Critical role of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion in the treatment of a patient with Pseudomyxoma peritonei.

The role of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC) in the treatment of Pseudomyxoma peritonei is debated by clinicians. We report the case of a patient who had multiple episodes of short-interval disease recurrence following debulking surgery, and only achieved long-term remission with the addition of HIPEC. A review of the relevant literature is presented.

Retrohepatic hematoma causing caval compression after blunt abdominal trauma.

Blunt injury to the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare event, which occurs in 1% to 10% of blunt-trauma patients. Injuries usually result from deceleration, which causes atriocaval rupture or tearing of the hepatic veins, and are sometimes complicated by uncontrollable hemorrhage. An unusual case of focal extrinsic compression of the vessel caused by retrohepatic hemorrhage is reported, which ultimately has required no operative intervention and seems to have had no long-term ill effects.

Increasing the number of attacks increases the conversion rate in laparoscopic diverticulitis surgery.

Background: This study aimed to determine whether the number of diverticulitis or complicated diverticulitis episodes affects the conversion rate or postoperative complication rate in elective laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy.

Methods: In this study, 216 charts were reviewed for baseline characteristics, diverticulitis history, and intra- and postoperative complications. Analysis was performed with the Student's t-test, the chi-square test, and Fisher's exact tests.

Do men and women use the same criteria in selecting a general surgery residency program? Results of a 20-year study in a non-university program.

Background: To assess applicant preferences in general surgery program selection, we surveyed current and former residents of our non-university general surgery residency program over the last 20 years, with particular emphasis on male and female selection preferences.

Methods: Surveys were distributed to current and former categorical residents. Respondents were asked to rate 25 residency criteria using a Likert scale.

Characteristics and treatment of metaplastic breast cancer: analysis of 892 cases from the National Cancer Data Base.

Background: Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is characterized by various combinations of adenocarcinoma, mesenchymal, and other epithelial components. It was officially recognized as a distinct pathologic diagnosis in 2000. With few published reports, we hypothesized that MBC may have markedly different characteristics at presentation than typical infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) and may be managed differently.