Personalized Management of Anastomotic Leak after Surgery for Esophageal Carcinoma

Objective To summarize the management of anastomotic leak following surgery for esophageal car-cinoma. Methods The medical records of the patients developing digestive tract leak after surgery for esophageal carcinoma in our hospital from January 2003 to March 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Results A total of 36 patients were included, in whom 13 developed cervical anastomotic leak, 18 had intra-thoracic anastomotic leak, and 5 had intra-thoracic gastric necrosis. Of these patients, 7 were treated with resurgery, 6 with esophageal stent implantation, and 23 with conservative treatment. Treatment lasted for 5 to 181 days, averagely 47.0±31.9 days. After management, 9 patients died (25.0%). Among seven patients with resurgery, four had deceased, two were cured, and one developed leak again and was switched to conservative treatment until discharged. All the 6 patients treated with stent implantation were cured. Of the 24 patients receiving conservative treatment (including one switched from resurgery), 18 (75.0%) were cured and 1 was not cured but survived. Conclusions Anastomotic leak following surgery for esophageal carcinoma should be treated individually based on the onset time, location, size, and extent of the leakage. Conservative treatment is still a safe and effective method.The efficacy of stent implantation needs further investigation to confirm.

Comparative study of induction chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of limited-disease small cell lung cancer with ipsilateral pleural effusion

Objective:The aim of the study was to explore the effects and side effects of induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy for limited-disease small cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC) patients with ipsilateral pleural effusion.Methods:From January 2005 to May 2009,52 LD-SCLC patients with ipsilateral pleural effusion were treated with induction chemotherapy first.The regimen was taken as follows:etoposide 100 mg iv,d1-d5,cisplatin 25 mg/m2 iv,d1-d3 or CBP AUC 4 iv,d1.Three-week therapy was a cycle.According to pleural effusion status after 2-4 cycles induction chemotherapy,patients got disappearance of pleural effusion after chemotherapy were underwent thoracic radiotherapy (TRT;50 Gy/25 fraction) or same chemotherapy regimen;patients without disappearance or with increasing of pleural effusion after chemotherapy were given same chemotherapy regimen.Therapeutic effect was evaluated every two cycles according to RECIST 1.0 and side-effects were evaluated every cycle according to NCI-CTC AE Grades.All patients were followed up,and the median follow-up time was 26 months.Results:The response rate of patients was 80.7% (42/52) after induction chemotherapy and 34 patients got disappearance of pleural effusion.The median survival time,1-and 2-year survival rates were 15.4 months,76.9% (40 /52) and 38.5% (20 /52) respectively.The median survival time,1-and 2-year survival rates of patients with pleural effusion remission received chest radiotherapy (A group,n=20),patients with pleural effusion remission received chemotherapy (B group,n=14) and patients without pleural effusion remission received chemotherapy (C group,n=18) were 21.5 months,14.4 months,12.5 months,80.0%,64.3%,55.6% and 35%,21.4%,11.1%,respectively.Main side effects were grades 1-2,including myelosuppression,fatigue,nausea and vomiting.No therapeutic related death was occurred.Conclusion:Induction chemotherapy plus chemoradiotherapy has shown better effect in prolonging survival of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients with ipsilateral pleural effusion than chemotherapy alone.The patients with decreased ipsilateral pleural effusion may receive benefit from subsequent TRT.

Modeling and qualitative analysis of diabetes therapies with state feedback control

For the therapies of diabetes mellitus, a uovel mathematical model with two state impulses： impulsive injection of insulin and impulsive injection of glucagon, is proposed. To avoid hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, the injections of insulin and glucagon are determined by closely monitoring the plasma glucose level of the patients. By using differential equation geometry theory, the existence of periodic solution and the attrac- tion region of the system have been obtained, which ensures that injections in such an automated way can keep the blood glucose concentration under control. The simula- tion results verify that the better insulin injection strategy in closed-loop control is a larger dose but longer interval rather than a smaller dose but shorter interval. Besides, our numerical analysis reveals that medicine studies and practice that slow down the insulin degradation are helpful for the plasma glucose control. Our findings can provide significant guidance in both design of artificial pancreas and clinical treatment.