Annals of surgery
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Local recurrence of rectal cancer develops in the posterior bony pelvis as an isolated event in about half of the patients with recurrence. Although radiation can palliate sacral root pain, the disease is usually progressive and is rarely amenable to conventional resection. We have adapted a surgical technique usually used for primary sacral tumors, which permits a complete en bloc excision of recurrent rectal cancer in most instances. ⋯ In the palliative resection group, three patients survived with relief of local tumor symptoms four, eight, and 12 months. One patient who had received a total of 9000 rads developed flap necrosis, small bowel fistula and died 60 days after resection. Although this is a small series, it suggests that abdominal sacral resection of locally advanced pelvic cancer is feasible and may provide good palliation in most and possible cure in some patients who develop recurrence after primary resection of adenocarcinoma of the rectum.
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A computerized analysis of prognostic variables was performed in 96 proven cases of extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma treated over a 24-year period at UCLA. Forty-nine percent of the lesions were in the upper third of the bile ducts and 47% of these were resected, for an operative mortality rate of 23% and a maximum survival rate of 4.5 years. ⋯ In the lower third lesions, 67% were resected by Whipple's procedures, for an 8% mortality rate and a five-year survival rate of 28% extending to nine years. Resection of these difficult carcinomas offers the best hope of survival but must be weighed against the high operative mortality risk in those lesions located in the hilar region.
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In the past nine years, 1196 patients whose lower extremity was threatened because of infrainguinal arteriosclerosis have been treated at Montefiore Hospital. In the last six years, limb salvage was attempted in 679 or 90% of 755 patients. Femoropopliteal (318), small vessel (204) and axillopopliteal (29) bypasses were used along with transluminal angioplasty (128) and aggressive local operations to obtain a healed foot. ⋯ Of patients undergoing arterial reconstruction, 88% of those who died within five years did so without losing their limbs. Of all the patients in whom limb salvage was attempted, 68% lived more than one year with a viable, useable extremity, and 54% lived over two years with an intact limb. We believe this aggressive approach to limb salvage is justified, and can be undertaken with a low cost in mortality, knee loss and morbidity.