A regional audit of iatrogenic perforation of tumours of the oesophagus and cardia.

Introduction: With the rising incidence of oesophageal cancer, palliative treatment has an increasingly important role. With median survival unlikely to exceed 6 months, in advanced disease the palliative therapy chosen must not hasten patient's demise.

Aim: To establish the outcome of both modern and historical palliative treatment in oesophageal tumours, with emphasis on the aetiology and outcome of iatrogenic perforation.

Continuing rising trend in oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

Our study provides an update of the incidence of oesophageal cancer in the West Midland region of England and Wales from 1992-96. A total of 2,671 cases of oesophageal cancer were identified during the 5-year study period, with an age-standardised annual incidence (ASR) of 5.24 per 100,000 (95% CI: 5.

Surgical workload and outcome after resection for carcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia.

Background: Performing cancer surgery in high-volume centres may lead to improved outcomes. This study explored the relationship between annual workload and outcome following resection for carcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia.

Methods: The study was a retrospective case-note review of 1125 patients who had surgery for cardio-oesophageal cancer in the West Midlands region of England.

Current nature and management of cancer of the oesophagus and cardia.

Aims: To inform the debate about upper gastrointestinal cancer care in the UK, the incidence of cancer of the oesophagus and cardia (OGJ) was determined in the West Midlands, a region covering 10 per cent of England and Wales, with particular reference to the methods of treatment. METHODS: The case-notes of 2776 patients diagnosed with oesophageal and OGJ cancer in the 5 years from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1996 were scrutinized by one experienced surgeon. Tumour types were classified by histology and site, and treatment modalities assessed for 30-day mortality rate together with life-table analyses.

Duodenal diversion with vagotomy and antrectomy for severe or recurrent reflux oesophagitis and stricture: an alternative to operation at the hiatus.

In cases of mild symptomatic gastro-oesophageal reflux, standard antireflux surgery, such as fundoplication or the Angelchik prosthesis, produces satisfactory results. Duodenal diversion is recommended for use only in patients with severe oesophageal damage. This situation commonly arises where the gastro-oesophageal junction cannot be reduced into the abdomen, or where previous surgery has made reoperation at the hiatus difficult and hazardous.

Randomized prospective trial of the Angelchik anti-reflux prosthesis.

Fifty-two patients with reflux oesophagitis resistant to medical treatment were randomized at operation to receive either the Angelchik prosthesis or a fundoplication. All patients were assessed postoperatively by a physician unaware of the nature of the operation. Forty-two patients have been followed up for 1-2 years; ten patients for 3-9 months.

Randomized prospective trial of Roux-en-Y duodenal diversion versus fundoplication for severe reflux oesophagitis.

It is not widely recognized that duodenal contents are implicated in the causation of severe reflux oesophagitis and stricture formation in patients with hiatus hernia. In a randomized prospective trial, including only patients with severe oesophageal changes, standard Nissen fundoplication has been compared with antrectomy and Roux-en-Y reconstruction. Twenty-two patients were randomized to each group.

Hiatus hernia and heartburn.

The symptoms in a group of 80 patients with a pure sliding hiatus hernia were investigated using the pyloric regulation test (Capper, Airth, and Kilby, 1966). It was found that there was a high correlation between the symptoms of heartburn and the reflux of duodenal barium into the stomach.