Clinical strategies to aim an adequate safety profile for patients and effective training for surgical residents: The laparoscopic cholecystectomy model

Background Training programs for resident surgeons represent a challenge for the mentoring activity. The aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of our training program for laparoscopic cholecystectomy on patient's safety and on the modulation of the residents' exposure to clinical scenario with different grades of complexity. Material and methods This is a retrospective study based on a clinical series of laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed in a teaching hospital. Study population was grouped according to the expertise of the attending primary operator among resident surgeons. Four groups were identified: consultant (C), senior resident (SR); intermediate level resident (IR); junior resident (JR). The intraoperative and postoperative outcomes were confronted to evaluate the patient's safety profile. Results 447 patients were submitted to LC: 96 cases were operated by a C, 200 by SR, 112 by IR and 39 by JR. The mean operative time was the longest for the JR group. A statistically higher rate of conversion to open approach was registered in C and IR groups in comparison to JR and SR groups. However, in C and IR groups, patients had worse ASA score, higher BMI and more frequent past history of previous abdominal surgery, cholecystitis or pancreatitis. Overall, it was not registered any statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of length of hospital stay and prevalence of major postoperative complications. Conclusion Applying an educational model based on both graduated levels of responsibility and modulated grade of clinical complexity can guarantee an high safety profile

Nanotechnologies in Obstetrics and Cancer during Pregnancy: A Narrative Review

Nanotechnology, the art of engineering structures on a molecular level, offers the opportunity to implement new strategies for the diagnosis and management of pregnancy-related disorders. This review aims to summarize the current state of nanotechnology in obstetrics and cancer in pregnancy, focusing on existing and potential applications, and provides insights on safety and future directions. A systematic and comprehensive literature assessment was performed, querying the following databases: PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Endbase. The databases were searched from their inception to 22 March 2022. Five independent reviewers screened the items and extracted those which were more pertinent within the scope of this review. Although nanotechnology has been on the bench for many years, most of the studies in obstetrics are preclinical. Ongoing research spans from the development of diagnostic tools, including optimized strategies to selectively confine contrast agents in the maternal bloodstream and approaches to improve diagnostics tests to be used in obstetrics, to the synthesis of innovative delivery nanosystems for therapeutic interventions. Using nanotechnology to achieve spatial and temporal control over the delivery of therapeutic agents (e.g., commonly used drugs, more recently defined formulations, or gene therapy-based approaches) offers significant advantages, including the possibility to target specific cells/tissues of interest (e.g., the maternal bloodstream, uterus wall, or fetal compartment). This characteristic of nanotechnology-driven therapy reduces side effects and the amount of therapeutic agent used. However, nanotoxicology appears to be a significant obstacle to adopting these technologies in clinical therapeutic praxis. Further research is needed in order to improve these techniques, as they have tremendous potential to improve the accuracy of the tests applied in clinical praxis. This review showed the increasing interest in nanotechnology applications in obstetrics disorders and pregnancy-related pathologies to improve the diagnostic algorithms, monitor pregnancy-related diseases, and implement new treatment strategies

Type of breast cancer diagnosis, screening, and survival

Introduction Breast cancer screening is known to reduce mortality. In the present study, we analyzed the prevalence of breast cancers detected through screening, before and after introduction of an organized screening, and we evaluated the overall survival of these patients in comparison with women with an extrascreening imaging-detected breast cancer or those with palpable breast cancers. Materials and Methods We collected data about all women who underwent a breast operation for cancer in our department between 2001 and 2008, focusing on type of tumor diagnosis, tumor characteristics, therapies administered, and patient outcome in terms of overall survival, and recurrences. Data was analyzed by R (version 2.15.2), and P <.05 was considered significant. Results Among the 2070 cases of invasive breast cancer we considered, 157 were detected by regional mammographic screening (group A), 843 by extrascreening breast imaging (group B: 507 by mammography and 336 by ultrasound), and 1070 by extrascreening breast objective examination (group C). The 5-year overall survival in groups A, B, and C were, respectively, 99% (95% CI, 98%-100%), 98% (95% CI, 97%-99%), and 91% (95% CI, 90%-93%), with a significant difference between the first 2 groups and the third (P <.05) and a trend between groups A and B (P =.081). Conclusion The diagnosis of invasive breast cancer with screening in our population resulted in a survival gain at 5 years from the diagnosis, but a longer follow-up is necessary to confirm this data. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Eight-year experience with the intraoperative frozen section examination of sentinel lymph node biopsy for breast cancer in a North-Italian university center.

Histone acetylation is a major mechanism to regulate gene transcription. This post-translational modification is modified in cancer cells. In various tumor types the levels of acetylation at several histone residues are associated to clinical aggressiveness. By using immunohistochemistry we show that acetylated levels of lysines at positions 9-14 of H3 histone (H3K9-K14ac) are significantly higher in follicular adenomas (FA), papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTC) and undifferentiated carcinomas (UC) than in normal tissues (NT). Similar data have been obtained when acetylated levels of lysine 18 of H3 histone (H3K18ac) were evaluated. In this case, however, no difference was observed between NT and UC. When acetylated levels of lysine 12 of H4 histone (H4K12ac) were evaluated, only FA showed significantly higher levels in comparison with NT. These data indicate that modification histone acetylation is an early event along thyroid tumor progression and that H3K18 acetylation is switched off in the transition between differentiated and undifferentiated thyroid tumors. By using rat thyroid cell lines that are stably transfected with doxycyclin-inducible oncogenes, we show that the oncoproteins RET-PTC, RAS and BRAF increase levels of H3K9-K14ac and H3K18ac. In the non-tumorigenic rat thyroid cell line FRTL-5, TSH increases levels of H3K18ac. However, this hormone decreases levels of H3K9-K14ac and H4K12ac. In conclusion, our data indicate that neoplastic transformation and hormonal stimulation can modify levels of histone acetylation in thyroid cells.

Prevalence, risk factors, and prognosis of peritoneal metastasis from breast cancer.

Peritoneal metastasis from breast cancer is a serious and deadly condition only limited considered in the literature. Our aim was to study prevalence, risk factors, and prognosis of breast cancer peritoneal metastasis. We retrospectively analyzed 3096 women with a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. We took into consideration presence and localization of breast cancer distant metastasis as well as the possible risk factors and survival from the diagnosis of the breast cancer metastasis. The prevalence of breast cancer peritoneal metastases was 0.7 % (22/3096), representing the 7.6 % (22/289) of women affected by distant metastases. Moreover, independent risk factors for breast cancer peritoneal metastases resulted high grading, lobular invasive histology, and advanced T and N stage at diagnosis. Overall survival after metastasis diagnosis was shorter in women affected by peritoneal metastases or brain metastases in comparison to other metastatic women. Breast cancer peritoneal metastases were uncommon but not rare events with a poor prognosis after standard treatment

Long-Term Functional Outcome after Internal Delorme's Procedure for Obstructed Defecation Syndrome, and the Role of Postoperative Rehabilitation

Purpose: To evaluate long-term functional outcomes of Internal Delorme's Procedure (IDP) in patients refractory to conservative treatment for Obstructed Defecation Syndrome (ODS), and to compare those who received postoperative rehabilitation with those who did not. Materials and methods: All patients with ODS refractory to nonoperative therapy were identified across three regional pelvic floor referral hospitals, and IDP was performed. Postoperatively selected patients received biofeedback therapy. Functional outcomes were established using the Cleveland Clinic Constipation (CCC) score and obstructed defecation score (OD score) preoperatively at 12 months and at the last available follow-up. Patient satisfaction was assessed with a visual analogue score. Results: From October 2006 to September 2013, IDP was performed in 170 patients: 77 received postoperative biofeedback and 93 did not. Mean follow-up was 6.3 years (range 1–8 years). CCC and OD scores improved significantly in both groups after 12 months and at the last follow-up (p > 0.05). When comparing two groups while there was no significant difference between CCC and OD scores at 12 months, score was significantly better in the group that received rehabilitation at the last follow-up (p = 0.001). Patient satisfaction was higher in the rehabilitation group (67%) compared with those without rehabilitation (55%). Clinical recurrence was recorded in nine patients who did not have postoperative rehabilitation. Conclusions: It has been demonstrated that IDP is associated with good long-term functional outcomes. Patients receiving rehabilitation had a better long-term follow-up, a higher overall satisfaction, and lower recurrence rate when compared with the patients who did not receive postoperative rehabilitation