Propranolol as a novel treatment for congenital visceral haemangioma.

Haemangiomas are the most common soft tissue tumours in infancy, occurring in approximately 5-10% of 1-year-old children. Current drug-based therapeutic options for large haemangiomas include corticosteroids, α-interferon and vincristin, all of which can result in harmful side effects. Recently, promising results have been reported using the non-cardio-selective β-blocker propranolol for the treatment of cutaneous capillary haemangiomas, in which a spectacular size reduction was observed during the first 7 days of treatment.

Standardization of the fully stapled laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for obesity reduces early immediate postoperative morbidity and mortality: a single center study on 2606 patients.

Background: Various techniques of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass have been described. We completely standardized this procedure to minimize its sometimes substantial morbidity and mortality. This study describes our experience with the standardized fully stapled laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (FS-LRYGB) and its influence on the 30-day morbidity and mortality.

An unusual presentation of pancreatic serous cystadenoma with acute hemorrhage.

Pancreatic serous cystadenomas are benign cystic lesions without complication risks. They can be discovered after investigations for upper abdominal discomfort because of mass effect or incidentally. In rare cases they are detected because of biliary obstruction.

Sacrococcygeal teratoma: results of a retrospective multicentric study in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Eighteen patients, operated upon for sacrococcygeal teratoma in 7 different centres in Belgium and Luxembourg between 1992 and 1996, were reviewed. From an epidemiological point of view, this series compares very well to others. Although excellent results were obtained, with all patients surviving, some imperfection in diagnosis, timing of delivery and of operation, and in operative technique was observed.

The laparoscopic resection of a benign stromal tumour of the duodenum.

A 72-year-old-female presented intermittent retrosternal pain, heartburn and dysphagia. Computerized CT-Scan showed a large mass with a cross-sectional diameter of 5 cm at the lateral side of part II of the duodenum. The preoperative histology was unclear.