Meckel’s diverticulitis causing small bowel obstruction by a novel mechanism

Meckel’s diverticulum occurs in 2% of the general population and majority of patients remain asymptomatic. Gastrointestinal bleeding is the most common presentation in the paediatric population. While asymptomatic and incidentally found Meckel’s diverticulum may be left alone, surgery is essential for treating a symptomatic patient. Despite advances in imaging and technology, pre-operative diagnosis is often difficult. We present a first report of an unusual mechanism of small bowel obstruction due to Meckel’s diverticulitis in a paediatric patient. The diagnosis was only apparent at laparotomy

Oncologic Outcomes of Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer: A Single-institution Experience

Introduction: This study reports the outcomes of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by surgery in a local population of Singapore. Materials and Methods: The records of 85 patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiation for locally advanced rectal cancer followed by surgery at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) between November 2002 and January 2012 were reviewed. The treatment protocol comprised radiotherapy to a total dose of 50.4 Gy concurrent with 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. Patients underwent total mesorectal excision surgery following the completion of neoadjuvant chemoradiation. Local control, disease-free survival and overall survival were analysed using Kaplan-Meier methods. Results: Median age of the patients was 61 years. All of them completed radiotherapy. One patient did not complete neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The median time to surgery was 52 days. Fifty-five percent (47 of 85) of patients achieved pathological down staging and 13% (11 of 85) of patients had a pathologic complete response to preoperative treatment. The neoadjuvant chemoradiation was well tolerated. Four percent of patients had grade 3 diarrhoea and 4% of them had grade 3 dermatitis. There were no grade 4 toxicities. With a median follow-up of 41 months, the 5-year actuarial local recurrence, disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 7%, 71.9%, % and 83.2% respectively. Univariate analysis showed that patients with positive surgical margins had significantly worse disease-free survival and overall survival (P = 0.012 and P <0.001 respectively) and a trend towards a higher rate of local recurrence (P = 0.08). Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that neoadjuvant chemoradiation is an effective treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. Our outcomes are comparable with internationally published data and demonstrate the reproducibility of the neoadjuvant approach in an Asian population

Insulin allergy to detemir followed by rapid onset of diabetic ketoacidosis: a case report and literature review

The management of diabetes mellitus in an insulin-dependent patient is challenging in the setting of concomitant antibody-mediated-insulin hypersensitivity. We report a case of a 62-year-old woman with pre-existing type 2 diabetes mellitus of 10 years duration who developed type 3 hypersensitivity reaction to insulin analogue detemir, and subsequently, severe diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). She was C-peptide negative and was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes. Despite increasing dose adjustments, insulin-meal matching, and compliance with insulin, she experienced episodes of unexpected hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. The development of rash after detemir initiation and rapid progression to DKA suggests an aberrant immune response leading to the insulin allergy and antibody-induced interference with insulin analogues. Glycaemic control in the patient initially improved after being started on subcutaneous insulin infusion pump with reduced insulin requirements. However, after a year on pump therapy, localised insulin hypersensitivity reactions started, and glycaemic control gradually deteriorated.Published versio

Intrinsic subtypes of gastric cancer, based on gene expression pattern, predict survival and respond differently to chemotherapy

10.1053/j.gastro.2011.04.042Gastroenterology1412476-485.e11GAST