Background
Partial adrenalectomy has recently been advocated to preserve unaffected adrenal tissue during resection of pheochromocytoma.
Objective
To describe a robot-assisted laparoscopic partial adrenalectomy (RALPA) technique and to report on early functional and oncologic outcomes.
Design, setting, and participants
From 2007 to 2010, 15 RALPA were performed on 12 consecutive patients with pheochromocytoma. Follow-up data of >1 yr are available on 11 procedures. Median follow-up for the entire cohort was 17.3 mo (range: 6–45).
Surgical procedure
Positioning and port placement is designed for adequate reach and visualization of the upper retroperitoneum. The plane between the adrenal cortex and pheochromocytoma pseudocapsule is identified visually and with laparoscopic ultrasound. The tumor is dissected away from normal adrenal cortex, preserving normal adrenal tissue.
Measurements
Preoperative, perioperative, pathologic, and functional outcomes data were analyzed.
Results and limitations
Fourteen of 15 cases were completed robotically. Among 15 procedures, 4 were performed on a solitary adrenal gland. Four cases required resection of multiple tumors (up to six) with two performed in a solitary gland. The mean age of the patients was 30 yr, and the mean body mass index was 27. The mean operative time was 163 min, the median estimated blood loss was 161 ml, and the median tumor size was 2.7 cm (range: 1.3–5.5). There was one conversion to an open procedure in a patient requiring reoperation on a solitary adrenal gland. One patient who underwent RALPA on a solitary adrenal gland required postoperative steroid supplementation at last follow-up. At a median follow-up of 17.3 mo (range: 6–45), there were no recurrences or metastatic events. Study limitations include small sample size and short follow-up.
Conclusions
RALPA for the treatment of pheochromocytoma is feasible and safe and provides encouraging functional and oncologic outcomes, even in patients with a solitary adrenal lesion or multiple ipsilateral lesions.
BackgroundThe incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) syndrome/disease after adult solid organ transplantation in the era effective antiviral therapy has not been fully assessed.ObjectiveTo determines the incidence of CMV syndrome/disease after solid organ transplantation in the UK.Study designA retrospective analysis of 1807 solid organ transplants from 12 UK solid organ transplant centres representing 32.7% of all transplant activity occurring in the UK between 1/04/2004 and 31/03/2006. Patients were categorised into those experiencing an episode of symptomatic CMV infection after transplant or those who remained free of symptoms. All patients were followed up for 2 years for the occurrence of CMV syndrome/disease.ResultsThe majority of the transplant centres used valganciclovir prophylaxis in the high risk D+R− patients (91.6%) whereas management of the lower risk D+R+ and D−R+ patients was more variable with deployment of both prophylactic and pre-emptive strategies in ∼50% of centres. CMV syndrome/disease occurred in 20.5% of the D+R− patients representing 55 cases whereas the incidence was only 8.1% and 9% in the D+R+ and D−R+ group, respectively (p < 0.001 compared to the D+R− group), but representing a further 58 cases of CMV syndrome/disease. CMV viraemia in the D+R− group was associated with a high probability (65%) of CMV syndrome/disease in renal transplant recipients whereas this was less apparent in the intermediate risk groups.ConclusionsCMV syndrome/disease remains an important healthcare burden after solid organ transplantation with the intermediate risk groups contributing similar numbers of cases as the high risk group.
383 Background: 2-(18F) fluoro-2 deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) PET/CT is a useful tool in the staging of malignancies. In patients with kidney cancer, the role of FDG is limited in those with clear-cell histology and remains to be evaluated with other subtypes. Kidney cancer associated with hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell carcinoma (HLRCC) is characterized by a defect in the Krebs cycle rendering these tumors highly dependent on aerobic glycolysis (the ‘Warburg effect’) with high glucose uptake to fulfill their energy requirements; we hypothesized that FDG PET/CT may have excellent sensitivity for staging in this condition. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with HLRCC kidney cancer that underwent FDG PET/CT in conjunction with anatomic imaging at our institution. The ability of FDG PET/CT to detect malignant lesions (defined using pathologic or radiologic criteria) was evaluated. Results: A total of 30 patients underwent 42 PET /CTs. Conventional imaging identified a total of 107 lesions. Both patient and lesion-based analyses were performed. A total of 90 lesions, including ten renal lesions, were classified as malignant. 76 of 80 extra-renal lesions were correctly identified as malignant by PET/CT (sensitivity, 95%, CI 88-98%). In contrast, only 4 of 10 renal lesions were correctly identified as malignant (sensitivity, 40%, CI 17-69%). 11 of 12 histologically confirmed extra-renal lesions were PET avid (sensitivity, 92%, CI-64-98%). 10 of 12 (83%) benign lesions associated with HLRCC including uterine/cutaneous leiomyomas and adrenal nodules were PET avid. In a patient based analysis, all 18 patients with extra-renal spread of kidney cancer were correctly identified (sensitivity 100%, CI 82-100%). Conclusions: FDG PET/CT is a highly sensitive diagnostic modality for identifying metastatic kidney cancer associated with HLRCC. Prospective studies evaluating the utility of PET/CT imaging to characterize response to systemic therapy are currently underway.
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