The use of small-caliber, covered, self-expandable metal stents for palliation of severe malignant dysphagia

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Background: Self-expandable covered metal stents are an important component of palliative care for malignant dysphagia; however significant complication rates have been associated with large diameter stents. We hypothesized that small-caliber, fully covered, self-expandable metal stents (sccSEMS) would prove adequate palliation of dysphagia in the absence of major complications.

Methods: Prospective observational study of 17 patients presenting with severe malignant dysphagia between 12/1/08 and 7/30/10. 31 sccSEMS with internal diameters ranging from 8 mm to 16 mm were placed in 17 patients with pre-stent luminal diameters of < 8 mm (n = 13) or 8-10 mm (n = 4). 7 tracheobronchial stents (internal diameter 14–16 mm), 2 biliary stents (internal diameter 8–10 mm), and 22 specially constructed esophageal stents (internal diameter 12–16 mm) were placed. All stents were placed under direct endoscopic vision without fluoroscopic support. Dysphagia scores, migration rates, and complications were identified through review of endoscopy reports, outpatient clinical encounters, and 24-hour post-procedure phone surveys. Anticipated stent migration was defined as events which occurred during chemoradiation. Unanticipated stent migration was defined as events which occurred in the absence of treatment.

Results: The post-stent median dysphagia score improved (decreased) from 3 to 2 (p = 0.0003). The overall median duration of first stent placement was 64 days, IQR 32 – 110 days. The overall migration rate was 35.5% (11/31). The anticipated migration rate was 60% (9/15); the unanticipated migration rate was 18.2% (2/11) (p = 0.051). All 11 of the migrated stents were retrieved endoscopically without complication. 9.7% (3/31) of patients reported self-limited sore throat or chest pain within 24-hours of stent placement. All 3 patients were managed conservatively without need for narcotic analgesics, hospitalization, or repeat endoscopy. No other complications occurred.

Conclusions: The direct endoscopic placement of sccSEMS in patients presenting with severe malignant dysphagia significantly improved dysphagia scores, provided excellent durability, and resulted in no major complications.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Effect of neoadjuvant dose-painted IMRT to 56 Gy for locally advanced esophageal cancer on outcomes

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Background: Standard of care chemoradiation doses of 50.4 Gy for locally advanced (T3, T4, and/or node positive) esophageal cancer is associated with a pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of 40% at our institution. We evaluated whether pCR would be increased with 4D CT planning scans, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) delivery with motion management, and dose painting to 56 Gy in 28 fractions.

Methods: This retrospective review of 9 patients who have undergone esophagogastrectomy (7 adenocarcinoma, 2 squamous cell) evaluates our initial experience with neoadjuvant dose painted IMRT to 56 Gy. Pre-treatment workup included PET scan, chest and abdomen CT scans, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), and EUS-guided fiducial marker placement. Fiducial markers were placed superior and inferior to the gross endoscopic tumor volume to facilitate analysis of tumor motion with 4D CT simulation. Internal target volumes (ITVs) of gross disease were generated to account for motion. Once the GITV was generated, a clinical target volume (CTV) encompassing a 3-4 cm superior margin and 3-4 cm distal margin was contoured. Two planning target volumes (PTVs) were created for dose painting: PTV 50.4 and PTV 56 Gy in 28 fractions. IMRT was utilized for all patients with either a weight belt or with compensators. Concurrent cisplatin and continuous infusion 5-FU were delivered with radiotherapy and patients were restaged 3-6 weeks after completion for response evaluation.

Results: Treatment was well tolerated without any grade 3 acute morbidity. Surgical complications were not increased in this group overall. However, there was 1 patient with a chyle leak and radiation pneumonitis, but her case was complicated by having a remote history of radiotherapy. Six of the 9 treated patients were found to have a pCR (4 adenocarcinoma, 2 squamous cell). Two had a near CR with < 5 mm of residual disease. One additional patient with an initial bulky T4N1 tumor had 9 mm of viable tumor.

Conclusions: With motion management, dose painted IMRT to 56 Gy is feasible and may be associated with improved rates of pathologic complete or near complete response.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

A variant of Alzheimer's disease with spastic paraparesis and unusual plaques due to deletion of exon 9 of presenilin 1

We describe a novel variant of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a Finnish pedigree with 17 affected individuals of both sexes in three generations. The disease is characterized by progressive dementia which is, in most cases, preceded by spastic paraparesis. Neuropathological investigations revealed numerous, distinct, large, round and eosinophilic plaques as well as neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid angiopathy throughout the cerebral cortex. The predominant plaques resembled cotton wool balls and were immunoreactive for Abeta but lacked a congophilic dense core or marked plaque-related neuritic pathology. Molecular genetic analysis revealed that the disease was caused by a deletion of exon 9 (delta9) of the presenilin 1 (PS1) gene from the mRNA: unlike previous examples of the delta9 variant, the deletion was not caused by a splice acceptor site mutation.

Localization of frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism in an Australian kindred to chromosome 17q21-22

An Australian family with autosomal dominant presenile nonspecific dementia was recently described. The disease results in behavioral changes, usually disinhibition, followed by the onset of dementia accompanied occasionally by parkinsonism. Twenty-eight affected individuals were identified with an age of onset of 39 to 66 years (mean, 53 +/- 8.9 years). We mapped the disease locus to an approximately 26-cM region of chromosome 17q21-22 with a maximum two-point LOD score of 2.87. Affected individuals share a common haplotype between markers D17S783 and D17S808. This region of chromosome 17 contains the loci for several neurodegenerative diseases that lack distinctive pathological features, suggesting that these dementias, collectively referred to as frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17), are caused by mutations in the same gene. The entire coding region of five genes, mapped to the FTDP-17 candidate region, were also sequenced. This analysis included the microtubule-associated protein tau that is the major component of the paired helical filaments observed in Alzheimer's disease. No pathogenic mutations were identified in either the tau gene or in any of the other genes analyzed.