Visceral Medicine最新文献

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the leading complications in health care. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is meanwhile widely prophylactically used for preventing SSIs. For evaluating the results of the implantation of this technique, we used the Simon single-arm study design and examine whether NPWT has a prophylactic effect on reducing SSIs in a cohort of general surgery patients.

Methods: This single-arm, two-stage study includes 81 elective general surgery patients and corresponds to the Simon's design. The sample size calculation was based on a reduction in the superficial SSI rate from 12 to 4% (power 80%, significance level 5%) using a NPWT system. In compliance with Simon's two-Stage design, the study required the recruitment of 34 patients in stage I and 47 patients in stage II. The two-stage design method would be discarded in case of a wound infection in 3 or more patients in stage I or 6 or more patients in stage II. Using the NPWT system in the operating room, a negative pressure wound dressing was applied post-operatively and removed after 7 days. According to the criteria of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), post-operative wound documentation followed on day 7 and 30.

Results: In stage I, no SSI was apparent. In stage II, 3 patients had SSIs (CDC grade I).

Conclusion: A prophylactic NPWT can significantly reduce the wound infection rate in elective general surgery.

Background: Smoking tobacco is the most preventable cause of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer disease in Germany. The more and the longer you smoke, the higher your risk of GI cancer. About 28% of 18-64 year-old Germans are current smokers; in addition, 11% of the population is regularly exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke.

Summary: Tobacco use is causally associated with esophageal, gastric, pancreatic, biliary, hepatocellular, colorectal, and anal cancers. Combining smoking with alcohol use, excess body weight, diabetes, or chronic infections synergistically enhances GI cancer risk. Smoking cessation effectively reduces tobacco-associated GI cancer risk.

Key messages: Smokers should be encouraged to stop smoking tobacco and join programs of risk-adaptive cancer screening.

Background: Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition caused by longstanding gastroesophageal reflux disease and may progress to low-grade dysplasia, high-grade dysplasia (HGD), and finally esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Summary: Barrett's adenocarcinoma can be treated either by endoscopic or surgical resection, depending on the clinical staging. Endoscopic resection is a safe and adequate treatment option for HGD, mucosal tumors, and low-risk submucosal tumors. Its role in the treatment of high-risk submucosal tumors and the role of organ-preserving sentinel node navigated surgery are still under investigation. Esophagectomy with neoadjuvant chemoradiation or perioperative chemotherapy is considered the standard of care for locally advanced Barrett's adenocarcinoma. Regarding operative technique, there is no proven superiority of one technique over another, although a minimally invasive transthoracic technique seems most commonly applied nowadays. In this review, state-of-the-art evidence and future expectations are presented regarding indications for resection, neoadjuvant or perioperative therapy, type of surgery, and postoperative follow-up for Barrett's adenocarcinoma.

Key messages: In Barrett's adenocarcinoma, endoscopic resection is the standard treatment option for low-risk mucosal and submucosal tumors. For high-risk submucosal tumors, endoscopic submucosal dissection with close surveillance and sentinel node navigated surgery are currently being studied. For locally advanced cancer, a multimodal therapy including esophagectomy is the standard of care. Nowadays, in high-volume centers, a minimally invasive transthoracic esophagectomy with an intrathoracic anastomosis is the most common procedure for Barrett's adenocarcinoma.

Background: Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide and its incidence is rising. Barrett's esophagus (BE) can develop low- and high-grade dysplasia which can progress to EAC overtime. The golden standard to detect dysplastic BE (DBE) or EAC is surveillance with high-definition white-light endoscopy (HD-WLE) and random biopsies according to the Seattle protocol. However, this method is time-consuming and associated with a remarkable miss rate. Therefore, there is great need for the development of novel reliable techniques to optimize surveillance strategies and improve detection rates.

Summary: Optical chromoendoscopy (OC) techniques like narrow-band imaging have shown improved detection of DBE and EAC compared to HD-WLE and random biopsies. Most recent OC techniques, including the iSCAN optical enhancement system and linked color imaging, showed improved characterization of DBE and EAC retrospectively. Fluorescence molecular endoscopy (FME) presented promising results to highlight DBE and EAC. Moreover, with the establishment of well-performing delineation computer-aided detection (CAD) algorithms and the first real-time CAD system for EAC, we expect clinical application of CAD in the near future.

Key messages: Despite impressive progress made in the development of advanced endoscopic techniques, combined HD-WLE/OC followed by random biopsies remains the golden standard for BE surveillance. Surveillance depends on appropriate mucosal cleansing, sufficient inspection time, and competence of the performing gastroenterologist to improve detection of EAC. In addition, to facilitate the clinical implementation of advanced endoscopic techniques, multicenter prospective clinical studies are demanded for OC and FME. Meanwhile, further optimization of CAD algorithms, the education of gastroenterologists, and analysis of the interaction between the clinician and the computer should be performed.

Background: A histological diagnosis of dysplasia is our current best predictor of progression in Barrett's esophagus (BE), the precursor of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Despite periodic endoscopic surveillance and assessment of dysplastic changes, we fail to identify the majority of those who progress before the development of EAC, whereas the majority of patients undergo endoscopy without showing progression.

Summary: Low-grade dysplasia (LGD), confirmed by expert pathologists, identifies BE patients at higher risk for progression, but the diagnosis of LGD is challenging. Recent research indicates that progression from BE to EAC is heterogeneous and can accelerate via genome doubling and genome catastrophes, resulting in different ways to progression. We identified 3 target areas, which may help to overcome the current lack of an accurate biomarker: (1) the implementation of somatic point mutations, chromosomal alterations, and epigenetic changes (genomics and epigenomics), (2) evaluate and develop biomarkers over space and time, (3) use new sampling methods such as noninvasive self-expandable sponges and endoscopic brushes. This review focus on the state of the art in risk stratifying BE and on recent advances which may overcome the limitations of current strategies.

Key messages: A panel of clinical factors, genomics, epigenomics, and/or proteomics will most likely lead to an assay that accurately risk stratifies BE patients into low- or high-risk for progression. This biomarker panel needs to be developed and validated in large cohorts containing a sufficient number of progressors, with testing samples over space (spatial distribution) and time (temporal distribution). For implementation in clinical practice, the technique should be affordable and applicable to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples, which represent standard of care.

Background: Barrett's esophagus (BE) is the only known precursor lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma, a malignancy with increasing incidence and poor survival rates. To reduce mortality, regular endoscopic surveillance of BE patients is recommended to detect neoplasia in an (endoscopically) curable stage. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of current BE surveillance strategies, its pitfalls, and potential future directions to optimize BE surveillance.

Summary: Several societal guidelines provide surveillance strategies. However, when practicing those endoscopies multiple drawbacks are encountered. Important challenges are time-consuming biopsy protocols with low adherence rates, biopsy sampling error, interobserver variability in endoscopic detection of lesions, and interobserver variability in diagnosis of dysplasia. Furthermore, the overall efficacy and cost-effectiveness of surveillance are questioned. Using novel techniques, such as artificial intelligence and personalized surveillance intervals, can help to overcome these obstacles.

Key messages: Currently, there is room for improvement in BE surveillance. Better risk-stratification is expected to reduce both patient and healthcare burdens. Personalized and dynamic surveillance intervals accompanied by novel techniques in detection and histopathological assessment of dysplasia may be tools for a change in the right direction.