Publications by authors named "Roberto L Meniconi"

Background: High microsatellite instability (MSI) represents a small subgroup of gastric cancer (GC) with favorable prognostic and predictive significance. This study aimed to investigate locoregional lymph node (LN) involvement, overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and the interplay between molecular subtypes and histologic profiles regarding survival outcomes in MSI GC vs microsatellite stability (MSS) GC.

Methods: This study included 72 patients with GC who underwent surgery with or without chemotherapy from 2017 to 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is an effective treatment to control tumor growth and improve survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The role of TARE in downstaging patients to liver transplantation (LT) is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the downstaging efficacy of TARE for intermediate and advanced HCC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Surgical-related injuries are frequent, in fact the reported percentage of musculoskeletal disorders in surgeons is between 47% and 87%. These conditions are caused by long periods of standing, incorrect postures, repeated movements, little rest between operations, the lack of integrated operator rooms, the correct number and arrangement of monitors and the use of non-ergonomic instruments. This survey aims to assess the Italian overview both highlighting how prevalent surgical-related injury is in our surgeons and whether there is an operating room ergonomics education program in Italian surgical specialty schools.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) is the most frequent complication of pancreatic surgery and can be fatal. Selection and stratification of patients according to the risk of POPF are important for the perioperative management. Predictive metrics have been developed and validated in pancreatojejunostomy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Surgery and postoperative systemic chemotherapy represent the standard treatment for patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC). Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) for hepatobiliary procedures has spread worldwide in the last two decades. Since resections for PHC are technically demanding, the role of MIS in this field is yet to be established.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Laparoscopic liver resections (LLRs) have been increasingly adopted for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with safe short- and long-term outcomes reported worldwide. Despite this, lesions in the posterosuperior segments, large and recurrent tumors, portal hypertension, and advanced cirrhosis currently represent challenging scenarios in which the safety and efficacy of the laparoscopic approach are still controversial. In this systematic review, we pooled the available evidence on the short-term outcomes of LLRs for HCC in challenging clinical scenarios.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the disruption of surgical training. Lack of communication, guidelines for managing clinical activity as well as concerns for safety in the workplace appeared to be relevant issues. This study aims to investigate how surgical training has been reorganized in Italy, almost 2 years after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: A significant reorganization of working activities including those of teaching hospitals occurred after COVID-19 outbreak, leading to the need to re-assess the current status of training after the pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the state of general surgery (GS) residency in Italy. The impact of COVID-19 on GS residents was also assessed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Splenic artery steal syndrome (SASS) is a cause of graft hypoperfusion leading to the development of biliary tract complications, graft failure, and in some cases to retransplantation. Its management is still controversial since there is no universal consensus about its prophylaxis and consequently treatment. We present a case of SASS that occurred 48 hours after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) in a 56-year-old male patient with alcoholic cirrhosis and severe portal hypertension, and who was successfully treated by splenic artery embolization.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and macrovascular invasion (MVI) have dismal prognosis and are referred to systemic treatment or palliation. To investigate the outcomes of patients with HCC and MVI undergoing the associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) procedure. Demographics and operative data were retrospectively reviewed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Despite the successful oncological results of liver transplantation, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can develop tumor recurrence. When technically feasible, liver resection represents the preferred treatment for recurrent HCC, even in the setting of transplanted patients. Recent progresses in minimally invasive liver resections have pushed the surgical community to attempt more challenging cases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Laparoscopic liver resections have gained widespread popularity among hepatobiliary surgeons and is nowadays performed for both standard and more complex hepatectomies. Given the increased technical challenges, preoperative planning and intraoperative guidance is pivotal in laparoscopic surgery to safely carry out complex and oncologically safe hepatectomies. Modern tools can help both preoperatively and intraoperatively and allow surgeons to perform more precise hepatectomies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Liver is the main target organ for colorectal cancer (CRC) metastases. It is estimated that ~25% of CRC patients have synchronous metastases at diagnosis, and about 60% of CRC patients will develop metastases during the follow up. Although several teams have performed simultaneous laparoscopic resections (SLR) of liver and colorectal lesions, the feasibility and safety of this approach is still widely debated and few studies on this topic are present in the literature.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Portal vein arterialization (PVA) has been attracting attention for its role as a salvage inflow technique in various clinical applications. Initially performed in shunt surgery for portal hypertension, with the aim of preventing a decreased hepatic inflow, it is largely used in case of hepatic artery thrombosis in the transplantation domain or in the enlarged radical operations in case of hilar cancer invading the hepatic artery. A 62-year-old man underwent a left extended hepatectomy with hepatic bile duct resection and right Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Recently, Italy has been heavily hit by COVID-19 pandemic and today it is still one of the most affected countries in the world. The subsequent necessary lockdown decreed by the Italian Government had an outstanding impact on the daily life of the entire population, including that of Italian surgical residents' activity. Our survey aims to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the training programme of Italian surgical residents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic prompted surgical societies to issue guidelines for clinical practice, specifically regarding emergency surgery.
  • Despite debates among surgeons worldwide, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is still considered the best option for treating acute cholecystitis during the pandemic.
  • Laparoscopic surgery poses no greater risk of spreading COVID-19 compared to open surgery, and steps should be taken to ensure it is performed safely for optimal patient outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

COVID-19 is rapidly spreading worldwide. Healthcare systems are struggling to properly allocate resources while ensuring cure for diseases outside of the infection. The aim of this study was to demonstrate how surgical activity was affected by the virus outbreak and show the changes in practice in a tertiary referral COVID-19 center.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Risk factors of postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) after laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) are not well known and were studied, including the stapler cartridge size and drainage modality.

Methods: Between January 2008 and December 2016, 181 LDP were performed and the pancreas was sectioned by stapler in 130 patients (72%). Patients received white (2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a worldwide zoonosis and the liver is the most commonly affected organ. Clinical manifestations range from completely asymptomatic cysts to a potential lethal cyst rupture and anaphylaxis.

Case Presentation: Severe chest allodynia was an unusual clinical presentation of hepatic cyst rupture in the retroperitoneal space, without any other specific symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In patients with biliary papillomatosis, complete resection of the biliary tree (that is, liver transplant along with duodenocephalo-pancreatectomy) is considered the only potential curative treatment, given its diffuse pattern and likelihood of malignant transformation. Nevertheless, such a combined surgical approach can increase patient morbidity and mortality and should be considered only when the distal part of the common bile duct is involved. Here, we avoided duodenocephalo-pancreatectomy in a patient with distal common bile duct free from disease; this approach did not negatively influence survival and appeared to be safer during liver transplant.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Uterine leiomyomas represent the gynecological neoplasm with the highest prevalence worldwide. This apparently benign pathological entity may permeate into the venous system causing the so-called intravenous leiomyomatosis of the uterus (IVL). IVL may seldom extend to large caliber veins and reach the right cardiac chambers or pulmonary arteries and cause signs of right sided congestive heart failure and sudden death.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF