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Biomedical subjects

F W Heiss

Publications and source records attributed to F W Heiss.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Successful treatment of post-cholecystectomy bile leaks using nasobiliary tube drainage and sphincterotomy.

OBJECTIVE: Bile leaks are known complications of cholecystectomy. The combination of sphincterotomy and nasobiliary tube (NBT) drainage is effective for the immediate decompression of bile ducts and provides access for follow-up cholangiography. Our objective was to study, retrospectively, 19 patients who had undergone treatment for bile leaks with this combination between October 1991 and December 1995. METHODS: Nineteen patients (15 F, 4 M) ages 23-83 yr (mean 50 yr) presented with bile leaks secondary to open cholecystectomy (n = 1) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (n = 18). All patients had sphincterotomy and NBT placement. Symptoms, findings at ERCP, and outcome were reviewed. RESULTS: Patients presented from 0 to 150 days after cholecystectomy (median = 2) with pain (n = 17), fever (n = 8), bile leakage in a surgical drain (n = 4), elevated liver tests (n = 8), and nausea and vomiting (n = 4). Fourteen patients had diagnostic imaging before endoscopic management. ERCP findings included cystic stump leak (n = 12), including one with a colocutaneous biliary fistula, gallbladder fossa leak (n = 3), right hepatic branch leak (n = 1), or no leak (n = 3). Three patients had choledocholithiasis. NBT drainage was used for a mean of 3.9 days (range 1-12 days). Fourteen patients had radiographic evidence of leak closure. One patient ultimately required surgical correction for a chronic colocutaneous biliary fistula. There were no early or late endoscopic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic management with nasobiliary drainage and sphincterotomy is effective for acute uncomplicated bile leaks but may not be adequate for chronic fistulas. The advantages over endoprostheses include access for subsequent cholangiography, improved biliary decompression, and catheter removal without further endoscopy.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Acute relapsing pancreatitis as a complication of papillary stenosis after endoscopic sphincterotomy.

Endoscopic sphincterotomy has proven to be a safe alternative to surgery for selected types of biliary disease. Despite a relatively low morbidity, postprocedure complications are well described. This report presents an experience with three patients in whom acute relapsing pancreatitis developed as a possible complication of papillary stenosis after endoscopic sphincterotomy. None of the patients had a previous history of elevations in serum amylase levels before endoscopic sphincterotomy. After procedure, pancreatitis and subsequently acute relapsing pancreatitis with documented stricture of the pancreatic duct orifice developed in all three patients. After surgical transduodenal sphincteroplasty, no new episodes of acute relapsing pancreatitis occurred.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1993

Celiac plexus block: efficacy and safety of the anterior approach.

OBJECTIVE: A celiac plexus block performed via an anterior approach offers several potential advantages over a posterior approach, including shorter procedure time, less discomfort to the patient, and less risk of neurologic complications. We evaluated the use of an anterior approach to determine its efficacy and safety. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The procedure was performed in 17 consecutive patients referred for treatment of chronic abdominal pain thought clinically to be of celiac ganglion origin. A subjective evaluation of the degree of pain relief was obtained by retrospectively reviewing the notes of physicians and nurses. The degree of pain relief was graded from 1+ (no change) to 4+ (complete relief). An objective evaluation was also obtained by comparing average daily in-hospital analgesic usage before and after the procedure. RESULTS: Ethanol injection was performed successfully in 13 of 14 patients with pancreatic carcinoma and in two of three patients with other causes of pain. Eleven (79%) of the 14 patients with pancreatic carcinoma had some (2+ or greater) relief of pain, and eight of these patients had considerable or complete (3+ or 4+) relief of pain. Of the 10 patients with pancreatic carcinoma for whom complete data on the use of pain medication were available, the mean daily analgesic usage declined from 17% to 100% (mean, 58%) relative to preprocedure doses. Complications, all relatively mild, were encountered in only three of 17 patients, and no patient had neurologic symptoms or long-term sequelae. CONCLUSION: The anterior approach to a celiac plexus block is a safe and effective means of pain control in patients with pancreatic carcinoma. It offers several potential advantages to the posterior approach, and should be considered for all patients with pain caused by pancreatic carcinoma that is refractory to pain medication.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed1990

Resective operations for biliary carcinoma.

Records of 25 consecutive patients who underwent resection for proximal bile duct tumor (3 extended right hepatic lobectomies, 6 left hepatic lobectomies, 16 skeletonization resections) and records of 21 patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy for distal bile duct carcinoma were reviewed to assess the value of resective therapy. The operative mortality rate for patients with resected proximal bile duct tumor was 4 per cent (0 per cent for liver resection) and that of distal bile duct tumor, 4.6 per cent. The 3- and 5-year actuarial survival rates for patients with proximal bile duct tumor were 44 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively; all except one patient eventually died of disease. Survival was better for patients who had curative resection (margins microscopically free of tumor). The 5-year actuarial survival rate for patients with distal bile duct carcinoma was 58 +/- 12 (SE) per cent, with patients who had negative nodes surviving longer than patients with positive nodes. When major hepatic resection and pancreatoduodenectomy can be performed in selected patients with low operative mortality, patients with bile duct carcinoma should be assessed by an experienced hepatobiliary multidisciplinary group before a decision is made in favor of palliative, endoscopic, or percutaneous techniques because surgical resection appears to offer the best possible long-term survival and probably the best quality of palliation.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1990

Long-term results of pancreatic resection and segmental pancreatic autotransplantation for chronic pancreatitis.

Thirteen patients who underwent extensive pancreatic resection and segmental autotransplantation and who have a median follow-up of 62 months are presented. Eleven patients had technically successful grafts. Three of six patients who underwent total pancreatectomy and three of five patients who underwent near-total resection remain insulin-independent. Those patients who require insulin require small doses and have stable diabetes. Pain has recurred in 7 of the 11 patients who underwent distal subtotal resection; 5 of them required pancreatoduodenectomy and completion pancreatectomy for pain relief. Because of the high rate of recurrence of pain after distal resection, we favor pancreatoduodenectomy as the initial procedure of choice. When distal near-total or total pancreatectomy is required, the addition of segmental autotransplantation offers definitive, although at times transient, benefits in glucose homeostasis compared with no transplantation.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Segmental pancreatic autotransplantation with pancreatic ductal occlusion after near total or total pancreatic resection for chronic pancreatitis. Results at 5- to 54-month follow-up evaluation.

Reported are eight patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis and two patients with alcoholic pancreatitis who had near total distal pancreatectomy for disabling pain and underwent simultaneous segmental pancreatic autotransplantation of the body and tail of the gland to the femoral area in an attempt to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. The median follow-up period was 31 months, and follow-up study in nine patients ranged from 24 to 54 months. Patency of the grafts was determined by angiography and selected percutaneous venous assays for insulin. Islet cell function was determined by oral glucose tolerance tests, intravenous (I.V.) glucose tolerance tests, and I.V. glucagon stimulation studies. Segmental autotransplantation was technically successful in eight patients, only one of whom required insulin (at 2 years after grafting). The other seven patients with technically successful grafts have remained insulin independent, including two patients who later underwent pyloric preserving pancreatoduodenectomy for completion pancreatectomy. Variable pain relief was observed in patients who underwent near total pancreatectomy, but pain was unrelieved in those patients who underwent limited distal resection. Patients with idiopathic pancreatitis appear to have better pain relief and preservation of endocrine function than alcoholic patients. Segmental pancreatic autotransplantation prevents or delays the onset of diabetes mellitus and should be considered as an alternative for those patients who require extensive pancreatic resection for chronic pancreatitis.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Management of cancer of the bile duct.

Tumors of the bile duct are uncommon. Most patients will present with a syndrome of obstructive jaundice, but in a few patients the tumor can mimic benign disease of the biliary tract. Cholangiography continues to be the basis of diagnosis and gives important information for a decision on therapy. Histologic diagnosis is helpful when available, although frequently difficult to obtain and not always possible. The overall prognosis for these patients remains poor. Currently, a multidisciplinary approach is required to select for each patient the best therapy with the lowest morbidity and mortality. It should include a surgeon, gastrointestinal endoscopist, interventional radiologist, and radiotherapist. The prognosis for a patient appears to be related to the tumor's location, resectability, and, in our experience, differentiation. Therapy should be tailored to each patient based on location of the tumor, extent of the disease, condition of the patient, expertise available in each institution, and morbidity and mortality associated with each procedure. At the Lahey Clinic, the resectability rate for bile duct tumor is currently 25 per cent. Resection is more frequently possible for tumor of the distal bile duct and can result in a five-year survival rate of up to 30 per cent. For patients with unresectable distal tumor at the time of operation, a proximal hepaticojejunostomy is the palliative procedure of choice. If nonresectability of a distal tumor is determined before operation, the decision to proceed with an endoscopic placement of a stent versus surgical hepaticojejunostomy or placement of a T tube needs to be an individual one. Although five-year survival for tumor of the proximal bile duct is anecdotal, those patients who undergo resection have the longest survival and may have better palliation than those who undergo strictly palliative, nonresective procedures. To warrant exploration for resection of tumor of the proximal bile duct, careful patient selection is required, and the morbidity and mortality of operation must be minimized. An increasing role of percutaneous transhepatic techniques of decompression of the biliary tract is expected as they improve and gain wider acceptance. They are the procedures of choice in very high-risk surgical patients or in patients determined before operation to have unresectable disease. Improvement in the survival of patients with cancer of the bile duct probably depends on development of better adjuvant therapy, such as new techniques of radiation therapy and new modalities of chemotherapy, in association with surgery or with a percutaneous or endoscopic intubation technique.

Bile Duct Neoplasms↗
PubMed1985

Surgical management of chronic pancreatitis.

The management of chronic pancreatitis continues to achieve only limited success. A lack of understanding of the basic pathogenic mechanism of this disease limits our therapy to treatment of symptoms, sequelae, and complications. The diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis usually is based on a history of classic pain plus some objective findings of pancreatic disease. Imaging techniques, such as ultrasonography or CT, are helpful in defining the size of the gland and the presence of masses and collections of fluid. Endoscopic pancreatography, however, remains the most helpful tool for diagnosis. The information that it provides about the pancreatic ductal system can help in selecting a procedure that achieves the best result with the lowest morbidity and mortality. The principle to follow in the surgical management of this condition is to tailor the procedure in each patient to preoperative clinical information, information provided by pancreatography, operative findings, exocrine and endocrine status of the patient, presence or absence of drug addiction and alcoholism, and the personality of the patient as well as his or her ability to manage the possible metabolic complications of surgery. Although management of pain is the main goal, the morbidity and late mortality that can result from different procedures must be a major consideration in selecting therapy. Pancreaticojejunostomy is the procedure of choice at this time for patients with a dilated pancreatic duct sphincterotomy or sphincteroplasty for the occasional patient with proved ampullary obstruction of the pancreatic duct, and internal drainage for pseudocyst. Different degrees of pancreatic resection are indicated for patients with severe disease and small pancreatic ducts, in patients in whom decompressive operations have failed, in patients with lateralized disease to the head or tail of the gland, in some instances of pseudocyst or pancreatic fistulas, and for some patients when cancer cannot be ruled out. Attempts are being made to improve the limited results of our current therapy. Endoscopic occlusion of the pancreatic duct, pancreatic segmental autotransplantation, islet cell autoimplantation, use of the pyloric-preserving operation, and use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion are being tried. Further experience with these techniques is required to determine their value in the management of patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Ampulla of Vater↗
PubMed1985

Adult dysphagia lusoria. Treatment by arterial division and reestablishment of vascular continuity.

The case of a 27-year-old woman with dysphagia secondary to esophageal compression by an anomalous right subclavian artery is presented. Division of the anomalous vessel at its origin and revascularization of the right upper extremity by direct end-to-side anastomosis to the ascending aortic arch was accomplished through a right anterolateral thoracotomy. We believe this is the preferred surgical treatment of dysphagia lusoria in the adult.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Common bile duct calculi. 1. Surgical therapy.

Multiple techniques are now available for management of the patient with retained or recurrent common bile duct calculi. The goal of treatment is extraction of calculi with the lowest possible incidence of morbidity and mortality, the lowest cost and least discomfort to the patient, and the best long-term results. The choice of therapy--surgical or nonsurgical--depends on several factors, including presence or absence of the gallbladder and a T tube, type of calculi, operative risk, accompanying conditions, and expertise available at a particular institution. The decision to explore the common bile duct at the time of elective cholecystectomy is based on clinical, operative, and cholangiographic information. A rigorous technique of surgical exploration that includes duodenal mobilization, choledochoscopy, and cholangiography is necessary. In selected patients, biliary enteric anastomosis decreases the incidence of retained or recurrent calculi.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1984

Common bile duct calculi. 2. Nonsurgical therapy.

Several nonsurgical methods of therapy are available for treatment of retained common bile duct calculi. These include percutaneous extraction, endoscopic extraction, dissolution, and endoscopic sphincterotomy. The method chosen depends on location and size of calculi, size of sinus tract, patient age, surgical risks, and other factors. In most cases, procedures can be carried out safely and successfully with few or no complications.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Carcinoma associated with achalasia. Occurrence 23 years after esophagomyotomy.

Carcinoma developed in a 67-year-old woman with achalasia of the esophagus 23 years after esophagomyotomy. Postoperative manometric and radiologic studies showed satisfactory relief of esophageal obstruction. The development of carcinoma after an unusually long interval after adequate surgical treatment emphasizes the need for lifelong surveillance for this complication.

Aged↗