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Mucinous lesions of appendix are a rare clinical entity and may be neoplastic or non-neoplastic. The diagnosis is usual incidental during computed tomography scan or colonoscopy performed for general abdominal symptoms or occasional finding during operation for acute appendicitis. For this reason, initial treatment should be tailored to the situation, aiming at complete resection of the appendix with disease-free margins: this can be achieved by simple appendectomy or more extensive resection. The pathological examination of the specimen is the key to offer the patient a correct and complete treatment, and, if a neoplastic pathology is found, the case should be discussed in multidisciplinary group. We describe three cases with different clinical presentation leading to different surgical treatment: one elective case, in which the diagnosis was suspected preoperatively; and two urgent cases, one mimicking an intussusception and another one presenting as an acute appendicitis.

Until recently, cirrhosis has been considered to be an absolute or relative contraindication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. An evaluation of benefits and risks of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the treatment of gall bladder lithiasis in cirrhotic patients is presented. Thirty-three consecutive laparoscopic cholecystectomies in patients with cirrhosis were performed between March 1990 and March 1997. During the same period, no open cholecystectomy was performed in patients with cirrhosis. There was no morbidity or mortality; the conversion rate was 6% (2/33). No patient received blood transfusion, and the mean hospital stay was 2.8 days. These results favorably compare with the results of open cholecystectomy. Specific advantages of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with cirrhosis include the absence of wound infection and a lower rate of postoperative hepatic failure. Finally, laparoscopic surgery reduces the risk of viral contamination (the hepatitis B virus, the hepatitis C virus, or the human immunodeficiency virus) of the surgical staff.

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