Prognostic value of systemic inflammation score in patients with esophageal cancer.

Introduction: The systemic inflammatory score (SIS), a new inflammatory marker based on a combination of the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) and serum albumin concentration, has been reported to be a useful prognostic marker for several malignancies. The authors conducted this retrospective study on data from a cohort of esophageal cancer patients undergoing potentially curative resection to clarify the value of SIS as a prognostic marker for clinical outcome in this population.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 32 patients who underwent thoracoscopic esophagectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for esophageal cancer between January 2016 and December 2019.

Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Esophagus Treated with Surgical Resection at an Early Stage.

Introduction: Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus is a very rare disease with a poor prognosis. We herein report a patient with primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus who underwent surgical resection.

Case Presentation: A 73-year-old female underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy during follow-up for colonic diverticulitis.

Adrenocortical carcinoma mimicking hepatocellular carcinoma: A case report.

Introduction And Importance: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a relatively rare tumor arising in the adrenal cortex. Its imaging and histopathologic findings are not well known to be similar to those of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We report here a case of ACC with hepatic resection in the preoperative diagnosis of HCC.

Prognostic Impact of Relative Dose Intensity of Adjuvant Chemotherapy With S-1 on Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Background/aim: Although adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) with S-1 is currently the standard treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in Japan, the associations between its relative dose intensity (RDI) and survival outcomes remain unclear.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed 310 patients with PDAC who had undergone pancreatectomy from January 2014 to June 2020 at three institutions. Of these, patients who had received adjuvant S-1 monotherapy were analyzed.

Hepatocellular carcinoma with situs inversus totalis treated by caudate lobectomy: A case report.

Introduction: Situs inversus totalis (SIT) is a congenital anatomical variant in which organs and vasculature are positioned in a mirror-image relationship to the normal condition. Therefore, the surgical procedures need to be carefully planned with these factors in mind.

Case Presentation: A 57-year-old man with SIT was diagnosed with a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and was planned for caudate lobectomy.

Application of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy for normal anatomy after hiatal hernia repair: A case report.

We describe a case of pancreatic tumor associated with a giant type IV hiatal hernia that had prolapsed into the posterior mediastinum. Hiatal hernia repair should be performed first because it enables laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy to be performed in the normal anatomical position.

A case of retroperitoneal abscess caused by infection of urachal remnant.

Infection of urachal remnant may cause recurrent abscesses. In the current case report, we describe a urachal remnant infection leading to a retroperitoneal abscess, which is an extremely rare condition. In such cases, the recommended treatment is urachal remnant resection.

Carcinosarcoma of the Thoracic Esophagus That Presented as Focal Ulcerative Lesion.

Esophageal carcinosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor composed of both carcinomatous and sarcomatous elements. We report a case of esophageal carcinosarcoma in a 56-year-old woman with dysphagia. Esophageal ulcerative tumors were detected by endoscopy and resected by thoracoscopic esophagectomy.

Integrated GWAS and mRNA Microarray Analysis Identified IFNG and CD40L as the Central Upstream Regulators in Primary Biliary Cholangitis.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in European and East Asian populations have identified more than 40 disease-susceptibility genes in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). The aim of this study is to computationally identify disease pathways, upstream regulators, and therapeutic targets in PBC through integrated GWAS and messenger RNA (mRNA) microarray analysis. Disease pathways and upstream regulators were analyzed with ingenuity pathway analysis in data set 1 for GWASs (1,920 patients with PBC and 1,770 controls), which included 261 annotated genes derived from 6,760 single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( < 0.

Predictors of portal and splenic vein thrombosis after laparoscopic splenectomy: a retrospective analysis of a single-center experience.

Purpose: Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) has become the standard operative approach for splenectomy. Portal or splenic vein thrombosis (PSVT) is a serious and common complication after LS, and lethal complications of PSVT can occur when the portal vein is completely occluded by portal vein thrombosis (PVT). We aimed to clarify the predictors of PSVT after LS and to determine which of them were also predictors of PVT.

The long-term survival in primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma: a case report.

Background: Primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (PRMC) is extremely rare, and its biological behavior, pathogenesis, optimum treatments, and prognosis remain to be elucidated. We herein report a case of PRMC with an 80-month follow-up.

Case Presentation: A 29-year-old woman was diagnosed with unknown retroperitoneal tumor with benign right ovarian cyst and uterine fibroids, and she underwent laparotomy.

A Donor Age-Based and Graft Volume-Based Analysis for Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Elderly Recipients.

Background: Given the expected increase in the number of elderly recipients, details regarding how clinical factors influence the outcome in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for the elderly remain unclear. We examined the survival outcomes according to the results of donor age-based and graft volume-based analyses and assessed the impact of prognostic factors on the survival after LDLT for elderly recipients.

Methods: The 198 adult recipients were classified into 2 groups: an elderly group (n = 70, E group; ≥ 60 years of age) and a younger group (n = 128, Y group; <60 years of age).

A Modified Method for Purifying Gallbladder Epithelial Cells Using Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting.

Background: We have previously reported a procedure for isolating and culturing biliary epithelial cells (BECs). The aim of this study was to reconsider the method for obtaining pure BECs using the mouse gallbladder.

Materials And Methods: Cells that were obtained from the gallbladder alone were sorted by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for purifying based on the expression of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM).

Safety and efficacy of postoperative pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis with enoxaparin after pancreatic surgery.

Purpose: Pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis is recommended for preventing pulmonary embolism according to some abdominal surgery guidelines. However, few reports have so far described pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis after pancreatic surgery. In addition, concern remains regarding postoperative bleeding due to pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis.

Analysis of early relaparotomy following living donor liver transplantation.

We retrospectively analyzed the causes, risk factors, and impact of early relaparotomy after adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) on the posttransplant outcome. Adult recipients who underwent initial LDLT at our institution between August 1997 and August 2015 (n = 196) were included. Any patients who required early retransplantation were excluded.

Triple-drug therapy to prevent pancreatic fistula after pancreatectomy in a rat model.

Background: Pancreatic fistula (PF) is one of post-operative complications in pancreatic surgery, but there is no consensus about the optimal treatment for PF. Our group has established a rat model of PF, and we conducted the present investigation to determine the efficacy of the triple-drug therapy (somatostatin analogue, gabexate mesilate, and imipenem/cilastatin) against PF using our rat model.

Methods: In the PF rat model, the triple-drug therapy was administered to the treated (T) group (n = 4), and we compared the results with those of a control (C) group (n = 4).

Human Fibroblast Sheet Promotes Human Pancreatic Islet Survival and Function In Vitro.

In previous work, we engineered functional cell sheets using bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) to promote islet graft survival. In the present study, we hypothesized that a cell sheet using dermal fibroblasts could be an alternative to MSCs, and then we aimed to evaluate the effects of this cell sheet on the functional viability of human islets. Fibroblast sheets were fabricated using temperature-responsive culture dishes.

Does the development of chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury affect the prognosis after living donor liver transplantation?

Background And Aims: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI) have been discussed as complications following living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among CKD, AKI, and the prognosis after LDLT.

Methods: This study included 118 patients who underwent LDLT in our department.

Duodenal tubular resection using laparoscopic-endoscopic cooperative surgery: A new technique for the treatment of duodenal lesions.

Introduction: Laparoscopic-endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS) is a minimally invasive surgical technique that combines the advantages of laparoscopic surgery and endoscopic treatment. LECS has been developed for treatment of gastric submucosal tumors and can be applied to superficial non-ampullary duodenal tumors. Here we describe the use of LECS for duodenal mucosal cancer.

Relationship between immune function recovery and infectious complications in patients following living donor liver transplantation.

Aim: The ImmuKnow (IK) assay enables the evaluation of peripheral blood CD4(+) adenosine triphosphate activity to facilitate an objective assessment of the cellular immune function in immunosuppressed patients. However, it is unclear whether the IK assay is utilized during the acute postoperative periods following living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

Methods: The IK values of 43 LDLT recipients were measured during the month following LDLT to evaluate the relationship between the measured IK values and infectious events.

CD4 T lymphocyte counts in patients undergoing splenectomy during living donor liver transplantation.

Unlabelled: The role of splenectomy in increasing the CD4-positive T lymphocyte counts (hereafter: CD4 counts) and the CD4 to CD8 ratio have not yet been fully investigated, especially in the case of HIV-positive patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT).

Methods: The change in the total lymphocyte counts of 32 patients who underwent one-stage splenectomy with living donor (LD) LT with (n=13) or without rituximab (RTX, n=19) therapy were examined to validate our cohort of ABO-incompatible LDLT with RTX. Subsequently, perioperative changes in CD4 counts and the CD 4 to CD8 ratio were measured in 13 patients who underwent ABO-incompatible LDLT/RTX with splenectomy.

Sox9 expression in carcinogenesis and its clinical significance in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas develop through a multi-step carcinogenesis. Precancerous lesions are defined as biliary intraepithelial neoplasia. Sex determining region Y-box9 (Sox9) is required for the normal differentiation of the biliary tract.

Effective balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration of the superior mesenteric vein-inferior vena cava shunt in a patient with hepatic encephalopathy after living donor liver transplantation.

Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) has become a common and effective procedure for treating hepatic encephalopathy due to a portosystemic shunt related to cirrhosis of the liver. However, this method of treatment has rarely been reported in patients after liver transplantation. Here, we report the case of a 52-year-old patient who underwent living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) due to hepatitis C virus-infected hepatocellular carcinoma that was complicated with portal vein thrombosis and a large portosystemic shunt between the superior mesenteric vein (SMV) and inferior vena cava (IVC).