OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor D (VEGF-D) in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its significance.

METHODSThe expression of VEGF-C mRNA in tumor tissues and non-cancer tissues from 39 ESCC patients in our hospital from March 2009 to February 2010 was detected by in situ hybridization (ISH) method. The expression of D2-40 was detected by immunohistochemistry,and microlymphatic vessel density (MLVD) was determined by lymphatic endothelial specific marker D2-40. The associations of VEGF-C mRNA expression with clinical data and MLVD were analyzed.

RESULTSPositive ISH VEGF-D mRNA was observed in tumor tissue samples of 22 cases (56.4%, 22/39) and non-cancer tissue sample of 1 case (2.6%, 1/39), whose difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The expression of VEGF-D mRNA in ESCC was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis [92.9% (13/14) vs. 36.0% (9/25), P<0.05] and MLVD [(8.20±1.22) vs. (5.31±0.97), P<0.01], but not significantly associated with age, sex, pathological grade and depth of infiltration.

CONCLUSIONVEGF-D can promote lymphatic metastasis of ESSC by induction of lymphangiogenesis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of thoracic duct ligation during transthoracic esophagectomy on preventing post-operative chylothorax in different tumor locations.

METHODSBetween March 2003 and June 2007, 243 patients with thoracic esophageal carcinoma underwent esophageal resection in our hospital. All the cases were divided into five groups according to tumor localization, including cervical, upper middle, middle, lower middle and lower sections. Each was then subdivided into 2 groups: with and without intraoperative thoracic duct ligation. Statistical analysis was carried out to evaluate the relevance between ligation and non-ligation of the thoracic duct during esophagectomy and the incidence of post-operative chylothorax.

RESULTSA total of 8 cases of post-operative chylothorax was recorded and the incidence was 3.3%. Incidence with respect to tumor location was as follows: cervical section: ligation subgroup 3 cases and non-ligation subgroup 5 cases; upper middle section: no one for both ligation and non-ligation subgroups; middle section: ligation subgroup 0/26 and non-ligation subgroup 1/28 (3.6%); lower middle section: ligation subgroup 1/39 (2.6%) and non-ligation subgroup 1/35 (2.9%); lower section: ligation subgroup 1/37 (2.7%) and non-ligation subgroup 2/44 (4.5%). Logistic regression analysis revealed no significant difference between ligation and non-ligation subgroup in the prevention of post-operative chylothorax (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThoracic duct ligation as preventive measure can not decrease the incidence of chylothorax secondary to esophagectomy.

Aged ; Chylothorax ; etiology ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Ligation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Thoracic Duct ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo observe Notch1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and investigate its relation with microvascular angiogenesis in the tumor.

METHODSTissue slices of 40 cases ESCC (cancer group) and 8 cases normal esophagus tissues (normal group) were obtained to analyze the expression of Notch1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) using immunohistochemistry and estimate the microvessel density (MVD) in the tumor.

RESULTSNotch1 expression was significantly lower in the cancer group than in the normal group (P<0.05). In the cancer group, Notch1 expression was higher in highly differentiated than in poorly differentiated tumors (P<0.05) regardless of tumor infiltration or lymph nodes metastasis (P>0.05). VEGF expression and MVD were significantly higher in cancer group than in normal group, and showed significant differences between tumors with different differentiation degrees, infiltration and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that Notch1 expression was inversely correlated to VEGF expression.

CONCLUSIONNotch1 may be an anti-oncogene in ESCC and affects cell differentiation in early stage of the malignancy. Abnormally low expression of Notch1 in ESCC may be one of the upstream factors to induce high expression of VEGF and increased MVD. The Notch1 pathway might play a key role in microvascular angiogenesis in ESCC.

Adult ; Aged ; Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; metabolism ; Capillaries ; growth & development ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; blood supply ; metabolism ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; blood supply ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Receptor, Notch1 ; metabolism ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDAlthough the results of surgical treatment in cardiac valve disease continue to improve, the postoperative mortality rate and the rate of complications in patients with advanced valvular heart disease (AVHD) are still very high. We did this retrospective study to summarize the surgical experience of heart valve replacement for patients with AVHD and discuss effective ways to improve the surgical outcome.

METHODSFrom January 1994 to October 2003, surgical procedures of heart valve replacement were performed on 227 (136 men and 91 women) patients with AVHD in our Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery. The clinical data of all patients were collected and analysed. Patients' age ranged from 10 years to 77 years. In preoperative cardiac function grading, 157 cases were NYHA III and 70 cases NYHA IV. Fifty-one patients had had cardiac operations. The ultrasonic cardiac graphs showed that 145 patients suffered from moderate or severe pulmonary hypertension and 73 had combined giant left ventricle. Mitral valve replacement was performed in 32 cases, aortic valve replacement in 90, tricuspid valve replacement in 1, combined mitral and aortic replacement in 103 and combined mitral and tricuspid replacement in 1. Nineteen patients also received surgical corrections for other minor abnormalities during the operations. A logistic model was established to evaluate the influence of perioperative factors on the mortality rate.

RESULTSThe operative mortality rate was 13.2% (30/227). The main causes of death included multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), low cardiac output syndrome and ventricular fibrillation. From the results of the binary noncounterpart multivariate logistic regression, the following statistically significant factors were found to influence the operative mortality rate: redo operation, age >/= 55 years, preoperative NYHA cardiac function grading, extracorporeal circulation time >/= 120 minutes and postoperative usage of GIK (glucose, insulin and potassium) solution. All factors were risk ones except postoperative application of GIK. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit coefficient of this model was 0.976.

CONCLUSIONSThe risk factors associated with postoperative mortality rate in the patients with AVHD were redo operation, age >/= 55 years, preoperative NYHA cardiac function grading and extracorporeal circulation time >/= 120 minutes. Postoperative usage of GIK acted as a kind of metabolic therapy and will improve the recovery for patients with AVHD. Active perioperative management and care will play a very important role in reducing the operative risk and improving the short term outcome of surgical treatment for the patients with AVHD.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Female ; Glucose ; pharmacology ; Heart Valve Diseases ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation ; Humans ; Insulin ; pharmacology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Potassium ; pharmacology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors