Laparoscopic treatment of a gastric diverticulum

Gastric diverticula are rare disorders which present usually with vague upper abdominal symptoms. The diagnosis is based on endoscopic and radiologic findings, but it may remain uncertain until the operation. Herein we report the case of a 46-year-old woman with a diverticulum of the posterior aspect of the upper part of the gastric fundus, referred to our attention for epigastric pain. The preoperative work out evidenced a pouch of the gastric fundus which was misinterpreted as a paraesophageal or a diaphragmatic hernia. The operation was performed by laparoscopy with a 4-port technique and the diverticulum was resected by an endoscopic stapler. The patient is well and symptom-free more than two months after the operation.

Bloodless hepatic resection with automatic bipolar radiofrequency generator and multielectrode device

Liver resection is a standard treatment for liver tumours. Intra-operative blood loss remains a major concern during liver resection due to its association with higher postoperative complications and shorter long-term survival. To perform bloodless hepatic resection we realized an apparatus consisting of an incremental, bipolar radiofrequency generator and a probe with six in-line needles (SURTRON SB). Several ex-vivo and in-vivo pig liver experiments and a first-phase clinical study allowed the realization of a prototype radiofrequency (RF) generator that works at 470 kHz, 150 watts maximum power delivered. The probe consists of six needle electrodes of 1.5 mm diameter, with 4.5 mm free space, 6.0 mm centre to centre, between each. We obtained a coagulation of 35 mm length and 12 mm width. The transection was performed with a common scalpel after coagulation of liver parenchyma. We observed good healing of the liver edge both in animal model and in ongoing pilot clinical study. Coagulation with SURTRON SB allows a feasible, easy and safe bloodless liver resection. This method is tolerated with no systemic complication or adverse reaction. This technique offers a method for a bloodless hepatic transection without the need for sutures, ties, staples or tissue glue.

Alterations of P16 (MTS1) in node-positive non-small cell lung carcinomas

The status of the P16 gene was investigated by Southern blot, polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), and DNA sequencing analyses in 30 primary resected non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs) with metastatic involvement of thoracic lymph nodes and 33 NSCLCs without node metastases. Direct sequencing of tumour DNA samples scored positive by PCR-SSCP showed five somatic mutations of the P16 gene: four nonsense and one frameshift. The Southern blot analysis revealed the presence of a homozygous deletion of the P16 locus in one tumour. All of the six NSCLCs with somatic aberrations of the P16 gene belonged to the series of tumours with metastatic diffusion to thoracic lymph nodes. In each of these six cases, the genetic aberration was seen in both the primary tumour and the node metastasis. No P16 alteration was found in tumours without metastatic lymph nodes. This difference was statistically significant (P = 0.02). No correlation was present between P16 alterations and other clinicopathological parameters including age of patients, tumour size, histological type, and grade. In three tumours with genetic aberration of P16, there was a concomitant alteration of the p53 gene. Our results indicate that the P16 gene is infrequently mutated (10 per cent of the cases examined) in primary resected NSCLC. However, since P16 mutations were found only in metastatic tumours, they may be important events in late phases of tumour progression and could represent useful markers of tumour aggressiveness in NSCLC.

Bronchioloalveolar lung carcinomas: K-ras mutations are constant events in the mucinous subtype

Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) is a form of peripheral lung adenocarcinoma growing as a single layer of malignant cells along the walls of terminal airways. The existence of BAC as a separate clinico-pathological entity has been a matter of controversy, mainly because its histogenesis is uncertain and it is not easily distinguishable from conventional lung adenocarcinoma (CLA). Three subtypes of BAC have been described using histological and cytological criteria: mucinous, non-mucinous, and sclerosing. The clinical behaviour of BAC appears to be dependent on the histological subtype. The different morphological patterns and clinical outcome of the subtypes of BAC suggest that their biological behaviour may be different from one another and from CLA. This study has investigated 58 BACs (10 mucinous, 40 non-mucinous, and 8 sclerosing) and 50 control CLAs for mutations at codon 12 of the K-ras oncogene. Twenty-one (36 per cent) BACs and 13 (26 per cent) CLAs showed K-ras mutations. A clear association (P < 0.0001) between K-ras mutations and the mucinous type of BAC was observed: all 10 mucinous tumours examined were scored positive for mutations in the K-ras gene, while only 9 (23 per cent) of the 40 non-mucinous and 2 (25 per cent) of the 8 sclerosing BACs were found to be positive. The frequency of ras mutations in non-mucinous BAC, sclerosing BAC, and CLA was not statistically different. Our data indicate that BACs are a heterogeneous group of lung tumours and that the mucinous form might represent a biological entity separate from both the other two BAC types and CLA.