A Rare Causing of Difficulty in Defecation: Rectal Schwannoma

Objective: Schwannomas are mainly benign, non-epithelial tumors originating in the Schwann cells, which form nerve sheaths. Schwannomas account for about 2-8% of all gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors, encountered more frequently in the stomach and the small intestine. Schwannomas of the colon and rectum are extremely rare. Case Presentation: In this report, we present a thirty-nine-year-old woman admitted for complaints of rectal fullness and difficulty in defecation. At her rectal examination, a polypoid tumor 22x27x27mm in size was found filling the lumen of the rectum; it was well defined, with a homogeneous nature and benign appearance. Complete excision of the tumor was achieved by a transanal surgical approach. Histolopathological and immunohistochemical diagnosis of the tumor reported a rectal schwannoma. There has been no tumor recurrence at 18 months after surgical excision. Conclusion: A schwannoma of the rectum is rare; a benign tumor can usually be separated from GISTs with immunohistochemical staining, and it carries a good prognosis with local excision, which is the procedure of choice. [Arch Clin Exp Surg 2014; 3(1.000): 59-63

Clinical and MRI findings of cerebellar agenesis in two living adult patients

Cerebellar agenesis (CA) is an extremely rare entity. We present two adult patients with CA. The 61-year-old man had ataxia, dysarthria, abnormalities in cerebellar tests, severe cognitive impairment, and moderate mental retardation. The 26-year-old woman had dysmetria, dysdiadochokinesia, and dysarthria as well as mild cognitive impairment and mild mental retardation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed complete absence of the cerebellum with small residual vermis. Brainstem was hypoplastic and structures above tentorium were normal. Supratentorial white matter bundles were unaffected in diffusion tensor tractography. Only few adult patients with CA have so far been published. These cases show that patients with CA present with a variety of developmental, clinical, and mental abnormalities; and emphasize the role of the cerebellum in normal motor, language, and mental development

Hybrid Repair of Aortic Arch Aneurysms in Same Session

Background Management of thoracic aorta aneurysms-especially the ones including aortic arch-is highly complicated. Isolated or nonisolated aortic arch aneurysms can be repaired by hybrid procedure especially in patients with comorbidities as well as by conventional open methods

"Overtime Hours Effect" on Emergency Surgery of Acute Type A Aortic Dissection

Abstract Objective: Treatment of acute diseases of the aorta is still associated with high mortality and morbidity. It is believed that interventions for these diseases on overtime hours (night shifts or weekend shifts) may increase mortality. In this study, we investigated the effect of performing acute type A aortic dissection surgery on overtime hours in terms of postoperative outcomes. Methods: 206 patients who underwent emergency surgery for acute type A aortic dissection were retrospectively evaluated. Two groups were constituted: patients operated on daytime working hours (n=61), and patients operated on overtime hours (n=145), respectively. Results: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and repeat surgery were higher in group 1. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of operative and postoperative results. Mortality rates and postoperative neurological complications in group 1 were 9.8% and 13.1%, respectively. In group 2, these rates were 13.8% and 12.4%, respectively (P=0.485 - P=0.890). Multivariate analysis identified that cross-clamp time, amount of postoperative drainage, preoperative loss of consciousness and postoperative neurological complications are the independent predictors of mortality. Conclusions: As the surgical experience of the clinics improves, treatment of acute type A aortic dissections can be successfully performed both overtime and daytime working hours

Which Distant Organ is Most Affected by Lower Extremity Ischemia-Reperfusion?

Background: It has been experimentally shown that reperfusion injury occurs in many remote organs after ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) of the lower extremity. However, which distant organ is affected more after I/R of the lower extremity has not been investigated. In this study, we investigate which remote organ is predominantly affected after lower extremity I/R

Mortality indicators in community-acquired pneumonia requiring intensive care in Turkey

Background: Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) is a fatal disease. This study was conducted to describe an outcome analysis of the intensive care units (ICUs) of Turkey