The Use of Autologous Peritoneum for Complete Caval Replacement Following Resection of Major Intra-abdominal Malignancies.

Objective: Assessment of a simple layer peritoneal tube used as an autogenous inferior vena cava replacement. Background: Extensive en-bloc multivisceral resection including major vessels is effective in selected abdominal malignancies, but the need for vascular reconstruction represents a surgical challenge. We describe the use of autologous peritoneum for caval replacement. Methods: Autogenous parietal peritoneum without fascial backing was harvested and tubularized to replace the inferior vena cava (IVC) in four patients with complex abdominal tumors. Surgical morbidity was evaluated using the Clavien–Dindo classification, and graft patency was systematically evaluated with ultrasound. Results: All four patients had multiorgan resections for malignancies involving the retro-hepatic IVC, and they all required the replacement of infrarenal and suprarenal IVC segments. Additionally, all four required a right nephrectomy, two had a combined major hepatectomy, and one patient needed a veno-venous bypass. All had an R0 resection. A clinical follow-up took place between 5 and 11 months after surgery for each patient. Four-month graft patency was confirmed by ultra-sound and TDM with no sign of disease recurrence. Conclusions: Autologous peritoneum without fascial backing is a good and safe option for circumferential replacement of IVC after extensive en-bloc tumor resection with IVC involvement

Is minimal, [almost] steroid-free immunosuppression a safe approach in adult liver transplantation? Long-term outcome of a prospective, double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, investigator-driven study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety of minimal immunosuppression (IS) in liver transplantation (LT). BACKGROUND: The lack of long-term follow-up studies, including pathologic data, has led to a protean handling of IS in LT. METHODS: Between February 2000 and September 2004, 156 adults were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled minimization trial comparing tacrolimus placebo (TAC-PLAC) and TAC short-term steroid (TAC-STER) IS. All patients had a minimum clinical, biochemical, and histological follow-up of 5 years. RESULTS: Five-year actual patient and graft survival rates in TAC-PLAC and TAC-STER groups were 78.1% and 82.1% (P=0.89) and 74.2% and 76.9% (P=0.90), respectively. Five-year biopsies were available in 112 (89.6%) of 125 survivors. Twelve patients refused a biopsy because of their excellent evolution; tissue material was insufficient in 1 patient; 11 had normal liver tests; and 2 patients had developed alcoholic and secondary biliary cirrhosis. Histology was normal in 44 (39.3%) patients; 35 (31.3%) had disease recurrence. The remaining biopsies showed nonspecific chronic hepatitis (14.3%), mild inflammatory infiltrates (10.7%), and steatosis (3.5%). All findings were equally distributed between both groups. In each group, 3 patients (4.8%) presented with acute cellular rejection after the first year and only 1 (0.9%) TAC-PLAC patient developed chronic rejection after IS withdrawal because of pneumonitis. Arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, renal insufficiency, hypercholesterolemia, gout, and obesity were equally low in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Excellent long-term results can be obtained under minimal IS and absence of steroids. TAC-based monotherapy is feasible in most adult liver recipients until 5 years of follow-up

Adult-to-adult living-donor liver transplantation: The experience of the Université catholique de Louvain.

Liver transplantation is the treatment for end-stage liver diseases and well-selected malignancies. The allograft shortage may be alleviated with living donation. The initial UCLouvain experience of adult living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is presented. A retrospective analysis of 64 adult-to-adult LDLTs performed at our institution between 1998 and 2016 was conducted. The median age of 29 (45.3%) females and 35 (54.7%) males was 50.2 years (interquartile range, IQR 32.9-57.5). Twenty-two (34.4%) recipients had no portal hypertension. Three (4.7%) patients had a benign and 33 (51.6%) a malignant tumor [19 (29.7%) hepatocellular cancer, 11 (17.2%) secondary cancer and one (1.6%) each hemangioendothelioma, hepatoblastoma and embryonal liver sarcoma]. Median donor and recipient follow-ups were 93 months (IQR 41-159) and 39 months (22-91), respectively. Right and left hemi-livers were implanted in 39 (60.9%) and 25 (39.1%) cases, respectively. Median weights of right- and left-liver were 810 g (IQR 730-940) and 454 g (IQR 394-534), respectively. Graft-to-recipient weight ratios (GRWRs) were 1.17% (right, IQR 0.98%-1.4%) and 0.77% (left, 0.59%-0.95%). One- and five-year patient survivals were 85% and 71% (right) vs. 84% and 58% (left), respectively. One- and five-year graft survivals were 74% and 61% (right) vs. 76% and 53% (left), respectively. The patient and graft survival of right and left grafts and of very small (<0.6%), small (0.6%-0.79%) and large (≥0.8%) GRWR were similar. Survival of very small grafts was 86% and 86% at 3- and 12-month. No donor died while five (7.8%) developed a Clavien-Dindo complication IIIa, IIIb or IV. Recipient morbidity consisted mainly of biliary and vascular complications; three (4.7%) recipients developed a small-for-size syndrome according to the Kyushu criteria. Adult-to-adult LDLT is a demanding procedure that widens therapeutic possibilities of many hepatobiliary diseases. The donor procedure can be done safely with low morbidity. The recipient operation carries a major morbidity indicating an important learning curve. Shifting the risk from the donor to the recipient, by moving from the larger right-liver to the smaller left-liver grafts, should be further explored as this policy makes donor hepatectomy safer and may stimulate the development of transplant oncology

Mortalidad y morbilidad de la peritonitis secundaria con relaparotomía planeada Mortality and morbidity of secondary peritonitis with planned relaparotomy

Introducción: El tratamiento quirúrgico ideal de la peritonitis secundaria severa complicada (PSSC) aun no es claro. El objetivo es mostrar los resultados clínicos donde la técnica quirúrgica escogida fue relaparotomias planeada en el manejo de PSSC. Material y métodos: Entre 1995-2004, todos los pacientes con diagnóstico de PSSC fueron manejados con la técnica de relaparotomías planeadas, luego de controlado el proceso infeccioso se cerró la pared abdominal. El desenlace principal fue mortalidad hospitalaria. A partir del año 2000, se disminuye la frecuencia de las relaparotomías porque se considera el esquema de hacerla planeada, restringiendo las reintervenciones. Se realizó un análisis multivariado. El IRB institucional aprobó la realización de este estudio. Resultados: Se incluyeron 267 pacientes, edad promedio: 52.2 años, el 62.5% hombres, la estancia promedio en UCI:15.8 días, el promedio de relaparotomias planeadas fue de 4 &plusmn; 3 con mediana de 3. La tasa de mortalidad global fue 19.9%, antes del año 2000 fue de 28.4% y después del 2000 de 14.5%. El análisis multivariado mostró que relaparatomías no fue predictor independiente de muerte (OR:1.98 IC95%0.78-3.41,p=0.3), como si lo fueron edad>50 años, choque y APACHE II>25. Las complicaciones más frecuentes fueron: fístulas intestinales (15.3%), shock séptico (54%), y SDRA (30%). Conclusión: La mortalidad global actual en pacientes con peritonitis secundaria severa fue menor del 20%. Los predictores independientes de muerte en este grupo fueron edad>50 años, choque y APACHE II>25.Introduction: The ideal treatment of severe complicated secondary peritonitis (SCSP) remains unclear. The purpose of this paper is the presentation of the clinical results of the surgical policy of planned relaparotomy in the management of SCSP. Material and methods: All patients with SCSP were managed with planned relaparotomy in the period 1995-2004; the abdominal wall was closed once the infectious process had been controlled. The main outcome was hospital mortality. After the year 2000 we registered descent of the rate of relaparotomy because the policy change to planned intervention, which restricted the number of reinterventions. A multivariate analysis was carried out. The hospital committee of bioethics approved the implementation of the study. Results: The study population included 267 patients with average age of 52.2 years; 62.5 were male; mean ICU stay was15.8 days, the rate of planned relaparotomies was 4 &plusmn; 3 with a median of 3. The global mortality rate was 19.9%; before the year 2000 the rate was 28.4%, and after the year 2000 the rate came down to 14.5%. The multivariate analysis showed that relaparotomy was not an independent predictor of mortality (OR: 1.98, CI 95% 0.78-3.41, p=0.3). but age >50 years, shock, and APACHE II score >25 were independent predictors. Most common complications were intestinal fistulae (15.3%), septic shock (54%), and ARDS (30%). Conclusion: Global mortality rate in patients with severe secondary peritonitis was less than 20%. The independent predictors of mortality in the study group were age>50 years, shock, and APACHE II score >25

Development of a prediction model for postoperative pneumonia A multicentre prospective observational study

BACKGROUND Postoperative pneumonia is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and costs. Prediction models of pneumonia that are currently available are based on retrospectively collected data and administrative coding systems. OBJECTIVE To identify independent variables associated with the occurrence of postoperative pneumonia. DESIGN A prospective observational study of a multicentre cohort (Prospective Evaluation of a RIsk Score for postoperative pulmonary COmPlications in Europe database). SETTING Sixty-three hospitals in Europe. PATIENTS Patients undergoing surgery under general and/or regional anaesthesia during a 7-day recruitment period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The primary outcome was postoperative pneumonia. Definition: the need for treatment with antibiotics for a respiratory infection and at least one of the following criteria: new or changed sputum; new or changed lung opacities on a clinically indicated chest radiograph; temperature more than 38.3 degrees C; leucocyte count more than 12 000 mu l(-1). RESULTS Postoperative pneumonia occurred in 120 out of 5094 patients (2.4%). Eighty-two of the 120 (68.3%) patients with pneumonia required ICU admission, compared with 399 of the 4974 (8.0%) without pneumonia (P < 0.001). We identified five variables independently associated with postoperative pneumonia: functional status [odds ratio (OR) 2.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.58 to 3.12], pre-operative SpO(2) values while breathing room air (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.78 to 0.84), intra-operative colloid administration (OR 2.97, 95% CI 1.94 to 3.99), intra-operative blood transfusion (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.41 to 4.71) and surgical site (open upper abdominal surgery OR 3.98, 95% CI 2.19 to 7.59). The model had good discrimination (c-statistic 0.89) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow P = 0.572). CONCLUSION We identified five variables independently associated with postoperative pneumonia. The model performed well and after external validation may be used for risk stratification and management of patients at risk of postoperative pneumonia