Curative, margin-negative resection of early stage, well-differentiated intrahepatic tumors is associated with improved patient survival.

Correlation of p53 expression with 5-year survival and histopathological parameters was examined immunohistochemically in two groups of 30 patients with oesophageal carcinoma (5-year survivors versus non-survivors). Tumour type, sex, operative procedure and age were matched. Some 64 per cent of squamous carcinomas and 79 per cent of adenocarcinomas were p53 positive. Normal squamous, normal glandular and metaplastic glandular epithelia were negative. Dysplastic squamous and glandular epithelium adjacent to tumours was positive when the tumour was positive and negative when it was not. Univariate analysis showed that nodal status (P = 0.001), and grade and depth of invasion (both P = 0.01) correlated with outcome. Correlation of tumour grade with outcome, when the most poorly differentiated area is used, is a novel finding for oesophageal carcinoma. The p53 status was not significantly associated with survival or any of these parameters.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia is an inherited disease causing fatty replacement of heart tissue. This disease often presents as T-wave inversion in the anterior leads of the electrocardiogram (ECG) with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. In older patients, progressive right and left ventricular failure can develop. This is a case report of postoperative death occurring in a 59-yr-old woman with undiagnosed arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia after hepatic cystectomy. The patient had T-wave inversion in the inferior ECG leads and no history of arrhythmias. During general anesthesia, cardiovascular collapse occurred in the absence of arrhythmias that was unresponsive to resuscitation.

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