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V Col

Publications and source records attributed to V Col.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy for phaeochromocytoma: endocrinological and surgical aspects of a new therapeutic approach.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the results of laparoscopic resection of phaeochromocytoma with a focus on pre- and intra-operative endocrinological and pharmacological aspects. DESIGN: Retrospective study based on review of case notes and intraoperative anaesthetic records. PATIENTS: Eight patients (four men, four women) aged 13 to 70 (median: 45) years with symptomatic phaeochromocytoma (two patients with MEN IIa syndrome) diagnosed 6-36 months before adrenalectomy in four patients and just before operation in the four remaining patients. All patients presented with hypertension. MEASUREMENTS: Pre- and postoperative blood pressure (BP) was assessed using a sphygmomanometer, intraoperative measurements being obtained by intra-arterial line. Adrenaline (A), noradrenaline (NA), metadrenaline (metA), normetadrenaline (normetA) and vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) were measured in 24-h urine samples. Adrenal imagery consisted in all patients of abdominal computed tomography and [131I] metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy, and in 2 patients, adrenal magnetic resonance imaging and octreotide scintigraphy. Determination of plasma volume was performed by isotopic method. RESULTS: Median (range) preoperative systolic and diastolic BP was 140 (130-240) and 90 (80-150) mm Hg, respectively. Predominant catecholamine secretion consisted of A in four patients (A pattern) and of NA (NA pattern) in the other four. Tumours smaller than 30 mm usually secreted A while larger ones secreted NA. Pre- and intra-operative BP control was straightforward in all but two patients with preferential NA secretion. The median number of systolic and diastolic BP peaks were higher in patients with NA pattern (n = 6, range: 3-9) than in those with A pattern (n = 1.5, range: 1-6). Total duration of pneumoperitoneum ranged from 120 to 240 (median: 195) min. Intra- and post-operative complications included intra-abdominal bleeding, laparoscopically controlled (in one case), and upper pole kidney ischaemia in another. Postoperative hospital stay ranged from 4 to 11 days. All patients were asymptomatic postoperatively and pharmacologically controlled hypertension persisted in two of them. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is a safe and efficient technique to remove phaeochromocytoma in terms of intra- and postoperative morbidity, with a low complication rate. Pre- and intra-operative pharmacological blood pressure control is as effective as in conventional adrenalectomy, with greater instability in noradrenaline secreting tumours.

Adolescent↗

Heart failure induced by pheochromocytoma: laparoscopic treatment and intraoperative changes of several new cardiovascular hormones.

Since 1992, adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma has been recognized as a safe and efficient technique when performed by a laparoscopic approach. Most of the cases of pheochromocytomas treated as such and published in the literature were not associated with malignant hypertension and acute heart failure. We report the case of a 23-year-old woman who presented with this clinical picture and show that laparoscopic adrenalectomy may be as safe and efficient as conventional adrenalectomy when performed in this situation. The intraoperative changes in the secretion of catecholamines, endothelin-1, angiotensin II, N- and C-terminus of atrial natriuretic factor prohormone were also analyzed. Noradrenaline release during tumor dissection was associated with a stimulation of atrial natriuretic factor.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗

Peritoneal carcinomatosis following laparoscopic resection of an adrenocortical tumor causing primary hyperaldosteronism.

A clinical syndrome combining hypertension and hypokalemic alkalosis led to the diagnosis of primary hyperaldosteronism, caused by a right-sided, 2 cm large, apparently benign aldosterone-producing adenoma. The adrenal tumor was completely resected by laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Six months after surgery, the patient exhibited a severe relapse of hyperaldosteronism. Extensive peritoneal metastases of a mixed aldosterone- and cortisol-secreting adrenocortical carcinoma were found at abdominal laparotomy. In the light of this case report, we discuss the possibility that laparoscopic resection of adrenocortical tumors might contribute to their subsequent peritoneal dissemination.

Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms↗

T4 accumulation in lysosomes of rat thyroid remnants after subtotal thyroidectomy.

In chronically stimulated rat thyroids after subtotal thyroidectomy, lysosomes increased in number and volume. They contained iodocompounds and did not appear in iodine-deficient animals. In this study, we analyzed the subcellular localization and the nature of these intracellular iodocompounds. Classical subcellular fractions were isolated from homogenates of rat thyroids and remnants 14 weeks after sham-operation or subtotal thyroidectomy. Two lysosome subpopulations of increasing density, a light fraction, lysosomes 2 (L2, density 1.065-1.08 g/ml) and a dense fraction, lysosomes 1 (L1, density > 1.08 g/ml) were separated from crude lysosomal particulate fractions (ML) by centrifugation in Percoll gradients. Results obtained with thyroids of normal rats were used as controls. In TSH-stimulated thyroid remnants, total activities of three lysosomal enzymes and iodine concentration were increased by 1.6-fold compared with thyroids of sham-operated rats. Total iodoprotein-derived T3 and T4 concentrations, measured after pronase hydrolysis, were slightly decreased. Thyroglobulin (Tg) concentration in the supernatant was reduced by 50%. Iodine, T3 and T4 contents of Tg were not modified. After differential centrifugation, the iodine excess of remnants sedimented with subcellular particulate fractions. The concentration of iodine in dense lysosomes (L1) was 6 times that in sham L1. Intact Tg did not accumulate in L1. Two thirds of the iodine in L1 was soluble in methanol, double the normal proportion, with twice as much iodine included in hydrophobic peptides eluted after T4 by reverse-phase HPLC. Although iodoprotein-derived T4 and T3 concentrations were decreased in the remnant homogenate, they were increased in particles, particularly in L1 where they were increased by 8 and 4-fold, respectively. In contrast, specific activities of lysosomal enzymes in ML and L1 remained unchanged. It is concluded that the chronic TSH stimulation of thyroid remnants in subthyroidectomized rats receiving a normal iodine supply induces the endocytosis of a normal Tg with iodine kept in dense lysosomes. The expansion of the lysosomal compartment resulted from a limitation in iodopeptides degradation as though secondary lysosomes would be overloaded with Tg. The accumulation in L1 of hydrophobic iodopeptides and of more iodoprotein-derived T4 than T3 suggests that exopeptidases involved in the liberation of T4 become rate-limiting.

Animals↗

Diagnostic usefulness of radiolabeled pentetreotide scintigraphy and therapeutic efficiency of octreotide in a case of insulinoma.

Although the functional diagnosis of insulinoma is quite easy, its topographic diagnosis still constitutes a major challenge since conventional radiological techniques, e.g. ultrasonography, computed tomography and even selective angiography, fail to recognize the tumor in numbers of insulinomas. We report an observation of a benign insulinoma in an 81-year-old woman that escaped detection by ultrasonography and CT but was later localized by both endoscopic ultrasonography and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. It illustrates the usefulness of such recent imaging techniques for the localization of islet cell tumors that escaped detection by ultrasonography and CT. Moreover, in our elderly patient who refused surgical intervention, hypoglycemia was corrected by octreotide administration emphasizing the predictive value of 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy on the subsequent response to octreotide therapy in patients in whom the optimal treatment (surgical resection) is not possible.

Aged↗

New insights into insulin resistance pathophysiology: how it affects glucose and lipid metabolism.

Insulin resistance is a metabolic state encountered in many physiological and physiopathological conditions. Its pivotal effect on glucose and lipid metabolism is increasingly recognised. Over the last few years, numerous molecular/intracellular pathways affected by this condition have been elucidated. The author reviews some recent findings underlying several major metabolic abnormalities. An overview of current and future therapeutics is also provided.

Animals↗