RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Diagnostic laparoscopy helps in diagnosing and staging Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. Routine laparoscopy before laparotomy, especially in cancers that have equivocal operability, helps to avoid unnecessary laparotomies. Present study evaluates utility of laparoscopy in diagnosing and staging GI cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diagnostic laparoscopy was done in 41 patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers who were thought to have equivocal operability. Patients with suspected or known non-metastatic GI cancers, in whom resectability was found doubtful by clinical assessment and pre-operative imaging, were included. Patients with non-GI cancers (lymphoma, gynaecologic cancers, genitourinary cancers, retroperitoneal sarcoma, sarcoma and abdominal metastasis of non-GI cancers) and metastatic cancers which were beyond the scope of curative surgery were excluded from the study. RESULTS: After diagnostic laparoscopy (DL) five patients had benign diagnosis. Out of 36 patients with malignant diagnosis, after DL, 22 patients (61.1%) were inoperable, 11 patients (30.6%) were operable, and three (8.3%) patients were of equivocal operability. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of laparoscopy in detecting operability were 100%, 91.7%, 81.8%, and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopy helped in a significant number of patients with advanced GI cancers to avoid laparotomy. The morbidity of DL was acceptable.
RESUMEN
Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of inherited blistering disorders that are divided into three categories based on the plane of cleavage of the blister, mode of inheritance, and the presence or absence of scars. Squamous cell carcinoma developing in epidermolysis bullosa is rare and presents a therapeutic dilemma. The authors report a case of congenital epidermolysis bullosa with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma.