[Measurement of disease-related knowledge of patients with axial spondyloarthritis-Development and application of the G-ASKQ7 questionnaire].

Background And Objective: Patient education is an integral component of the treatment of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). However, the validated tools currently available for assessing disease-related knowledge are outdated and, in the case of axSpA, only available in English. The aims of this work were therefore (1) to develop a German-language tool for assessing disease-specific knowledge among axSpA patients and (2) to assess this tool in a pilot study.

Ghost-ileostomy versus conventional loop ileostomy in patients undergoing low anterior resection for rectal cancer: results of a randomised controlled multicentre pilot trial (DRKS00013997).

Purpose: The objective of the current pilot trial was to evaluate whether ghost ileostomy is a safe alternative to the current standard of care in terms of a conventional loop ileostomy in patients undergoing low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision (LAR/TME) for rectal cancer.

Methods: This randomized controlled pilot trial included patients undergoing LAR/TME, randomly assigning them to ghost ileostomy or conventional loop ileostomy intraoperatively. Follow-up spanned 6 months, evaluating the following endpoints: comprehensive complication index (CCI), postoperative morbidity, transformation of ghost ileostomy, presence of ostomy at 6 months, Wexner score, and quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 & CR29).

Alloplastic Vascular Grafts for Venous Interposition in Pancreatic Surgery: Readily Available and Reliable.

Objective: To investigate patency and clinical outcomes of alloplastic and other venous interposition graft materials in pancreatic surgery.

Background: Vascular pancreatic surgery is increasingly performed for locally advanced pancreatic neoplasms. Different than other centers, we prefer to use alloplastic vascular graft materials for superior mesenteric vein and portal vein interposition in pancreatic surgery.

Impact of Psychosocial Resources on Mental Health During the Transition From the Initial Rehabilitation to Community: The Case of Spinal Cord Injury.

Objectives: This study aims to examine the change in mental health from the clinical to community setting in persons with spinal cord injury and to identify the role of psychosocial resources for this transition.

Design: Longitudinal survey self-report data from N = 240 persons with spinal cord injury from the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort study.

Results: Latent profile analysis identified three profiles for each the clinical and the community setting: low, medium, and high mental health load.

[Outpatient cholecystectomy as the next step? : Discussion and possible criteria in the selection of patients].

Background: While laparoscopic cholecystectomy has largely been performed in an outpatient setting in some countries for years, in Germany it is still generally performed on an inpatient basis; however, with the progressive ambitions for more outpatient treatment within the German healthcare system, laparoscopic cholecystectomy will (have to) increasingly be performed on an outpatient basis in the upcoming years.

Aim Of The Work: Presentation of the current framework conditions and the potential for outpatient performance of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Germany. Presentation and discussion on the current state of knowledge regarding patient selection, treatment pathways and safety of outpatient laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Purinergic control of apical ion conductance by luminal ATP in rat colonic epithelium.

ATP, released e.g. after cell damage or during inflammation, can alter ion transport across the intestinal mucosa via stimulation of purinergic receptors in the basolateral as well as in the apical membrane of epithelial cells.

Time-dependent effects of tumor necrosis factor α on Ca-dependent secretion in murine small intestinal organoids.

Background: Intestinal organoids are stem cell-derived, 3D "mini-guts" with similar functions as the native intestinal epithelium such as electrolyte transport or establishment of an epithelial barrier. During intestinal inflammation, epithelial functions are dysregulated by proinflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and other messengers from the immune system resulting in a loss of electrolytes and water due to an impaired epithelial barrier and higher net secretion.

Methods: A murine small intestinal organoid model was established to study (long-term) effects of TNFα on the intestinal epithelium using live imaging, immunohistochemical staining and qPCR.

Robotic versus open partial pancreatoduodenectomy (EUROPA): a randomised controlled stage 2b trial.

Background: Open partial pancreatoduodenectomy (OPD) represents the current gold standard of surgical treatment of a wide range of diseases of the pancreatic head but is associated with morbidity in around 40% of cases. Robotic partial pancreatoduodenectomy (RPD) is being used increasingly, yet, no randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of RPD versus OPD have been published, leaving a low level of evidence to support this practice.

Methods: This investigator-initiated, exploratory RCT with two parallel study arms was conducted at a high-volume pancreatic centre in line with IDEAL recommendations (stage 2b).

Thoracic Epidural Analgesia Is Not Associated With Improved Survival After Pancreatic Surgery: Long-Term Follow-Up of the Randomized Controlled PAKMAN Trial.

Background: Perioperative thoracic epidural analgesia (EDA) and patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) are common forms of analgesia after pancreatic surgery. Current guidelines recommend EDA over PCIA, and evidence suggests that EDA may improve long-term survival after surgery, especially in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether perioperative EDA is associated with an improved patient prognosis compared to PCIA in pancreatic surgery.

Gasotransmitters do not prevent changes in transepithelial ion transport induced by hypoxia followed by reoxygenation.

Objectives: How gaseous signalling molecules affect ion transport processes contributing to the physiological functions of the gastrointestinal tract under hypoxic conditions still needs to be clarified. The objective of the present study was to characterize the impact of gaseous signalling molecules on parameters of colonic ion transport during a hypoxia/reoxygenation cycle and the remaining secretory capacity of the epithelium after such a cycle.

Methods: Short-circuit current (I) and tissue conductance (G) recordings in Ussing chamber experiments were performed on rat colon samples using CORM-2 (putative CO donor; 35 and 350 µM), sodium nitroprusside (NO donor; 100 µM), NaHS (fast HS donor; 10 - 1,000 µM), GYY 4137 (slow HS donor; 50 µM) and Angeli's salt (HNO donor; 100 µM) as donors for gasotransmitters.

The PAncreatic Surgery Composite Endpoint PACE - Development and Validation of a Clinically Relevant Endpoint Requiring Lower Sample Sizes.

Objective: To provide a composite endpoint in pancreatic surgery.

Summary Background Data: Single endpoints in prospective and randomized studies have become impractical due to their low frequency and the marginal benefit of new interventions.

Methods: Data from prospective studies were used to develop (n=1273) and validate (n=544) a composite endpoint based on postoperative pancreatic fistula, post-pancreatectomy hemorrhage as well as reoperation and reinterventions.

Oncological recurrence following pathological complete response after neoadjuvant treatment in patients with esophageal cancer - a retrospective cohort study.

Background: To evaluate recurrence in patients with post-neoadjuvant pathological complete response (pCR) and in patients with complete response of primary tumor but persisting lymphatic spread of disease (non-pCR, ypT0ypN +) of esophageal cancer.

Methods: Seventy-five patients (63 pCR, 12 non-pCR) were analyzed retrospectively. Pattern and incidence of local and distant recurrence as well as the impact on overall (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were evaluated.

Postoperative Hiatal Hernia after Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy-A Growing Problem in the Age of Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Background: Even though minimally invasive esophagectomy is a safe and oncologically effective procedure, several authors have reported an increased risk of postoperative hiatal hernia (PHH). This study evaluates the incidence and risk factors of PHH after hybrid minimally invasive (HMIE) versus open esophagectomy (OE).

Methods: A retrospective single-center analysis was performed on patients who underwent Ivor Lewis esophagectomy between January 2009 and April 2018.

Proximal gastrectomy and double-tract reconstruction vs total gastrectomy in gastric and gastro-esophageal junction cancer patients - a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021291500).

Background: In Germany and Western Europe, gastroesophageal junction cancer (AEG) and proximal gastric cancer are currently treated with (transhiatal-extended) total gastrectomy (TG) according to the latest treatment guidelines. TG leads to a severe and long-lasting impairment of postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the treated patients. Recent studies have suggested that HRQoL of these patients could be improved by proximal gastrectomy with double-tract reconstruction (PG-DTR) without compromising oncologic safety.

Conventional partial pancreatoduodenectomy versus an extended pancreatoduodenectomy (triangle operation) for pancreatic head cancers-study protocol for the randomised controlled TRIANGLE trial.

Background: Pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth most frequent cause of cancer-related death in the Western world, and its incidence is rising. In patients that undergo curative resection, local recurrence (LR) is frequent. A recently described surgical technique of extended pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) termed the TRIANGLE operation has been proposed as a promising approach to reduce LR and improve disease-free survival in PDAC patients.

Overall morbidity after total minimally invasive keyhole oesophagectomy versus hybrid oesophagectomy (the MICkey trial): study protocol for a multicentre randomized controlled trial.

Background: Oesophageal cancer (EC) is the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Oesophageal resection is the only curative treatment option for EC which is frequently performed via an abdominal and right thoracic approach (Ivor-Lewis operation). This 2-cavity operation is associated with a high risk of major complications.

Interfacial Electrostatic Self-Assembly of Amyloid Fibrils into Multifunctional Protein Films.

Amyloid fibrils have generated steadily increasing traction in the development of natural and artificial materials. However, it remains a challenge to construct bulk amyloid films directly from amyloid fibrils due to their intrinsic brittleness. Here, a facile and general methodology to fabricate macroscopic and tunable amyloid films via fast electrostatic self-assembly of amyloid fibrils at the air-water interface is introduced.

Pathological complete response in multimodal treatment of esophageal cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

To evaluate pathological complete response (pCR, ypT0ypN0) after neoadjuvant treatment compared with non-complete response (non-CR) in patients with esophageal cancer (EC), and 393 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Survival probability was analyzed in patients with: (i) pCR vs non-CR; (ii) complete response of the primary tumor but persisting lymphatic metastases (non-CR-T0N+) and (iii) pCR and tumor-free lymphnodes exhibiting signs of postneoadjuvant regression vs. no signs of regression.

Systematic review and meta-analysis comparing proximal gastrectomy with double-tract-reconstruction and total gastrectomy in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer patients: Still no sufficient evidence for clinical decision-making.

Background: To compare proximal gastrectomy with double-tract reconstruction and total gastrectomy in patients with gastroesophageal junction (AEG II-III) and gastric cancer.

Methods: We conducted systematic searches in Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library until December 20, 2021 (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021291500). Risk of bias was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool and the ROBINS-I tool, as applicable.

Atropine-functionalized gold nanoparticles binding to muscarinic receptors after passage across the intestinal epithelium.

Gold nanoparticles have a high potential to be a treatment of diseases by their specific drug delivery properties and multivalent receptor stimulation. For the present project, spherical gold nanoparticles were synthesized and functionalized with the muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine (Au-MUDA-AT NPs). The diameter of the gold core could precisely be controlled by using different synthetic methods and reducing agents resulting in functionalized gold nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 8 to 16 nm.

Multivalent stimulation of β-, but not β-receptors by adrenaline functionalised gold nanoparticles.

In this study, we present a strategy for the synthesis of catecholamine functionalised gold nanoparticles and investigated their multivalent interactions with adrenergic receptors in different biological systems. The catecholamines adrenaline and noradrenaline represent key examples of adrenergic agonists. We used gold nanoparticles as carriers and functionalised them on their surface with a variety of these neurotransmitter molecules.

Proteinase-activated receptors regulate intestinal functions in a segment-dependent manner in rats.

Proteinases released e.g. during inflammatory or allergic responses affect gastrointestinal functions via proteinase-activated receptors such as PAR1 and PAR2.