Impact of early or delayed elective resection in complicated diverticulitis.

Aim: To investigate the outcomes of early and delayed elective resection after initial antibiotic treatment in patients with complicated diverticulitis.

Methods: The study, a non-randomized comparison of the two approaches, included 421 consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for complicated sigmoid diverticulitis (Hinchey classification  I-II) at the Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf between 2004 and 2009. The operating procedure, duration of hospital and intensive care unit stay, outcome, complications and socioeconomic costs were analyzed, with comparison made between the early and delayed elective resection strategies.

Polymorphism Arg290Arg in esophageal-cancer-related gene 1 (ECRG1) is a prognostic factor for survival in esophageal cancer.

Background: Esophageal cancer is one of the most frequent cancers worldwide and is associated with poor outcome. Besides clinicopathological data, few prognostic molecular markers exist. Esophageal-cancer-related gene1 (ECRG1) short tandem repeats are associated with higher risk for developing esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.