A prospective study was designed to evaluate the outcome of patients with localized resectable neuroblastoma without regional lymph node involvement when no therapy beyond surgical resection was administered. One hundred one patients observed for 3 to 60 months had a 2-year disease-free survival of 89% (SE = 5%). Of the nine patients experiencing relapse, only three have died. There were no apparent distinguishing characteristics of the nine failures. Due to the favorable prognosis of the subset of neuroblastoma patients, prognostic factor analysis had very limited power and lacked clinical importance. Complete gross removal of the localized tumors is adequate therapy to ensure the survival of the majority of these patients.

Objectives Venous thromboembolism is a potentially fatal complication of superficial endovenous treatment. Proper risk assessment and thromboprophylaxis could mitigate this hazard; however, there are currently no evidence-based or consensus guidelines. This study surveyed UK and Republic of Ireland vascular consultants to determine areas of consensus. Methods A 32-item survey was sent to vascular consultants via the Vascular and Endovascular Research Network (phase 1). These results generated 10 consensus statements which were redistributed (phase 2). ‘Good’ and ‘very good’ consensus were defined as endorsement/rejection of statements by >67% and >85% of respondents, respectively. Results Forty-two consultants completed phase 1. This generated seven statements regarding risk factors mandating peri-procedural pharmacoprophylaxis and three statements regarding specific pharmacoprophylaxis regimes. Forty-seven consultants completed phase 2. Regarding venous thromboembolism risk factors mandating pharmacoprophylaxis, ‘good’ and ‘very good’ consensus was achieved for 5/7 and 2/7 statements, respectively. Regarding specific regimens, ‘very good’ consensus was achieved for 3/3 statements. Conclusions The main findings from this study were that there was ‘good’ or ‘very good’ consensus that patients with any of the seven surveyed risk factors should be given pharmacoprophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin. High-risk patients should receive one to two weeks of pharmacoprophylaxis rather than a single dose.

The selective integration of biologic mesh to augment the crural repair in para-oesophageal hernia with extensive diaphragmatic defects appears to be safe, effective and infers the potential of long-term satisfactory outcomes.

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