The Independent Newspaper for the General Surgeon
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Volume 1 • 2012 GENERALSURGERYNEWS.COM
40th ANNIVERSARY YEAR 1972-2012
Breast Cancer Susceptibility Gene Identified B Y G EORGE O CHOA
A
n international team of researchers has identified a new breast cancer susceptibility gene, XRCC2 ((Am J Hum Genett 2012;90:734-739). In an interview, senior author Melissa C. Southey, PhD, Grad Dip Law, FHGSA, FFSc (RCPA), professorial fellow and head of Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, and group leader at the Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium, National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia, stated, “We found a gene that when mutated predisposes to breast cancer, and this adds to the small collection of breast cancer susceptibility genes previously identified.” By exome sequencing families with multiple individuals affected by breast cancer, the researchers identified two families with XRCC2 mutations. Subsequently, two further studies were conducted: One a population-based case-control mutation screening study of XRCC2 and the other additional mutation screening of XRCC2 in index cases from multiple-case families and in male breast cancer cases. The researchers identified six distinct rare variants in the gene that were predicted to see GENE page 8
REPORT Technological Advancements in Tissue-Sealing Devices See insert at page 6
Controversy Swirls Over Efficacy and Safety of Procedure for Acalashia
®
Study Tracks Pain 10 Years After Open Hernia Repair Proper Nerve Handling the Key
POEM Procedure Shows Promise, As Experts Urge Caution B Y C HRISTINA F RANGOU B Y C HRISTINA F RANGOU SAN DIEGO—A new endoscopic therapy for achalasia has been dubbed a “promising new treatment” that could rival conventional methods, after a series of reports from Asia, Europe and North America indicated that peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is safe and effective.
Speaking at Digestive Disease Week 2012, Horst Neuhaus, MD, said, “[POEM] promises to be as effective as laparoscopic myotomy or pneumatic dilation.” Dr. Neuhaus, professor of medicine and head of internal medicine, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Düsseldorf Teaching Hospital of the University
see POEM page 26
Surgeons Discuss Bariatric Options For GERD and Hiatal Hernias Optimal Approach in Some Patients; Insurance Challenge B Y M ONICA J. S MITH SAN DIEGO—Should bariatric surgery be a part of treatment options for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and/or large hiatal hernias in obese patients? “Yes!” said Jon C. Gould, MD, emphatically, at the 2012 meeting
of the American Society of Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). Dr. Gould, associate professor of surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin and chief, Division of General Surgery, Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, specializes in bariatric surgery, but a large part of his practice is foregut
NEW YORK K—One in six patients who reported chronic pain six months after an open inguinal hernia repair still suffers from chronic pain 10 years later, according to a prospective German study reported at the Fifth International Hernia Congress. Others develop late-onset pain, even after five years. “Patients reporting chronic pain vary with time. This is a very important message,” said lead author Wolfgang Reinpold, MD, director of the Department of surgery of Gross Sand Hospital and director of the Hernia Center, Hamburg, Germany. The study was initially published in Annals of Surgery in 2011, at which point, only five-year data were available. At this spring’s international hernia meeting, Dr. Reinpold presented updated results after conducting a 10-year follow-up of the prospective two-phase study. The prospective cohort study followed 736 patients who underwent 781 elective primary inguinal hernia operations at the Hernia Centre of Reinbek Hospital, Germany, from April 2000 to April 2002. Patients underwent pain see HERNIA REPAIR PAIN page 10
REPORT Benefits of GORE® DUALMESH® Biomaterial in Hernia Repair: A Case-based Presentation
see GERD AND HERNIA page 12
See insert at page 14
INSIDE Opinion
In the News
The Surgeons’ Lounge: Hernia and Epiphrenic Diverticula. ........................ 6
International Fellowship Program in Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery......... 18
New App Predicts Chronic Pain After Inguinal Hernia Surgery ............................ 20