Role of surgery in the treatment of pseudomyxoma peritonei.

Laparotomy was undertaken in five patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei presenting over a 9-year period. Three patients remain alive and have not required further surgery. A fourth patient has died of an unrelated condition, having been asymptomatic for 8 years, and the fifth has succumbed to the disease 20 years after presentation. It is suggested that an aggressive approach to initial surgery, and in particular thorough peritoneal toilet, carries the best prospects of long-term survival.