Surgical considerations about amyloid goiter.

Amyloidosis is an uncommon syndrome consisting of a number of disorders having in common an extracellular deposit of fibrillary proteins. This results in functional and structural changes in the affected organs, depending on deposit location and severity. Amyloid infiltration of the thyroid gland may occur in 50% and up to 80% of patients with primary and secondary amyloidosis respectively.

Chyle fistula in right cervical area after thyroid surgery.

Thoracic duct injury is an infrequent (1-2.5%) but severe complication after neck surgery, leading to nutritional, metabolic and immunologic deficiencies. We report a case of a 34-year-old woman with a right thoracic duct injury after surgery of a thyroid medullar cancer effectively treated with conservative management (parenteral nutrition and intravenous somatostatin).

[Laparoscopic splenectomy: 7-year experience].

Background: Laparoscopic splenectomy is an effective and safe technique in the management of benign splenic pathologies.

Methods: We reviewed our 7-year experience to evaluate utility and safety of this procedure.

Results: Laparoscopic splenectomy was performed in 20 patients (13 women, 7 men), with a mean age of 49 years.

[Laparoscopic adrenalectomy].

Introduction: In the last few years, laparoscopic adrenalectomy has become widely used in the management of adrenal disease.

Material And Method: We reviewed our experience of 24 patients who underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy between 1998 and 2006.

Results: Surgery was indicated for Cushing's syndrome in 46% of the patients, aldosteronoma in 25%, incidentaloma in 21% and pheochromocytoma in 8%.

Portal vein thrombosis after laparoscopic splenectomy in benign hematologic diseases.

Introduction: Portal vein thrombosis is an unfrequent, but potentially deadly, complication of the laparoscopic splenectomy procedure. The laparoscopic approach has shortened the duration of hospital stay; portal vein thrombosis may appear after the patient has left the hospital, determining a later diagnosis. Because of the mild, nonspecific symptoms, the diagnosis can even be missed and only achieved when chronic complications take place.

[Two exceptional cases of pancreatic tumor].

Pancreatic cancer carries a poor prognosis. The only potentially curative treatment is surgical resection. However, this procedure can only be performed in a few cases due to presentation of the tumor in advanced stages.

[Laparoscopic vs open splenectomy in the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura].

Introduction: Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) is gaining acceptance as an effective and safe alternative to open splenectomy (OS) in the treatment of benign hematologic disorders unresponsive to medical treatment. Among these disorders, the most important is idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

Patients And Method: We compared a cohort of 20 patients who had undergone LS in the previous 7 years, with a historical cohort of 38 patients who underwent OS between 1985 and 1999.

Conservative treatment for infiltrating breast cancer. Ten years follow-up experience.

Introduction: We retrospectively analyze our experience in conservative treatment for infiltrating advanced breast cancer before implementation of selective sentinel node biopsy, specially focusing on characteristics, incidence, treatment and evolution of local-regional recurrences, disease-free survival time, overall survival and patient's satisfaction.

Material And Methods: From January 1984 to 31st December 1998, 739 female patients were operated in our institution, diagnosed as having infiltrating breast cancer. One hundred and eighty-eight patients (25.