Retained guidewire penetrating through the aorta into the thorax: an unusual cause of recurrent bilateral pneumothorax.

Although numerous complications of the Seldinger technique have been reported in the literature, only a few complications are related to guidewires. We here report a case of a patient with a guidewire lost and retained in the aorta during vertebral artery stenting. Unfortunately, the guidewire in the aorta was not detected for 5 years, and it penetrated through the aorta into the left thorax, leading to recurrent left pneumothorax.

Optimal submucosal invasion of early gastric cancer for endoscopic resection.

Background: A small differentiated gastric cancer with minute submucosal invasion after endoscopic resection is regarded as the curative resection criterion of an expanded indication. However, recent studies have shown a high incidence of lymph node metastasis in those meeting the expanded criteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of the 500 μm criterion and to determine an optimal cutoff value for the expanded indication.

Technical feasibility and safety of laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy in gastric cancer: a comparative study with laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy.

Background And Objective: Only a few surgeons with much experience of laparoscopic surgery perform laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG), because of its technical difficulty and concern about subsequent complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical feasibility and safety of LATG as compared with laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) in gastric cancer.

Methods: From January 2002 to December 2007, LADG was performed in 473 patients and LATG in 67 patients at the Korean National Cancer Center.