operation rate. Conversions to the open technique were mostly necessary during the learning curve of LASGB (laparoscopic adjustable silicone gastric banding).

An upside-down-stomach, usually occurring in eldery patients describes an extreme case of paraesophageal hernia. Due to the possibility of life threatening complications there is an urgent need for surgical intervention. In 1998 three patients suffering from complete upside-down-stomach were treated by laparoscopic surgery at our hospital. Two of them received a hiatoplastic with fundo- and corpophrenicopexy. In one case we did a 360 degrees-floppy Nissen's-fundoplication. Perioperatively, one patient developed a left sided pneumothorax Long-term follow-up 6 months postoperatively in our out-patient department revealed unconspicuous clinical and gastroscopical findings and high patient satisfaction with postoperative outcome. Our case reports show the possibility of adequate operating on upside-down-stomach by means of laparoscopic surgery. Minimal invasive methods provide a good overlock on the operating field and are poor in complications when done by an experienced surgeon, so that patients may profit from comfort of laparoscopic surgery.

The relative efficacy of HAI FUDR, HAI 5-FU/FA, and i.v. 5-FU/FA chemotherapy for the treatment of unresectable colorectal liver metastases was compared in a prospective randomized clinical trial. The response rate after HAI treatment was significantly higher as compared to i.v. treatment with no statistical benefit regarding survival and time to progression. HAI FUDR treatment was inferior as compared to HAI or i.v. 5-FU/FA. i.v. 5-FU/FA-therapy is therefore the method of choice outside clinical trials.

In a epidemiological study 3840 clerks of state of North Rhein Westfalia were investigated concerning the frequency of atherosklerotic leasions of the carotid and femoral arteries in duplex scanning. 17% of all investigated showed independency to age, sex and risk factors alterations of the vessel walls. Men had twice as much plaques as women and male subjects with multiple risk factors had four times more plaques than those without.

The toxic megacolon is well known in colitis ulcerosa, in colitis ulcerosa, in colitis granulomatosa--Crohn's disease--it is by far rarer. The authors observed two cases among their patients. The emergency operation consisted in applying an ileostoma and several colostomata. The definitive treatment with colectomy and ileorectostomy was done after weeks respectively months.

The continuous inside splinting of the small intestine was carried out in 82 children and adults, because of postoperative ileus, chronic recurrent ileus and diffuse peritonitis. Possibly the splinting had contributed in one case to the perforation of the paralytic small intestine with a fatal outcome. In another case there occurred a relapse of an ileus. All other patients have no complaints in connexion with the splinting operation. Control examinations take place. A "total folding" of the small intestine was not observed by the radioscopy.

Quite a number of complications were found to occur time and again in the treatment of children for supracondylar humerus fracture, with displacement of the arm axis being a frequent long-term result. However, functionality of the arm usually has not been impaired.

This procedure was mostly performed in cases of recurrent ileus. The high mortality rate is due to the severe underlying diseases or postoperative complications.

Although bleedings in the part of the jejunoileum only amount to about 1% of bleedings of the whole gastrointestinal tract, they can raise outstanding problems because of the difficulties in discovering the sources of bleeding and their localization. The importance of intraoperative endoscopy will be emphasized by example of 5 patients who suffered from recurrent bleedings. All of the other diagnostic procedures like x-ray examinations (angiography included), endoscopy and scintigraphy were fruitless.

During 1977--1980 36 papillotomies were performed; indications for the latter were: papillary stenosis, incarcerated stones or stones which could not be removed which certainty and suspicion of a papillocarcinoma. The indications were evaluated as to whether endoscopic or surgical papillotomy should be performed. The results of the papilloplasties were considered satisfactory. In 40% of the cases a duodenobiliary reflux was observed, which however did not give troubles.

In 2 patients suffering from multiple ulcerations of the jejunum preoperative diagnostic measures were unsuccessful. Only by oral intraoperative endoscopy was it possible to diagnose the cause of bleeding and treat it successfully.