Effect of total mesorectal excision on the outcome of rectal cancer after standardized postoperative radiochemotherapy: do randomized studies translate into clinical routine?

Purpose: To compare local control, disease-free survival and overall survival after postoperative radiochemotherapy with or without total mesorectal excision (TME) in a retrospective analysis.

Patients And Methods: Between 1993 and 2002, 103 patients with UICC stage II and III rectal cancer were treated by surgery and postoperative chemoradiation. Group B (n = 50; 1993-1998) were operated before TME era without using TME and group A (n = 53; 1998-2002) with TME; both groups received identical radiochemotherapy to a total dose of 50.

[Specificity of "combi-effect" after xenogenic discordant heart-lung transplantation].

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the "Combi-Effect" is specific for the transplanted lung tissue or not.

Method: In a Guinea-pig to rat model we compared the heterotopic heart-lung transplantation (HLTx, n = 5) with a second heart transplantation (DHTx, n = 5) and a combined heart-kidney transplantation (HKTx, n = 5). Apart from the heart transplant survival time we determined the concentrations of histamine, CH-50, IgG, IgM, leucocytes and thrombocytes in the blood.

[Difficult diagnosis: acute appendicitis and appendiceal/cecal carcinoma].

Introduction: Primary carcinoma of the appendix vermiformis/caecum is very rare. The diagnosis can often be ascertained only postoperatively by histopathological means. Preoperative diagnosis is unusual.

Simultaneous analysis of 4- and 5-series lipoxygenase and cytochrome P450 products from different biological sources by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic technique.

Quantification of lipoxygenase and cytochrome P450 products of both arachidonic acid (AA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is of broad interest due to the multiple biological activities of these compounds. We developed a method combining (i) solid-phase extraction, (ii) isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation, and (iii) online photodiode array detection with spectrum analysis for identification and measurement of all main 4- and 5-series eicosanoids (leukotrienes, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids/hydroxyeicosapentaenoic acids, epoxyeicosatrienoic acids) within one run. With these procedures, standard mixtures of AA- and EPA-derived lipid mediators were recovered from different biological liquids, like lung perfusate, human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and cell supernatant with linear characteristics for each compound.