Minimally invasive repair for pectus excavatum in adults.

Background: The purpose of this study is to review the minimally invasive pectus excavatum repair in adults to determine the safety and effectiveness.

Methods: An Institutional Review Board approved chart review identified patients 17 years or older who underwent minimally invasive pectus excavatum repair (MIPER) between January 1999 and January 2004.

Results: Nineteen patients underwent MIPER.

Pancreatic pseudocyst in children: the impact of management strategies on outcome.

Introduction: Persistent pancreatic pseudocysts (PPs) are rare in childhood and management tends to be individualized. The purpose of this review is to determine the impact of different management strategies and to analyze their effects on patient outcomes.

Methods: An institutional review board-approved retrospective chart review was performed on children younger than 18 years who had PP diagnosed between January 1976 and December 2003.

Evaluation and management of pain in patients with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome: a review.

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) is a rare disorder that consists of a triad of capillary vascular malformation, venous malformations and/or varicose veins, and soft tissue and/or bony hypertrophy. Pain is a real and debilitating problem in these patients. We have observed 9 common causes of pain in KTS: (1) chronic venous insufficiency, (2) cellulitis, (3) superficial thrombophlebitis, (4) deep vein thrombosis, (5) calcification of vascular malformations, (6) growing pains, (7) intraosseous vascular malformation, (8) arthritis, and (9) neuropathic pain.

Raised plasma endostatin levels correlate inversely with breast cancer angiogenesis.

Background: Angiogenesis is essential for solid tumors, such as breast cancer, to grow. The effect of surgical removal of breast tumors on plasma endostatin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels was evaluated. Tumor tissues were analyzed for expression of Intratumoral microvessel density (IMVD) and endostatin.