We present the first case treated by hepatic segmentectomy in a 69-year-old woman with primary liver cancer and situs inversus totalis. The situs inversus did not cause any technical problems during the operation, which was conducted under guidance of intraoperative ultrasonography.

Through this developmental study, we provided the hypothesis that the compressed loose connective tissue and both opposed fasciae compose the interfascial planes. Analysis of the thickened retroperitoneal fasciae in computed tomography images supported this hypothesis. Further developmental or histological studies are required to verify our hypothesis.

Of 26 patients who underwent both coronary artery bypass grafting and abdominal surgery at our institution between 1977 and 1992, nine had severe coronary artery disease associated with UICC stage I gastric cancer. They were treated by coronary artery bypass grafting followed by a curative operation for gastric cancer; the initial four patients underwent two-staged surgery (group A), and the most recent five patients underwent simultaneous surgery (group B). The cardiac surgery was performed first in all patients, and in group A the interval between the two procedures was 2 to 7 weeks. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of preoperative characteristics: sex, age, preoperative complications, NYHA class, prior myocardial infarction, ejection fraction, cardiac index, number of vessels diseased, or number of grafts. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of blood loss during the gastric operation (A: 649 +/- 194 ml; B: 842 +/- 326 ml) or the operating time (A: 371 +/- 106 minutes; B: 343 +/- 46 minutes). Two group A patients had postoperative complications (one had arrhythmia, and one died of sepsis caused by sutural insufficiency). On the other hand, four group B patients had complications (three cases of transient hyperbilirubinemia and one case of postoperative bleeding; none died). The postoperative hospital stay after gastrectomy was not prolonged in group B compared with group A (A: 41.7 +/- 22.7 days; B: 46.0 +/- 25.0 days). In conclusion, simultaneous procedure of coronary artery bypass grafting and gastric surgery can be performed safely, although careful management is indispensable.

Recently, the concept of interfascial planes has become the prevalent theory among radiologists for understanding the retroperitoneal anatomy, having replaced the classic tricompartmental theory. However, it is a little known fact that the concept remains incomplete and includes embryological errors, which have been revised on the basis of our microscopic study. We believe that the concept not only provides a much clearer understanding of the retroperitoneal anatomy, but it also allows further development for diagnosis and treatment of retroperitoneal injuries and diseases, should it become an accomplished theory. We explain the history and outline of the concept of interfascial planes, correct common misunderstandings about the concept, explain the unconsciously applied therapeutic procedures based on the concept, and present future perspectives of the concept using our published and unpublished data. This knowledge could be essential to acute care physicians and surgeons sometime soon.

An aggressive pancreatectomy was performed on a 53 year old Japanese man with advanced cancer of the pancreas. The tumor originated from the body of the pancreas and invaded the stomach, duodenum, left kidney, transverse colon and common hepatic artery. An unexpected cancer was also found in the head of the pancreas during the operation. Therefore, total pancreatectomy, total gastrectomy, left adrenonephrectomy, resection of the left transverse colon and dissection of the regional lymph nodes were performed. Resection of the common hepatic artery was also performed, followed by an end-to-end anastomosis between the common hepatic artery and celiac trunk. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was doing well until nine months after the operation when multiple metastatic lesions were noted in the liver. He died 391 days after the operation from hepatic failure.