Fournier Gangrene Caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida albicans</Emphasis> in an Infant After Cardiac Surgery

Fournier gangrene is a rare, rapidly progressive, life-threatening condition. We report a 23-day-old boy with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect treated surgically, who developed Fournier gangrene. Emergency surgery was performed with tissue sampling for microbiological examination. Candida albicans was confirmed; caspofungin followed by fluconazole was administered with excellent results.     

Per-operative stent placement in the right pulmonary artery; a hybrid technique for the management of pulmonary artery branch stenosis at the time of pulmonary valve replacement in adult Fallot patients

After having undergone surgical correction at an early age, many patients with tetralogy of Fallot develop long-term complications including progressive pulmonary regurgitation and peripheral pulmonary stenosis. A high percentage of these patients need to undergo a second operation in their adolescence or early adulthood. If simultaneous treatment of both pulmonary regurgitation and peripheral pulmonary stenosis is warranted, a complete surgical approach has several disadvantages. We describe four cases of Fallot patients with severe pulmonary regurgitation and peripheral pulmonary stenosis who were treated using a hybrid approach involving surgical implantation of a pulmonary homograft and peroperative stenting of the pulmonary artery.     

Open heart surgery with concomitant pulmonary resection

With the increasing applicability of cardiac surgical procedures, particularly in older age groups, increasing numbers of patients will be encountered with concomitant diseases amenable to surgical treatment.(1) We present three patients who underwent pulmonary resection associated with various cardiac surgical procedures. One patient had severe bron-chiectasis and mitral stenosis requiring mitral valve replacement with pneumonectomy. The other two patients had coronary artery disease and pulmonary neoplasms requiring pneumonectomy and bilobectomy concomitant with coronary bypass procedures. All patients survived and returned to constructive life. Operative techniques and therapeutic rationales are discussed.     

Perforation of the gallbladder: analysis of 19 cases.

Perforation of the gallbladder occurred in 19 (3.8%) of 496 patients with acute cholecystitis treated at one hospital in an 8-year period. The average age of the 19 patients was 69 years and the female:male ratio was 3:2. Most had a history suggestive of gallbladder disease and most had coexisting cardiac, pulmonary, renal, nutritional or metabolic disease. The duration of the present illness was short, perforation occurring within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms in half the patients; the diagnosis was not suspected preoperatively in any. In the elderly patient with acute cholecystitis who has a long history of gallbladder disease, cholecystectomy should be performed early, before gangrene and perforation of the gallbladder can occur.     

Gangrène des organes génitaux externes (GOGE): traitement chirurgical et reconstruction plastique

Objective

To present the various types of surgical reconstruction of Fournier’s gangrene and their outcome.

Patients and methods

It is a retrospective study conducted on 14 patients with Fournier’s gangrene treated at the Urology Department of Teaching Hospital of Cocody (Abidjan-Côte d’Ivoire) between January 2000 and June 2009.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 39 years (range: 20–67 years). All the patients were black and presented infectious symptoms, which were treated by hydroelectrolytic reanimation and ant biotherapy. The lesions reached down all the penis and the scrotum in 64.29% of the cases (N = 9) and on the scrotum and perinea in 35.71% of the cases (N = 5). The lesions require extensive debridement and local bandages. All of the patients were cured (100%). In three patients (21.43%), the lesions with bandages only to tiny scrotum lesions healed spontaneously. In nine patients (64.29%), it got healed after debridement suture without tension of the scrotum skin, and in the two patients (14,28%), the one with wide wound of penis, scotum and perinea, then the other with penile skin loss, were healed after skin graft taken with inner face of the thigh.

Conclusion

Fourniers gangrene still remains a severe disease. Management of this gangrene requires a multidisciplinary approach. The plastic surgical reconstruction restores an adequate environment to penis and scrotum, which does not compromise the quality of the sexual relations and the reproductive function of the testicles, especially in young men.     

Role of echocardiography in surgery of pulmonary tuberculosis

Doppler echocardiography was used to examine 26 patients aged 18 to 65 years who had undergone different surgical interventions for disseminated and acutely progressive pulmonary tuberculosis. Nineteen patients were diagnosed as having fibrocavernous pulmonary tuberculosis; 6 and 1 patients had caseous pneumonia and disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis. Echocardiography was performed with a LSC-700 echotomograph (Piker International, USA) by the routine procedure. Analyzing central hemodynamic parameters in the patients identified 3 types of hemodynamics: hypokinetic, eukinetic, and hyperkinetic, which made it possible to perform a course of cardial therapy adequately in the preoperative period. Preoperatively, 21 (80.8%) patients were found to have elevated mean pulmonary pressures and 5 patients had pulmonary pressures in the normal ranges. In the uncomplicated postoperative period, pulmonary pressures gradually decreased and reached normal values in some patients.     

Bilateral small radial forearm flaps for the reconstruction of buccal mucosa after surgical release of submucosal fibrosis: a new, reliable approach

Oral submucous fibrosis is a collagen disorder affecting the submucosal layer and often severely limiting mouth opening. Previous surgical treatments have been disappointing. This article introduces a new surgical approach: reconstructing the bilateral buccal mucosa with two small radial forearm flaps. The surgical method includes the complete surgical release of fibrotic buccal mucosa and, if necessary, a bilateral coronoidectomy and temporalis muscle myotomy. From 1997 to 1999, 15 patients with moderate-to-severe trismus received reconstructive surgery, for a total of 30 small radial forearm flaps after surgical release. The flap size was between 1.5 x 5 and 2.5 x 7 cm. All donor sites were directly closed, and all flaps survived completely, except for one with partial necrosis. Six flaps required minor revisions because of size redundancy. Two patients developed buccal cancer in the area of reconstruction. At an average of 12 months' follow-up, the inter-incisal distance averaged 33 mm, an increase of 17 mm compared with the preoperative value. The donor-site morbidity was minimal, except in one heavy smoker who developed dry gangrene of his fingertips. The use of two small free forearm flaps for buccal mucosa reconstruction allows more radical release of fibrotic tissue. Coronoidectomy and temporal muscle myotomy further contribute to the effect of trismus release. The combined effects of this approach have consistently given good results. An aggressive approach toward surgical treatment of this precancerous lesion also facilitates the detection of cancer at an early stage.     

The Wall Eclipsing Sign on Pulmonary Artery Computed Tomography Angiography Is Pathognomonic for Pulmonary Artery Sarcoma

Background

The objective of this study was to evaluate the imaging characteristics of pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS) on pulmonary artery computed tomography angiography (PACTA) that can be used to differentiate between PAS and pulmonary thromboembolic diseases, including chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and acute pulmonary embolism (APE).

Methods

The clinical data and imaging characteristics of 12 patients with PAS, 156 patients with CTEPH, and 426 patients with APE who were treated at Beijing Anzhen Hospital from January 2007 to August 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent PACTA before treatment, and the diagnoses of PAS and CTEPH were all confirmed by surgical biopsy.

Results

All 12 PAS patients were initially misdiagnosed and received inappropriate thrombolytic and/or anticoagulant therapy before they were referred for surgical intervention. The mean time from PACTA to surgical intervention was 5.5±3.7 months (range 2–11 months). On PACTA, the PAS lesion always eclipsed the wall of the pulmonary artery before infiltrating outside the pulmonary artery, which was termed the wall eclipsing sign. This sign was observed in all PAS patients but was not observed in any CTEPH or APE patients.

Conclusions

PAS is a rare neoplasm with a poor prognosis, and is easily misdiagnosed as thromboembolic disease. The wall eclipsing sign on PACTA is pathognomonic for PAS, and patients with this sign should be investigated to confirm the diagnosis and should undergo surgical intervention as soon as possible, rather than receiving thrombolytic or anticoagulant therapy.     

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a rapidly progressive and deadly disease, resulting from incomplete resolution of acute pulmonary embolism. Historically, the incidence of CTEPH was significantly underestimated but it may be as high as 3.8% following acute pulmonary embolism. Although the medical management of CTEPH may be supportive, the only curative treatment is pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA). However, a careful screening programme is mandatory to select CTEPH patients who are likely to benefit from PEA. In this review we discuss the pathophysiology, clinical and diagnostic pitfalls, surgical treatment, outcome after surgery, and the potential benefit of medical treatment in inoperable CTEPH patients.     

Les urgences urologiques au centre hospitalier national de Nouakchott : aspects épidémiologiques, cliniques et thérapeutiques

Objective

To present the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic features of urological emergencies in Mauritania, West Africa.

Material and methods

The authors conducted a 5-year retrospective study that analyzed the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic features of all urological emergencies admitted to the urology department of Nouakchott Central Hospital.

Results

There were 1,200 urological emergencies. The mean age of the patients was 58.8 years (range one month-94 years). These patients had an age ≥60 years in 50.7% of the cases The sex ratio (M: F) was 20: 32. The most frequent illnesses were urinary retention (53%) and genitourinary system infections, which represented 16.8% of the cases. The gangrenes of male external genitalia (Fournier’s gangrene) accounted for 4.3% of the cases and priapism 1.8%. In emergency, 300 surgical operations were performed. The most performed procedures were the installation of a suprapubic catheter (59.7%) and debridement of a gangrene of male external genitalia (16%).

Conclusion

The most frequent urological emergency in our country was acute urinary retention. Serious illnesses, like gangrene of male external genitalia (Fournier’s gangrene) and priapism, are not rare there.     

Peripheral gangrene in patients with severe falciparum malaria: report of 3 cases

Peripheral gangrene, characterized by distal ischemia of the extremities, is a rare complication in patients with falciparum malaria. Patients with this complication have generally undergone early amputation of the affected areas. In this report, we describe 3 adult Thai patients presented at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Bangkok, with high grade of fever ranged 6-9 days, jaundice, acute renal failure, respiratory failure, alteration of consciousness and shock. Two patients had gangrene developed at the lower extremities on day 1 of hospitalization and 1 patient had gangrene developed on day 3. Blood smears revealed hyperparasitemia with Plasmodium falciparum. These patients were diagnosed as having severe malaria with peripheral gangrene. The resolution of gangrene was successfully achieved by treatment with artesunate and conservative treatment in 2 of 3 cases.     

SUPRACONDYLAR AMPUTATION IN THE AGED

Of 105 consecutive supracondylar amputations done at the San Diego County General Hospital during the five-year period, 1953-58, 88 were in patients more than 60 years of age. Occlusive arterial disease was the reason for operation in 85 of the 88 cases.Presenting complaints at the time of amputation were gangrene in 45 cases, pre-gangrene associated with severe pain in 34. Acute arterial occlusion as a cause of thigh amputation was infrequent.The average age of patients requiring thigh amputation from complications of arteriosclerosis obliterans was 78.3 years; for those with diabetic arteriosclerosis or embolism it was about seven and a half years less.Supracondylar amputation was considered the procedure of choice in the elderly debilitated patients with far-advanced occlusive diffuse arteriosclerosis, complicated by gangrene, ulcer and infection of the toes or feet. Sympathectomy and direct arterial operation if done early in the course of the disease may postpone or prevent subsequent amputation.The surgical mortality rate (first two weeks) for supracondylar amputation was 12.5 per cent. More than two-thirds of the deaths were due to bronchopneumonia.     

L'Anastomose cavo-pulmonaire dans les malformations tricuspidiennes: Evolution de 10 cas opérés

Certain congenital malformations affecting the rightsided cavities of the heart and accompanied by a diminished pulmonary blood flow can be improved by an end-to-side anastomosis between the right pulmonary artery and the superior vena cava. Nine out of the 10 patients who underwent the operation survived. The results have been very impressive in six patients with tricuspid atresia who were critically ill. The anoxemic episodes ceased completely and cyanosis has disappeared. Three cases of Ebstein''s anomaly have also been improved. This clinical study has given us the opportunity to review the physiological consequences of the anastomosis, its complications and its surgical indications. We believe that this type of shunt is especially indicated in cases of tricuspid atresia, in which only a palliative form of surgery can be performed.     

Clearing the smoke: the scientific rationale for tobacco abstention with plastic surgery

The use of tobacco is a significant contributor to preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States. A significant proportion of cardiovascular diseases, various oral and pulmonary neoplasms, nonmalignant respiratory diseases, and peripheral vascular disorders can be attributed to the use of cigarettes. Surgical outcomes can also be adversely affected as a result of cigarette smoking with intraoperative and postoperative pulmonary, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular complications as well as increased wound healing complications. These are found across the entire spectrum of surgical specialties. Tissue ischemia and wound-healing impairment secondary to the influence of tobacco is particularly problematic for the plastic surgeon, especially during elective facial aesthetic procedures, cosmetic and reconstructive breast operations, abdominoplasty, free-tissue transfer, and replantation procedures. By educating and providing guidelines to those patients who smoke and by refusing to operate on individuals who fail to abstain, tobacco-associated surgical morbidity in the plastic and reconstructive surgery patient can be eliminated.     

The treatment of infectious diseases: advances in the use of antimicrobial drugs

Twenty-eight patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in a small, tax-supported sanatorium were treated by primary pulmonary resection. In a comparison of results with those obtained in the same sanatorium by thoracoplasty and extrapleural pneumothorax, it was noted that in general the patients who had resection had earlier conversion of sputum to "negative" and had a shorter stay in hospital. Complications were not of sufficient frequency to contraindicate use of resection in cases in which there was doubt that thoracoplasty would be effective. The cost of hospitalization for surgical treatment and postoperative care was considerably less when resection was done than it was for either three-stage or two-stage thoracoplasty.     

Postoperative Clostridial Infections in Britain

Eighty-five cases of clostridial infection, including 56 cases of gas gangrene, followed “clean” surgical operations performed in British hospitals in the course of two years. Nearly all the serious infections followed amputations of the leg for ischaemia or other operations on the leg in which a foreign body was implanted. All the infections were sporadic, and the evidence suggested that the infecting organism usually came from the bowel of the patient. Nearly half of the operations were performed in modern theatres with satisfactory ventilation and unexceptionable arrangements for the sterilization of instruments and dressings.Skin sterilization was often carried out perfunctorily or with agents with poor sporicidal activity. Total eradication of spores from the skin is, however, difficult to achieve, and recontamination may occur during the operation. Hence it is considered justifiable to give penicillin prophylactically to the small group of patients at serious risk from postoperative gas gangrene.     

Pulmonary embolism in surgical patients: 1959-79.

The Edinburgh surgical statistics (audit) have been analysed for the years 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, and 1979 to determine the trends in pulmonary embolism in surgical patients who died. There was a total of 61,038 operations, 1528 postoperative deaths, 804 necropsies, and 158 reported pulmonary emboli. The incidence of embolism diagnosed clinically and at necropsy fell throughout the period. This fall held good after corrections for necropsy rates, prognosis, and proportions of major operations. Although the overall necropsy rate fell from 58% to 40%, in patients expected to have a good prognosis the rate rose from 68% to 75%. Necropsy-proved embolism in "good prognosis" patients fell from 0.5% to 0.15% per 100 major operations. The main reduction has taken place since most surgeons in the area adopted methods of prophylaxis against venous thrombosis, but a direct relationship is not proved by this study.     

PRIMARY PULMONARY RESECTION FOR TUBERCULOSIS—Medical and Economic Aspects in a Small Sanatorium

Twenty-eight patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in a small, tax-supported sanatorium were treated by primary pulmonary resection. In a comparison of results with those obtained in the same sanatorium by thoracoplasty and extrapleural pneumothorax, it was noted that in general the patients who had resection had earlier conversion of sputum to “negative” and had a shorter stay in hospital.Complications were not of sufficient frequency to contraindicate use of resection in cases in which there was doubt that thoracoplasty would be effective.The cost of hospitalization for surgical treatment and postoperative care was considerably less when resection was done than it was for either three-stage or two-stage thoracoplasty.     

Joseph-Pierre Pétrequin (1809–1876): chirurgien, anatomiste, historien de la médecine, fondateur de la Faculté médicale lyonnaise et son procédé chirurgical original pour la cure de la gangrène de la verge

Pétrequin was an outstanding anatomist, surgeon, medical historian, and founder of the Lyon School of Medicine. This article describes his scientific contribution with particular emphasis on his original surgical procedure for the treatment of penile gangrene.