Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency in Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Carcinoma Presenting with Leg Edema Treated with Pancreatic Exocrine Replacement Therapy

An 89-year-old woman underwent examinations for leg edema. Blood tests indicated low nutrition and low pancreatic enzymes, and a stool examination indicated fatty stool. Computed tomography showed pleural effusion, ascites, and cystic lesions in the pancreatic head and mural nodules within the cysts. Pancreatic juice cytology revealed adenocarcinoma. The diagnosis was pancreatic exocrine insufficiency caused by intraductal papillary mucinous carcinoma. The patient did not wish to undergo surgery. Therefore, diuretics, component nutrients, and pancreatic exocrine replacement therapy using pancrelipase were initiated. After starting treatment, her leg edema, pleural effusion, and ascites disappeared, and her activities of daily living improved markedly.     

Duloxetine-induced Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone in a Super-elderly Patient

Duloxetine is widely used for pain control and depressive syndromes. One of its potential side effects is syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Duloxetine-induced SIADH causes hyponatremia, which leads to a variety of symptoms and has previously been reported in the elderly. In the present case, we experienced a case of the rapid onset of SIADH in a super-elderly woman receiving low-dose duloxetine. Elderly patients tend to have lower duloxetine doses and an earlier onset than non-elderly patients. When hyponatremia occurs after duloxetine administration, duloxetine-induced SIADH should be considered, especially in high-risk elderly patients, regardless of the duloxetine dose or duration of treatment.     

Late recurrence after resection of mass-forming intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: report of a case

The outcome after surgical resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma has not been satisfactorily evaluated due to its malignant behavior. Surgical resection, however, has the potential to improve the prognosis and may allow surgeons to experience rare cases with long survival. This report presents the case of a patient who developed recurrence 9?years after resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. A 76-year-old female was diagnosed to have intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and underwent an extended right posterior subsegmentectomy. The gross appearance showed a mass-forming type tumor. The histopathological examination revealed well to moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma associated with portal vein invasion. Subcutaneous metastasis in the head as the first sign of relapse was diagnosed 9?years after hepatectomy. The histopathological findings of the subcutaneous tumor were similar to those of the intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, thus suggesting metastasis from intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Positron emission tomography with 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose was useful for detecting multiple metastases. Long-term follow-up for more than 5?years is recommended because the present case shows that late recurrence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma occurs even 5?years after resection.     

Appendiceal mucocele and peritoneal inclusion cyst mimicking right adnexal masses: a diagnostic challenge in gynecologic practice

Mucocele of the appendix (MA) is an uncommon disease. Preoperative differential diagnosis of MA and a peritoneal inclusion cyst (PIC) from gynecologic diseases is still a challenge. We herein report a very rare case with MA and PIC. As far as we know, this is the first report of a case having MA and PIC found simultaneously at surgery. A 31-year-old woman complained of lower abdominal pain and high fever. Based on her symptoms and laboratory tests, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) was considered to be the most probable diagnosis. She underwent antibiotics therapy and her conditions subsided. However, ascites reappeared in a month, and ultrasound and MRI demonstrated a right ovarian cyst and a suspected right hydrosalpinx. Laparotomy revealed large PIC and MA with normal bilateral adnexa. Patients with an adnexal mass or symptoms suggesting PID should be examined carefully considering such conditions in a daily gynecologic practice.     

Effects of cigarette smoking on iodine 123 N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine clearance from the lung

Iodine 123 N-isopropyl p-iodoamphetamine (¹²³I-IMP), originally developed as a brain scanning agent, is also taken up by the lung. To evaluate the effects of cigarette smoking on the kinetics of IMP in the lung, we studied ¹²³I-IMP clearance from the lung in 18 volunteers (8 non-smokers and 10 smokers). After the injection of 111 MBq of ¹²³I-IMP into the medial cubital vein, the time-activity curve for 60 min and the regional activity using 1 frame per minute and a 64 × 64 matrix were obtained. The ¹²³I-IMP clearance curve was described as follows: C (t) = A ₁e^–k ₁ t+ A ₂e^–k ₂ t (A1, A ₂: intercepts, and k ₁, k ₂: slopes of the exponential components). ¹²³I-IMP clearance was delayed in smokers, and k ₂ was smaller in smokers. Also, a correlation between k ₁, k ₂, and the number of cigarettes smoked per day was found (r = –0.65, r = –0.74, respectively, P<0.01). In conclusion, this study suggests that the delayed clearance and retention of ¹²³I-IMP in the lung indicate lung metabolic disorders due to cigarette smoking.Offprint requests to: K. Kato     

E. coli endotoxin enhances cardiomyopathy in rats with chronic alcohol consumption

The purpose of the study was to show whether it was possible to produce alcoholic cardiomyopathy by short-term alcohol ingestion combined with an infinitesimally low endotoxin injection. Wistar rats were fed an alcoholic liquid diet according to the formula of Lieber and Decarli, and challenged with an injection ofE. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin (1.0 g/g body weight per day for ten weeks). After ten weeks alcohol diet combined with LPS challenge, light microscopical examination showed changes commonly seen in alcoholic cardiomyopathy such as hypertrophy, oedema and disarray of myofibers. By electron microscopy, degeneration of mitochondria and degeneration of myocardial fibers were observed, the latter showing disturbance of the myofibrilla arrangement and interstitial fibrosis. Rats on an alcoholic liquid diet and rats challenged with a single identical doses of LPS did not show characteristic histological findings of alcoholic cardiomyopathy. These results suggest that short-term alcohol ingestion combined with an infinitesimally low endotoxin injection experimentally produces alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and may support the idea that endotoxin plays an important role in the aetiology of alcoholic cardiomyopathy.     

Lymph node metastasis in T1 adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum

The biology of colorectal cancer differs according to location within the large intestine. To evaluate the clinical significance of tumor location as a risk factor for lymph node metastasis (LNM), we performed a detailed pathological review of T1 adenocarcinomas of the colon and rectum. T1 adenocarcinomas of the colon and rectum treated by radical resection (n = 428) were identified from prospective clinical databases at two institutions. Tumor location was assigned as right colon (cecum to transverse), left colon (splenic flexure to sigmoid), or rectum (0–18 cm from AV). Pathology slides were reviewed, extent of submucosal invasion (sm width, sm depth) was quantified using an optical micrometer, and morphologic features of the cancer and its infiltrating margin were recorded. The overall rate of LNM was 10%. On univariate analysis, LNM was significantly more common in the rectum (27/176, 15%) compared to the left colon (13/160, 8%, p = .04) or right colon (3/92, 3%, p = .003). However, on multivariate analysis, deep submucosal invasion and lymphovascular invasion were independent and significant risk factors, whereas tumor location was not. T1 colorectal cancers have a progressively higher risk of LNM as their location becomes more distal. However, the increasing rate of LNM observed in cancers of the left colon and rectum is explained by a higher prevalence of high-risk pathologic features. In early colorectal cancers, tumor morphology is the strongest clinical predictor of metastatic behavior. Presented at the Forty-Fifth Annual Meeting of The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 15–19, 2004 Presented at the Forty-Fifth Annual Meeting of The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 15–19, 2004     

Increasing myocardial<Superscript>123</Superscript>I-BMIPP uptake in non-ischemic area in a patient with acute myocardial ischemia

The subject was a 65-year-old woman with chest pain. An electrocardiogram revealed T-wave-inversion in leads III, aVF, V1-V5. 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial SPECT showed mildly reduced uptake in the anteroseptal wall and the apex. These findings suggested acute myocardial ischemia. Coronary angiography did not show any stenotic lesions, but diffuse coronary ectasia was noted in three vessels. Coronary flow velocity was remarkably reduced on coronary angiography. Epicardial coronary spasm was not provoked by ergonovine loading test. Left ventriculography showed diffuse hypokinesis. 123I-BMIPP myocardial SPECT showed mildly reduced uptake in the anteroseptal wall and the apex on the early images. But 4-hour delayed images showed an increase of 8% in myocardial 123I-BMIPP uptake. We treated this patient with ticlopidine and nicorandil. After drug therapy her symptoms and left ventriculography improved. 123I-BMIPP myocardial SPECT findings on the early images improved, whereas delayed images showed a decrease of 28% in myocardial 123I-BMIPP uptake after two weeks and 36% after four weeks. These dynamic changes in 123I-BMIPP findings might be a reflection of myocardial fatty acid metabolism in patients with acute myocardial ischemia. Delayed 123I-BMIPP myocardial SPECT images are useful for the assessment of fatty acid metabolism.