Eliminating the "Pitfalls" of chronic indwelling central venous access device placement in cancer patients by utilizing a venous cutdown approach and by selectively and appropriately utilizing intraoperative venography

There are several very obvious and simple solutions for eliminating the "Pitfalls" and for minimizing the risk of occurrence of any perioperative complications associated with placement of chronic indwelling central venous access devices in cancer patients. The first is the utilization of a venous cutdown approach, such as the cephalic vein or the external jugular vein, which essentially eliminates potentially life-threatening perioperative complications, such as pneumothorax and injury to the great vessels (with or without associated hemothorax). The second is the selective and appropriate utilization of intraoperative venography for defining the central venous anatomy and for providing a venous roadmap in those particularly challenging cases in which difficulties are encountered during chronic indwelling central venous access device placement

Comparison of intraoperative frozen section analysis for sentinel lymph node biopsy during breast cancer surgery for invasive lobular carcinoma and invasive ductal carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is the standard of care for the surgical assessment of the axilla during breast cancer surgery. However, the diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative frozen section analysis for confirming metastatic involvement of SLNs in cases of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) versus that of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) has generated controversy secondary to a frequently low-grade cytologic appearance and an often discohesive pattern displayed by metastatic lymph nodes in ILC. In the current report, we present a comparison of intraoperative frozen section analysis for confirming the presence of metastatic disease within SLNs during breast cancer surgery for ILC and IDC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated the results of 131 consecutive cases of ILC from 1997 to 2008 and 133 cases of IDC (selected by a random sequence generator program) from amongst 1163 consecutive cases of IDC from the same time period. All cases had at least one SLN that had both intraoperative frozen section analysis and confirmatory permanent section analysis performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No statistically significant difference was found in the sensitivity (67% vs. 75%, P = 0.385), specificity (100% vs. 100%), accuracy (86% vs. 92%, P = 0.172), false negative rate (33% vs. 25%, P = 0.385), negative predictive value (81% vs. 89%, P = 0.158), and positive predictive value (100% vs. 100%) for frozen section analysis for confirming the presence of metastatic disease within SLNs during breast cancer surgery for ILC and IDC.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Since there was no statistically significant difference in sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, false negative rate, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value between frozen section analysis of SLNs for patients with ILC and IDC, the clinical accuracy of confirming metastatic involvement of SLNs on frozen section analysis for ILC should not be considered inferior to the clinical accuracy for IDC. Therefore, frozen section analysis of all SLNs during breast cancer surgery in patients with ILC should remain the standard of care in order to reduce the risk of the need of a later, separate axillary lymph node dissection.</p

The critically ill patient after hepatobiliary surgery

BACKGROUND: We analyzed the causes and results of utilization of critical care services in the special care unit in patients after surgical procedures performed by the hepatobiliary surgical service during a 23-month period. RESULTS: Thirty-two of 537 patients (6.0%) required postoperative admission to the special care unit. Twenty-one patients were admitted directly from operating room or from recovery room because of inability to wean from ventilator (n = 10), hypovolemic shock (n = 4), myocardial ischemia or infarction (n = 2), sepsis (n = 2), upper gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 2), and acute renal failure (n =1). Eleven postoperative patients were admitted from floor care for respiratory failure (n = 4), cardiac dysrhythmia or infarction (n = 4), sepsis (n = 2), and upper gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 1). Thirty-eight per cent of patients (n = 12) admitted to the special care unit after surgery died. By multivariate analysis, total postoperative stay in the special care unit that was greater than median total duration of stay of 4.5 days was the only independent predictor of mortality (P = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory failure was the predominant component of all complications after hepatobiliary surgery. No clinically useful predictors of eventual outcome could be identified

The utilization of an ultrasound-guided 8-gauge vacuum-assisted breast biopsy system as an innovative approach to accomplishing complete eradication of multiple bilateral breast fibroadenomas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ultrasound-guided vacuum-assisted breast biopsy technology is extremely useful for diagnostic biopsy of suspicious breast lesions and for attempted complete excision of appropriately selected presumed benign breast lesions.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A female patient presented with 16 breast lesions (eight within each breast), documented on ultrasound and all presumed to be fibroadenomas. Over a ten and one-half month period of time, 14 of these 16 breast lesions were removed under ultrasound guidance during a total of 11 separate 8-gauge Mammotome^®excision procedures performed during seven separate sessions. Additionally, two of these 16 breast lesions were removed by open surgical excision. A histopathologic diagnosis of fibroadenoma and/or fibroadenomatous changes was confirmed at all lesion excision sites. Interval follow-up ultrasound imaging revealed no evidence of a residual lesion at the site of any of the 16 original breast lesions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This report describes an innovative approach of utilizing ultrasound-guided 8-gauge vacuum-assisted breast biopsy technology for assisting in achieving complete eradication of multiple bilateral fibroadenomas in a patient who presented with 16 documented breast lesions. As such, this innovative approach is highly recommended in similar appropriately selected patients.</p

Comparative evaluation of [(99m)tc]tilmanocept for sentinel lymph node mapping in breast cancer patients: results of two phase 3 trials.

BackgroundSentinel lymph node (SLN) surgery is used worldwide for staging breast cancer patients and helps limit axillary lymph node dissection. [(99m)Tc]Tilmanocept is a novel receptor-targeted radiopharmaceutical evaluated in 2 open-label, nonrandomized, within-patient, phase 3 trials designed to assess the lymphatic mapping performance.MethodsA total of 13 centers contributed 148 patients with breast cancer. Each patient received [(99m)Tc]tilmanocept and vital blue dye (VBD). Lymph nodes identified intraoperatively as radioactive and/or blue stained were excised and histologically examined. The primary endpoint, concordance (lower boundary set point at 90 %), was the proportion of nodes detected by VBD and [(99m)Tc]tilmanocept.ResultsA total of 13 centers contributed 148 patients who were injected with both agents. Intraoperatively, 207 of 209 nodes detected by VBD were also detected by [(99m)Tc]tilmanocept for a concordance rate of 99.04 % (p &lt; 0.0001). [(99m)Tc]tilmanocept detected a total of 320 nodes, of which 207 (64.7 %) were detected by VBD. [(99m)Tc]Tilmanocept detected at least 1 SLN in more patients (146) than did VBD (131, p &lt; 0.0001). In 129 of 131 patients with ≥1 blue node, all blue nodes were radioactive. Of 33 pathology-positive nodes (18.2 % patient pathology rate), [(99m)Tc]tilmanocept detected 31 of 33, whereas VBD detected only 25 of 33 (p = 0.0312). No pathology-positive SLNs were detected exclusively by VBD. No serious adverse events were attributed to [(99m)Tc]tilmanocept.Conclusion[(99m)Tc]Tilmanocept demonstrated success in detecting a SLN while meeting the primary endpoint. Interestingly, [(99m)Tc]tilmanocept was additionally noted to identify more SLNs in more patients. This localization represented a higher number of metastatic breast cancer lymph nodes than that of VBD

Re-emphasizing the concept of adequacy of intraoperative assessment of the axillary sentinel lymph nodes for identifying nodal positivity during breast cancer surgery

BACKGROUND: Although sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is a standard of care for the evaluation of the axillary lymph nodes during breast cancer surgery, a substantial degree of variation exists among individual surgeons as to what represents an adequate assessment. The aim of the current study was to assess when metastatic disease was first identified within consecutively harvested SLN candidates for invasive breast cancers demonstrating a positive SLN. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed a series of 400 breast cancers from a recently published prospective randomized clinical trial. A combined radiocolloid and blue dye technique was used. All potential SLN candidates, containing counts of at least 10% of the hottest SLN and/or containing blue dye, were harvested and were consecutively numbered in the order of the decreasing level of counts (with the hottest SLN representing SLN #1). RESULTS: Among 371 invasive breast cancers, a SLN was identified within 353 cases (95%). Mean number of SLNs identified was 2.5 (range, 1 to 9), with a single SLN identified in 104 (29%) cases, two identified in 110 (31%), three identified in 73 (21%), four identified in 35 (10%), five identified in 16 (5%), and six or more identified in 15 (4%). A positive SLN was found in 104 (29%) cases. SLN #1 was the first positive SLN in 86 (83%). SLN #2 was the first positive SLN in 15 (14%). SLN #3, SLN #4, and SLN #5 were the first positive SLN in one case (1%) each. A positive SLN was found in 18% (19/104) of cases when a single SLN was identified, as compared to in 34% (85/249) when two or more SLNs were identified (P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The accurate and optimal assessment of the axilla during breast cancer surgery requires persistence and diligence for attempting to identify all potential SLN candidates in order to avoid failing to recognize a positive SLN. The scenario in which only a single negative SLN candidate is intraoperatively identified is one that should raise some concern to the operating surgeon

Combined use of preoperative 18F FDG-PET imaging and intraoperative gamma probe detection for accurate assessment of tumor recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to combine intraoperative gamma probe (GP) detection with preoperative fluorine 18-fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸F FDG-PET) imaging in order to improve detection of tumor recurrence in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-one patients (12 females, 9 males) with a mean age of 54 years (range 31–78) were enrolled. Patients were suspected to have recurrent CRC by elevated CEA (n = 11), suspicious CT findings (n = 1), and clinically suspicious findings (n = 9). Preoperative FDG-PET scan and intraoperative GP study were performed in all patients. Mean time interval between preoperative FDG-PET scan and surgery was 16 days (range 1–41 days) in 19 patients. For intraoperative GP studies, 19 patients were injected with a dose of 10–15 mCi ¹⁸F FDG at approximately 30 minutes before the planned surgery time. In two patients, the intraoperative GP study was performed immediately after preoperative FDG-PET scan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Preoperative FDG-PET and intraoperative GP detected 48 and 45 lesions, respectively. A total of 50 presumed site of recurrent disease from 20 patients were resected. Thirty-seven of 50 presumed sites of recurrent disease were histological-proven tumor positive and 13 of 50 presumed sites of recurrent disease were histological-proven tumor negative. When correlated with final histopathology, the number of true positive lesions and false positive lesions by preoperative FDG-PET and intraoperative GP were 31/9 and 35/8, respectively. Both preoperative FDG-PET and intraoperative GP were true positive in 29 lesions. Intraoperative GP detected additional small lesions in the omentum and pelvis which were not seen on preoperative FDG-PET scan. FDG-PET scan demonstrated additional liver metastases which were not detected by intraoperative GP. Preoperative FDG-PET detected distant metastasis in the lung in one patient. The estimated radiation dose received by a surgeon during a single 18F FDG GP surgery was below the occupational limit.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The combined use of preoperative FDG-PET and intraoperative GP is potentially helpful to the surgeon as a roadmap for accurately locating and determining the extent of tumor recurrence in patients with CRC. While intraoperative GP appears to be more sensitive in detecting the extent of abdominal and pelvic recurrence, preoperative FDG-PET appears to be more sensitive in detecting liver metastases. FDG-PET is also a valuable method in detecting distant metastases.</p