Search

The combination of ticarcillin and clavulanic acid (Timentin) was used in a non-randomized open study in 28 patients with severe nosocomial infections. The infections were polymicrobial in 19 cases. Ten patients were bacteraemic and all were severely ill, receiving mechanical ventilation and with at least one organ system failure. Seventeen patients were treated with Timentin alone, 11 with a combination of Timentin and aminoglycosides. Timentin was used empirically, before identification of the bacteria in 14 patients (group 1) and after identification of all the micro-organisms in 14 patients (group II). In group I, the empirical choice of Timentin was wrong in four cases, because at least one micro-organism was resistant to this drug. In the remaining 24 evaluable patients 12 patients were definitively cured. A relapse of the infection occurred in two cases. Five patients were initially improved but a secondary failure occurred due to a residual abscess in one case and to the underlying disease in four cases. Five initial failures due to the underlying disease in three cases were noted. The antimicrobial spectrum of Timentin is valuable in the management of nosocomial and polymicrobial infection, especially intra-abdominal infections and this study confirms a good clinical efficacy. However, combination with aminoglycosides seems mandatory, at least until the identification of all the micro-organisms involved in the infection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: To review the etiology, location, and morphology of pelvic collection as well as the technique and results of image guided drainage., Materials and Methods: From June 1996 to August 2002, we performed image guided drainage of pelvic fluid collections in 21 males and 21 females. In patients where a direct contact between the collection and the endocavitary probe was present, the drainage was performed either by transrectal or transvaginal approach using 10F, 12F, 14F or 16F catheters according to the viscosity of the fluid. When the patients were no longer septic, when drainage had stopped, the drains were removed at day 5. When a fistula was present, the drain was left in place until the fistula healed., Results: The most common location of pelvic collections was the cul-desac (43%). A total of 81% of pelvic abscesses were digestive in origin, either from the colon or appendix. Transrectal or transvaginal drainage was possible in 83% of cases. Mean follow-up was 41 months. No drainage related complication was recorded. In two patients with collections of clear fluid, a simple aspiration was performed without insertion of a drain. In the 40 other patients, a drainage catheter was inserted. Twenty-nine patients were cured after 15 days of drainage. Two patients had recurrent collections. Image guided drainage failed in five patients, and all underwent successful surgical management., Conclusion: Image guided drainage of pelvic collections is a safe and effective procedure. Failures were due to initially undiagnosed pathology requiring surgical treatment.

Background: We report a case of follicular struma ovarii observed in an ovary teratoma without metastatic dissemination., Case Report: A right ovarian tumor was discovered at ultrasound examination in a 31-year-old woman complaining of low abdominal pain. The patient underwent laparoscopic exploration and a 4-cm cystic mass of the right ovary was removed. Microscopic examination showed a malignant struma ovarii of the follicular type with vascular space invasion; other teratomous elements were identified. Immunohistochemical staining for thyroglobulin confirmed the nature of the tumor. The patient was treated by complete right ovariectomy followed by total thyroidectomy and administration of radioactive iodine (99 mCi I-131). Repeat I-131 body scan performed at 6 months was normal., Discussion: Struma ovarii is a rare type of ovarian teratoma, consisting mainly of thyroid tissue. The incidence of malignant struma ovarii is below 1% and fewer than two dozen cases with distant metastases have been reported. The major problem associated with struma ovarii has been the establishment of criteria for malignancy.

Discovery on a protein electrophoregram of a bisalbuminemia can orientate according to its migration fast or slow to an hereditary mutation of an amino acid, or an acquired form by excess of beta lactamines due to renal insufficiency or by the rupture of a pancreatic pseudocyst in the peritoneum. This is this late mechanism that we report in this case of bisalbuminemia related to an opened pancreatic pseudocyst secondary to an adenoma of the parathyroid gland.

In two patients who had Budd-Chiari syndrome secondary to carcinoma, the diagnosis was made intraoperatively at the time of emergency right atrial clearance required for severe cardiovascular distress. Curative resection was not possible and both patients died. As previously noted in the literature, it is extremely difficult to relate carcinoma to the origin of Budd-Chiari syndrome. Retro- and suprahepatic involvement of the vena cava is associated with a very poor prognosis. Complete resection of these tumors is the only potentially curative treatment. We suggest ways to obtain a simple and early histologic diagnosis before initiating appropriate and radical surgical treatment.

Certain stones need to be fragmented before being extracted via endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES). From April 1988 to December 1991, extracorporeal lithotripsy was used in this indication in 28 patients (22 females, 6 males) with a mean age of 77 +/- 20 years, using an ultrasound-guided electrohydraulic lithotriptor. Stone detection was performed after perfusion of the nasogastric tube and was easy in 20 cases (71%), difficult in 6 cases (22%) and impossible in 2 cases (7%), which could not be treated by this method. The patients had an average of 1.4 +/- 0.9 stones measuring 19.6 +/- 8 mm and received an average of 2.480 +/- 580 shock waves in a single session for 24 patients and in two sessions for 2 patients. Radiologically obvious fragmentation was achieved in 11 out of 26 cases (42%) and was found to be effective at a further extraction attempt in 4 other cases. Complete clearance of the common bile duct was achieved in 15 cases (57.7%). The size of the stones (> or < 20 mm) and the solitary or multiple nature of the stones did not significantly influence the fragmentation results. No complication related to the technique was observed apart from the constant development of cutaneous petechiae. An improvement in the power of the generator and the use of fluoroscopic rather than ultrasonographic guidance should allow an improvement of these results in the future. Because of its safety, this lithotripsy method can be proposed following failure of mechanical lithotripsy.

Gallstone lithotripsy (GSL) with the Technomed Sonolith 3000 extracorporeal lithotripter was studied in a multisite, international cooperative trial involving the United States, France, and Italy. All participating sites worked under a common protocol to investigate the safety and efficacy of GSL for symptomatic gallstone patients. These collective results are from a mix of 25 academic and community hospital sites using fixed and transportable/mobile versions of the lithotripter. As of November 1, 1990, 661 patients have been treated in this two-arm randomized study (GSL Only vs GSL + Ursodiol [Actigall]). Patients were treated with up to 2,500 shocks per session and only two treatments were allowed. All machines had standardized pressure settings (850 bar nominal) and operator adjustment of output voltage was not allowed. We saw no statistically significantly different results in initial fragmentation between patients pre-loaded with ursodiol for 2 weeks and those treated by GSL alone. Gallbladder clearance rates did vary with the stone number, size, and burden as well as the adequacy of initial fragmentation. In the GSL + Ursodiol Arm of the trial, 46.2% of patients with solitary, 5-to 20-mm calculi are stone-free at 6 months.

Acute colorectal ischemia is a rare though potentially lethal complication of aortic surgery. We reviewed our recent experience with 16 cases in order to analyze its causative and prognostic factors. The incidence was 2.8%, and the inferior mesenteric artery was occluded in all cases. All patients also had severe occlusive disease of at least two of the hypogastric or deep femoral arteries. Hypoperfusion due to arterial ligation, prosthetic occlusion or embolism was responsible in half the cases. Ischemia and perfusion due to aortic cross-clamping or perioperative hemorrhage were involved in the rest of the cases. Postoperative mortality was 31%. The mortality was lower for partial, nontransmural necrosis, and for elective operations. Recurrent intestinal ischemia, transmural necrosis, surgery for ruptured aneurysm, intestinal hemorrhage and pulmonary edema were associated with a higher mortality rate. All patients with anuria or extrarenal epuration and hepatic cytolysis died. Although reconstruction of the inferior mesenteric artery might lessen the incidence of postoperative colonic ischemia due to hypoperfusion, the role of oxygen free radicals should be investigated in humans, in order to afford colonic protection against the consequences of ischemia-reperfusion.

This is a case report of a rare tumour of the ovary originally developing from the embryonal vestiges of the Wolffian duct and becoming a pure mesonephrotic carcinoma. Although initially considered to be benign, the course of the tumour is one of a potential low grade long term malignancy. Histological changes are of a pure mesonephrotic carcinoma or of a female adnexal tumour probably of wolffian origin (FATWO). It showed few specific traits. Each site of the development is constantly linked to the anatomy of the Wolffian duct. Metastases and recurrencies can develop late (after 5 to 10 years) following radical surgery. A survey of the literature confirmed the salient features of these tumours, which can differ from those of Müllerian origin.

We report 6 cases of rectal angiodysplasia. 2 patients were treated successfully laser coagulation.

The results of exploratory laparotomy in 48 patients with an acute abdomen are reviewed. Overall mortality was 29 p. cent (14 cases) and was influenced by three main factors: patients over 50 years of age, multiple visceral lesions, and when exploratory laparotomy was conducted for an acute painful febrile abdominal syndrome (10 deaths in 32 cases) or during the postoperative period (4 deaths in 11 cases). In contrast, exploratory laparotomy is a benign procedure in patients with abdominal contusions. It is essential, therefore, to try to establish the diagnosis before proposing laparotomy, which should only be performed when all other diagnostic investigations have proved negative.

Fourteen cases of endocrine tumors (10 insulinomas and 4 gastrinomas) were to studied by intraoperative ultrasonography (IOU). Localization was established by preoperative ultrasonography in 1/14, by CT scan in 1/11, by arteriography in 6/12 and by pancreatic venous sampling in 7/8. Tumor size ranged from 0.5 cm to 2.5 cm. Manual palpation was positive in 10/14. The tumor was accurately and completely localized by IOU in 9/10 insulinomas: the one false negative was probably due to micro-adenoma. The intrapancreatic tumor was localized only in 1/14 gastrinomas. Intraoperative sonography localized lymph nodes in all cases. One distal pancreatectomy was improperly performed because of an accessory spleen. After reviewing 59 other cases in the literature, we propose: a) to abandon venous sampling in insulinomas because of adequate performance of IOU; b) to use IOU as a complementary investigative method along with other preoperative methods of localization in gastrinoma.