No abstract

FDG-PET is a valuable tool for the noninvasive assessment of histopathologic tumor response after neoadjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

The CNAP monitor showed an acceptable agreement and was interchangeable with invasive pressure monitoring for MAP during normotensive conditions. During induction of anaesthesia and when the AP was low, the agreement was less good and interchangeability was not achieved. These results suggest that CNAP is not statistically equivalent to invasive monitoring during all periods of anaesthesia but may be a useful additional AP monitor.

No abstract

Therapeutic strategies for villous adenoma of the papilla of Vater remain controversial. This study evaluates the accuracy of preoperative histopathologic diagnosis and the impact of the grade of dysplasia on recurrence as well as on potential alteration of the surgical approach. A series of 32 patients with an adenoma of Vater's papilla who underwent local resection or pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy between January 1990 and August 2000 were reviewed retrospectively. Multiple endoscopic biopsies had been performed preoperatively. The histopathology of the preoperatively obtained biopsy specimens and subsequent surgical specimens were evaluated for grade of dysplasia by two pathologists and correlated with the clinical course after operative treatment. Altogether, 3 of 11 patients (27%) with a low-grade (LG) dysplasia adenoma and 6 of 21 patients (29%) with a high-grade (HG) dysplasia adenoma in the initial endoscopic biopsy specimens exhibited invasive carcinoma at the postoperative histologic examination (NS). Recurrence was not observed in the 6 patients from the LG dysplasia adenoma group following local resection and benign postoperative histology. In contrast, recurrence of villous adenoma was discovered in 2 of 12 patients (17%) and development of invasive carcinoma in 5 of 12 patients (42%) from the preoperative HG dysplasia group (p <0.05). The overall risk of carcinoma after primary diagnosis of an HG dysplasia adenoma was 44% (14/32). Adenoma of the papilla of Vater including HG dysplasia appears to be associated with a high risk of exhibiting invasive carcinoma postoperatively and a high rate of recurrence. Therefore pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy should be offered to patients with an HG dysplasia adenoma.

No abstract

CK20-specific IHC and QRT-PCR are supportive tools to conventional histology for detection of occult tumor cells in archival tissues, with the restriction that a laborious QRT-PCR procedure is necessary to achieve appropriate specificity. A prognostic value of CK20 IHC or QRT-PCR for stratification of UICC stage I and II patients into those likely to develop recurrent disease was not evident.

The behavior of ICLs in relation to the crystalline lens during accommodation varied with age and could be shown by PCI. The position shift of the ICL depended on the initial vault at desaccommodation and the ability of the anterior lens surface to bulge forward. Even though the crystalline lens stiffened, and therefore accommodation deteriorated with age, there was still a movement of the ICL, pointing to the role of the ciliary muscle movement in accommodation.