The destruction of a pilonidal cyst with a laser probe is a safe, simple and minimally invasive technique. The success rate is good. Hospital stay is short, pain is light and complications are few as well as the number of patients needing post-operative care, allowing a rapid return to work or school. This technique could be proposed as a first-line treatment to the majority of patients with a pilonidal sinus disease.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are thought to derive from the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) or an ICC precursor. Oncogenic mutations of the receptor tyrosine kinase KIT are present in most GIST. KIT K642E was originally identified in sporadic GIST and later found in the germ line of a familial GIST cohort. A mouse model harbouring a germline Kit K641E mutant was created to model familial GIST. The expression profile was investigated in the gastric antrum of the KitK641E murine GIST model by microarray, quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence. Gja1/Cx43, Gpc6, Gpr133, Pacrg, Pde3a, Prkar2b, Prkcq/Pkce, Rasd2, Spry4 and Tpbg/5T4 were found to be up-regulated. The proteins encoded by Gja1/Cx43, Pde3a, Prkcq/Pkce were localized in Kit-ir ICC in wild-type and KitK641E animals while Spry4 and Tpbg/5T4 were detected in Kit-ir cells only in KitK641E, but not in KitWT/WT animals. Most up-regulated genes in this mouse model belong to the gene expression profile of human GIST but also to the profile of normal Kit+ ICC in the mouse small intestine. Spry4 and Tpbg/5T4 may represent candidates for targeted therapeutic approaches in GIST with oncogenic KIT mutations.

On the basis of this experience, the largest with laparoscopic reoperative RYGBP after failed VBG, we conclude that this procedure can safely be performed in experienced hands, with weight loss results similar to those observed after primary RYGBP. In patients with too difficult an anatomy below the cardia, dividing the esophagus just above the esophago-gastric junction and performing an esophagojejunostomy may be a safe alternative to converting to a Scopinaro-type BPD, obviating the additional long-term risks associated with malabsorption.

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