The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical course of renal failure that was induced by the various types of bacterial infections in patients with cirrhosis and ascites. Three hundred and nine patients, who were consecutively admitted to the 3 major hospitals of Padova, Italy, during the first 6 months of 2005, were studied prospectively. Of these, 233 patients (75.4%) had evidence of ascites. In 104 patients with cirrhosis and ascites (44.6%) a bacterial infection was diagnosed. A bacterial infection-induced renal failure was observed in 35 of 104 patients (33.6%). The prevalence of renal failure was higher in biliary or gastrointestinal tract infections and in spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) and in than in other types of infections. In addition, the progressive form of renal failure was only precipitated by biliary or gastrointestinal tract infections, SBP, and urinary tract infections (UTI). In a multivariate analysis only MELD score (P ‫؍‬ 0.001), the peak count of neutrophil leukocyte in blood (P ‫؍‬ 0.04), and the lack of resolution of infection (P ‫؍‬ 0.03) had an independent predictive value on the occurrence of renal failure. Conclusion: The results of the study show that the development of bacterial-induced renal failure in patients with cirrhosis and ascites is related to the MELD score, and to both the severity and the lack of resolution of the infection. A progressive form of renal failure occurs only as a consequence of biliary or gastrointestinal tract infections, SBP, and UTI. (HEPATOLOGY 2007;45:223-229.)

The combined diuretic treatment is preferable to the sequential one in the treatment of moderate ascites in patients with cirrhosis and without renal failure. NCT00741663. This work is an open randomised clinical trial.

Objective: This international multicenter study by the Upper GI International Robotic Association aimed to gain insight in current techniques and outcomes of RAMIE worldwide. Background: Current evidence for RAMIE originates from single-center studies, which may not be generalizable to the international multicenter experience. Methods: Twenty centers from Europe, Asia, North-America, and South-America participated from 2016 to 2019. Main endpoints included the surgical techniques, clinical outcomes, and early oncological results of ramie. Results: A total of 856 patients undergoing transthoracic RAMIE were included. Robotic surgery was applied for both the thoracic and abdominal phase (45%), only the thoracic phase (49%), or only the abdominal phase (6%). In most cases, the mediastinal lymphadenectomy included the low paraesophageal nodes (n=815, 95%), subcarinal nodes (n = 774, 90%), and paratracheal nodes (n = 537, 63%). When paratracheal lymphadenectomy was performed during an Ivor Lewis or a McKeown RAMIE procedure, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury occurred in 3% and 11% of patients, respectively. Circular stapled (52%), hand-sewn (30%), and linear stapled (18%) anastomotic techniques were used. In Ivor Lewis RAMIE, robot-assisted hand-sewing showed the highest anastomotic leakage rate (33%), while lower rates were observed with circular stapling (17%) and linear stapling (15%). In McKeown RAMIE, a hand-sewn anastomotic technique showed the highest leakage rate (27%), followed by linear stapling (18%) and circular stapling (6%). Conclusion: This study is the first to provide an overview of the current techniques and outcomes of transthoracic RAMIE worldwide. Although these results indicate high quality of the procedure, the optimal approach should be further defined.

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