Literature Updates

N Engl J Med. 2015 Jun 22. [Epub ahead of print]

Perioperative Bridging Anticoagulation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation.

Douketis JD1, Spyropoulos AC, Kaatz S, Becker RC, Caprini JA, Dunn AS, Garcia DA, Jacobson A, Jaffer AK, Kong DF, Schulman S, Turpie AG, Hasselblad V, Ortel TL; BRIDGE Investigators.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1501035

Background It is uncertain whether bridging anticoagulation is necessary for patients with atrial fibrillation who need an interruption in warfarin treatment for an elective operation or other elective invasive procedure. We hypothesized that forgoing bridging anticoagulation would be noninferior to bridging with low-molecular-weight heparin for the prevention of perioperative arterial thromboembolism and would be superior to bridging with respect to major bleeding. Methods We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which, after perioperative interruption of warfarin therapy, patients were randomly assigned to receive bridging anticoagulation therapy with low-molecular-weight heparin (100 IU of dalteparin per kilogram of body weight) or matching placebo administered subcutaneously twice daily, from 3 days before the procedure until 24 hours before the procedure and then for 5 to 10 days after the procedure. Warfarin treatment was stopped 5 days before the procedure and was resumed within 24 hours after the procedure. Follow-up of patients continued for 30 days after the procedure. The primary outcomes were arterial thromboembolism (stroke, systemic embolism, or transient ischemic attack) and major bleeding. Results In total, 1884 patients were enrolled, with 950 assigned to receive no bridging therapy and 934 assigned to receive bridging therapy. The incidence of arterial thromboembolism was 0.4% in the no-bridging group and 0.3% in the bridging group (risk difference, 0.1 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.6 to 0.8; P=0.01 for noninferiority). The incidence of major bleeding was 1.3% in the no-bridging group and 3.2% in the bridging group (relative risk, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.78; P=0.005 for superiority). Conclusions In patients with atrial fibrillation who had warfarin treatment interrupted for an elective operation or other elective invasive procedure, forgoing bridging anticoagulation was noninferior to perioperative bridging with low-molecular-weight heparin for the prevention of arterial thromboembolism and decreased the risk of major bleeding. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health; BRIDGE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00786474 .).

Jones R1, Simorov A, Lomelin D, Tadaki C, Oleynikov D.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25030473

In H1, Palis BE, Merkow RP, Posner MC, Ferguson MK, Winchester DP, Pezzi CM.

Ann Surg. 2015 Apr 24. [Epub ahead of print]

http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?doi=10.1097/SLA.0000000000001215

Ann Surg. 2015 Apr;261(4):702-7. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000000993.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25575253

David I Watson, Sarah K Thompson, Peter G Devitt, Lorelle Smith, Simon D Woods, Ahmad Aly, Susan Gan, Philip A Game, and Glyn G Jamieson

Annals of Surgery, 261(2), 282–289. 2015

doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000000842

http://content.wkhealth.com/linkback/openurl?sid=WKPTLP:landingpage&an=00000658-2

http://www.amazon.com/Esophageal-Squamous-Cell-Carcinoma-Diagnosis/dp/4431549765/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423139813&sr=8-1&keywords=esophageal+squamous+cell+carcinoma

Esophageal cancer is endemic in Asia, and the Japan Esophageal Society has done the most to study this problem.  This book is an outstanding synthesis of scientific evidence regarding squamous cell cancer of the esophagus.  Ando is a past president of the Japan Esophageal Society and has enlisted his expert colleagues to update us.  Chapter topics range from pathology and diagnosis to specific treatment recommendations including surgical and multimodality options.  The book is wonderfully illustrated with high quality color images.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn about squamous cell cancer from an Asian perspective.
Mark Ferguson

Low, Donald E. FACS, FRCS; Alderson, Derek FRCS; Cecconello, Ivan MD, PhD; Chang, Andrew C. FACS; Darling, Gail E. FRCSC, FACS; D'Journo, Xavier Benoit MD, PhD; Griffin, S. Michael FRCS; Holscher, Arnulf H. FACS, FRCS; Hofstetter, Wayne L. MD; Jobe, Blair A. FACS; Kitagawa, Yuko MD, PhD, FACS; Kucharczuk, John C. FACS; Law, Simon Ying Kit FACS, FRCSEd; Lerut, Toni E. MD, PhD; Maynard, Nick FRCS; Pera, Manuel MD, PhD; Peters, Jeffrey H. FACS; Pramesh, C. S. FRCS; Reynolds, John V. FRCSI; Smithers, B. Mark FRACS, FRCS(Eng); van Lanschot, J. Jan B. MD, PhD

Annals of Surgery. Status Publish Ahead of Print, 20 January 2015

http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/publishahead/International_Consensus_on_Standardization_of_Data.97532.aspx

The Lancet Oncology, Volume 16, No. 1, e23–e31, January 2015

Sheraz R Markar, MRCS, Tom Wiggins, MRCS, Melody Ni, PhD, Prof Ewout W Steyerberg, PhD, Prof J Jan B Van Lanschot, PhD, Prof Mitsuru Sasako, PhD, Prof George B Hanna, PhD

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(14)70419-X

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(14)70419-X/abstract

Surgical Endoscopy, published online 06 December 2014

DOI 10.1007/s00464-014-3972-1

Miguel A. Cuesta • Teus J. Weijs • Ronald L. A. W. Bleys • Richard van Hillegersberg •Mark I. van Berge Henegouwen • Suzanne S. Gisbertz • Jelle P. Ruurda •Jennifer Straatman • Harushi Osugi • Donald L. van der Peet

A new free iPhone app to stage esophageal cancer is available now! The software can be found by searching the iTunes app store for “Esophageal Cancer Stage”. Alternatively you can download it here.