Anatomical and Surgical Principles of Ventral Hernia Repairs

Hernias comprise a growing problem in surgical science. The most recent classification scheme for hernias emphasizes on the size of defect as well as on whether it is an incisional hernia. The latter group includes complex hernias, namely hernias that can not be managed with simple surgical techniques. This can be accomplished with retromuscular repairs or the more complex anterior and posterior component separation techniques. An anatomic repair is usually reinforced with interposition of mesh. Newest techniques, such as the use of botulinum toxin to induce temporary paralysis of the lateral abdominal wall musculature, referred to as chemical component separation, now present new tools in the restoration of anatomy-based repairs. The chapter entitled “Anatomical and surgical principles of ventral hernia repairs” aims to describe the anatomical and surgical principles of current practice regarding the repair of ventral -primary and incisional-hernias

A Rare Coexistence of Retroperitoneal Pararenal Castleman's Disease with Focal Nodular Hyperplasia

Castleman's disease is a distinct form of lymph node hyperplasia divided into a solitary and a multicentric type. The solitary type occurs most commonly in the mediastinum and is usually asymptomatic. We present a patient with Castleman's disease of the hyaline-vascular solitary type located in the retroperitoneum. The patient was a 38-year-old male, who presented to our hospital with fever. The imaging workup revealed a retroperitoneal mass, measuring 4 × 6 cm, located lateral to the aorta, inferior to the left renal artery and vein, and posterior to the left testicular vein. At workup, a solid hepatic lesion, 3 cm in diameter, located in the left lobe of the liver, segment IV, was also identified. Both lesions were surgically excised. The retroperitoneal tumor had the features of angiofollicular hyperplasia (Castleman's disease), hyaline-vascular type, whereas a diagnosis of focal nodular hyperplasia was made for the hepatic lesion. The patient is well at fourty months followup postoperatively. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice for unifocal Castleman's disease

Endovascular Juxtarenal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Using the ALTO Abdominal Stent Graft System: The First Case Series

The ALTO abdominal stent graft system (Endologix Inc., Irvine, CA, USA) is a latest-generation polymer-based device used to treat patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms. The present study describes the first case series of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms, including two patients with juxtarenal aneurysms, treated using the ALTO stent graft system. Six males were treated using the ALTO device at a single public center. All procedures were uneventful, and the dosimetric results recorded in terms of kerma-area product and fluoroscopy time were similar to those reported in previous studies. At the 1-month follow-up, computed tomography angiography showed no evidence of endoleak, device migration, thrombosis, or structural graft failure. This clinical series demonstrates that the use of the ALTO stent graft system is associated with promising patient outcomes. Lifelong postoperative imaging surveillance may highlight possible late failures and suggest potential graft improvements

Is prolonged infusion of piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem in critically ill patients associated with improved pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic and patient outcomes? An observation from the Defining Antibiotic Levels in Intensive care unit patients (DALI) cohort

Objectives: We utilized the database of the Defining Antibiotic Levels in Intensive care unit patients (DALI) study to statistically compare the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic and clinical outcomes between prolonged- infusion and intermittent-bolus dosing of piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem in critically ill patients using inclusion criteria similar to those used in previous prospective studies. Methods: This was a post hoc analysis of a prospective, multicentre pharmacokinetic point-prevalence study (DALI), which recruited a large cohort of critically ill patients from 68 ICUs across 10 countries. Results: Of the 211 patients receiving piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem in the DALI study, 182 met inclusion criteria. Overall, 89.0% (162/182) of patients achieved the most conservative target of 50% fT 65MIC (time over which unbound or free drug concentration remains above the MIC). Decreasing creatinine clearance and the use of prolonged infusion significantly increased the PTA for most pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic targets. In the subgroup of patients who had respiratory infection, patients receiving \u3b2-lactams via prolonged infusion demonstrated significantly better 30 day survival when compared with intermittent-bolus patients [86.2% (25/29) versus 56.7% (17/30); P=0.012]. Additionally, in patients with a SOFA score of 65 9, administration by prolonged infusion compared with intermittent-bolus dosing demonstrated significantly better clinical cure [73.3% (11/15) versus 35.0% (7/20); P=0.035] and survival rates [73.3% (11/15) versus 25.0% (5/20); P=0.025]. Conclusions: Analysis of this large dataset has provided additional data on the niche benefits of administration of piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem by prolonged infusion in critically ill patients, particularly for patients with respiratory infection