In a prospective study of 65 patients with bile duct obstruction, various radiologic modalities were compared for their capability to demonstrate the level and cause of obstruction and to indicate accurately tumor resectability. Ultrasound (US) was performed in 65 patients, computed tomography (CT) in 51, direct cholangiography (DC) in 57, and angiography in 35. The level of obstruction was correctly indicated by US in 95% of patients and by CT in 90%, and the cause was correctly indicated by US in 88%, by CT in 63%, and by DC in 89%. In predicting tumor resectability, US was correct in 71% of patients, compared with 42% for CT, 58% for DC, and 25% for angiography. US therefore appears to be the single most useful modality in the evaluation bile duct obstruction.

This paper presents the clinical features and problems in the management of 34 patients with substernal goitre. Complete evaluation of the mediastinum relied on computed tomography. Thyroid function tests were performed routinely and showed a clinically underestimated incidence of hyperthyroidism (44 per cent). The incidence of occult malignancy in substernal goitres was high (12 per cent). In the majority of patients (88 per cent) the substernal goitres were removed by a collar incision. Four cases of goitres located in a retrotracheal position required a combined cervical and sternotomy approach. None of the 34 patients died. Transient postoperative hypocalcaemia was found in 41 per cent of our patients. The presence of a substernal goitre is an indication for resection based on the risk of malignancy, the risk of acute respiratory distress, the high incidence of thyrotoxicity and a low surgical morbidity.

In this review of a collected series of patients undergoing hepatic resection for colorectal metastases, 100 patients were found to have survived greater than five years from the time of resection. Of these 100 long-term survivors, 71 remain disease-free through the last follow-up, 19 recurred prior to five years, and ten recurred after five years. Patient characteristics that may have contributed to survival were examined. Procedures performed included five trisegmentectomies, 32 lobectomies, 16 left lateral segmentectomies, and 45 wedge resections. The margin of resection was recorded in 27 patients, one of whom had a positive margin, nine of whom had a less than or equal to 1-cm margin, and 17 of whom had a greater than 1-cm margin. Eighty-one patients had a solitary metastasis to the liver, 11 patients had two metastases, one patient had three metastases, and four patients had four metastases. Thirty patients had Stage C primary carcinoma, 40 had Stage B primary carcinoma, and one had Stage A primary carcinoma. The disease-free interval from the time of colon resection to the time of liver resection was less than one year in 65 patients, and greater than one year in 34 patients. Three patients had bilobar metastases. Four of the patients had extrahepatic disease resected simultaneously with the liver resection. Though several contraindications to hepatic resection have been proposed in the past, five-year survival has been found in patients with extrahepatic disease resected simultaneously, patients with bilobar metastases, patients with multiple metastases, and patients with positive margins. Five-year disease-free survivors are also present in each of these subsets. It is concluded that five-year survival is possible in the presence of reported contraindications to resection, and therefore that the decision to resect the liver must be individualized.

Total lipid extracts of erythrocyte cell membranes from 60 patients with documented malignancies, 41 patients with various acute and chronic diseases, and 40 healthy subjects were analysed. The results were expressed as ratios of stearic to oleic acid, reflecting the diegree of desaturation of stearic acid. The mean ratios for the healthy subjects and controls without cancer were 1-5 (SD 0 27) and 1 45 (0 28), respectively, whereas the ratios for patients with malignancies were consistently lower than the cut off point of 1-0, with a mean of 0 69 (0-15) (p <0 001). The desaturation ratio was also significantly lower (p <0 001) in the group with recurrent tumours (mean 0 75 (0 04)) compared with those with no evidence of recurrent tumours (mean 1-55 (0 27)).It is suggested that the increased unsaturation (oleic acid) in the circulating erythrocytes may be useful in the diagnosis and postoperative monitoring of patients with cancer.