Search

Aim of the study: The accurate assessment of tumour size is an important consideration during preoperative evaluation of adrenal tumors, particularly incidentaloma; however the “size criteria” is still a controversial topic in some respects: size is a bad indicator of malignancy, there is still a confusion in the “grey zone” for tumors between 3 and 6 cm, and no universal consensus on the exact cut-off value for resection has been agreed. Nowadays it is clearly accepted that the “size criteria” alone is extremely limited in the assessment of adrenal tumor, moreover some studies suggested the relative inaccuracy of conventional CT in evaluating the size: radiological examination underestimated consistently adrenal tumor size. The aim of this study was to confirm those suggested data.Patients and methods: Our study compared the radiological estimated size and the histological size of 26 incidentaloma operated on with a laparoscopic approach.Results: Our data confirm the inaccuracy of CT and MRI in predicting the size of incidentaloma particularly for tumor measuring less than 3 cm. CT and MRI significantly underestimated size of adrenal tumors, 108% for MRI and 101% for CT-scan.Conclusion: The decision to operate, even with the advent and safety of laparoscopic adrenalectomy, cannot only rely on the “size criteria”. Radiologists have to perform multiple 1 mm cuts until the very superior and inferior tip of this tumor in order to provide a better estimation of the size. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The frequency of occurrence of ano-perineal fistulas, especially in the context of inflammatory bowel diseases, makes them a subject of growing interest, mainly because of the discomfort and medico-social impact they induce in patients who carry them. Their treatment depends on their extent and potential for evolution. MRI appears as the technique of first choice for their assessment and follow-up. After a brief technical review, we'll look at the anatomy and imaging assessment of ano-perineal fistulas in terms of inflammatory activity and healing, two important characteristics that could influence both the prognosis and the therapeutic strategy.

Alcohol consumption is the main cause of development of chronic pancreatitis and the second etiology of acute pancreatitis. The mortality of acute pancreatitis depends on its necrotic haemorrhagic character and the initial inflammatory response, while pain, malnutrition and diabetes are the main issues in the management of chronic pancreatitis. As medical and endoscopic techniques progress, surgical indications have become increasingly rare but remain indispensable for some patients. The multidisciplinary approach of these patients is the key to the success of care.

Palpable thyroid nodules are present clinically in 4-7% of the population and their prevalence increases to 50%-67% when using high-resolution neck ultrasonography. By contrast, thyroid carcinoma (TC) represents only 5-20% of these nodules, which underlines the need for an appropriate approach to avoid unnecessary surgery. Frozen section (PS) has been used for more than 40 years in thyroid surgery to establish the diagnosis of malignancy. However, a controversy persists regarding the accuracy of FS and its place in thyroid pathology has changed with the emergence of fine-needle aspiration (FNA). A PubMed Medline and SpringerLink search was made covering the period from January 2000 to June 2012 to assess the accuracy of ES, its limitations and indications for the diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Twenty publications encompassing 8.567 subjects were included in our study. The average value of TC among thyroid nodules in analyzed studies was 15.5 %. ES ability to detect cancer expressed by its sensitivity (Ss) was 67.5 %. More than two thirds of the authors considered PS useful exclusively in the presence of doubtful ENA and for guiding the surgical extension in cases confirmed as malignant by FNA; however, only 33% accepted FS as a routine examination for the management of thyroid nodules. The influence of FS on surgical reintervention rate in nodular thyroid pathology was considered to be negligible by most studies, whereas 31 % of the authors thought that FS has a favorable benefit by decreasing the number of surgical re-interventions. In conclusion, the role of FS in thyroid pathology evolved from a mandatory component for thyroid surgery to an optional examination after a pre-operative FNA cytology. The accuracy of FS seems to provide no sufficient additional benefit and most experts support its use only in the presence of equivocal or suspicious cytological features, for guiding the surgical extension in cases confirmed as malignant by FNA and for the identification of other potentially confusing intraoperative findings.

Cystic lymphangioma of the mesentery is a benign condition, probably of malformative origin, and frequently appearing in infancy. Its symptomatology can be very polymorphic. Its diagnosis is suspected by ultrasonography and computed tomography, and definitely confirmed by pathology. About a recent case of cystic lymphangioma of the mesentery diagnosed and operated on at the university hospital of Liège in an adult patient, the authors review its classification and its therapeutic strategy. Surgical resection is indicated in symptomatic cystic lymphangioma.

The epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is a rare malignant vascular lesion that may occur within the liver. In the hepatic multifocal and bilobar forms, liver transplantation is indicated as the curative management. In this case report, the authors describe the diagnosis and the management of a 52-year-old woman who was diagnosed with hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma and who underwent successful liver transplantation.

6000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed each year in Belgium. 50% of these patients shall develop liver metastasis. Resection remains the only chance of long term survival and must be considered as an endpoint from the beginning of the treatment. It is the result of a multidisciplinary discussion and a global approach of the disease. It is rarely directly feasible, but there are many techniques which may make it achievable in the end. Today, resection criteria are exclusively technical and neither bad prognosis factors, nor the presence of extra-hepatic metastases should exclude liver resection. This resection must be assessed by a confirmed hepatobiliary surgeon and must be proposed to all patients whatever their age as long as their general state of health is good.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is progressively replaces axillary conventional dissection for the treatment of breast cancer. In patients with small breast tumours avoiding axillary clearance and its potential morbidity is an important advance in the quality of care. The technique, detailed in this paper, is robust, safe and widely used today. Nevertheless it is not always well understood, and is in constant evolution regarding both the technique and the interpretation of its results.

Over the last 20 years, significant improvements in hepatic surgery and transplantation have allowed better results. Better patients selection, new preoperative modalities aiming at modifying the volume of the liver or the tumour, new surgical techniques, and better postoperative management are the keys to improved outcome. These progresses are reviewed in this article. In hepatic surgery, the latest surgical improvements are the possibility of laparoscopic hepatic resection and of radiofrequency ablation. Modern neoadjuvant chemotherapy may in some cases allow a reduction of large liver colorectal metastases and render them resectable. Improved radiological techniques allow better planning of the surgical resections, reduction of the risks by calculation of the residual liver mass, and induction of liver hypertrophy by preoperative portal embolisation. In liver transplantation, the most significant changes were the use of living related liver donors and of non-heart beating donors to overcome the cadaveric organ donor shortage.

The thyroid gland is highly vascularized and, in all Thyroid surgery, a special attention must be paid to haemos. tasis and coagulation. Any carelessness in the control of thyroid vessels can indeed entail serious consequences. In this respect, the ultrasonic scalpel represents a significant progress. In this paper, the ultrasonic dissector will first be presented. Then a prospective, randomized trial comparing the results obtained with this apparatus to those obtained with the conventional method of hemostasis in a series of 34 patients submitted to total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter will be summarized. Without increasing the costs, the ultrasonic dissector allows a saving of operative time as well as a reduction of peroperative bleeding and of postoperative use of antalgics. Finally, the results of 1696 total thyroidectomies performed with the use of the ultrasonic dissector will be briefly outlined.

Alveolar echinococcosis is a serious parasitic disease, leading to large hepatic lesions. It must be distinguished from cystic echinococcosis, or hydatic cyst, caused by Echinococcus granulosus. Early diagnosis may allow surgical removal of the lesions by segmental hepatectomy, the only curative treatment. Parasitostatic medical treatment with albendazole may promote stabilization of the disease. Until recently, Belgium was considered a country at very low risk for alveolar echinococcosis, as no human case was reported, despite up to 51% of fox infection in southern Belgium autopsy series. Recently four patients presented with alveolar echinococcosis at the University Hospital Center of Liege, leading to the fear of a possible alveolar echinococcosis endemy in southern Belgium. Two of these patients underwent curative hepatectomy, but the other two had already pulmonary metastases at diagnosis and received palliative albendazole therapy. This article presents these cases, and reviews the clinical features of this parasitic disease.

Pancreas transplantation has now become an established option in the treatment of diabetic complications. It normalizes glucose metabolism, prevents, stabilizes and improves the evolution of diabetes-associated lesions. Improvements in surgical procedure and in immunosuppression have better defined its indications. Combined kidney-pancreas transplantation appears today as the best treatment for the diabetic patient with end stage renal disease. Isolated pancreas transplantation is reserved to non-uremic patients with severe diabetic complications or with hyperlabile glycaemic control and severe impairment of quality of life.

Spontaneous rupture of the oesophagus, so called Boerhaave's syndrome, still remains a surgical emergency. Early diagnosis governs the appropriate repair and the vial prognosis.

The authors describe the case of a 17-year-old girl who suffered from end-stage liver failure due to chronic autoimmune hepatitis. Liver failure was complicated by severe portal hypertension, hypersplenism and refractory ascites. Liver transplantation was indicated. She was listed for cadaveric whole liver transplantation, but her infrequent blood group (B) increased waiting time. Her condition deteriorated to Child C liver failure and living related liver transplant was considered. Her father was compatible and proposed himself for donation. Right lobe procurement was decided in order to provide sufficient liver mass. No transfusion of red cells, platelets, or fresh frozen plasma was used either in the donor or the recipient. Both recipient and donor left the ward at postoperative day 14, without complication. They were both asymptomatic and with normal liver tests at one year follow-up. Living related liver transplantation using the right lobe may offer an alternative to liver transplant candidates in this period of organ donor shortage.

Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) arises from parafollicular C cells secreting calcitonin. MTC occurs both as sporadic tumors and as part of specific inherited autosomal dominant syndromes in which point mutations within a discrete set of RET codons were described. Total thyroidectomy and aggressive neck dissection represents the only chance for cure in the affected patients. Therefore, all patients with thyroid nodular disease should undergo measurement of calcitonin plasma levels to allow preclinical diagnosis of the disease and early appropriate surgery ("secondary prevention"). In case of proband patient for inherited disease, all the family members should be genetically screened to detect the disease gene carriers. Patients with germline mutation would benefit either from earlier surgery at the stage of C-cell hyperplasia or microcarcinoma or prophylactic surgery (total thyroidectomy without neck dissection) (primary prevention) before the onset of any C-cells pathology. The ideal age for performance of such prophylactic surgery is determined by the genotypic features of the disease.

Pancreatic injury after trauma can occur in the child as an isolated lesion after a minor injury. The consequences can be severe in the absence of prompt diagnosis and treatment. Determination of mechanism of injury, clinical examination, blood amylase levels and abdominal CT-scan are first line steps for the evaluation of the injury. ERCP and MRI can be useful tools to further document injury to the pancreatic duct. In the absence of duct injury, conservative treatment can be applied. For the other cases, the treatment is surgical although newer techniques may be applied in selected cases.

Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency is the most common inborn error of metabolism leading to liver transplantation, and the second cause of liver transplantation in children after biliary atresia. The authors report the case of a 6-year-old girl, who was suffering from end-stage liver disease secondary to alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. She was successfully treated by whole liver transplantation, the hepatic graft coming from a 3-year-old donor. Three months later she went back to school. The authors discuss the pathogenesis and the natural history of this frequent cause of liver transplantation in children.

Pancreas transplantation significantly improves the quality of life as well as the survival of the diabetic patient. It is also associated with stabilization and reversal of secondary diabetic complications. Improvements in organ preservation, surgical techniques and immunosuppression have achieved one-year graft survival of more than 90% for combined kidney-pancreas transplant and 80% for isolated pancreas transplantation. Recipient evaluation must weigh the benefits of the procedure with the risk associated with surgery and chronic immunosuppression. Combined kidney-pancreas transplantation appears today as the best treatment for the diabetic patient with end stage renal disease. Isolated pancreas transplantation is reserved to non-uremic patients with severe diabetic complications or with brittle glycaemic control and severe impairment of quality of life.

The mechanisms of cellular lesions induced by lung ischemia and reperfusion are not fully understood and, in particular, the consequences of pulmonary ischemia and reperfusion injury on mitochondrial function have not been previously investigated. Therefore, we studied the respiratory function of isolated pulmonary mitochondria in a swine model of lung ischemia and reperfusion. We demonstrated that prolonged hypothermic (4 degrees C) ischemia induces significant lesions of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, particularly if ischemia is followed by normothermic reperfusion. These results should be integrated in the cellular alterations induced by the ischemia-reperfusion injury. In another swine model mimicking controlled non-heart beating donors, we demonstrated that thirty minutes of cardiac arrest do not promote significant alteration of the mitochondrial respiratory function. In contrast, forty-five minutes of cardiac arrest, induced significant mitochondrial lesions. This pulmonary tolerance to normothermic cardiac arrest might be explained by the presence of air in the lung airways, allowing some aerobic metabolism after circulatory arrest. These results suggested that lung grafts might be harvested from non-heart beating donors after thirty minutes of cardiac arrest, significantly increasing the pulmonary graft pool.

Unlabelled: Retrospective studies have confirmed the feasibility and safety of thyroid and parathyroid procedures performed under hypnoanesthesia (hypnosis, local anesthesia and minimal conscious sedation) as sole method of anesthesia. This very effective technique seems to provide physiological, psychological and economic benefits for the patient., Study Aim: To assess, by means of a prospective randomized study, the advantages of hypnosedation as an alternative to general anesthesia in terms of clinical and laboratory parameters., Patients and Methods: Twenty patients operated under hypnoanesthesia were compared to 20 patients operated under conventional anesthesia. The two groups were compared in terms of inflammatory, neuroendocrine, hemodynamic and immunologic parameters and postoperative course (pain, fatigue, muscle strength and stress)., Results: No clinical or demographic differences were observed between the two groups. Operative times, bleeding, weight of specimens, and surgical comfort were similar. Significant differences in terms of inflammatory response and hemodynamic parameters were observed in favor of hypnoanesthesia. Neuroendocrine and immunological parameters were similar. Patients of the hypnoanesthesia group had significantly less postoperative pain. Postoperative fatigue syndrome and convalescence were significantly improved in these patients., Conclusion: This study confirms that, in our hands, hypnosedation presents real advantages over general anesthesia, in patients undergoing thyroid surgery.

Since 1992, we have used hypnosis routinely in more than 1400 procedures in plastic surgery. Our clinical success and experience with this technique led us to test wether hypnosis using active patient collaboration, could be used as an effective adjunct to conscious intravenous sedation ("hypnosedation", (HS)) for endocrine surgery, as an alternative to general anaesthesia. On a total of 1905 cervical endocrine surgical procedures performed between 1995 and 1998, 296 thyroidectomies and 33 cervical explorations for hyperparathyroidism were conducted under HS. Conversion to GA was needed in three cases (0.9%). All patients having HS reported a very pleasant experience and had significantly less postoperative pain while analgesic use was significantly reduced in this group. Hospital stay was also significantly shorter, providing a substantial reduction of the costs of medical care. The postoperative convalescence was significantly improved after HS and full return to social or professional activity was significantly shortened. We conclude that HS is a very efficient technique that provide physiological, psychological and economic benefits to the patient.

The orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) program of the University of Liège was initiated in 1986. Between 1986 and December 1998, 150 adult OLT have been performed in our institution, including 18 liver retransplantations, 1 combined heart and liver transplantation and 3 combined liver and kidney transplantations. The aim of this study was to report the last 3 years of our experience. From January 1996 to November 1998, we performed 50 OLT on 49 patients. Three were retransplantations and two were combined liver and kidney transplantations. Fourty-three patients were transplanted for chronic liver disease and 6 for acute or subacute hepatopathy. Mean waiting time on the list was 4 weeks. Immunosuppression was based on triple therapy (cyclosporin A/tacrolimus, steroids, azathioprine), with steroid and azathioprine withdrawal in most of the patients after 3 months. In the chronic liver disease group, operative (< 30 days) survival was 95% (peroperative myocardial infarction in 2 patients). In the acute liver disease group, postoperative survival was 66%. No perioperative death occurred in 1997 and 1998. Actuarial one year survival was 87%. In our experience, OLT has become a safe procedure.