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The purpose of this report is to describe the technique of liver resection using an endovascular stapling device. A total of 31 patients underwent major hepatic resections with stapling techniques. The authors have used various approaches to portal structures and hepatic veins with the application of a vascular endostapler device. The specific techniques of different hepatectomies are described and illustrated. There were no deaths. A minor complication (biliary fistula) occurred in one patient, related to binary leak from parenchymal transection. No complications directly attributable to stapler ligations of portal pedicle or hepatic veins were observed. Stapling techniques can be helpful in major hepatic resection procedures. The vascular endostapler can significantly reduce both portal vein and hepatic vein closure time and may expedite the transection of the liver, eliminating the risk of slipped ligature following simple ligation.

The pattern and sites of recurrence were studied in 270 patients with resected Stage I (NO) or Stage II (Nl) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Survival, incidence, and type of intrathoracic locoregional recurrence versus distant extra-thoracic recurrence after surgical excision were analyzed. Prognostic parameters, such as postsurgical stage, histologic type, degree of cellular differentiation, and surgical approach, were examined to discern their influence on tumor recurrence. The total incidence of recurrence in patients with stage I and II tumors was high, with a radical surgical approach often resulting ineffective, because of incomplete locoregional neoplastic extirpation due to micrometastases. Lymph node metastases worsened prognosis, with Nl tumors demonstrating a significantly higher recurrence rate at 5 years (63%) than NO neoplasms (48%) (p < 0.01). Stage I tumors showed an elevated incidence of local recurrence (45%), with tumor T-factor making a significant contribution in such cases. N1-factor combined with an elevated T-factor (Stage II Subclass pT2Nl neoplasms) promoted a higher incidence of distant rather than local recurrence. A shorter disease-free interval was observed in patients with N tumors as opposed to NO neoplasms. Histologic type did not play a statistically significant role (p = ns) in the total incidence of recurrence. A similar total incidence of recurrence was observed in Stage I and II tumors treated by lobectomy (51%) or pneumonectomy (56%), with locoregional recurrence appearing more frequently after lobectomy.

Between 1978 and 1984 a consecutive series of 571 patients with colorectal cancer were admitted to the First Department of Surgery of the University of Rome. Patients were divided into a group of 82 patients affected with obstructive cancer and a control group of 489 patients with non-obstructive tumors. In the obstructed group there was a significantly higher incidence of lesions localized in the left colon. Depending on the advancement of lesions a significantly higher incidence of Dukes D tumor, nodal involvement, hepatic metastases and peritoneal dissemination and a significantly lower incidence of Dukes A tumors, were found in the obstructed patients. No significant differences were found in the two groups according to age distribution, duration of symptoms and degree of differentiation of neoplasms. The mortality and morbidity rate were 9.7% and 12.2% respectively in the obstructed patients, and 3.5% and 8.3% respectively in the non-obstructed patients. The rate of complications was greater in the two groups when serum albumin values were under 3 g/l, being 40% vs. 3.3 and 20% vs. 5.2% in obstructed and nonobstructed groups respectively. When Hb levels were under 10 g/l the incidence of complications was 16.7% and 14.4% for the two groups, while when it was higher than 10 mg% the morbidity rate was 8.7% and 6.3% in obstructed and non-obstructed patients respectively. The execution of surgical treatment within 24 hours was related to a morbidity and mortality rate of 50% and 22.2% in obstructed patients, and 40% and 20% in the non-obstructed group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Thirty-four patients with metachronous colorectal cancer who underwent surgical procedures at the First and Fourth Department of Surgery of the University of Rome were reviewed. 55.9% of the patients developed a second carcinoma within five years after the first operation, and the time interval for the entire group ranged from 13 to 228 months. Adenomatous polyps occurred in 14 patients. Two patients developed a third metachronous cancer. We followed up eight patients using colonoscopy regularly. In this group we found two early cancers, five submucosal cancers and only one advanced tumor. In the other group we found 16 advanced cancers and ten submucosal cancer. The curability rate at second operation was 88.2%, and at the third 50%. The management of metachronous tumors should imply total colonoscopy, at a mean interval of 12-18 months.

Colorectal cancer is rare in patients under 40 years of age. We reviewed all colorectal cancer patients treated at the First Department of Surgery of the University of Rome, to determine the true incidence of large bowel cancer in young patients. During the period 1978-1984 a total of 571 patients were indexed. Out of these 44 were 39 years of age or less. A group of 527 patients 40 years of age or over served as a control. Neoplasms were localized in the right colon in 19 cases and in the left colon in 25 patients, in the young group. In the control group 178 patients presented neoplasms localized in the right colon, while 349 presented tumors localized in the left colon. According to tumor advancement in the young group tumor classification from A stage tumor through D stage was: 4, 6, 14, 5, 9, 6. In the control group 22 patients presented A stage tumors, 106 B1, 139 B2, 50 C1, 118 C2, 92 D tumors. The operability rate was 93.2% in the young group, and 92% in the old one. The operative mortality rate was 0% in the young group, and 2.5% in the old one. Four complications occurred in the young patients, and 57 in the old patients. The five years survival rate was 56.7% and 52.1% in young and old patients respectively. The results of our study indicate that there are no significant differences in prognosis and five years survival in young patients with colorectal cancer.