Major extremity amputation for nodal metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma.

The regional lymph node basin is usually the first site of spread in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Regional metastases are usually treated with comprehensive nodal dissection, sometimes followed by radiation and/or chemotherapy. Occasionally, when disease recurs after these conventional therapies, major extremity amputation may be the only way to render patients free of disease.

Atherogenic effect of interleukin-2 and antiatherogenic effect of interleukin-2 antibody in apo-E-deficient mice.

Growing evidence suggests that atherosclerosis is an immune-mediated inflammatory process and that cytokines participate as mediators in this process. Of the cytokines, interleukins, which are released from both immune and nonimmune cells of vascular wall, are found to have multiple effects. Interleukin-2 (IL-2), a cytokine produced by activated T-lymphocytes, has been found to further activate the T cells and may potentially enhance atherogenesis.

Radiofrequency ablation of liver metastasis from ovarian adenocarcinoma: case report and literature review.

Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive technique that can eradicate malignant disease in the liver, including metastatic disease from gynecological primary tumors.

Case: An 81-year-old female underwent percutaneous RFA for a solitary intrahepatic metastatic lesion that was her only known site of disease 2 years after definitive surgery and chemotherapy for stage IIIC ovarian adenocarcinoma. She was able to start systemic chemotherapy 1 week after RFA, and continues to be free of disease in the liver.

Effect of atrial fibrillation on the dynamics of mitral annular area.

Background And Aims Of The Study: The mitral annulus shows dynamic changes in shape and size during the cardiac cycle. A smaller size in end-diastole is attributed to the sphincteric action of atrial systole, and this may be important for functional integrity of the mitral valve. However, the effect of atrial fibrillation (AF) on dynamic changes in mitral annular size in humans is not known.

Prediction of nonsentinel lymph node status in melanoma.

Background: Most melanoma patients with a positive sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) undergo a completion lymph node dissection (CLND) that does not yield additional positive nonsentinel lymph nodes (NSLN). This study was designed to determine if NSLN status can be predicted using patient, primary tumor, and sentinel lymph node (SLN) characteristics.

Methods: The study population includes melanoma patients who had a positive SLND and subsequently underwent CLND retrieved from our prospective institutional melanoma database.