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Biomedical subjects

E Gortzak

Publications and source records attributed to E Gortzak.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: treatment and prognosis.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare tumor of the skin with a strong tendency to recur locally. Nineteen cases of DFSP are presented. In eight of them a total of 20 local recurrences occurred, in five after irradical and in three after 'narrow' excisions. After wide excision (greater than 2 cm) for primary or wide re-excision for recurrent tumor, all patients remained free of tumor with a mean follow-up of 13.2 years (range 2-28 years). An extensive literature review revealed 913 cases of DFSP. The overall recurrence rate is about 50%; after adequate wide excision, 13%. Recurrent tumor is safely treated by wide re-excision and the recurrence rate is then 12%. Regional and distant recurrences are infrequent. Eleven cases (1%) were reported to have regional lymph node metastases and 37 (4%, 17 of whom were histologically confirmed) distant metastases, principally in the lung. The prognosis after appearance of regional or distant recurrence is bad. The role of radiotherapy in the management of this tumor is unclear. Primary or recurrent DFSP is best treated by surgical excision with a minimal margin of 2- preferably 3-cm of surrounding skin including the underlying fascia. Elective lymph node dissection is not advised.

Adult

The impact of the CUSA ultrasonic dissection device on major liver resections.

Between 1982 and 1990 major liver resections were carried out in 28 patients, in 14 with the conventional technique, in 14 with the Cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator (CUSA) dissection device. The patients in the CUSA group were older and had more often multiple metastases. Peroperative blood loss, duration of operations, postoperative morbidity and mortality, ICU stay and overally hospital stay were all reduced in the CUSA group; for peroperative blood loss (p less than 0.05) and duration of operation (p less than 0.01) the reduction was statistically significant. The use of CUSA has contributed to the increased safety of liver resections.

Adolescent

Epithelioid sarcoma.

In a 9-year period we treated 11 patients with an epithelioid sarcoma. Most patients were young adults. The tumour affected mainly the distal upper extremity (hand and fingers: four patients; wrist and forearm: three patients); one patient had an epithelioid sarcoma of the knee. Trunk localizations were seen in two patients and one patient presented with a vulva localization. Treatment consisted of surgery, regional isolation perfusion with doxorubicin (Adriamycin) or melphalan, radiation therapy, systemic chemotherapy or a combination of these modalities. Radical surgery in eight patients resulted in only two local recurrences. Locoregional metastases occurred in five patients. In five patients a therapeutic lymph node dissection was performed, in all instances followed by extensive recurrent disease. Distant metastases were seen in seven patients and mainly affected the skeleton (6x) and the lungs (4x); in the majority of cases these metastases occurred within a year after excision of the primary. Remissions following regional or systemic chemotherapy were not observed. At the time of analysis seven patients had died as a result of their epithelioid sarcoma; two patients were still alive with tumour 18 and 27 months after diagnosis. Only two patients remained tumour free for 17 and 65 months respectively following radical surgery, postoperative radiation therapy and (in one case) adjuvant chemotherapy. It is concluded that epithelioid sarcoma is a rare but exceedingly aggressive tumour. Since early diagnosis can only be auspicious, familiarity with the clinical features is of great importance.

Adult

Regional lymph node metastases in patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities, what are the therapeutic consequences?

In the period 1977-1983, 183 adult patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities were treated in the Netherlands Cancer Institute. One hundred and seventy-one patients had initially operable tumors. Fifteen patients (8.2%) developed regional lymph node metastases (RLNM) during the course of their disease. Only two patients (1.2%) developed RLNM as first site of tumor recurrence. The incidence of RLNM varied according to the histological subtypes: liposarcoma: 1/64, fibrosarcoma: 1/12, tendosynovial sarcoma: 5/24, unclassifiable sarcoma: 3/8. The outcome in patients with RLNM was invariably fatal. In all cases with RNLM distant metastases were present either at the time RLNM were found or shortly afterwards (median 4 months). Based on this experience we now consider RLNM in soft tissue sarcoma an expression of systemic tumor spread, which should be treated as such. We find no indication for elective lymph node dissection as part of the initial treatment of soft tissue sarcoma of any histological subtype. Therapeutic lymph node dissection might be indicated as part of the palliative management.

Adult

Surgical repair of radiation damage of the rectum: a systematic approach to a difficult problem.

Twenty-three patients with serious irradiation damage of the rectum underwent surgical treatment. Patients were classified according to the level of the lesion and the presence of stenosis. Patients with high lesions (Type I) (n = 5), were treated by resection with end to end anastomosis. Patients with low lesions, with stenosis (Type II) (n = 6), were treated by resection with descending colon flap repair. Patients with low lesions, without stenosis (Type III) (n = 7) were treated by gracilis muscle repair. The remaining patients (n = 5) with miscellaneous, often complex problems (Type IV) were treated by a variety of techniques. Results in Type I, II, and III patients were encouraging with 80% of the reconstructed patients obtaining normal faecal continence.

Adult

Early-stage rectal cancer: electrofulguration in comparison to abdominoperineal extirpation or low-anterior resection.

For some small rectal cancers electrofulguration can be an attractive alternative to more extensive surgical procedures. This report is a review of 49 patients who, after careful selection, were considered ideal candidates for curative fulguration in the period 1959-1982. All had rectal adenocarcinomas and were clinically staged as Dukes' A tumors. To put the results of this analysis into perspective, they are compared to the results of those patients (34) who also had early clinical stage rectal adenocarcinomas, but for a variety of reasons underwent abdominoperineal excisions (APE, 11 patients) or low-anterior resections (LAR, 23 patients) instead of fulguration. Postoperative complications after fulguration were minimal, there were no postoperative deaths, and all patients retained anal continence. After APE or LAR there were two postoperative deaths (one myocardial infarction, one ruptured iliac aneurysm); postoperative morbidity was greater. All LAR-treated patients remained continent. Of the patients at risk 55% remained disease-free after fulguration, while 77% remained disease-free after APE or LAR (P = 0.023). This is due to a higher percentage of loco-regional recurrences occurring after fulguration than after APE or LAR (31% vs 9%, respectively, P = 0.021). The percentage of patients with distant metastases in both groups are similar. It seems that electrofulguration of rectal cancers, even in strictly selected patients in a specialized institution, can lead to an unacceptably high percentage of patients with loco-regional recurrences. Nearly all local failures occurred in patients with tumors that measured more than 3 cm in diameter and/or occupied more than one-third of the rectal circumference. Salvage operations for loco-regional failure were performed in 13 patients, 5 of whom are alive with no evidence of disease. Since there seems to be a direct relation between tumor size and the chance of loco-regional recurrence and since salvage operations for local failure are not uniformly successful, electrofulguration for cure must be reserved for the very rare patient with a very small early-stage rectal cancer.

Adenocarcinoma