Long-Term Efficacy of Ethanol Ablation as Treatment of Metastatic Lymph Nodes From Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Context: Ethanol ablation (EA) is considered an alternative to surgery for metastatic lymph nodes from papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in selected patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of this treatment.

Design And Setting: Adult patients with PTC who had received EA in lymph node metastasis at a tertiary referral center, and were included in a published study from 2011, were invited to participate in this follow-up study.

Early detection of complications in pancreas transplants by microdialysis catheters, an observational feasibility study.

Background: Despite advances in immunosuppression and surgical technique, pancreas transplantation is encumbered with a high rate of complication and graft losses. Particularly, venous graft thrombi occur relatively frequently and are rarely detected before the transplant is irreversibly damaged.

Methods: To detect complications early, when the grafts are potentially salvageable, we placed microdialysis catheters anteriorly and posteriorly to the graft in a cohort of 34 consecutive patients.

From IBS to ME - The dysbiotic march hypothesis.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is often associated with other unexplained complaints like chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalopathy (ME). The pathogenesis of the relationship is unknown. Intestinal dysbiosis may be a common abnormality, but based on 1100 consecutive IBS patients examined over a nine years period, we hypothesize that the development of the disease, often from IBS to ME, actually manifests a "dysbiotic march".

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is associated with a transient increase of intratumoral T-cell density in microsatellite stable colorectal liver metastases.

Patients with colorectal liver metastases (CLM) commonly receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) prior to surgical resection. NACT may induce immunogenic cell death with subsequent recruitment of T-cells to the tumor microenvironment, which could be exploited by immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI). In theory, this could expand the use of ICI to obtain responses also in microsatellite stable colorectal cancer, but evidence to suggest optimal treatment schedules are lacking.

Portal vein reconstruction using primary anastomosis or venous interposition allograft in pancreatic surgery.

Objective: Superior mesenteric vein/portal vein (SMV/PV) resection and reconstruction during pancreatic surgery are increasingly common. Several reconstruction techniques exist. The aim of this study was to evaluate characteristics of patients and clinical outcomes for SMV/PV reconstruction using interposed cold-stored cadaveric venous allograft (AG+) or primary end-to-end anastomosis (AG-) after segmental vein resections during pancreatic surgery.

Molecular signatures reflecting microenvironmental metabolism and chemotherapy-induced immunogenic cell death in colorectal liver metastases.

Background: Metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with highly variable clinical outcome and response to therapy. The recently identified consensus molecular subtypes (CMS1-4) have prognostic and therapeutic implications in primary CRC, but whether these subtypes are valid for metastatic disease is unclear. We performed multi-level analyses of resectable CRC liver metastases (CLM) to identify molecular characteristics of metastatic disease and evaluate the clinical relevance.

Trends in indications, complications and outcomes for venous resection during pancreatoduodenectomy.

Background: Pancreatoduodenectomy with superior mesenteric-portal vein resection has become a common procedure in pancreatic surgery. The aim of this study was to compare standard pancreatoduodenectomy with pancreatoduodenectomy plus venous resection at a high-volume centre, and to examine trends in management and outcome over a decade for the latter procedure.

Methods: This retrospective observational study included all patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy with or without venous resection at Oslo University Hospital between January 2006 and December 2015.

Microbial trimethylamine--oxide as a disease marker: something fishy?

Production of trimethylamine--oxide (TMAO) via the gut microbiota has recently been proposed as an important pathophysiological mechanism linking ingestion of 'unhealthy foods', such as beef (containing carnitine) and eggs (containing choline), and the development of atherosclerosis. Hence, TMAO has gained attention as a novel biomarker for cardiovascular disease. However, fish and seafood contain considerable amounts of TMAO and are generally accepted as cardioprotective: a puzzling paradox that seems to have been neglected.

Systemic symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome: An investigative study on the role of enterocyte disintegrity, endotoxemia and inflammation.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is often accompanied by extra‑intestinal symptoms, including fatigue and musculoskeletal pain. The present study aimed to investigate whether these symptoms were associated with markers of enterocyte disintegrity, endotoxemia and inflammation. Patients with IBS were recruited consecutively from our outpatient clinic (n=94) and compared with a group of healthy controls (n=20).

Cold-stored cadaveric venous allograft for superior mesenteric/portal vein reconstruction during pancreatic surgery.

Background: SMV/PV resection has become common practice in pancreatic surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical feasibility and surgical outcome of using cold-stored cadaveric venous allografts (AG) for superior mesenteric vein (SMV) and portal vein (PV) reconstruction during pancreatectomy.

Methods: Patients who underwent pancreatic resection with concomitant vascular resection and reconstruction with AG between January 2006 and December 2014 were identified from our institutional prospective database.

Probiotic lactic acid bacteria - the fledgling cuckoos of the gut?

It is tempting to look at bacteria from our human egocentric point of view and label them as either 'good' or 'bad'. However, a microbial society has its own system of government - 'microcracy' - and its own rules of play. Lactic acid bacteria are often referred to as representatives of the good ones, and there is little doubt that those belonging to the normal intestinal flora are beneficial for human health.

Low serum levels of short-chain fatty acids after lactulose ingestion may indicate impaired colonic fermentation in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Background: Ingestion of low-digestible carbohydrates triggers symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These carbohydrates become substrates for microbial fermentation in the colon, yielding short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are readily absorbed. Aiming to compare colonic fermentation in patients with IBS and healthy controls, we analyzed the concentrations of SCFA in serum at fasting and 90 minutes following ingestion of an unabsorbable, but fermentable carbohydrate, lactulose.

Oatmeal porridge: impact on microflora-associated characteristics in healthy subjects.

Oatmeal porridge has been consumed for centuries and has several health benefits. We aimed to investigate the effect of oatmeal porridge on gut microflora functions. A total of ten healthy subjects ingested 60 g oatmeal porridge daily for 1 week.

Indole - the scent of a healthy 'inner soil'.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid with an indole nucleus. Humans cannot produce this amino acid themselves, but must obtain it through their diet. Much attention is currently paid to the wide physiological and clinical implications of the tryptophan-derived substances, serotonin and kynurenines, generated by human enzymes following the intestinal absorption of tryptophan.

Functional Gastrointestinal Symptoms Are Associated with Higher Serum Total IgE Levels, but Less Atopic Sensitization.

Background: The relation of gastrointestinal (GI) complaints to IgE-mediated allergy is not well understood. Increased numbers of "IgE-armed" mast cells have been observed in duodenal mucosa of patients with functional GI complaints.

Aims: To explore whether total IgE and atopic sensitization were associated with functional GI complaints.

[Underlying dysbiosis may be the cause of some forms of IBS. Patients were free of symptoms after the administration of microbiota].

Two cases of post-infectious IBS were successfully treated with transplantation of an anaerobic cultivated human intestinal microbiota. This suggests that a dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota could be the culprit at least in some cases of IBS. Resetting the gut microbiota might be a possible solution for these patients that otherwise may face a life-long reduction in quality of life.