Therapeutic options to prevent recurrence of an aggressive aneurysmatic bone cyst of the cervical spine of a 16 year old boy - a case report

The aneurysmatic bone cyst (ABC) is a benign primary bone tumour. If located in the cervical spine, its expansive growth and destructive behaviour may lead to instability and serious neurological impairment. We report a case of a 16-year-old boy with an aggressive ABC in the 7th cervical vertebra. Computertomographic and magnetic resonance imaging revealed the envelopment of the left 7th and 8th spinal nerve along with the anterior displacement of the left vertebral artery. The interdisciplinary surgical strategy consisted of a partially incomplete cyst resection, subtotal spondylectomy with posterior screw-and-rod fixation from C6-Th1, iliac crest bone grafting and anterior plating from C6-Th1. With regard to the high rate of recurrence after incomplete resection published in the recent literature, the patient was postoperatively treated by megavoltage radiotherapy with a total dose of 30Gy (daily dose of 1.8 Gy for 3 weeks). The clinical and radiographic follow-up showed complete recovery of all neurologic impairments and no signs of tumour recurrence at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. This case highlights diverse treatment regimens and shall outline the challenge and the problems of the interdisciplinary decision-making in adolescents presenting with ABC in high-demanding anatomical regions

Prognostic Factors for Iatrogenic Tracheal Rupture: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Iatrogenic tracheal ruptures are rare but severe complications of medical interventions. The main goal of this study was to explore prognostic factors for all-cause mortality and rupture-related (adjusted) mortality. We retrospectively analyzed patients admitted to an academic referral center over a 15-year period (2004–2018). Fifty-four patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 36 patients underwent surgical repair and 18 patients were treated conservatively. In a 90-day follow-up, the all-cause mortality was 50%, while the adjusted mortality was 13%. Rupture length was identified as a predictor for all-cause mortality (area under the curve, 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74–0.94) with a cutoff rupture length of 4.5 cm (sensitivity, 0.70; specificity, 0.81). Multivariate analysis confirmed rupture length as a prognostic factor for all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.9; p = 0.001), but not for adjusted mortality (HR 1.5; 95% CI 0.97–2.3; p = 0.068), while mediastinitis predicted adjusted mortality (HR 5.8; 95% CI 1.1–31.7; p = 0.042), but not all-cause mortality (HR 1.6; 95% CI 0.7–3.5; p = 0.243). The extent of iatrogenic tracheal rupture and mediastinitis might be relevant prognostic factors for all-cause mortality and adjusted mortality, respectively

TIE2-expressing monocytes and M2-polarized macrophages impact survival and correlate with angiogenesis in adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

Introduction: M2-polarized tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and TIE2- expressing monocytes (TEMs) are associated with angiogenesis and have been identified as a potential prognostic marker in several solid tumors, including hepatobiliary malignancies. However, little is known regarding their influence on tumor progression and patient survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Results: Patients with tumors characterized by the presence of CD163+ TAMs or TEMs in TCA or TIF, respectively, showed a significantly decreased 1-, 3- and 5-year overall and recurrence-free survival compared to patients without CD163+ TAMs or TEMs (all ρ < 0.05). Patients with TEMs in TCA showed a higher incidence of tumor recurrence (ρ < 0.05). Furthermore, the presence of CD163+ TAMs was associated with a higher tumor MVD (ρ < 0.05). Conclusions: Presence of M2-polarized TAMs and TEMs is associated with a decreased overall and recurrence-free survival of patients with PDAC. Materials and methods: The localization and density of CD163+ M2-polarized TAMs and TEMs were quantified in the tumor central area (TCA) and tumor-infiltrating front (TIF) in human PDAC tissue (n = 106) and correlated to clinicopathological characteristics, tumor recurrence rates and patient survival. In parallel, tumor microvascular density (MVD) and the density of angiopoietin-positive tumor cells were quantified. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software

Correction to: Predictive risk factors for lymph node metastasis in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer: a case control study

The original article [1] contains slight errors whereby several terms in the first column of Tables 1, 2, and 3 have an erroneous ‘p’ preceding them

Predictive risk factors for lymph node metastasis in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer: a case control study

Abstract Background Estimation of lymph node status is essential in order to determine precise therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Furthermore, lymph node involvement is a very powerful prognostic factor in these patients. In this analysis, we aim to evaluate the predictive factors for lymph node metastasis in NSCLC-patients. Methods In a prospectively-established database, we analyzed all data of patients with NSCLC, who underwent oncological surgical resections from 01/2007 to 12/2016, retrospectively. The correlation between clinicopathological parameters and lymph node metastasis was investigated by using univariate and binary logistic regression analysis. Results In this study, we operated on 204 consecutive patients, 142 men (71.7%) and 56 women (28.3%). Lymph node metastases were detected in 38.2% (78/204). Preoperatively, central tumor localization (OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.3–5.1, P = 0.005) and tumor size > 3 cm (OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.3–4.4, P = 0.005) were found to be significant predictive factors for lymph node metastasis. Postoperatively, multivariate analysis showed that intratumoral lymph vessel invasion (L1-status) (OR = 17.3, 95% CI = 5.1–58.4, P <  0.001) along with the central tumor localization (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.4–5.8, P = 0.004) were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis. In small size tumors (≤3 cm), two predictive factors for lymph node metastasis were found: central tumor localization (OR = 19.4, 95% = 2.1–186.4, P = 0.01) and L1-status (OR = 43.9, 95% CI = 3.6–529.4, P = 0.003). Conclusions A precise pre- and intraoperative assessment of the lymph node status is essential in patients with larger sized tumors and central localization. Furthermore, L1-status is a highly significant risk factor for lymph node metastasis in NSCLC-Patients. Therefore, an adjuvant therapy in patients with L1-status and pNX category should be considered

Prognostic Factors for Iatrogenic Tracheal Rupture: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Iatrogenic tracheal ruptures are rare but severe complications of medical interventions. The main goal of this study was to explore prognostic factors for all-cause mortality and rupture-related (adjusted) mortality. We retrospectively analyzed patients admitted to an academic referral center over a 15-year period (2004–2018). Fifty-four patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 36 patients underwent surgical repair and 18 patients were treated conservatively. In a 90-day follow-up, the all-cause mortality was 50%, while the adjusted mortality was 13%. Rupture length was identified as a predictor for all-cause mortality (area under the curve, 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74–0.94) with a cutoff rupture length of 4.5 cm (sensitivity, 0.70; specificity, 0.81). Multivariate analysis confirmed rupture length as a prognostic factor for all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.9; p = 0.001), but not for adjusted mortality (HR 1.5; 95% CI 0.97–2.3; p = 0.068), while mediastinitis predicted adjusted mortality (HR 5.8; 95% CI 1.1–31.7; p = 0.042), but not all-cause mortality (HR 1.6; 95% CI 0.7–3.5; p = 0.243). The extent of iatrogenic tracheal rupture and mediastinitis might be relevant prognostic factors for all-cause mortality and adjusted mortality, respectively

Prognostic Factors for Iatrogenic Tracheal Rupture: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Iatrogenic tracheal ruptures are rare but severe complications of medical interventions. The main goal of this study was to explore prognostic factors for all-cause mortality and rupture-related (adjusted) mortality. We retrospectively analyzed patients admitted to an academic referral center over a 15-year period (2004–2018). Fifty-four patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 36 patients underwent surgical repair and 18 patients were treated conservatively. In a 90-day follow-up, the all-cause mortality was 50%, while the adjusted mortality was 13%. Rupture length was identified as a predictor for all-cause mortality (area under the curve, 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74–0.94) with a cutoff rupture length of 4.5 cm (sensitivity, 0.70; specificity, 0.81). Multivariate analysis confirmed rupture length as a prognostic factor for all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.9; p = 0.001), but not for adjusted mortality (HR 1.5; 95% CI 0.97–2.3; p = 0.068), while mediastinitis predicted adjusted mortality (HR 5.8; 95% CI 1.1–31.7; p = 0.042), but not all-cause mortality (HR 1.6; 95% CI 0.7–3.5; p = 0.243). The extent of iatrogenic tracheal rupture and mediastinitis might be relevant prognostic factors for all-cause mortality and adjusted mortality, respectively

Procedural times in early non-intubated VATS program - a propensity score analysis

Background!#!Non-intubated video-assisted thoracic surgery (NiVATS) has been introduced to surgical medicine in order to reduce the invasiveness of anesthetic procedures and avoid adverse effects of intubation and one-lung ventilation (OLV). The aim of this study is to determine the time effectiveness of a NiVATS program compared to conventional OLV.!##!Methods!#!This retrospective analysis included all patients in Leipzig University Hospital that needed minor VATS surgery between November 2016 and October 2019 constituting a NiVATS (n = 67) and an OLV (n = 36) group. Perioperative data was matched via propensity score analysis, identifying two comparable groups with 23 patients. Matched pairs were compared via t-Test.!##!Results!#!Patients in NiVATS and OLV group show no significant differences other than the type of surgical procedure performed. Wedge resection was performed significantly more often under NiVATS conditions than with OLV (p = 0,043). Recovery time was significantly reduced by 7 min (p = 0,000) in the NiVATS group. There was no significant difference in the time for induction of anesthesia, duration of surgical procedure or overall procedural time.!##!Conclusions!#!Recovery time was significantly shorter in NiVATS, but this effect disappeared when extrapolated to total procedural time. Even during the implementation phase of NiVATS programs, no extension of procedural times occurs

In-depth characterization of the Wnt-signaling/β-catenin pathway in an in vitro model of Barrett’s sequence

Abstract Background An altered Wnt-signaling activation has been reported during Barrett’s esophagus progression, but with rarely detected mutations in APC and β-catenin (CTNNB1) genes. Methods In this study, a robust in-depth expression pattern analysis of frizzled receptors, co-receptors, the Wnt-ligands Wnt3a and Wnt5a, the Wnt-signaling downstream targets Axin2, and CyclinD1, as well as the activation of the intracellular signaling kinases Akt and GSK3β was performed in an in vitro cell culture model of Barrett’s esophagus. Representing the Barrett’s sequence, we used normal esophageal squamous epithelium (EPC-1, EPC-2), metaplasia (CP-A) and dysplasia (CP-B) to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) cell lines (OE33, OE19) and primary specimens of squamous epithelium, metaplasia and EAC. Results A loss of Wnt3a expression was observed beginning from the metaplastic cell line CP-A towards dysplasia (CP-B) and EAC (OE33 and OE19), confirmed by a lower staining index of WNT3A in Barrett’s metaplasia and EAC, than in squamous epithelium specimens. Frizzled 1–10 expression analysis revealed a distinct expression pattern, showing the highest expression for Fzd2, Fzd3, Fzd4, Fzd5, Fzd7, and the co-receptor LRP5/6 in EAC cells, while Fzd3 and Fzd7 were rarely expressed in primary specimens from squamous epithelium. Conclusion Despite the absence of an in-depth characterization of Wnt-signaling-associated receptors in Barrett’s esophagus, by showing variations of the Fzd- and co-receptor profiles, we provide evidence to have a significant role during Barrett’s progression and the underlying pathological mechanisms