Medicina, Volume 45, Issue 6 (June 2009) – 12 articles

Objective. Adjuvant chemoradiation for gastric cancer is used more frequently, but there is no general opinion about the effect of this treatment. The aim of this study was to compare adjuvant chemoradiation with adjuvant chemotherapy after radical operation for stomach cancer.
Material and methods. A total of 133 patients were included in this prospective study. Sixty-three patients after curative gastrectomy and D2 lymphadenectomy for gastric cancer were assigned to the chemoradiotherapy group and 70 to the chemotherapy group. The groups were identical by age, sex, and cancer stages. Toxicity was evaluated by the WHO scale, and survival was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results. Grade III and IV toxicity was found more frequently in the chemoradiation group than in the chemotherapy group (44.4% and 7.1%, respectively; P<0.0001). Treatment was not finished in 27% of patients in the chemoradiation group and 11.4% in the chemotherapy group (P=0.03). Overall survival was better in the chemotherapy group as compared with the chemoradiation group (P=0.039). Median survival for patients with stage III and IV cancer was 41 months in the chemotherapy group and 18 months in the chemoradiation group (P=0.085). Survival of patients with stage IIIA cancer in the chemotherapy group was significantly better (P=0.005).
Conclusions. Median survival is shorter in the adjuvant chemoradiation group after curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer as compared with the adjuvant chemotherapy group. Adjuvant chemoradiation is more toxic and should be recommended only for patients with advanced-stage cancer. Full article

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate effect of anoxia and Polyscias filicifolia Bailey biomass tincture on the activities of different tRNA and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in isolated pig heart.
Material and methods. The isolated pig heart was perfused according to the modified method of Langendorf, using an artificial blood circulation apparatus. Anoxia 20 min in duration was performed by perfusion of isolated heart with Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer saturated with gas mixture (95% N2 and 5% CO2). Control heart was perfused with the same buffer saturated with gas mixture (95% O2 and 5% CO2). Effect of Polyscias filicifolia Bailey biomass tincture was evaluated by perfusion of isolated heart with a buffer containing tincture. Total tRNA and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases were isolated from pig heart. Activities of tRNA and aminoacyltRNA synthetases were measured by the aminoacylation reaction using C14-amino acids.
Results. Anoxia 20 min in duration has caused a decrease in the acceptor activity of tRNA and increase in the activities of aminacyl-tRNA synthetases. Polyscias filicifolia Bailey tincture did not affect the acceptor activity of tRNA and activities aminacyl-tRNA synthetases. After 20-min anoxic perfusion with the buffer containing Polyscias filicifolia Bailey biomass tincture, the acceptor activities of tRNA increased to the control value and activities of aminacyl-tRNA synthetases reached the control value.
Conclusions. The acceptor activity of tRNA from isolated pig heart decreased and activities of aminacyl-tRNA synthetases increased under anoxia. Perfusion with buffer containing tincture of Polyscias filicifolia Bailey biomass restored acceptor activities of tRNA and activities of aminacyl-tRNA synthetases. Full article

Objective. This paper describes the first-year biochemical (prostate-specific antigen [PSA]) response of 91 irradiated patients enrolled in a single-institution randomized trial comparing hypofractionated (HFRT) and conventionally fractionated (CFRT) external beam radiotherapy.
Material and methods. Forty-four patients in the CFRT treatment arm were irradiated with 74 Gy in 37 fractions (2 Gy per fraction), and 47 in the HFRT arm were treated with 57 Gy, given in 13 fractions of 3 Gy plus 4 fractions of 4.5 Gy. The clinical target volume includes the prostate and a base of seminal vesicles. The proportions of patients who reached PSA nadir (nPSA) lower than or equal to 1.0 ng/mL (nPSA1) and 0.5 ng/mL (nPSA05) were compared.
Results. There were 2 non-cancer-related deaths (1 in the CFRT and 1 in the HFRT treatment arms). Biochemical relapse after irradiation was defined in five cases (3 in the CFRT and 2 in the HFRT treatment arms) during a 12-month follow-up. The remaining 84 patients were analyzed. The proportions of patients reaching nPSA1 were 50% and 54.5% in the CFRT and HFRT treatment arms, respectively (chi-square P=0.843). The percentages of patients reaching nPSA05 were 25% and 18.2%, respectively (chi-square P=0.621). The trends toward increasing proportions of biochemical responders (both nPSA1 and nPSA05) during 12 months after radiotherapy were observed, but the difference between trends for treatment arms did not reach a statistical significance.
Conclusion. The preliminary results presented here demonstrate that HFRT schedule induces biochemical response rates comparable to those in the CFRT schedule during the first-year follow-up. Full article

Objective. To compare surgical methods, complications, and outcomes in the treatment of female pelvic organ prolapse at the Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital of Kaunas University of Medicine, and to disclose the risk factors that influence female pelvic organ prolapse.
Material and methods. A retrospective analysis of surgeries for pelvic organ prolapse performed during the period of 2003–2007 was carried out. A total 823 women were operated on for pelvic organ prolapse.
Results. During 2003–2007, 823 surgical procedures for the correction of female pelvic organ prolapse were performed at the Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital of Kaunas University of Medicine. Eighty (9.7%) patients underwent vaginal hysterectomy; 372 (45.3%), vaginal plastic operations (out of them, 23 were combined with TVT and 47 with TVT-O procedure); 360 (43.7%), vaginal hysterectomy with vaginal plastic surgeries; and 11 (1.3%), Prolift operations. The mean age of females was 62 years. Mean blood loss during operations was 162.1 mL. Patients undergoing vaginal plastic operations lost significantly less blood than those undergoing vaginal hysterectomy or combined operations (P<0.05). Mean time in surgery was 60.3 min. The duration of Prolift operations and vaginal plastic operations was significantly shorter than that of vaginal hysterectomy or combined procedures (vaginal hysterectomy + vaginal plastic surgery) (P<0.05). Mean hospital stay was 8.1 days. Hospital stay after vaginal plastic operations was significantly shorter than after vaginal hysterectomy or combined operations. The shortest hospital stay was after Prolift operation (P<0.05). Complications were related to the type of operation performed.
Conclusions. The most common operations in the surgical treatment of female pelvic organ prolapse were vaginal plastic operations and combined operations. The shortest time in surgery and lowest blood loss was in case of vaginal plastic operations. The shortest hospital stay was after Prolift operations. The highest rate of complications was observed in patients who underwent vaginal hysterectomies, the lowest – after Prolift operations. Full article

Patient-, physician-, and health care system-related barriers of cancer pain management in patients with malignant diseases are a recognized and widely investigated issue. The purpose of this review is to summarize the main findings of empirical research on these barriers in the literature. The most significant patientrelated barriers were patient reluctance to report pain and adhere to treatment recommendations. Besides that, cognitive, affective, and sensory patient-related barriers to cancer pain management with opioid analgesics have been studied using quantitative and qualitative research methods. The Barriers Questionnaire and its shortened and modified versions were the most commonly used instruments in the context of research on patient-related barriers to cancer pain management. The most prominent physicianrelated barriers were insufficient physicians’ knowledge about cancer pain management, inadequate patterns of pain assessment, and inadequate opioid prescription. The methodologies used to conduct the majority of the studies on physician-related barriers were weak. Nevertheless, physician knowledge of pain management guidelines, the quality of pain assessment and opioid prescription have been shown to be obviously better in a few Western countries. Institutional and health care system-related barriers were relevant only in countries with restrictive opioid prescription regulations. The evaluation of the influence of cultural-social-economical background on cancer pain management could probably help to obtain better insight into the problems of unrelieved cancer pain. Full article

The aim of this article – to review the causes, clinical signs, pathophysiology, consequences, and treatment of seizures and status epilepticus in critically ill patients. Only 25% of people, who have seizures and status epilepticus, have epilepsy as well. In the intensive care settings, seizures and status epilepticus are a common neurologic complication, which is attributable to primary neurologic pathology (stroke, hemorrhage, tumor, central nervous system infection, head trauma) or secondary to critical illness (anoxic brain damage, intoxications, metabolic abnormalities) and clinical management. There are three main subtypes of status epilepticus in intensive care units: generalized convulsive status epilepticus, focal motor status epilepticus, and nonconvulsive status epilepticus. A seizure is a consequence of electrical neurological derangement because of sudden imbalance between the inhibitory and excitatory forces within the network of cortical neurons. The main inhibiting neurotransmitter in the brain is gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which binds to GABA-A and GABA-B receptors. The main excitatory neurotransmitter is glutamate, which binds to N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Different ions (Cl^–, K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺) also play a role in the pathophysiology of seizures. Prolonged status epilepticus may lead to different systemic and neurologic consequences. Generalized convulsive status epilepticus is one of the most common emergencies encountered in clinical practice, which requires immediate treatment. The first-line drugs are benzodiazepines (lorazepam, diazepam), the second-line ones – phenytoin and fosphenytoin. For the treatment of refractory status epilepticus, barbiturates (phenobarbital, pentobarbital, thiopental), valproate, midazolam, propofol, and isoflurane are used. The dosage of drugs and parameters to monitor are referred in the article. The mortality from generalized convulsive status epilepticus is 15–50%; the main factors, influencing prognosis, are the cause and the duration of status epilepticus and age of a patient. Full article

This study aimed to identify psychometric properties of the World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 questionnaire.
Material and methods. A random sample of 1403 Kaunas city men and women aged 35–64 years was examined in 2001–2002. Quality of life was assessed by the self-administered World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 questionnaire.
Statistics. Scores of all domains and facets of the questionnaire were transformed to reflect a scale from 0 to 100. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were evaluated by Pearson’s correlation coefficients and by Cronbach’s α. The relationship between the WHOQOL-100 domains and the two general items (G1 and G4) was assessed using linear regression analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to explore the factor structure of the data.
Results. The mean scores of the World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 questionnaire domains ranged from 51.3±15.1 (overall quality of life) to 72.0±16.4 (level of independence domain). The instrument displayed acceptable Cronbach’s α (0.77–0.91) and test-retest reliability (0.64–0.89). The overall assessment of quality of life (G1) was most strongly associated with the environment (β=0.31), psychological (β=0.18), and social relationships (β=0.17) domains. Overall health (G4) showed the strongest association with the level of independence (β=0.34) and physical (β=0.18) domains. The principal component analysis revealed five-factor solution, which accounted for 57.7% of a total variance.
Conclusion. In the Lithuanian population, the World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 questionnaire was found to be a suitable instrument for evaluating quality of life. Full article

Objective. During the photodynamic treatment, complement system is activated and tumor cells are opsonized with iC3b fragment. β-glucans can enhance cytotoxicity of iC3bopsonized cells due to their specific interaction with complement receptor 3 (CR3; CD11b/CD18) on the surface of the effector cells. In contrast to microorganisms, tumor cells lack β-glucan as a surface component and cannot trigger complement receptor 3-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and initiate tumor-killing activity. This mechanism could be induced in the presence of β-glucans. This study aimed at determining the influence of coadministration of β-glucan from barley on the efficacy of photodynamic tumor therapy (PDT).
Material and methods. C57 Bl/6 female mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma were used throughout the study. Mice were randomized into groups (15 in each group) and exposed to the treatment with intravenous Photofrin injection (dose, 10 mg/kg) and after 24 h following laser illumination, or with oral administration of β-glucan from barley at a dose of 400 μg/mouse per day up to 5 days, or with their combination. Tumor growth dynamics and survival of the treated and untreated mice were monitored.
Results. Tumor volume in all treated groups was significantly lower (P<0.001) than that in the control group. The most effective tumor growth suppression (P=0.033) was achieved in mice treated with combination of PDT and β-glucan from barley as compared with PDT alone. The best survival was achieved in the same group, but difference was not significant as compared to the control group (P=0.143) and to PDT alone group (P=0.319).
Conclusions. The present study demonstrates that coadministration of β-glucan from barley can enhance efficacy of photodynamic therapy. Full article

Gastric bezoars may be formed in the stomach as a result of foreign body accumulation with inability to pass through the pylorus. Usually bezoars are found in patients with a history of previous gastric surgery. Phytobezoars are the most common type of bezoars. Major complications of bezoars include intestinal obstruction, gastric ulcer, gastric perforation, and bleeding. We present the case of a 51-year-old woman with the features of gastrointestinal bleeding due to a giant diospyrobezoar in the stomach. During endoscopy besides the bezoar, a giant acute ulcer was found. Histological examination of biopsy specimens from ulcer area revealed changes typical of superficial ischemic damage due to prolonged bezoar compression. The patient had undergone a vagotomy and pyloroplasty 13 years ago, and she used to eat two or three persimmons per week during the last six months. The bezoar was fragmented during two endoscopies, and the fragments drifted away through the intestine. We conclude that delayed gastric emptying due to previous gastric surgery and regular eating of persimmons caused the formation of a giant bezoar with ischemic ulcer of gastric mucosa and bleeding. Such pathology potentially could be prevented by dietary advice. Full article

Objective. To determine survival of patients with stage IIIA/B non–small cell lung cancer considering disease stage and treatment methods.
Material and methods. A total of 304 patients with non–small cell lung cancer were treated at the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Vilnius University, in 2000–2004. Stage IIIA (T3N1-2M0) cancer was diagnosed for 193 (63.5%) patients and stage IIIB (T4N0-1M0) cancer was diagnosed for 111 (36.5%) patients. There were 277 (91.1%) males and 27 (8.9%) females. According to morphology, there were 219 (72%) patients with squamous cell lung cancer, 80 (26.3%) with adenocarcinoma, and 5 (1.7%) patients with large cell carcinoma. Surgery was performed in 145 patients: 84 (57.9%) patients underwent lung resection (T3-4N0-1M0), 51 (35.2%) patients – thoracotomy, and 10 (6.7%) patients – other palliative thoracic procedures (mediastinotomy, pleurectomy, mediastinoscopy). Forty-eight (30.2%) patients were treated with radiation therapy with total doses of >40 Gy and 58 (36.5%) patients were treated with radiation therapy with total doses of <40 Gy. Fifty-four (33.9%) patients were treated with Gemzar and cisplatin and 19 (11.9%) patients were treated with etoposide and cisplatin.
Results. Overall median and mean survival was 7.8 months (95% CI, 6.8 to 8.8) and 9.9 months (95% CI, 9.0 to 10.9), respectively. The median and mean survival of patients with stage IIIA cancer was 8.3 months and 10.4 months, respectively, and that of patients with stage IIIB cancer – 6.4 months and 9.0 months, respectively (P≤0.05). The median survival of the patients with stage IIIA cancer who received a combination of operation, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy with a total dose of >40 Gy was 14.4 months (mean, 14.7 months), and the median survival of those who received operation, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy with a total dose of ≤40 Gy was 9.7 months (mean, 14.1 months); the median survival of the patients who underwent surgery alone was 4.9 months (mean, 6.7 months) (P=0.004 and P=0.007), respectively. There was a significant difference in the median survival comparing the patients with stage IIIB cancer who underwent surgery alone and those who received a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy (median survival of 5.0 months [mean, 8.1 months] versus 16.8 months [mean, 17.6 months], respectively; P≤0.05).
Conclusions. Disease stage had an influence on the survival of patients with non–small cell lung cancer: patients with stage IIIA (T3N0-1M0) cancer without metastases to mediastinal lymph nodes (N factor) survived longer than patients with stage IIIB (T4N1-2M0) cancer, where not only N factor had an impact but T factor as well. Better treatment outcomes, i.e. longer survival, can be achieved when a combination of three treatment types – surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy – is applied to patients with stage IIIA or IIIB non–small cell lung cancer. The patients with stage IIIA disease who received surgery and radiation therapy (total dose, >40 Gy), and combinations of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy and second-line chemotherapy showed a significantly longer survival than those who received surgery alone. Full article

The objective of this study was to analyze data on laparoscopic surgery for malignant diseases of the colon, rectum, and anus in Lithuania during the period of January 1, 2005, to February 15, 2008.
Material and methods. During the above-mentioned period in Lithuania, 130 laparoscopic surgeries for malignancies of colon, rectum, and anus were performed in seven different hospitals. There were 73 males and 57 females with a mean age of 68 years (range, 35–85 years). Laparoscopic procedures were attempted in 140 cases. Out of them, 130 were completed laparoscopically; 10 operations were converted to open, and conversion rate was 7.1%. Twenty-seven (20.8%) patients had stage I, 45 (34.6%) stage II, 45 (34.6%) stage III, and 13 (10%) stage IV disease. Ninety-two (70.8%) patients underwent straight laparoscopic surgery and 38 (29.2%) – hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Time in surgery was from 50 to 365 min, with a mean of 183 min. During 130 operations, in 11 (8.5%) cases, blood vessels were ligated through specimen retrieval site. Out of 104 operations, where anastomosis was performed (23 abdominoperineal resections and 3 Hartmann’s procedures), in 68 (65.4%) cases it was done laparoscopically and in 36 (34.6%) cases using conventional extracorporal suturing.
Results. Hospital stay ranged from 7 to 59 days, with a mean of 12 days. One (0.8%) patient died. Postoperative complications occurred in 27 (20.8%) cases. Reoperation rate was 4.6% (6 cases). Complications were as follows: suture insufficiency (3 cases), eventration (3 cases), wound infection (7 cases), intraperitoneal abscess (1 case), abdominal wall phlegmon (1 case), intra-abdominal infiltrate (1 case), perineal hematoma (1 case), proctovaginal fistula (2 case), intraoperative bleeding from uterus (1 case), urinary retention (4 cases), cystitis (1 case), pneumonia (1 case), acute cardiovascular insufficiently (1 case). In histological specimens, 10 lymph nodes were found on the average (range, 2 to 27).
Conclusions. Laparoscopic surgery for malignant diseases of the colon, rectum, and anus is dominating among laparoscopic surgeries for colorectum. Complication rate is similar to other authors. To evaluate disease relapse and outcomes, observation time is not sufficient yet. Full article

Endothelium forms an inner layer of vascular wall. It plays an important role in inflammatory process, regulation of vascular tone, and synthesis of thromboregulatory substances. Leukocyte and endothelium interactions during inflammation are regulated by different families of adhesion molecules. Increased levels of soluble forms of adhesion molecules have been detected in the circulating blood in conditions such as autoimmune diseases, transplant rejection, ischemia-reperfusion injury in addition to neutrophil- and endothelial membrane-bound forms reflecting the level of endothelial dysfunction. It is known that endothelial dysfunction is a risk factor for ischemic events such as stroke, myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris, ventricle fibrillation, necessity of revascularisation procedures, and death from cardiovascular reasons. Clinical studies showed that cardiac surgery has an impact on vascular endothelial function as well. The amount of endotheliumderived soluble forms of vascular-1 and intercellular-1 adhesion molecules increases after cardiopulmonary bypass suggesting endothelial dysfunction. However, further investigations are needed to be done to support the evidence that endothelial dysfunction proceeding heart surgery is one of the reasons of tissue ischemia-reperfusion injury. Full article