Objective To study palliative surgical strategies for patients with complex congenital heart diseases， and improve their clinical outcomes and survival rate.?Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 95 patients with complex congenital heart diseases who underwent palliative surgical repair in Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College，Huazhong University of Science and Technology from January 2004 to May 2011. There were 68 male patients and 27female patients with their age ranging from 1 month to 37 years. Modified Blalock-Taussig shunt （B-T shunt） was performed in 12 patients， modified Brock’s procedure in 23 patients， bidirectional Glenn procedure in 55 patients and pulmonary artery banding in 5 patients. Surgical strategies and influential factors of treatment outcomes were analyzed.?Results There were 10 in-hospital death with the overall mortality of 10.5% （10/95）. All the surviving patients were discharged successfully. Main postoperative complications included low cardiac output syndrome， hypoxemia and pneumonia. All the surviving patients were followed up for 5 months to 6 years， and in New York Heart Association （NYHA） functional class ⅠorⅡduring follow-up. During follow-up， nine patients after modified Brock’s procedure received radical repair， and 6 patients after bidirectional Glenn procedure received total cavopulmonary connection.?Conclusion A considerable numberof patients with complex congenital heart diseases may miss their best timing for surgical repair， which significantlyinfluences their surgical outcomes. We need to choose best palliative surgical strategy for these patients according to their pulmonary artery development condition， heart malformation characteristics and final treatment goal.
Objective To determine the safety and efficacy of surgical biliary bypass on the elderly patients with unresectable pancreatic head cancer. Methods The clinical data of 55 cases with unresectable pancreatic head cancer treated with palliation methods from July 2002 to June 2009 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into three groups according to different age and therapeutic program: Nineteen patients, 65 years of age or older, were managed with surgical biliary bypass (group A), 19 patients under 65 years of age were treated by surgical biliary bypass (group B) and 17 patients with the age of 65 years or older received percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (group C). Then the therapeutic results were compared.Results With respect to the postoperative level of serum bilirubin, the incidence of early complications, postoperative hospitalization and mean survival time, no statistically significant difference was found between group A and B (Pgt;0.05). There was one case of recurrent jaundice and one case of gastric output obstruction in group B, while no one suffered postoperative complication in group A, and the difference was statistically significant (Plt;0.01). Compared with group A, the postoperative level of serum bilirubin, the number of patient readmitted, the rate of recurrent jaundice and gastric output obstruction were higher in group C (Plt;0.05 or Plt;0.01). The mean postoperative hospitalization and overall survival time were significantly shorter in group C than group A (Plt;0.05 or Plt;0.01, respectively). Conclusion Surgical palliation does not increase the morbidity rate, but it does improve the quality of life in elderly patients with unresectable pancreatic head cancer.
ObjectiveTo analyze effect of percutaneous transhepatic choledochus drainage (PTCD) for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. MethodsClinical data of 67 cases of hilar cholangiocarcinoma who treated in our hospital from Jan. 2005 to Dec. 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. ResultsOf the 67 cases, 30 cases were performed PTCD, 20 cases were performed radical surgery after PTCD, and 17 cases were performed palliative surgery after PTCD. There were 59 cases who were followed-up for 3-30 months, and the median time was 9.3 months. The median survival time of patients who underwent PTCD, radical surgery, and palliative surgery were 10.2, 21.4, and 8.9 months respectively. The survival of patients who underwent radical surgery was better than those of underwent PTCD (χ2=13.6, P=0.000 4) and palliative surgery (χ2=15.2, P=0.003 8), and survival of patients who underwent PTCD was better than patients underwent palliative surgery (χ2=5.3, P=0.040 1). ConclusionsPTCD is contribute to preoperative diagnosis and evaluation, in addition, it can reduce unnecessary surgical exploration, guarantee the safety of the radical surgery, and provide follow-up care for palliative operation channel which is favorable for local internal radiation therapy.
ObjectiveTo discuss various surgical methods for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. MethodsThe clinical data of 98 patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis treated in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 2004 to 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Palliative surgeries were performed in 9 cases, radical hepatectomies were performed in 69 cases, liver transplantations were performed in 20 cases, in which 12 cases were performed by liver allotransplantation, and 8 cases were performed by liver autotransplantation. ResultsThere was no death case during perioperative period. The rate of postoperative complications of the radical hepatectomy (11.6%, 8/69) was significantly lower than that of the palliative surgery (44.4%, 4/9), which had statistically significant difference (P<0.05). The followup time was from 4 months to 6 years, the average time was 36 months. The postoperative recurrence rate in the radical hepatectomy (1.4%, 1/69) was significantly lower than that in the palliative surgery (55.6%, 5/9), which had statistically significant difference (P<0.05). During follow-up period, the mortality of the palliative surgery (33.33%, 3/9) was also significantly higher than that of the radical hepatectomy (0, 0/69), which had statistically significant difference (P<0.05). Four patients underwent liver transplantation were death within 3 months (20.0%). ConclusionsRadical hepatectomy should be the first choice for alveolar echinococcosis. In this research, although the rates of postoperative complications and recurrence in palliative surgery are higher than those in radical hepatectomy, palliative surgery, for the patients who had lose the opportunity to perform radical hepatectomy, could be used to alleviate symptoms and physical signs, improve quality of life, delay progression of this disease. Although risk of liver transplantation is high, this might be an alternative for advanced hepatic alveolar echinococcosis.