Subcutaneous infusion ports (SIPs) represent a valid method for long-term chemotherapy. The SIPs have several advantages over other methods of venous access: they are easy to implant under local anaesthesia, have less discomfort for the patients, allow low costs, can be implanted in day hospital, and can be managed ambulatorily. However, SIPs have delayed complications, frequently related to clinical conditions of the neoplastic patients, and immediate complications, often due to the placement technique. From March 1992 to March 1997 we placed, under local anaesthesia and under fluoroscopic control, 102 SIPs in 99 general oncology patients for long-term chemotherapy (88% solid, 12% haematological tumours). The percutaneous venous access devices were in the subclavian vein in 96% of the cases and in the internal jugular vein in 4% of them. Immediate complications were: 1 haemopneumothorax, which required thoracic aspirations and two blood transfusions, 1 loop of the tunneled part of the catheter without alterations in SIP function, and 1 left jugular thrombosis in a patient with subclavian veins already thrombosed. The venous access was in the subclavian vein in the first 2 cases, and it was not necessary to suspend the therapeutic program. In the third instance, implanted in jugular vein, it was necessary to remove the SIP. Delayed complications were: 1 necrosis of the skin over the port, 1 infection of subcutaneous pocket, 2 infections of the system, 1 catheter deconnection, and 3 catheter ruptures with embolization of the catheter tip. The SIPs were removed in all cases but 1 in whom infection was successfully treated by appropriate antibiotic therapy. Embolization of the catheter required removal from the pulmonary artery under fluoroscopic guidance in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. In conclusion, infection and thrombosis are the two major complications of SIP in general oncology patients. In these cases it is not necessary to remove systematically the system, but a cor rect therapy (antibiotic, fibrinolytic agents) can be utilized with good results. The catheter rupture is often due to the wear over the costoclavicular angle. The interventional radiology is the method of choice in the treatment of the catheter embolization by rupture or dislocation. The experience of the surgical and nursing staff is probably the most important factor in decreasing the total rate of complications.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) constitue the largest category of primary non-epithelial neoplasms of the stomach and small bowel. They are characterized by a remarkable cellular variability and their malignant potential is sometimes difficult to predict. Very recent studies, using mitotic count and tumor size as the best determinants of biological behavior, divide GISTs into three groups: benign, borderline and malignant tumors. We report on a male patient who underwent a right hepatectomy for a large metastasis 11 years after the surgical treatment of an antral-pyloric gastric neoplasm, histologically defined as leiomyoblastoma and with clinical, morphological and immunohistochemical features of benignity (low mitotic count, tumor size < 5 cm, low cellular proliferation index). Histological and immunohistochemical analysis of the hepatic metastasis showed the cellular proliferation index (Ki-67) to be positive in 25% of neoplastic cells, as opposed to the primary gastric tumor in which Ki-67 was positive in only 5% of neoplastic cells. In conclusion, although modern immunohistochemical techniques are now available to obtain useful prognostic information, the malignant potential of GISTs is sometimes difficult to predict: neoplasms clinically and histologically defined as benign could metastasize a long time after oncologically correct surgical treatment. Therefore, benign GISTs also require consistent, long-term follow-up.

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is an uncommon form of portal hypertension caused by obstruction of the hepatic venous outflow. From 1969 to 1997 we treated 19 patients (7 men, 12 women; mean age 37.6 years) affected by primary BCS. In most of the cases no etiologic factors were identified; in the remaining cases the etiology was associated with polycythemia vera, use of oral contraceptives, presence of endoluminal membranes, and repeated episodes of sepsis. Three patients with membranous occlusion of the major hepatic veins were treated by percutaneous placement of a self-expanding metallic stent inserted via a transjugular or transhepatic approach. The remaining 16 patients underwent a side-to-side portacaval shunt, which required interposition of a graft in five cases. In two patients with a significant caval obstruction, a metallic vascular stent was placed in the narrowed tract of the inferior vena cava, before shunting, by means of a transfemoral venous approach. One patient died within the first 30 postoperative days. The 18 survivors were followed for a mean of 66.7 months. The 5-year survival was 83%. Primary BCS requires different therapies depending on the stage of the disease. The fulminant or chronic forms with irreversible hepatic damage require definitive treatment, such as orthotopic liver transplantation. For the acute or subacute forms, characterized by reversible hepatic injury, a portasystemic shunt represents the most effective treatment. The patients at poor hepatic risk can be treated by interventional radiology. In both cases preliminary caval stenting is necessary if the syndrome is complicated by significant obstruction of the inferior vena cava.

Liver resection by open surgery remains the method of choice for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients with compensated liver function. Laparoscopy for surgical treatment of hepatic diseases is at an early stage. Laparoscopy has been often proposed for diagnosis, staging of hepatic malignancy, treatment of hepatic cyst or benign tumors, but very few laparoscopic treatments of hepatic malignancies have been reported at present and always using conventional CO2 laparoscopy. We describe herein the operative treatment of a single subglissonian HCC of segment III in a child, HCV (hepatitis C virus)-related cirrhosis. A nonanatomical wedge resection was performed by gasless laparoscopic technique using a mechanical retractor obviating the creation of the pneumoperitoneum and of the sealed environment. The technique, in selected cases, is a simple, safe, and effective surgical method. The gasless technique guarantees a clear vision, it makes possible the continuous suction of smoke and fluids, it allows the use of conventional instruments for classic maneuvers of the liver surgery (Pringle maneuver), and the easy management of suturing. The present case has proved to be another abdominal procedure that can be carried out with all the advantages of gasless minimally invasive surgery.

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