No abstract

Gastrointestinal bleeding is a morbid complication of pancreaticoduodenectomy. Determining its etiology is often a daunting challenge in that both common and unusual mechanisms may be operative. Visceral artery pseudoaneurysms, although rare, must be considered in that minimally invasive means are available for effective therapy. Our recent experience with two cases highlights the importance for both general and vascular surgeons to be aware of the diagnostic and therapeutic role for early angiography and deployment of endovascular techniques to achieve a successful outcome.

Background: Mitotic recombination is important for inactivating tumour suppressor genes by copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity (LOH). Although meiotic recombination maps are plentiful, little is known about mitotic recombination. The APC gene (chr5q21) is mutated in most colorectal tumours and its usual mode of LOH is mitotic recombination.

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Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary liver tumor in childhood and occurs more commonly in families with familial adenomatous polyposis. Germline mutations of the gene responsible for familial adenomatous polyposis--adenomatous polyposis coli (APC)--are described in patients with hepatoblastoma even without a family history. We investigated children presenting with apparently sporadic hepatoblastoma between 1991 and 2004. Blood samples were available from 29 children (18 boys) whose conditions were diagnosed at a median age of 22 months (range 6-119 months). No germline APC mutations were found, which does not support the need for routine screening in sporadic hepatoblastoma in the absence of a suggestive family history of colorectal cancer or suspicion of familial adenomatous polyposis.