Balance of the prooxidant and antioxidant system is associated with mortality in critically ill patients.

It is well known that oxidative stress causes certain diseases and organ damage. However, roles of oxidative stress in the acute phase of critical patients remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the balance of oxidative and antioxidative system and to clarify the association between oxidative stress and mortality in critically ill patients.

Regeneration of the ureter using a scaffold-free live-cell structure created with the bio-three-dimensional printing technique.

Ureteral strictures, which can be caused by ureteral injury, radiation therapy, ureterolithiasis, urinary tract infections, and ureteral endometriosis, typically require ureteral reconstruction. Although tissue engineering, autologous alternative tissue transplantation, and surgical techniques applying various flaps have been carried out for ureteral regeneration, all with some success, each method has its advantages and disadvantages. As an alternative, we created the first artificial ureter structures using only live cells and grafted them into healthy rat ureters.

Correction: Regeneration of esophagus using a scaffold-free biomimetic structure created with bio-three-dimensional printing.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Regeneration of esophagus using a scaffold-free biomimetic structure created with bio-three-dimensional printing.

Various strategies have been attempted to replace esophageal defects with natural or artificial substitutes using tissue engineering. However, these methods have not yet reached clinical application because of the high risks related to their immunogenicity or insufficient biocompatibility. In this study, we developed a scaffold-free structure with a mixture of cell types using bio-three-dimensional (3D) printing technology and assessed its characteristics in vitro and in vivo after transplantation into rats.

Replacement of Rat Tracheas by Layered, Trachea-Like, Scaffold-Free Structures of Human Cells Using a Bio-3D Printing System.

Current scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches are subject to several limitations, such as design inflexibility, poor cytocompatibility, toxicity, and post-transplant degradation. Thus, scaffold-free tissue-engineered structures can be a promising solution to overcome the issues associated with classical scaffold-based materials in clinical transplantation. The present study seeks to optimize the culture conditions and cell combinations used to generate scaffold-free structures using a Bio-3D printing system.

Initial experience with a 3D printed model for preoperative simulation of the Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum.

The incidence of pectus excavatum has been estimated to be between 0.1% and 0.8% though a large autopsy series reports.

Scaffold-free trachea regeneration by tissue engineering with bio-3D printing.

Objectives: Currently, most of the artificial airway organs still require scaffolds; however, such scaffolds exhibit several limitations. Alternatively, the use of an autologous artificial trachea without foreign materials and immunosuppressants may solve these issues and constitute a preferred tool. The rationale of this study was to develop a new scaffold-free approach for an artificial trachea using bio-3D printing technology.

Indispensable Points for Research on Antiadhesion Materials.

To prevent postoperative abdominal adhesions, many new antiadhesion materials have been developed all over the world. Few studies have analyzed the thickness of antiadhesive materials, but it is an important factor in maximizing adhesion prevention. The aspect of material thickness will needed for the future studies.

Usefulness Of Three-Dimensional Printing Models for Patients with Stoma Construction.

The use of patient-specific organ models in three-dimensional printing systems could be helpful for the education of patients and medical students. The aim of this study was to clarify whether the use of patient-specific stoma models is helpful for patient education. From January 2014 to September 2014, 5 patients who underwent colorectal surgery and for whom a temporary or permanent stoma had been created were involved in this study.

Down-Regulation of Nogo-B Expression as a Newly Identified Feature of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma.

Nogo-B, located in the endoplasmic reticulum, is an isoform belonging to the reticulon protein family, which is expressed specifically in cholangiocytes and non-parenchymal cells in the liver. Nogo-B expression is down-regulated with the progression of liver fibrosis, but its distinct function in liver malignancies has not been fully clarified. We have hypothesized that Nogo-B expression may be altered in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), a relatively rare type of primary liver cancer with highly malignant behavior.

E-PASS score as a useful predictor of postoperative complications and mortality after colorectal surgery in elderly patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify whether a surgical-specific risk scoring system estimating the physiologic ability and surgical stress (E-PASS) score was useful for prediction of postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Methods: The E-PASS score consists of the preoperative risk score (PRS), surgical stress score (SSS), and the comprehensive risk score (CRS). Conventional scoring systems [colorectal physiologic and operative severity score for the enumeration of mortality (CR-POSSUM) and the prognostic nutritional index (PNI)] were also examined.

Research on seamless development of surgical instruments based on biological mechanisms using CAD and 3D printer.

In the area of manufacturing surgical instruments, the ability to rapidly design, prototype and test surgical instruments is critical. This paper provides a simple case study of the rapid development of two bio-mechanism based surgical instruments which are ergonomic, aesthetic and were successfully designed, prototyped and conceptually tested in a very short period of time.

A favourable prognostic marker for EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer: immunohistochemical analysis of MUC5B.

Objectives: To determine the use of the mucin proteins MUC5B and MUC5AC as prognosis markers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations.

Setting: Patients who underwent surgical resection at Nagasaki University Hospital and related facilities in Japan between June 1996 and March 2013.

Participant: 159 Japanese patients (male: n=103; female: n=56) with NSCLC, who underwent surgical resection (EGFR-mutant type: n=78, EGFR wild type: n=81).

Infectious episodes lead to the oxidative stress response after lung transplantation.

Background: Reactive oxygen species function as key metabolites that can impair biological processes. In lung transplantation, severe oxidative stress is expected when ischemia/reperfusion injury, acute allograft rejection, and various infections occur.

Case Report: Two clinical cases in which serial measurements of the oxidative stress response (levels of diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites) were taken during hospitalization using a Free Radical Elective Evaluator are reported.

Three-dimensional printing model of liver for operative simulation in perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

3-dimensional printed liver was constructed using 3D vascular imaging in a patient with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma who underwent major hepatectomy. The reproducibility of 3D modeling by the latest imaging has been clarified and future preoperative simulation should be adramatically changed.

Short-term outcomes of laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer in oldest-old patients.

Background/aims: Oldest-old patients generally have several comorbidities, and laparoscopic-assisted colectomy (LAC) has not been performed on these patients. However, the surgical technique of LAC has improved, and its indications have been extended. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of LAC for patients over 85 years old.

Airway stent insertion simulated with a three-dimensional printed airway model.

A 30-year-old man underwent right single-lung transplantation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The bronchial anastomosis developed ischemic change, resulting in stenosis of the intermediate bronchus. A modified Y-shaped airway stent with the fabricated orifice of the upper lobe was inserted by rigid bronchoscopy.

Clinicopathological parameters associated with surgical site infections in patients who underwent pancreatic resection.

Background/aims: To clarify parameters associated with postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) after pancreatectomy, we examined clinicopathological and surgical records in 186 patients who underwent pancreatectomy at a single academic institute.

Methodology: Patient demographics, liver functional parameters, histological findings, surgical records and post-hepatectomy outcomes during hospitalization were compared between the non-SSI and SSI group, in which SSIs included superficial and deep SSIs.

Results: The prevalence of SSI (29-35%) has not changed over an 18-year period.

How to access photodynamic therapy for bile duct carcinoma.

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising treatment option for local control of remnant cancer after surgical resection or biliary stenosis by the unresectable tumor in patients with bile duct carcinomas (BDC). To achieve effective tumor necrosis, an appropriate approach to laser irradiation is necessary.

Methods: The efficacy of endoscopy-guided PDT using porfimer (n=12) or talaporfin sodium (n=13) was investigated by evaluating the transhepatic biliary routes and endoscopic retrograde biliary (ERB) routes in 25 patients with BDC.

Prediction of portal pressure from intraoperative ultrasonography.

Background: Portal hypertension is a major risk factor for hepatic failure or bleeding in patients who have undergone hepatectomy, but it cannot be measured indirectly. We attempted to evaluate the intraoperative ultrasonography parameters that correlate with portal pressure (PP) in patients undergoing hepatectomy.

Methods: We examined 30 patients in whom PP was directly measured during surgery.

Associated factors with surgical site infections after hepatectomy: predictions and countermeasures by a retrospective cohort study.

Background: To clarify the factors associated with post-hepatectomy surgical site infections (SSIs), the clinicopathological data of 526 patients who underwent hepatectomy was retrospectively examined as a retrospectively cohort study.

Methods: Patient demographics, liver functions, histological findings, surgical records and post-hepatectomy morbidity were compared between non-SSI and SSI groups; the SSI group included superficial and deep SSIs.

Results: The prevalence of SSIs (5-8%) has not changed over an 18-year period.

Usefulness of evaluating hepatic elasticity using artificial acoustic radiation force ultrasonography before hepatectomy.

Aim: To evaluate hepatic fibrosis and tumor diagnosis preoperatively, we investigated the elasticity calculated by the new parameter of ultrasonography, acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI).

Methods: We examined ARFI of the non-tumorous right and left lateral liver and in the tumor by push pulse of probe in 95 patients with hepatic malignancies undergoing hepatectomy. Measurement of ARFI as hepatic stiffness was indicated as the Vs (m/s).