Articles: cations.
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Pituicytomas are rare low-grade glial lesions of neurohypophysis or adenohypophysis. They are often misdiagnosed as adenomas due to their similar morphology. Previous reports have underlined their nonspecific aspect. ⋯ This observation is corroborated by previous histologic studies that showed adenomas present less vascular density than normal pituitary glands. However, in large tumors, the normal hypophysis can sometimes not be individualized and thus the enhancement gradient between the tumor and normal tissue cannot be properly assessed. Due to their rarity, no previous reports had ever emphasized the specific signs that could allow us to differentiate pituicytomas from adenomas; however, it seems crucial due to the potential hemorrhagic complications of pituicytoma surgery.
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Leg ulceration is a feared complication of venous insufficiency. It is not known whether varicose veins predispose skin to poor wound healing. The expression pattern of gap junctional protein connexin, a known marker of poor wound healing, was investigated across various stages of venous disease. ⋯ Connexins were overexpressed in patients with simple varicose veins, with a stepwise increased expression through venous eczema to ulceration. Connexin 43 is a potential biomarker for venous disease. This finding suggests that varicose veins predispose skin to poor wound healing. Surgical relevance The overexpression of connexins, a family of gap junctional proteins, is known to cause poor healing in venous leg ulceration. It is not known whether there is any association with superficial venous disease. Here, connexin proteins were overexpressed in patients with uncomplicated varicose veins, before histological skin changes. Connexin could be a biomarker of venous disease progression.
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To establish the gene copy number status of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and downstream signaling (DSS) genes genes in primary gastric cancer (primGC) and matched lymph node metastases (LNmet). ⋯ This is the first and most comprehensive study in gastric cancer investigating the concordance between gene copy number status of targetable RTKs and downstream signaling oncogenes in primGC and LNmets. Future studies need to establish whether the relative high frequency of RTK and DSS coamplification and/or the relative high rate of negative conversion in LNmet can potentially explain recent failures of RTK targeted therapy in gastric cancer patients.
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Patients with colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis have a very poor prognosis. The recently developed consensus molecular subtype (CMS) classification of primary colorectal cancer categorizes tumours into four robust subtypes, which could guide subtype-targeted therapy. CMS4, also known as the mesenchymal subtype, has the greatest propensity to form distant metastases. CMS4 status and histopathological features of colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis were investigated in this study. ⋯ Significant enrichment for CMS4 was observed in colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis. Surgical relevance Cytoreductive surgery combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC) improves survival of selected patients with colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis, but recurrence is common. Histopathological and molecular analysis of colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis could provide clues for development of novel therapies. In this study, colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis was found to be enriched for tumours with high stromal content and CMS4-positive status. To further improve prognosis for patients with colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis, therapies that target tumour-stroma interaction could be added to CRS-HIPEC.
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TAP block has gained popularity to provide postoperative analgesia after abdominal surgery but its advantage over epidural analgesia is disputed. For lower abdominal surgeries, epidural analgesia has been the gold standard and time-tested technique for providing postoperative analgesia, but contraindications for the same would warrant need for other equally good analgesic techniques. The objective of this study is to compare the analgesic efficacy of both the techniques. ⋯ The epidural anaesthesia is still the golden standard to achieve a postcaesarean analgesia. Epidural anaesthesia is a considerably effective method in controlling the postoperative pain. We are of the opinion that epidural anaesthesia should be preferred in the first place to achieve a successful postcaesarean analgesia as it provides more effective pain control.