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The physical properties of workover fluids are important in the success of workover operations, in particular, emulsion stability and viscosity. In this work these properties have been investigated using a direct emulsion of oil in water. Three emulsifiers were analyzed and their effects on emulsion stability have been measured both in terms of surface tension decrease and their hydrophilic-lypophilic behavior. An extensive investigation on viscosity was carried out under laboratory conditions and the results reported as isokoms in ternary diagrams. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of an Arrhenius-type equation. It is concluded that small changes in composition lead to large changes in the viscous properties of the workover fluid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary chemotherapy (PC) is becoming an accepted practice to treat large tumors to avoid mastectomies and as a surrogate of outcome., Methods: A series of 305 patients with tumors >3 cm with T2-3N0-1M0 classification were treated with a multimodal approach that consisted of 3 courses of primary cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil (CMF) followed by appropriate local treatment and 3 more courses of CMF or 4 courses of doxorubicin. Response was assessed by mammography., Results: The overall response rate was 48% (a 3% pathologic complete response rate). Conservative surgery was achieved in 79.64% of the patients with a low rate of local disease recurrences (5%). Toxicity was minimal. With a median follow-up of 104 months, the 8-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 57.63% and the 8-year overall survival (OS) was 67.65%. The DFS and OS rates for patients with a clinical response were significantly longer, i.e., 70% (P=0.0048) and 90% (P=0.0042), respectively., Conclusions: PC with CMF was feasible. A high rate of breast-conservative surgery was achieved. The current results stressed the value of PC to increase conservative surgery and as a predictor of outcome., (Copyright (c) 2005 American Cancer Society.)

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of tumor size and age of the patient in the detection of the SN in breast neoplasms., Material and Methods: A total of 190 patients affected of breast cancer with a mean age of 57 years (range from 28 to 87 years) were studied. According to age, the following were distinguished: under 40 years, 23 patients; between 40 and 60 years, 102 patients and over 60 years, 65 patients. The lesions were classified based on size (in mm) into: less than 10 in 27 patients, between 10 and 20 in 61 patients, between 20 and 30 in 64 patients, and greater than 30 in 38 patients. In all the cases, a scintigraphy was performed at 2 hr. post-injection of 3 mCi of 99mTc-nanocoloide, in the peritumoral area. After lymphoscintigraphy detection of the SN, cutaneous labeling was performed and it was detected surgically by a gamma detector probe. A complete lymphadenectomy was performed in all the patients. The histopathology was performed with hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemistry techniques and the state of the SN was compared with the remaining lymph nodes of the lymphadenectomy., Results: The SN was located in 169 of the 190 cases (89%). In 164 cases, it was found in the axilla. The greatest percentage of those not detected was observed in tumors over 30 mm (32%) and patients older than 60 years (30%). No false negative were observed in tumors under 10 mm or in patients under 40 years, but the false negative rate increased with the patient's age and the tumor size., Conclusions: The patient's age and tumor size seem to influence SN detection rates. The FN rates seem to be superior in patients over 60 years. Patients under 40 years with tumors less than 10 mm are those who benefit most from this technique.

The aim of this preliminary work is to show the results of the radioisotopic localization of the sentinel node in breast cancer and the surgical resection using a gamma probe. We studied 10 patients with breast cancer without primary chemotherapy and 3 patients with primary chemotherapy before surgery. A lymphoscintigraphy was made after injection of 111 MBq of Tc99m-nanocolloid in a volume of 3 ml. The scans were performed after 30 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours and 24 hours after injection. We detected the node and then a skin mark was made. The next day, surgical resection of this node was performed, guided by a gamma probe. We detected all sentinel nodes but one: 12 sentinel nodes and 7 second echelon nodes. The mean time for a surgical detection was about 16 minutes. In our experience this technique allows an accurate localization of the sentinel node in patients with breast cancer. We are able to localize the node in the surgical room guided with gamma probe. The peroperatory evaluation by anatomopathological techniques shown the status of this node. All this, does not delay the surgical time.

The authors carried out 88 sutures of the ascending colon in Wistar rats, 44 in inversion and the remainder in eversion. The suture material used was monofilament 9/0 nylon. The intestinal diameter was measured using an instrument and the healing process studied by means of the following parameters: granulocytes, oedema, fibrin, fibroblasts and re-epithelialisation of the mucosa, on histology. The results prove that inverted sutures heal within 10 days, whereas everted sutures are not healed after 17 days. Furthermore, we demonstrated the fact that, after 72 hours, the intestinal caliber above the suture showed no appreciable differences compared with that of the normal colon.