Throughout much of history, surgery of the pancreas was restricted to drainage of abscesses and treatment of traumatic wounds. At the turn of the 20th century under the impetus of anesthesia, such surgical stalwarts as Mayo Robson, Mickulicz, and Moynihan began to deploy laparotomy and gauze drainage in an effort to salvage patients afflicted with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Over the next thirty years, surgical intervention in SAP became the therapy for choice, despite surgical mortality rates that often exceeded 50%.When the discovery of the serum test for amylase revealed that clinically milder forms of acute pancreatitis existed that could respond to nonoperative therapy, a wave of conservatism emerged, and, for the next quarter century, surgical intervention for SAP was rarely practiced. However, by the 1960s, conservative mortality rates for SAP were reported to be as high as 60% to 80%, leading surgeons to not only refine the indications for surgery in SAP, but also to consider new approaches. Extensive pancreatic resections for SAP became the vogue in continental surgical centers in the 1960s and 1970s, but often resulted in high mortality rates and inadvertent removal of viable tissue.Accurate diagnosis of pancreatic necrosis by dynamic CT led to new approaches for management. Some surgeons recommended restricting intervention to those with documented infected necrosis, and proposed delayed exploration employing sequestrectomy and open-packing. Others advocated debridement early in the course of the disease for all patients with necrotizing pancreatitis, regardless of the status of infection. In the 1990s, however, a series of prospective studies emerged proving that nonoperative management of patients with sterile pancreatic necrosis was superior to surgical intervention, and that delayed intervention provided improved surgical mortality rates.The surgical odyssey in managing the necrotizing form of SAP, from simple drainage, to resection, to debridement, to sequestrectomy, although somewhat tortuous, is nevertheless an notable example of how evidence-based knowledge leads to improvement in patient care. Today's 10% to 20% surgical mortality rates reflect not only considerable advances in surgical management, but also highlight concomitant improvements in fluid therapy, antibiotics, and intensive care. Although history documents the important contributions that surgical practitioners have made to acute pancreatitis and its complications, surgeons are rarely complacent, and the recent emergence of minimally invasive techniques holds future promise for patients afflicted with this "... most formidable of catastrophes."

Introduction Mirasol Pathogen Reduction Technology((R))(PRT) treatment uses riboflavin and UV light to inactivate pathogens in blood components. Neutrophil [polymorphonuclear cells (PMN)] priming activity accumulates during routine storage of cellular blood components, and this activity has been implicated in transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). We hypothesize that PRT-treatment of blood components affects the priming activity generated during storage of packed RBCs (PRBCs) or platelet concentrates (PCs), which can elicit ALI in vivo. Methods Plasma, PRBCs and PCs were isolated from healthy donor's whole blood or by apheresis. Half of a collected unit was treated with PRT treatment and the remainder was left as an unmodified control. Supernatant was collected during storage of PCs and PRBCs and assayed for PMN priming activity and used as the second event in a two-event in vivo model of TRALI. Results PRT treatment did not induce priming activity in plasma or affect the priming activity generated during storage of PCs or PRBCs as compared with the unmodified controls. The supernatants from stored, but not fresh, PCs and PRBCs did cause ALI as the second event in a two-event animal model of TRALI, which was unaffected by PRT treatment. We conclude that the PRT((R)) treatment does not induce priming activity in plasma nor does it affect the priming activity generated during storage of PCs or PRBCs or their ability to cause ALI as the second event in a two-event in vivo model of TRALI. Moreover, the amount of priming activity in TRIMA((R))-isolated PCs was significantly less than SPECTRA((R))-isolated PCs.

Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is the most common cause of serious morbidity and mortality due to hemotherapy. Although the pathogenesis has been related to the infusion of donor antibodies into the recipient, antibody negative TRALI has been reported. Changes in transfusion practices, especially the use of male-only plasma, have decreased the number of antibody-mediated cases and deaths; however, TRALI still occurs. The neutrophil appears to be the effector cell in TRALI and the pathophysiology is centered on neutrophil-mediated endothelial cell cytotoxicity resulting in capillary leak and ALI. This review will detail the pathophysiology of TRALI including recent pre-clinical data, provide insight into newer areas of research, and critically assess current practices to decrease it prevalence and to make transfusion safer.

"Southern Resident" killer whales (Orcinus orca) that comprise three fish-eating "pods"(J, K and L) were listed as "endangered" in the US and Canada following a 20% population decline between 1996 and 2001. Blubber biopsy samples from Southern Resident juveniles had statistically higher concentrations of certain persistent organic pollutants than were found for adults. Most Southern Resident killer whales, including the four juveniles, exceeded the health-effects threshold for total PCBs in marine mammal blubber. Maternal transfer of contaminants to the juveniles during rapid development of their biological systems may put these young whales at greater risk than adults for adverse health effects (e.g., immune and endocrine system dysfunction). Pollutant ratios and field observations established that two of the pods (K- and L-pod) travel to California to forage. Nitrogen stable isotope values, supported by field observations, indicated possible changes in the diet of L-pod over the last decade.

Interventional therapy in necrotizing pancreatitis is evolving. Efforts to modify or prevent pancreatic necrosis by intra-arterial infusion of antibiotics and antiproteases have been described. Moreover, traditional approaches to the surgical management of infected pancreatic necrosis are being challenged by a host of endoscopic and percutaneous techniques. While these approaches are potentially valuable additions to interventional therapy in necrotizing pancreatitis, few evidence-based studies are available to support their supplanting more traditional approaches at this time. Cooperative evidence-based multiinstitutional studies will be required to address the validity of these proposals.