Cryosurgery for common skin lesions. Treatment in family physicians' offices.
(1/518)
OBJECTIVE: To review the principles of use, common techniques, and effectiveness of cryosurgery for common skin lesions that can be treated by family physicians in their offices. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database controlled trials register (1998 version) were searched. Much of the evidence for the effectiveness of cryosurgery or cryotherapy is based on of cryosurgery for treating common warts, external genital warts, lentigines, and basal cell carcinomas. Many of the trials reviewed were conducted in specialty clinics and, therefore, the results might not apply accurately to family practice. MAIN MESSAGE: Evidence from case report and series suggests that cryosurgery is effective for actinic keratoses, seborrheic keratoses, dermatofibroma, keloids, molluscum contagiosum, and benign nevi. Randomized comparative trials show that, for external genital warts, cryosurgery is more effective than podophyllin treatment, better than or equal to trichloroacetic acid, but less effective than electrodesiccation or surgical removal. Prospective randomized trials of cryosurgery for common warts showed that weekly cryotherapy produced more rapid cures, but the overall cure rate depended on number of treatments. Two freeze-thaw cycles and paring before freezing improved the cure rate for plantar warts. (+info)
Interobserver agreement for grating acuity and letter acuity assessment in 1- to 5.5-year-olds with severe retinopathy of prematurity.
(2/518)
PURPOSE: To evaluate interobserver test-retest reliability of the Teller Acuity Card procedure for assessment of grating acuity at ages 1, 2, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years, for HOTV letter acuity at 3.5 and 4.5 years, and for Early-Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letter acuity at 5.5 years in the multicenter study of Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity (CRYO-ROP). METHODS: Subjects were the 73 participants in the CRYO-ROP study who had acuity assessed at one or more ages by two of the seven study visual acuity testers as part of a quality control procedure. All subjects had birth weights of less than 1251 g, and all had severe (threshold) ROP in one or both eyes. RESULTS: For sighted eyes, interobserver agreement for grating acuity (across all five test ages) was 0.5 octave or better in 57% of eyes and 1.0 octave or better in 85% of eyes. Interobserver agreement for letter acuity (3.5-, 4.5-, and 5.5-year test ages) was 0.5 octave or better in 71% of eyes and 1.0 octave or better in 93% of eyes. For all eyes (sighted and blind), Kendall rank correlation coefficients (Tau) were 0.86, 0.83, and 0.94 for grating, HOTV, and ETDRS acuity, respectively. Kappa statistics on data from all eyes indicated excellent interobserver agreement for grating, HOTV, and ETDRS acuity (0.73, 0.80, and 0.84, respectively). Interobserver agreement was not related to age or to severity of retinal residua of ROP. CONCLUSIONS: Excellent interobserver agreement for grating acuity measurements and for letter acuity measurements was obtained. Results suggest that with careful training and implementation of quality control procedures, high reliability of visual acuity results is possible in clinical populations of young children. (+info)
Surgical treatment and other regional treatments for colorectal cancer liver metastases.
(3/518)
The liver is the most common site of distant metastasis from colorectal cancer. About one-fourth of patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer have no other sites of metastasis and can be treated with regional therapies directed toward their liver tumors. Surgical resection of colorectal cancer liver metastases can result in a 24%-38% five-year survival, but only a minority of patients are candidates for resection. Other regional therapies such as cryosurgery, radiofrequency ablation, and hepatic intra-arterial chemotherapy may be offered to patients with unresectable but isolated liver metastases. The efficacy of these treatments is still being determined. For most patients with spread of metastatic colorectal cancer beyond the liver, systemic chemotherapy rather than regional therapy is a more appropriate option. (+info)
Surgery for postinfarction ventricular tachycardia in the pre-implantable cardioverter defibrillator era: early and long term outcomes in 100 consecutive patients.
(4/518)
OBJECTIVE: To report outcome following surgery for postinfarction ventricular tachycardia undertaken in patients before the use of implantable defibrillators. DESIGN: A retrospective review, with uniform patient selection criteria and surgical and mapping strategy throughout. Complete follow up. Long term death notification by OPCS (Office of Population Censuses and Statistics) registration. SETTING: Tertiary referral centre for arrhythmia management. PATIENTS: 100 consecutive postinfarction patients who underwent map guided endocardial resection at this hospital in the period 1981-91 for drug refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmias. RESULTS: Emergency surgery was required for intractable arrhythmias in 28 patients, and 32 had surgery within eight weeks of infarction ("early"). Surgery comprised endocardial resections in all, aneurysmectomy in 57, cryoablations in 26, and antiarrhythmic ventriculotomies in 11. Twenty five patients died < 30 days after surgery, 21 of cardiac failure. This high mortality reflects the type of patients included in the series. Only 12 received antiarrhythmic drugs after surgery. Perioperative mortality was related to preoperative left ventricular function and the context of surgery. Mortality rates for elective surgery more than eight weeks after infarction, early surgery, emergency surgery, and early emergency surgery were 18%, 31%, 46%, and 50%, respectively. Actuarial survival rates at one, three, five, and 10 years after surgery were 66%, 62%, 57%, and 35%. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery offers arrhythmia abolition at a risk proportional to the patient's preoperative risk of death from ventricular arrhythmias. The long term follow up results suggest a continuing role for surgery in selected patients even in the era of catheter ablation and implantable defibrillators. (+info)
Hepatic cryoablation, but not radiofrequency ablation, results in lung inflammation.
(5/518)
OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of 35% hepatic cryoablation with a similar degree of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on lung inflammation, nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation, and production of NF-kappaB dependent cytokines. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Multisystem injury, including acute lung injury, is a severe complication associated with hepatic cryoablation of 30% to 35% or more of liver parenchyma, but this complication has not been reported with RFA. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats underwent 35% hepatic cryoablation or RFA and were killed at 1, 2, and 6 hours. Liver and lung tissue were freeze-clamped for measurement of NF-kappaB activation, which was detected by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha and macrophage inflammatory protein 2 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Histologic studies of pulmonary tissue and electron microscopy of ablated liver tissue were compared among treatment groups. RESULTS: Histologic lung sections after cryoablation showed multiple foci of perivenular inflammation, with activated lymphocytes, foamy macrophages, and neutrophils. In animals undergoing RFA, inflammatory foci were not present. NF-kappaB activation was detected at 1 hour in both liver and lung tissue samples of animals undergoing cryoablation but not after RFA, and serum cytokine levels were significantly elevated in cryoablation versus RFA animals. Electron microscopy of cryoablation-treated liver tissue demonstrated disruption of the hepatocyte plasma membrane with extension of intact hepatocyte organelles into the space of Disse; RFA-treated liver tissue demonstrated coagulative destruction of hepatocyte organelles within an intact plasma membrane. To determine the stimulus for systemic inflammation, rats treated with cryoablation had either immediate resection of the ablated segment or delayed resection after a 15-minute thawing interval. Immediate resection of the cryoablated liver tissue prevented NF-kappaB activation and lung injury; however, pulmonary inflammatory changes were present when as little as a 15-minute thaw interval preceded hepatic resection. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic cryoablation, but not RFA, induces NF-kappaB activation in the nonablated liver and lung and is associated with acute lung injury. Lung inflammation is associated with the thawing phase of cryoablation and may be related to soluble mediator(s) released from the cryoablated tissue. These findings correlate the clinical observation of an increased incidence of multisystem injury, including adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), after cryoablation but not RFA. (+info)
Cryosurgery for chronic injuries of the cutaneous nerve in the upper limb. Analysis of a new open technique.
(6/518)
We have treated six patients with chronic pain following nerve injury using a cryosurgical probe. All had a significant return of hand function and improvement of pain during a mean follow-up of 13.5 months. Open visualisation of the injured nervous tissue is essential for patients undergoing this technique. Four patients regained normal sensation in the dermatome of the previously injured nerve. (+info)
Cryoablation of incessant ventricular tachycardia: case report and long-term follow-up.
(7/518)
We report the case of a 52-year-old man who had incessant ventricular tachycardia despite treatment with antiarrhythmic agents. Placement of an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator, radiofrequency ablation, and antitachycardia pacing were ineffective. He underwent intraoperative arrhythmia mapping and cryoablation at our institution. Eighteen months later, he remained free of arrhythmia. He was in New York Heart Association functional class II with an ejection fraction of 30%. (+info)
Limited posterior left atrial cryoablation in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation undergoing valvular heart sugery.
(8/518)
OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate whether a limited surgical cryoablation of the posterior region of the left atrium was safe and effective in the cure of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with associated valvular heart disease. BACKGROUND: Extensive surgical ablation of AF is a complex and risky procedure. The posterior region of the left atrium seems to be important in the initiation and maintenance of AF. METHODS: In 32 patients with chronic AF who underwent heart valve surgery, linear cryolesions connecting the four pulmonary veins and the posterior mitral annulus were performed. Eighteen patients with AF who underwent valvular surgery but refused cryoablation were considered as the control group. RESULTS: Sinus rhythm (SR) was restored in 25 (78%) of 32 patients immediately after the operation. The cryoablation procedure required 20 +/- 4 min. There were no intraoperative and perioperative complications. During the hospital period, one patient died of septicemia. Thirty-one patients reached a minimum of nine months of follow-up. Two deaths occurred but were unrelated to the procedure. Twenty (69%) of 29 patients remained in SR with cryoablation alone, and 26 (90%) of 29 patients with cryoablation, drugs and radiofrequency ablation. Three (10%) of 29 patients remained in chronic AF. Right and left atrial contractility was evident in 24 (92%) of 26 patients in SR. In control group, two deaths occurred, and SR was present in only four (25%) of 16 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Linear cryoablation with lesions connecting the four pulmonary veins and the mitral annulus is effective in restoration and maintenance of SR in patients with heart valve disease and chronic AF. Limited left atrial cryoablation may represent a valid alternative to the maze procedure, reducing myocardial ischemic time and risk of bleeding. (+info)