Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality that can be prevented effectively with well established, hospitalbased prevention strategies. VTE prophylaxis should be considered for all hospitalized patients, although not all surgical patients will ultimately receive it based on their risk factor profile. This article discusses the extent of VTE and provides guidance for appropriate pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic strategies for prophylaxis in surgical patients.

The understanding of the pathobiology of lymphomas has improved significantly over the past 2 decades. This development has led to multiple revisions in the lymphoma classification of the International Working Formulation through French-American-British and Revised European American Lymphoma (REAL) to the most recent modification of the World Health Organization (WHO) lymphoma classification1. The most recent modification of the WHO lymphoma classification lists approximately 100 subtypes of lymphoid malignancy2. Although there have been improvements in the management and outcomes of patients, there has been a significant lag in the individualization of therapies for different types of lymphomas. For instance, Fisher et al. reported in 1992 that cyclophosphamide, hydroxyadriamycin, vincristine, prednisone (CHOP) therapy was the standard of care for all diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL)3. A decade later, European investigators (Coiffier et al. and Pfreundschuh et al.) reported outcome improvements in DLBCL patients following the addition of an anti-CD20 antibody to standard CHOP chemotherapy4,5. However, several investigators reported that all DLBCLs are not created equal6-8. A decade later, we still do not know how best to approach germinal center B-cell (GCB) vs. activated B-cell (ABC) types of DLBCL. A detailed discussion of the new understanding of lymphoma biology and management is beyond the scope of this report. We will, however, attempt to focus on some of the more important advances related to the pathology and management of lymphomas that have come forth in the past decade.

The bone marrow transplant (BMT) is a fairly new treatment for diseases that could not be cured until recently. Since it was first used with good results in 1968, BMT has been used for patients with diseases of the immune system or blood, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.