Evaluation of 153 Asymptomatic Subjects Using the Anopress Portable Anal Manometry Device.

Background/aims: The Anopress device is a new portable manometry system. The aim of this study is to formulate normative data using this new device by recording the anorectal function of asymptomatic subjects. Patient comfort was also assessed.

Screening for Squamous Cell Anal Cancer in HIV Positive Patients: A Five-Year Experience.

Aim: Potential screening modalities for early diagnosis of squamous cell anal cancer (SCC) in HIV patients include digital anorectal examination (DARE), anal Papanicolaou testing (Pap test), human papilloma virus (HPV) co-testing, and high-resolution anoscopy. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the results of a five-year screening program for SCC in HIV patients.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 204 HIV patients who underwent a screening program for SCC from October 2010 to January 2015.

Indications for the laparoscopic approach to acute small bowel obstruction: A retrospective review of 50 cases, a literature review, and a single hospital's preliminary experience.

Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is mainly caused by postoperative adhesions, but a broad spectrum of diseases may cause this pathogenetic condition. Laparoscopic treatment represents an efficient approach to SBO. The aim of this paper was to review a single center's experience with a minimally invasive approach to multiple pathologic scenarios causing SBO.

Simultaneous Delorme's procedure and inter-sphinteric prosthetic implant for the treatment of rectal prolapse and faecal incontinence: preliminary experience and literature review.

Aim: Rectal prolapse is a distressing condition affecting mostly elderly patients and females. Delorme's procedure is frequently performed since it offers good results and is burdened by a particularly low morbidity. Faecal Incontinence is associated with prolapse in a large percentage of patients, due to the sphincter damage caused by the prolapsed rectum through the anal canal.

Prognostic value of preoperative neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio in patients resected for gastric cancer.

Background: The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the peripheral blood is considered an easily assessable prognostic factor in cancer patients. We evaluated the predictive significance of the NLR in patients affected by gastric cancer that underwent gastric resection.

Methods: From July 2003 to March 2012, 156 patients who had undergone gastrectomy with curative intent for gastric adenocarcinoma were included.

Recurrence of retroperitoneal Merkel cell carcinoma. A case report.

Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a neuroendocrine malignant neoplasm that usually has its primary location on the skin. It often metastasizes to lymph nodes, liver, lungs, bones and brain. Actually there have been few cases of MCC of the retroperitoneal region without a primary skin lesion.

Analysis of operative morbidity in a single center initial experience with cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

Background: Peritoneal carcinomatosis has been traditionally considered a rapidly lethal disease and consequently managed by merely palliative options. In the last decade, the clinical interest in the condition has increased because encouraging results have been reported in association with a new treatment strategy that combines cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Relatively high rates of severe complications are generally associated to this complex procedure.

Preliminary results of prophylactic HIPEC in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer.

Background: The prognosis of locally advanced Gastric Cancer following surgical therapy alone is poor. Peritoneum represents a preferential site of dissemination in such neoplasm. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has been used in association with cytoreductive surgery (CRS) in the treatment of GC peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC).

Prognostic value of the seventh AJCC/UICC TNM classification of non-cardia gastric cancer.

Background: The TNM staging criteria for gastric carcinoma have seen numerous revisions, the most recent of which are reflected in the seventh edition AJCC TNM cancer staging manual.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of the sixth and seventh TNM classification of gastric cancer on a prospective database, regarding patients operated on for primary gastric cancer, was conducted. The end point of the study was prognosis evaluation in terms of overall survival.

Epigenetic modulation by methionine deficiency attenuates the potential for gastric cancer cell dissemination.

Introduction: Methionine dependency occurs frequently in tumor cells. Here we have investigated the effect of methionine deficiency on metastatic potential of gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

Materials And Methods: Model of peritoneal carcinomatosis and xenograft was generated by intraperitoneal or subcutaneous implantation of gastric cancer cells in NOD-SCID mice.

Malignant ascites: pathophysiology and treatment.

Malignant ascites (MA) accompanies a variety of abdominal and extra-abdominal tumors. It is a primary cause of morbidity and raises several treatment challenges. MA has several symptoms, producing a significant reduction in the patient's quality of life: loss of proteins and electrolyte disorders cause diffuse oedema, while the accumulation of abdominal fluid facilitates sepsis.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for a symptomatic cholelithiasis in a patient presenting situs viscerum inversus totalis. A case report.

Introduction: Situs Viscerum Inversus totalis (SIT) is a rare anomaly with genetic predisposition, in which organs are translated, completely or partially, on the opposite side of the body. Generally there are no organic dysfunctions. Situs Inversus can cause difficulties in the diagnostic and therapeutic management of abdominal diseases because of the mirror-like anatomy.

Gene expression changes induced by HIPEC in a murine model of gastric cancer.

Background: Peritoneal carcinogenesis (PC) is the most frequent pattern of metastasis in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer. Despite this, there is a consensus on the use of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for the treatment of PC from gastric cancer. The molecular mechanisms involved in beneficial effects of HIPEC remain unexplored.

Mechanistic role of p38 MAPK in gastric cancer dissemination in a rodent model peritoneal metastasis.

Peritoneal dissemination is a highly frequent complication of poorly differentiated gastric cancers for which no effective therapies are available. Constitutive activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) signaling cascades is recognized as a causative factor in the malignant transformation of several carcinoma cell types. In the present study we provide evidence that p38 MAPK inhibition protects against gastric cancer cells dissemination in a mouse model of peritoneal carcinomatosis.

Do perioperative blood transfusions influence prognosis of gastric cancer patients? Analysis of 927 patients and interactions with splenectomy.

Background: This study was to assess the influence of perioperative blood transfusions on the prognosis of patients undergoing a potentially curative resection for gastric cancer and to investigate the interaction between transfusions and splenectomy.

Materials And Methods: Between January 1990 and December 2005, 927 patients from 6 Italian tertiary referral centers underwent curative resections for gastric cancer. Clinical and pathologic variables were prospectively collected.

Successful palliation of malignant ascites from peritoneal mesothelioma by laparoscopic intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy.

A variety of options have been proposed to treat malignant ascites but most of them have failed to reach a significant impact in terms of palliation. Laparoscopic hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (LHIPEC) could represent a good therapeutic tool for patients in whom medical therapies have failed and peritoneovenous shunting is contraindicated. Here we present a case of a 49-year-old woman with malignant ascites secondary to peritoneal spreading of a right pleural mesothelioma.

A diagnosis of pneumococcal peritonitis secondary to pyo-salpinx in a young healthy female by culturing peritoneal pus.

Pneumococcal intra-abdominal infections of female genital tract origin are rare. A 33-year-old woman with peritonitis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3 was reported. The patient did not have any of the known predisposing conditions for intra-abdominal pneumococcal infection.

Emerging role of transplantation for primary liver cancers.

Liver transplantation (LT) has been utilized in the treatment of primary hepatic malignancy for decades. Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) remains the most common malignant condition treated with LT, with almost 400 such transplants performed annually in the US. Refinement in the selection criteria for LT in patients with HCC has led to survival rates similar to those for LT in nonmalignant conditions.