Annals of surgical oncology
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Lymph node involvement is a very important prognostic factor for cutaneous melanoma. In this paper we try to validate a nomogram that was created at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, to predict the probability of metastases in the sentinel nodes of patients with cutaneous melanoma. ⋯ The nomogram is a useful diagnostic tool that provides an adequate accurate prediction of the probability of sentinel lymph node metastases in patients with cutaneous melanoma.
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Elevated thyroglobulin (Tg) levels post surgery are associated with disease recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). The aim of this study is to determine which clinicopathological factors influence Tg elevation following surgery and radio-iodine ablation (RAI) for PTC. ⋯ Lymph node metastases are associated with increased postablative Tg levels in PTC. More complete lymphadenectomy is associated with lowering of Tg levels.
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Clinical Trial
Use of Gliadel (BCNU) wafer in the surgical treatment of malignant glioma: a 10-year institutional experience.
Gliadel (polifeprosan 20 with carmustine [BCNU] implant) is commonly used for local delivery of BCNU to high-grade gliomas after resection and is associated with increased survival. Various complications of Gliadel wafers have been reported but not consistently reproduced. We set out to characterize Gliadel-associated morbidity in our 10-year experience with Gliadel wafers for treatment of malignant glioma. ⋯ In our experience, use of Gliadel wafer was not associated with an increase in perioperative morbidity after surgical treatment of malignant astrocytoma.
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Comparative Study
The cost-effectiveness of three strategies for the surgical treatment of symptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism.
Modern surgical approaches to the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism [unilateral neck exploration (UNE) and minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP)] have become commonplace in recent years. However, the cost-effectiveness of these strategies has been questioned since the effectiveness of the gold standard, bilateral neck exploration (BNE), is well established. The objective of our study was to determine the incremental cost effectiveness of UNE and MIP compared with BNE for treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT). ⋯ Our results suggest that within our institution, and in several different model formulations, bilateral neck exploration remains the cost-effective strategy for the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism.
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Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) arising from the appendix is a rare disease for which the long-term prognosis is poor. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of an aggressive approach used in our institution over the last 5 years. ⋯ Although these results are preliminary, this therapeutic approach seems both feasible and safe in selected patients.