Polish consensus on gastric cancer diagnosis and treatment – update 2022

This document – “Polish consensus on gastric cancer diagnosis and treatment – update 2022” – represents an expert consensus following a year’s worth of dedicated effort by a team of specialists throughout 2021, put forward in a con­ference in December 2021 in Krakow, and finalized below for publication in 2022. The effective date of this document is June 14th 2022. The work that went into updating this consensus was made under auspices of the Polish Society of Surgical Oncology and the Association of Polish Surgeons

Characterization of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension : data from the polish registry of pulmonary hypertension (BNP-PL)

Current knowledge of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) epidemiology is based mainly on data from Western populations, and therefore we aimed to characterize a large group of Caucasian PAH adults of Central-Eastern European origin. We analyzed data of incident and prevalent PAH adults enrolled in a prospective national registry involving all Polish PAH centers. The estimated prevalence and annual incidence of PAH were 30.8/mln adults and 5.2/mln adults, respectively and they were the highest in females ≥65 years old. The most frequent type of PAH was idiopathic (n = 444; 46%) followed by PAH associated with congenital heart diseases (CHD-PAH, n = 356; 36.7%), and PAH associated with connective tissue disease (CTD-PAH, n = 132; 13.6%). At enrollment, most incident cases (71.9%) were at intermediate mortality risk and the prevalent cases had most of their risk factors in the intermediate or high risk range. The use of triple combination therapy was rare (4.7%). A high prevalence of PAH among older population confirms the changing demographics of PAH found in the Western countries. In contrast, we found: a female predominance across all age groups, a high proportion of patients with CHD-PAH as compared to patients with CTD-PAH and a low use of triple combination therapy

Polski konsensus diagnostyki i leczenia raka żołądka – aktualizacja 2022

This document – “Polish consensus on gastric cancer diagnosis and treatment – update 2022” – represents an expert consensus following a year’s worth of dedicated effort by a team of specialists throughout 2021, put forward in a con­ference in December 2021 in Krakow, and finalized below for publication in 2022. The effective date of this document is June 14th 2022. The work that went into updating this consensus was made under auspices of the Polish Society of Surgical Oncology and the Association of Polish Surgeons.Końcowy kształt niniejszego dokumentu – „Polski konsensus diagnostyki i leczenia raka żołądka – aktualizacja 2022” – jest wynikiem prac zespołu ekspertów, które prowadzone były w 2021 r., zwieńczone konferencją w grudniu 2021 r. w Krakowie i przygotowane w ostatecznej wersji do publikacji w roku 2022. Pracom nad aktualizacją konsensusu patronowały równorzędnie dwa towarzystwa naukowe: Polskie Towarzystwo Chirurgii Onkologicznej i Towarzystwo Chirurgów Polskich

An expert opinion of the Polish Cardiac Society Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and the Polish Society for Rheumatology on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with connective tissue disease

Systemic connective tissue diseases (CTDs) comprise a large group of diseases that are auto-immune in nature and characterized by the involvement of multiple systems and organs. Pul-monary hypertension (PH) of various etiologies may develop in the course of CTD, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), PH secondary to the lung disease, postcapillary PH in the course of left heart disease, and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). In addition, the different forms of PH may coexist with each other. Among patients with CTD, PAH occurs most commonly in those with systemic sclerosis, where it affects ap-proximately 8%–12% of patients. The prognosis in patients with untreated PAH is very poor. It is particularly important to identify the high-risk CTD-PAH population and to perform effi-cient and accurate diagnostics so that targeted therapy of the pulmonary arteries can be intro-duced. Echocardiography is used to screen for PH, but clinical and echocardiographic suspicion of PH always requires confirmation by right heart catheterization. Confirmation of PAH ena-bles the initiation of life-prolonging pharmacological treatment in this group of patients, which should be administered in referral centers. Drugs available for pharmacological management include endothelin receptor antagonists, phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, and prostacyclins

Significance of ultrasonography in selecting methods for the treatment of acute cholecystitis

Surgical removal of the gallbladder is indicated in nearly all cases of complicated acute cholecystitis. In the 1990s, laparoscopic cholecystectomy became the method of choice in the treatment of cholecystolithiasis. Due to a large inflammatory reaction in the course of acute inflammation, a laparoscopic procedure is conducted in technically difficult conditions and entails the risk of complications. The aim of this paper was: 1) to analyze ultrasound images in acute cholecystitis; 2) to specify the most common causes of conversion from the laparoscopic method to open laparotomy; 3) to determine the degree to which the necessity for such a conversion may be predicted with the help of ultrasound examinations. Material and methods: In 1993–2011, in the Second Department and Clinic of General, Gastroenterological and Oncological Surgery of the Medical University in Lublin, 5,596 cholecystectomies were performed including 4,105 laparoscopic procedures that constituted 73.4% of all cholecystectomies. Five hundred and forty-two patients (13.2%) were qualified for laparoscopic procedure despite manifesting typical symptoms of acute cholecystitis in ultrasound examination, which comprise: thickening of the gallbladder wall of > 3 mm, inflammatory infiltration in the Calot’s triangle region, gallbladder filled with stagnated or purulent contents and mural or intramural effusion. Results: In the group of operated patients, the conversion was necessary in 130 patients, i.e. in 24% of cases in comparison with 3.8% of patients with uncomplicated cholecystolithiasis (without the signs of inflammation). The conversion most frequently occurred when the assessment of the anatomical structures of the Calot’s triangle was rendered more difficult due to local inflammatory process, mural effusion and thickening of the gallbladder wall of >5 mm. The remaining changes occurred more rarely. Conclusions: Based on imaging scans, the most common causes of conversion included inflammatory infiltration in the Calot’s triangle region, mural effusion and wall thickening to > 5 mm. The classical cholecystectomy in acute cholecystitis should be performed in patients with three major local complications detected on ultrasound examination and in those, who manifest acute clinical symptoms.Operacyjne usunięcie pęcherzyka żółciowego jest wskazane praktycznie we wszystkich przypadkach powikłanego, ostrego zapalenia pęcherzyka żółciowego. W latach dziewięćdziesiątych metodą z wyboru w leczeniu objawowej kamicy pęcherzyka żółciowego stała się cholecystektomia laparoskopowa. Z uwagi na duży odczyn zapalny w przebiegu ostrego stanu zapalnego zabieg laparoskopowy jest przeprowadzany w trudnych technicznie warunkach i wiąże się z ryzykiem wystąpienia powikłań. Celem pracy były: 1) analiza obrazów ultrasonograficznych przypadków ostrego zapalenia pęcherzyka żółciowego; 2) ustalenie najczęstszych przyczyn konwersji z metody laparoskopowej do otwartej laparotomii; 3) określenie, w jakim stopniu za pomocą badania ultrasonograficznego można przewidzieć potrzebę konwersji. Materiał i metoda: W latach 1993–2011 w II Klinice i Katedrze Chirurgii Ogólnej, Gastroenterologicznej i Nowotworów Układu Pokarmowego UM w Lublinie wykonano 5596 cholecystektomii, w tym 4105 zabiegów laparoskopowych, co stanowiło 73,4% wszystkich przeprowadzonych cholecystektomii. Pomimo typowych objawów ostrego zapalenia pęcherzyka w badaniu ultrasonograficznym, do których zaliczamy pogrubienie ściany pęcherzyka > 3 mm, naciek zapalny okolicy trójkąta Calota, wypełnienie pęcherzyka treścią zastoinową lub ropną, wysięk śródścienny lub przyścienny, 542 chorych (13,2%) zakwalifikowano do leczenia metodą laparoskopową. Wyniki: W grupie pacjentów operowanych konwersja była konieczna u 130 osób – w 24% przypadków w porównaniu z 3,8% chorych z niepowikłaną kamicą pęcherzyka żółciowego (bez cech zapalnych). Konwersji dokonywano najczęściej w przypadkach utrudnionej oceny struktur anatomicznych trójkąta Calota, wynikającej z miejscowego stanu zapalnego, wysięku przyściennego oraz pogrubienia ściany >5 mm. Pozostałe zmiany występowały rzadziej. Wnioski: Do najczęstszych przyczyn konwersji w badaniach obrazowych należały: zapalny naciek okolicy trójkąta Calota, wysięk przyścienny i pogrubienie ściany > 5 mm. Do cholecystektomii klasycznej w ostrym zapaleniu pęcherzyka żółciowego powinni być kwalifikowani pacjenci, u których w badaniu ultrasonograficznym stwierdza się trzy główne powikłania miejscowe oraz u których występują ostre objawy kliniczne

Follow-up after bariatric surgery: are we effective enough?

Over the years, the rise in the obesity epidemic has led to an increasing demand for bariatric surgery. Considering the rapidly growing number of bariatric surgery procedures performed, intensive development of postoperative care and surveillance programs should be expected. However, the effectiveness of follow-up after bariatric surgery appears to be surprisingly low. The purpose of this review is to draw attention to the quality of follow-up programs and to encourage health care providers to make efforts to ensure adequate post-operative data collection. Awareness should be raised about inadequate data collection to strengthen the credibility and authenticity of treatment results, thus providing a clearer picture of treatment efficacy

Influence of Clinical Factors on miR-3613-3p Expression in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related death globally. Because of a tendency to be an asymptomatic primary tumor and therefore resulting in late detection, most CRC patients are diagnosed in the advanced stage. Several miRNAs have the potential to become novel noninvasive biomarkers measured as diagnostic and prognostic indicators of CRC to guide surgical therapies and promote the understanding of the carcinogenesis of CRC. Since the change of miR-3613-3p was associated with several types of cancer other than colorectal cancer, there is a lack of functional evidence and the results are inconsistent. We conducted a pilot microarray study in which we noted a decreased expression of miR-3613-3p in colorectal cancer cells, then we confirmed the expression of miR-3613-3p by qPCR on a group of 83 patients, including 65 patients with colorectal cancer, 5 with a benign tumor and 13 from the control group. We noted that in both malignant and benign tumors, miR-3613-3p is downgraded relative to the surrounding tissue. As a result of the study, we also observed colorectal tumor tissue and surrounding tissue in patients with colorectal cancer who received radiotherapy before surgery, which showed a significantly higher expression of miR-3613-3p compared to patients who did not receive radiotherapy. In addition, we noted that the tissue surrounding the tumor in patients with distant metastases showed a significantly higher expression of miR-3613-3p compared to patients without distant metastases. The increased expression of miR-3613-3p in patients after radiotherapy suggests the possibility of using this miR as a therapeutic target for CRC, but this requires confirmation in further studies