Jeevan Murthy

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of oncologic morbidity and mortality in the United States, with rural populations facing greater barriers when accessing high-quality surgical care compared to their urban counterparts. OBJECTIVE: We aim to highlight the extent and nature of such inequities, better informing policy and guiding future research. DATA SOURCES: Our search was conducted in CINAHL Complete (EBSCOhost), Embase (Elsevier), MEDLINE (PubMed), and Scopus (Elsevier) using keywords specific to colorectal cancer, surgical access, and rural populations in the United States. STUDY SELECTION: Articles included were original and focused on access to surgical services for rural colorectal cancer populations in the United States. INTERVENTION: Two reviewers independently conducted title and abstract screening, full-text review, and data extraction. All final articles were reviewed by the full authorship team before extraction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We aimed to outline the domains contributing to disparities in surgical access among rural colorectal cancer populations. RESULTS: Our search yielded 5218 unique citations, with 245 full-text articles assessed for inclusion. A total of 20 studies were included in the final synthesis. The review revealed that disparities in access to colorectal surgical care are influenced by critical overarching domains, including geographic barriers, the health care workforce, underlying patient socioeconomics, and regional demographics. LIMITATIONS: Rural populations are highly heterogenous and each specific domain identified may have differing levels of impact within a specific community. CONCLUSION: Rural colorectal cancer populations face significant barriers to accessing surgical care compared to their urban counterparts across key domains. Policymakers should focus on measures to support rural health care systems and address workforce shortages to improve access and outcomes for underserved populations.

Background/Objectives: An anastomotic leak (AL) following colorectal surgery is one of the most feared complications due to its associated morbidity and mortality. Early detection of ALs remains difficult, as the development of clinical signs of deterioration can be a late finding. This is particularly problematic in patients with poor access to care after discharge. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a systemic marker of inflammation that has been proposed as an early AL screening. However, absolute cut-off values have been shown to have limited sensitivity and specificity. We propose the use of CRP trends for early AL detection. Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients undergoing surgery requiring at least one anastomosis at a single tertiary care center was performed. Patients with two or fewer postoperative CRP values were excluded. Postoperative CRP trends were compared between control and AL patients using a mixed model with a Geisser–Greenhouse correction. Results: CRP trends differed significantly between AL and control patients, with a 10% CRP increase after postoperative day two showing 100% sensitivity and 84% specificity for an AL as well as a 100% negative predictive value. Accepted CRP cut-off values on postoperative days three and four had sensitivities of only 71.4% and 80% and specificities of 70.0% and 76.5%, respectively. CRP trends differed in AL versus control patients despite the surgical approach or presence of additional procedures. Conclusions: Daily monitoring of CRP trends (versus absolute cut-offs) may enhance early anastomotic leak detection and aid in discharge decision-making, particularly important in rural settings with limited healthcare access.

Coloarticular fistula is a rare complication of the Hartmann procedure, reported in the literature only a few times. Risk factors may include underlying colonic malignancy and other proinflammatory conditions. Herein, we describe the case of a 78-year-old female with a recent history of total hip replacement, misdiagnosed Crohn's disease, and a Hartmann procedure for perforated diverticulitis who developed a psoas abscess. Further investigation, including gastrografin enema and computerized tomography, revealed significant fistulization between her hip prosthesis, rectal stump, adnexa, and cecum. Intervention required extensive interdisciplinary decision-making, and the patient underwent interventional radiology-guided abscess drainage, arthroplasty revision, and exploratory laparotomy.

Intracranial metastasis is a rare sequela of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), typically presenting within the first 2 years after primary tumor detection. Our patient is a 72-year-old man diagnosed with an EAC in 2015 and presented with recurrence of a distant solitary brain lesion approximately 6 years after the initial diagnosis. Histological diagnosis was confirmed as EAC with all relevant indicators. In addition, we used genomic profiling to detect biomarkers that can be useful in the future for therapies.

Prolonged survival and durable responses in several late-stage cancers such as melanoma and lung cancer have been made possible with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the programmed cell-death protein 1 (PD-1) or its ligand PD-L1. While it is prudent to focus on the unprecedented and durable clinical responses, there are subsets of cancer patients that do not respond to immunotherapies or respond early and then relapse later. Many pathways of resistance have been characterized, and more continue to be uncovered. To overcome the development of resistance, an in-depth investigation is necessary to identify alternative immune receptors and signals with the overarching goal of expanding treatment options for those with demonstrated resistance to PD1 checkpoint immunotherapy. In this mini-review, we will discuss the mechanisms by which tumors exhibit resistance to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy and explore strategies to overcome such resistances.

Introduction: Leiomyosarcomas (LMS) involving the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a clinically rare entity, accounting for approximately 0.5% of all adult sarcomas.Case presentation: A 67-year-old male presented to the emergency department with mild back and lower abdominal pain. During the workup, a computed tomography scan without contrast showed an area of decreased attenuation within the liver adjacent to the intrahepatic IVC. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the involvement of the retro-hepatic IVC; biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of LMS. Given the location of the involvement of the retro-hepatic IVC, liver explantation was deemed necessary for adequate tumor resection. The superior extension of the tumor toward the heart necessitated Cardio-Pulmonary (CPB). The patient successfully underwent a complex surgical procedure involving liver explantation with ex vivo back-table resection of the retro-hepatic LMS, replacement of the retro-hepatic vena cava with a ringed Gore-Tex graft, liver re-implantation, and hepatic vein-atrial reconstruction under cardiopulmonary bypass. There were no intraoperative or post-op complications.Discussion: The role of vascular reconstruction of the IVC varies depending on the level and extent of the tumor, with options ranging from primary repair, ligation, or reconstruction dictated. Surgical resection with negative margins remains the treatment of choice due to the lack of efficacy of adjuvant therapies. Importantly, liver explantation offers a chance for complete surgical resection and reconstruction. Similarly, the complex nature of the tumor necessitated a pioneering approach involving direct hepato-atrial venous anastomosis.Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case in which the hepatic veins were anastomosed directly to the right atrium while also replacing the native vena cava with a separate graft.