pH-operated hybrid silica nanoparticles with multiple H-bond stoppers for colon cancer therapy

Controlled delivery of a chemotherapeutic drug from pH-sensitive hybrid silica nanocarriers efficiently targets colon carcinoma cells. The drug, blocked by cyanuric acid as stopper, is autonomously released inside the cancer cells.

Targeting multiplicity: the key factor for anti-cancer nanoparticles

In this mini-review, we focus on different strategies to bring nanotools specifically to cancer cells. We discuss about a better targeting of tumor, combining the characteristics of tumor environment, the increase in nanoparticles life time, the biomarkers overexpressed on cancer cells and different physical methods for non invasive therapies. Here we detail the necessity of a synergy between passive and active targeting for an actual specificity of cancer cells.

[Spontaneous haemoperitoneum due to a ruptured intra-abdominal varix with cirrhosis: report of two cases]

Spontaneous haemoperitoneum due to ruptured intra abdominal varices with cirrhosis is rare and the diagnosis is generally difficult. Two cases of spontaneous intraperitoneal bleeding due to ruptures varices with cirrhosis are reported. One case is a ruptured portal cavernome and the other one is a ruptured varix of the gastrosplenic ligament. The combination of hypovolemic shock with increasing abdominal girth should impose the diagnosis. This is a surgical emergency and the mortality rate is high.

[Treatment of biliary injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: retrospective study of 27 patients]

Biliary injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy are rare but serious. Their mortality rate can reach 9%.

AIM OF THE STUDY

Describe the management of biliary injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in our center.

PATIENTS

Between January 1995 and June 2005, 27 patients (13 women, 14 men) were treated. The mean age was 53 years old (range, 18-92 years). The biliary injuries were common bile duct sections (n=16, 60%), common bile duct stenoses (n=5, 18.5%), biliary fistulas from the cystic duct (n=4, 15%), and biliary fistulas from an aberrant biliary duct (n=2, 7.5%).

RESULTS

Acute cholecystis was present in 40% of cases (n=11). An intraoperative cholangiography was done in 12 patients (44%). The mortality rate was 0%. Of the common bile duct sections, 43% were diagnosed during the cholecystectomy (n=7) or after the cholecystectomy within a mean of 11.2 days (n=9). Common bile duct injuries were treated in 16 cases with hepatojejunostomy and in five cases with an external biliary drain. Fistulas from the cystic duct were diagnosed within a mean 14.8 days. A fistula from an aberrant biliary duct was diagnosed during the cholecystectomy (n=1) or in the second postoperative day (n=1). Fistulas were treated with a clip on the cystic duct (n=2), an external biliary drain (n=1), a biliary endoprosthesis (n=1), and the biliary aberrant duct suture (n=2).

CONCLUSION

Common bile duct injuries are a serious complication because their treatment is a hepaticojejunostomy in 75% of cases.

[Surgical management of a preaortic paraganglioma: Report of one case]

Paragangliomas (PG) are rare and often diagnosed in the young adult. One case of retroperitoneal preaortic paraganglioma localised between the celiac trunk and the superior mesenteric artery is reported. The management of paraganglioma involves endocrinologists, geneticists and surgeons but the only potentially curative treatment remains surgical resection. Pathology reports can not always discriminate between benign or malignant tumors. Hereditary in paraganglioma occurs in approximately 25% of cases. Genetic investigation is therefore mandatory in all patients with PG. Since the type of genetic mutation is correlated with tumoral aggressiveness, genetic investigation results should be taken into account when a surgical procedure is planned.

Évaluation de la prise en charge des hernies inguinales en chirurgie ambulatoire

AIM

To evaluate the prospects of ambulatory surgery for inguinal hernia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

From January 1995 to June 2001, 599 operations on inguinal hernias were performed. Patients were composed of 554 men and 45 women. The average age was 58 years (7-95). All patients were examined by their primary doctor on the first and the third day, and by the surgeon on the 10th day.

RESULTS

Four hundred and eighty-one patients were operated on by ambulatory surgery (80.3%). The "Tension-free" technique was carried out among 495 patients (82.6%). Loco-regional anaesthesia was used for 499 patients (83.3%). The postoperative rate of complications was 10.4% (62 patients). Only 201 patients presented postoperative painful symptomatology (33.6%), 341 a discomfort (56.9%), and 57 (10%) experienced no pain. The overall satisfaction rate was 92.9%.

CONCLUSION

Use of the "Tension-free" technique under loco-regional anaesthesia for inguinal hernias allows ambulatory surgery with a low rate of complications and high satisfaction for the patients.