A Historical Cohort in Kidney Transplantation: 55-Year Follow-Up of 72 HLA-Identical, Donor-Recipient Pairs.

The impact of HLA matching on graft survival has been well characterized in renal transplantation, with a higher degree of matching associated with superior graft survival. Additionally, living donor grafts are known to confer superior survival compared to those from deceased donors. The purpose of this study is to report our multi-decade institutional experience and outcomes for patients who received HLA-identical living donor grafts, which represent the most favorable scenario in kidney transplantation.

Efficacy of repeat sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients who develop recurrent melanoma.

Background: Even after negative sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for primary melanoma, patients who develop in-transit (IT) melanoma or local recurrences (LR) can have subclinical regional lymph node involvement.

Study Design: A prospective database identified 33 patients with IT melanoma/LR who underwent technetium 99m sulfur colloid lymphoscintigraphy alone (n = 15) or in conjunction with lymphazurin dye (n = 18) administered only if the IT melanoma/LR was concurrently excised.

Results: Seventy-nine percent (26 of 33) of patients undergoing SLNB in this study had earlier removal of lymph nodes in the same lymph node basin as the expected drainage of the IT melanoma or LR at the time of diagnosis of their primary melanoma.

Does protected research time during general surgery training contribute to graduates' career choice?

A number of general surgery training programs offer a dedicated research experience during the training period. There is much debate over the importance of these experiences with the added constraints placed on training surgeons including length of training, Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education limitations, and financial barriers. We seek to quantify the impact of a protected research experience on graduates of a university-affiliated general surgery training program.

Current trends in regional therapy for melanoma: lessons learned from 225 regional chemotherapy treatments between 1995 and 2010 at a single institution.

Background: Hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP) and isolated limb infusion (ILI) are used to manage advanced extremity melanoma, but no consensus exists as to which treatment is preferable and how to monitor patients post-treatment.

Study Design: Using a prospectively maintained database, we reviewed our experience with melphalan-based HILP (which included 62 first-time and 10 second-time) and ILI (which included 126 first-time and 18 second-time) procedures performed in 188 patients. PET/CT was obtained 3 months postregional treatment for 1 year and then every 6 months thereafter.

Pediatric melanoma: a single-institution experience of 150 patients.

Purpose: Differentiating pigmented skin lesions from malignant melanoma in the pediatric population has been a challenge. Despite guidelines describing clinical features and histopathologic criteria to distinguish these lesions, misdiagnoses still occur. We report our experience over 30 years in a pediatric population with malignant melanoma.