INTRAVITREAL ANTIVASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION SECONDARY TO OCULAR HISTOPLASMOSIS: Ten-Year Follow-Up.

Purpose: To assess the long-term efficacy of intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor injections (IVI), alone or in combination with verteporfin photodynamic therapy (IVI/PDT), for management of choroidal neovascularization secondary to presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (POHS).

Methods: Retrospective, comparative, interventional case series analyzing 82 eyes in 74 patients treated with either IVI or IVI/PDT for presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome choroidal neovascularization from January 2006 to January 2021.

Results: The average logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution VA in year 5 was 0.

Stat2 loss disrupts damage signalling and is protective in acute pancreatitis.

The severity of sterile inflammation, as seen in acute pancreatitis, is determined by damage-sensing receptors, signalling cascades and cytokine production. Stat2 is a type I interferon signalling mediator that also has interferon-independent roles in murine lipopolysaccharide-induced NF-κB-mediated sepsis. However, its role in sterile inflammation is unknown.

ADAM17-Mediated Reduction in CD14CD16 Monocytes and Reduction in Intermediate Monocytes With Immune Paresis in Acute Pancreatitis and Acute Alcoholic Hepatitis.

Impaired immune responses and increased susceptibility to infection characterize acute inflammatory conditions such as pancreatitis and alcoholic hepatitis and are major causes of morbidity and mortality. However, the mechanisms that drive this apparent immune paresis remain poorly understood. Monocytes mediate host responses to damage and pathogens in health and disease, and three subsets of monocytes have been defined based on CD14 and CD16 expression.

Smartphone Application as an Education Platform in Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery.

There are no data to assess the need for smartphone applications (SA) as an educational tool in hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery. The primary objective of this study was to assess if SA can be used as an educational tool in HPB surgery. The secondary objective was to assess if SA can help as a decision-making tool for fellowship applicants in HPB surgery.

Factors affecting length of stay after percutaneous biliary interventions.

Objective:: To evaluate the factors affecting the length of hospital stay (LOS) after percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD).

Methods:: A retrospective review of all patients who had undergone PTBD with or without stenting at a UK specialist centre between 2005 and 2016 was conducted.

Results:: 692 patients underwent 1976 procedures over 731 clinical episodes for which, the median age was 65 (range 18-100) years, and the median Charlson Index was 3.

Predicting complications in hepatic resection for colorectal liver metastasis: the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio.

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide; whilst approximately 20% of patients have hepatic disease at presentation. Hepatic resection remains the gold standard of care; however, it is associated with significant morbidity. We sought to establish whether the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) could help predict post-operative complications, thus improving patient outcomes.

Neutrophil: Lymphocyte ratio as a method of predicting complications following hepatic resection for colorectal liver metastasis.

Background And Objectives: Approximately 30-50% of patients with colorectal cancer develop liver metastasis for which liver resection is the only hope for potential cure. However, hepatic resection is associated with considerable morbidity. The aim was to detect early complications by utilising the neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio (NLR).

Solid pseudopapillary tumour of the pancreas: clinicopathological analysis.

Background: We report on our experience of the surgical management and outcomes of 11 patients with solid pseudopapillary tumour of the pancreas (SPT). We sought to correlate the immunohistochemical staining of these tumours with that previously reported in the literature.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the clinical presentation, radiological findings, surgical treatment, histopathological characteristics and outcomes for patients surgically managed with SPT at The Royal London Hospital.

Comparison of outcomes: scleral buckling and pars plana vitrectomy versus vitrectomy alone for primary repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

Objective: To assess the combination of scleral buckling (SB) and pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) versus PPV alone in the primary repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RRDs).

Methods: The current study was a retrospective, comparative, interventional, consecutive case series of 179 eyes of 174 patients who underwent primary RRD repair by five surgeons between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010, utilizing SB with PPV or PPV. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare the efficacy of the two surgical strategies and assess for risk factors of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR).

The role of perioperative inflammatory-based prognostic systems in patients with colorectal liver metastases undergoing surgery. A cohort study.

Background: We aim to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative and postoperative inflammatory systems in patients who had undergone surgery for colorectal liver metastases, focusing our analysis on the role of C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) and Glasgow prognostic score (GPS).

Methods: A total of 194 patients were enrolled onto this study. Demographics, tumor-related variables, preoperative and postoperative (day 1) inflammatory variables were analyzed as potential prognostic factors.

Retinal vascular occlusion: a window to diagnosis of familial and acquired thrombophilia and hypofibrinolysis, with important ramifications for pregnancy outcomes.

Aim: Our specific aim was to document the pathoetiologic importance of thrombophilia among females presenting with severe ischemic retinal vein (RVO) or retinal artery (RAO) occlusion, without typical risk factors, and to emphasize that the ophthalmologists' diagnosis of thrombophilia has important diagnostic and therapeutic downstream ramifications for nonocular thrombosis, including reproductive outcomes.

Methods: We evaluated familial and acquired thrombophilia in 60 females with RVO (central RVO, n=52; branch RVO, n=8) and 16 with RAO (central RAO, n=11; branch RAO, n=5). They were referred by retinologists, without typical risk factors for RVO/RAO and/or severe ocular ischemic presentation.

Retinal artery and vein thrombotic occlusion during pregnancy: markers for familial thrombophilia and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Background: Ocular vascular occlusion (OVO), first diagnosed during or immediately after giving birth, often reflects superposition of the physiologic thrombophilia of pregnancy on previously undiagnosed underlying familial or acquired thrombophilia associated with spontaneous abortion, eclampsia, or maternal thrombosis.

Specific Aim: We describe OVO, first diagnosed during pregnancy or immediately postpartum, in three young females (ages 32, 35, 40) associated with previously undiagnosed familial thrombophilia.

Results: Branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) occurred at 9 and 13 weeks gestation in two females, aged 32 and 35.

Noninvasive urinary miRNA biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Currently, the majority of patients diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) present with locally invasive and/or metastatic disease, resulting in five-year survival of less than 5%. The development of an early diagnostic test is, therefore, expected to significantly impact the patient's prognosis. In this study, we successfully evaluated the feasibility of identifying diagnostic cell free microRNAs (miRNAs) for early stage PDAC, through the analysis of urine samples.

Quantifying the utility of taking pills for preventing adverse health outcomes: a cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: The utility value attributed to taking pills for prevention can have a major effect on the cost-effectiveness of interventions, but few published studies have systematically quantified this value. We sought to quantify the utility value of taking pills used for prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Diagnostic ramifications of ocular vascular occlusion as a first thrombotic event associated with factor V Leiden and prothrombin gene heterozygosity.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic ramifications of vascular occlusion of the ocular vein and artery as a first thrombotic event associated with factor V Leiden (FVL) and/or prothrombin gene (PTG) heterozygosity.

Methods: Patients with ocular vein (n=191) and artery (n=74) occlusion, free of cardioembolic etiologies, were sequentially referred from vitreoretinal specialists for measurement of thrombophilia-hypofibrinolysis and compared to 110 healthy normal controls.

Results: Of the 265 patients, 29 (11%; 17 women, 12 men) of all referred ocular vascular occlusion (OVO) cases were found to be heterozygous for FVL and/or PTG, including 16 with FVL, 12 with PTG, and 1 with both.

Limited utility of inflammatory markers in the early detection of postoperative inflammatory complications after pancreatic resection: Cohort study and meta-analyses.

Purpose: To examine the diagnostic accuracy of systemic inflammatory markers in early prediction of inflammatory postoperative complications (IPC) and clinically-relevant pancreatic fistula (PF).

Methods: Preoperative and postoperative [until postoperative day (POD) 4)] measurements of hemoglobin, white blood cell counts (WBC), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were correlated with IPC and PF. Meta-analyses of biochemical predictors were performed.

Quantifying the utility of taking pills for cardiovascular prevention.

Background: The decrease in utility attributed to taking pills for cardiovascular prevention can have major effects on the cost-effectiveness of interventions but has not been well studied. We sought to measure the utility of daily pill-taking for cardiovascular prevention.

Methods And Results: We conducted a cross-sectional Internet-based survey of 1000 US residents aged ≥30 in March 2014.

Cost comparison of intravitreal aflibercept with bevacizumab and ranibizumab for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.

Background And Objective: To test the hypothesis that although intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) is expected to be more expensive, the extra cost of treatment would not result in additional vision gain compared with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Patients And Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients receiving IVB or intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) who were subsequently changed to IVA for active wet AMD.

Results: Thirty-three eyes were included in the study.

Gallbladder agenesis with choledochal cyst--a rare association: a case report and review of possible genetic or embryological links.

Gallbladder agenesis is a rare congenital anomaly. Choledochal cysts are uncommon. The combination of both these entities in a 56-year-old woman is reported.

Thrombophilia and retinal vascular occlusion.

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to assess associations of thrombophilia with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO), and amaurosis fugax (AF); to evaluate outcomes of normalizing high homocysteine; and to study CRVO, CRAO, and AF developing in estrogens/estrogen agonists in women subsequently shown to have thrombophilia.

Methods: Measures of thrombophilia-hypofibrinolysis were obtained in 132 CRVO cases, 15 CRAO cases, and 17 AF cases. Cases were compared to 105 healthy control subjects who did not differ by race or sex and were free of any ophthalmologic disorders.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of case-matched studies comparing open and laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy: is it a safe procedure?

Objectives: Distal pancreatectomies and enucleations have become the most popular laparoscopic pancreatic resections and in some centers outnumber the traditional open approach. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on the safety of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomies (LDP) in relation to open distal pancreatectomies in the management of adult patients and, where possible, perform a meta-analysis of reported outcomes.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of knowledge, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews using the following keywords: pancreas, pancreatectomy, pancreatic, laparoscopic, laparoscopy.

Feasibility study of two-stage hepatectomy for bilobar liver metastases.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the feasibility and early outcomes of 2-stage liver resection for bilobar metastases.

Methods: Data from 39 consecutive patients undergoing 2-stage hepatectomy between 2004 and 2010 were prospectively collected.

Results: The median age was 59 years (range, 33-79 years), and the ratio of men to women was 1.

Analysis of outcomes for intravitreal bevacizumab in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization secondary to ocular histoplasmosis.

Purpose: To assess the long-term outcomes of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (POHS).

Design: Retrospective, comparative case series.

Participants: Interventional series of 150 eyes in 140 patients treated for subfoveal or juxtafoveal CNV secondary to POHS from January 2006 to January 2010.

Portal vein embolisation for extended hepatectomy: single-centre experience.

Background: Portal vein embolisation (PVE) induces contra-lateral liver hypertrophy to facilitate an extended hepatectomy.

Aim: This paper aims to analyse our data on PVE and extended hepatectomy. Outcome measures included success of PVE, feasibility of resections, operative morbidity and survival.