[Is it possible to improve survival in patients with Klatskin tumors?].

Background: This retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate if a high resectability rate could improve the long-term outcome of patients with proximal bile duct cancer.

Methods: Between 1985 and 2001, 50 patients (34 males and 16 females) with proximal bile duct cancer were treated. The tumor site were classified according to Bismuth-Corlette's classification: 9 lesions (18%) were Bismuth type I, 23 lesions (46%) type II, 12 lesions (24%) Type IIIa, 5 lesions (10%) type IIIb and only 1 resected tumor (2%) was type IV.

Endoscopic palliation of esophageal and cardial cancer: neodymium-yttrium aluminum garnet laser therapy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of laser palliation on symptoms such as dysphagia and bleeding in patients with esophageal and cardial carcinomas. From November 1992 to October 1997, 174 patients with unresectable esophageal and cardial carcinomas were treated with neodymium-yttrium aluminum garnet laser therapy. The indications for palliative treatment were advanced tumor in 96 patients and high surgical risk in 78.

[Palliative treatment of esophageal and cardial carcinoma].

Recent series reported increasing incidence of esophageal and cardial cancers with prognosis still severe in spite of surgical progress. The late diagnosis reduces the chance of radical surgery; on the other hand about 80-90% of patients develop local or distant recurrence. Therefore the treatment of esophageal and cardial cancer is often palliative: surgical resection is reserved only to selected cases.

[Lithiasic, congenital, choledochal dilatation: problems of diagnosis and therapy].

We report a case of a 30-year old female with congenital lithiasic choledochal dilatation which was not diagnosed at the ultrasonographic examination. Congenital biliary dilatation abnormalities are rare and may clinically present with episodic biliary colics or more rarely with recurrent pancreatis. Ultrasound, CT-scanning and ERCP usually make these anatomic alterations evident but in some cases there may be some doubt despite the vast range of radiological techniques available (PTC, Tc99m-Isida scinti-scan).

[Timing in disorders associated to tracheo-pulmonary pathology].

Although a wide variety of extrathoracic pathologies may be associated to tracheo-pulmonary lesions, this paper draws attention to tumour pathologies due to their frequency and the difficulties involved in their treatment in relation to the question of "whether to carry out treatment" as well as the importance of timing. This dual nature is particular true of malignant conditions, since the lung may be the site of primary tumours and metastasis. The most frequent associations reported in the literature are tumours of the upper airways-digestive tract and colon carcinoma.