Solid and papillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas: CT findings

Five female patients and one male patient with solid and papillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas were examined with computed tomography (CT). The mean age of the patients was 27 years (range, 13-46 years). All cases showed well-encapsulated, round or lobulated masses consisting of both cystic and solid areas. Cystic portions showed CT numbers that suggested hemorrhagic necrosis. There were no internal septations within the masses. In three tumors located in the head of the pancreas, dilatation of the biliary tree was absent or minimal, although the masses were large. Two tumors contained calcifications. One tumor demonstrated metastatic deposits in liver and lymph nodes. Metastatic masses appeared similar to the primary pancreatic mass. Solid and papillary neoplasm of the pancreas should be the primary diagnostic consideration when characteristic CT findings are detected in a young female patient.     

Raz four-corner suspension for severe cystocele: Poor results

The Raz four-corner suspension for the treatment of severe (grades 3 and 4) cystocele has yielded poor results, and is the subject of this paper. During a 10-month period from June 1988 to April 1989, 27 patients with severe cystocele and genuine stress incontinence were treated by the Raz four-corner suspension. Each patient had full preoperative urodynamic evaluation. Twenty-two patients were available for follow-up examinations at 3.5–4 years. At the 6-week postoperative examination all patients had excellent support of the anterior vaginal wall, including the restoration of the anterolateral vaginal wall sulci. However, within 10 months, 6 patients had recurrence of cystoceles of grade 2 or more. These results led to the abandonment of this procedure. On long-term follow-up examination at 3.5–4 years, 59% (13/22) of the patients had recurrence of cystoceles of grade 2 or more. The possible causes for these poor results are discussed. At present therefore, the Raz four-corner suspension for severe cystoceles is not recommended.     

Advanced primary breast cancer: assessment at mammography of response to induction chemotherapy

The response to induction chemotherapy is an important prognostic factor in patients with nonmetastatic, locally advanced breast carcinomas. Assessment at mammography of the response of 60 breast cancers in 59 women was performed between 1974 and 1986. Responses were excellent in 13 tumors, moderate in 34, and poor in 13 (excellent moderate = 78%). Assessment of response of discrete masses in a fatty breast was easiest; assessment of response of tumor areas that were poorly defined-such as a focal area of architectural distortion or mass in dense breast parenchyma-was more difficult. Of 17 patients with excellent pathologic responses-that is, minimal or no residual tumor-15 (88%) had complete responses (no residual tumor) as determined with mammography, physical examination, or both. Mammography provides information complementary to physical examination and is essential in the accurate assessment of the response to chemotherapy of locally advanced breast cancer.     

A 14-year-old with pulmonary hamartomatous lymphangiomyomatosis associated with bilateral pneumothoraces]

A 14-year-old girl was admitted because of cough, chest pain and hemosputum. Chest roentgenogram on admission showed a pneumothorax and a cavitary lesion with niveau formation in the right lung and cystic lesions in the bilateral lung fields. After bed rest and intravenous administration of antibiotics for two weeks, the right lung inflated well and the niveau formation disappeared, and the patient was discharged. One week later, she was readmitted with sudden-onset severe dyspnea, caused by bilateral pneumothoraces. Emergency tube thoracostomy and wedge resection of the bullous lesion was performed. Macroscopically, multiple small cystic changes were seen on the surface of the right lung. Histological examination revealed nodular proliferations of smooth muscle cells in the interstitium and vessel walls in the lung, which contained slit-like lymphatic channels. The diagnosis of pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis was made. In this case, we could not measure receptors for estrogen and progesterone. Recently, hormonal therapy and oophorectomy have been reported as being useful. Tamoxifen (Norvadex) was therefore initiated, and the patient has remained well with slight dyspnea on exertion. There has been no recurrence of pneumothorax. Lymphangiomyomatosis is a rare disease of unknown etiology which occurs exclusively in women, mostly in those of reproductive age. We report a 14-year-old female patient with lymphangiomyomatosis associated with repeated pneumothorax, who had been under treatment for epilepsy. We believe this case to be of importance because of the long discussed relation between pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis and tuberous sclerosis.     

Thrombopoietin in postoperative thrombocytopenia following living donor hepatectomy.

Thrombocytopenia is a frequent finding following living donor hepatectomy. It appears more pronounced in right graft donors than in left graft donors. This study analyzed postoperative thrombocytopenia in 20 living liver donors and examined the change of endogenous thrombopoietin (TPO) in its recovery. Platelet count, TPO level, fibrinogen degradation product (FDP), and D-Dimer were measured before surgery and on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 14. Concurrently, liver and spleen volumes were calculated by computed tomography. Platelet count on POD 3 was significantly lower in right graft donors than in left graft donors (13.0 +/- 3.7 x 10(4)/microL vs. 16.8 +/- 4.0 x 10(4)/microL, P = 0.039) but recovered by POD 7 in all donors. Postoperative elevations of FDP and D-Dimer were significantly higher in right graft donors than in left graft donors. TPO level rose immediately after surgery, peaked on POD 5 in left graft donors and on POD 7 in right graft donors, and fell nearly to preoperative levels by POD 14. Postoperative TPO level per liver volume was significantly higher in right graft donors than in left graft donors. In conclusion, thrombocytopenia following living donor hepatectomy resolved within the first week regardless of graft type and was mainly associated with increasing consumption of circulating platelets, possibly due to intrahepatic and splenic congestion. With a reduced number of circulating platelets, TPO level rapidly increases. Also, with reduced consumption of platelets related to recovery from surgery, thrombocytopenia should resolve. As a consequence, TPO level would be expected to fall.     

Papillary thyroid cancer and its surgical management.

The surgical management in papillary thyroid cancer has been highly controversial. In the Department of Surgery (II), Kanazawa University Hospital, the surgical management especially for cervical lymph node metastases has changed since 1973 from a conservative approach to an aggressive one. In order to determine whether an aggressive approach is warranted, a retrospective multivariate analysis was carried out on 106 cases of papillary thyroid cancer. The patients have been followed for 10-28 years. Multivariate analysis was conducted following Cox's model. By this analysis, aggressive management appeared to have no impact on survival or relapse-free survival. However, age, sex, tumor size, and cervical lymphadenopathy were confirmed to be important prognostic factors in survival and/or relapse-free survival.     

Double cancer of the gallbladder and common bile duct associated with anomalous junction of pancreaticobiliary ductal system.

We report a 64-year-old woman with double cancer of the gallbladder and the common bile duct associated with anomalous junction of the pancreaticobiliary ductal system. Eleven previous cases have been reported to date. From analysis of the 12 cases reviewed, including our patient, double cancer of the gallbladder and the common bile duct accompanied by anomalous junction of the pancreaticobiliary ductal system is characterized by the predominance of well-differentiated and superficial cancer.     

Relationship between air-plethysmographic venous function and clinical severity in primary varicose veins.

AIM: The role of air plethysmography (APG) in the diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency has not been well established. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship between APG parameters and clinical severity in patients with chronic venous insufficiency. METHODS: Two hundred and ninety-four limbs in 154 patients with primary varicose veins were evaluated by APG. Limbs were categorized according to the clinical classification of chronic venous disease suggested by the Ad Hoc Committee on Reporting Standards in Venous Disease of the North American Chapter of the Society for Vascular Surgery and International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery (SVS/ ISCVS). RESULTS: The venous filling index (VFI) was significantly higher in classes 2, 3, 4, and 5+6 than in class 0 or 1, and did not differ among classes 2, 3, 4, 5+6. The ejection fraction did not differ significantly among the 6 classes, and the residual volume fraction was significantly higher in classes 2, 3, 5+6 than in class 0. CONCLUSIONS: APG is a reasonable method for distinguishing the presence or absence of chronic venous insufficiency, but it cannot discriminate the clinical severity. Among APG parameters, the VFI is the most useful diagnostic parameter in the evaluation of chronic venous insufficiency.     

Human urotensin-II potentiates the mitogenic effect of mildly oxidized low-density lipoprotein on vascular smooth muscle cells: comparison with other vasoactive agents and hydrogen peroxide.

Human urotensin-II (U-II) is the most potent vasoactive peptide identified to date, and may be involved in hypertension and atherosclerosis. We investigated the effects of the interactions between U-II or other vasoactive agents and mildly oxidized low-density lipoprotein (mox-LDL) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the induction of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. Growth-arrested rabbit VSMCs were incubated with vasoactive agents (U-II, endothelin-1, angiotensin-II, serotonin, or thromboxane-A2) in the presence or absence of mox-LDL or H2O2. [3H]Thymidine incorporation into DNA was measured as an index of VSMC proliferation. On interaction with mox-LDL or H2O2, U-II induced the greatest increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation among these vasoactive agents. A low concentration of U-II (10 nmol/l) enhanced the potential mitogenic effect of low concentrations of mox-LDL (120 to 337%) and H2O2 (177 to 226%). U-II at 50 nmol/l showed the maximal mitogenic effect (161%), which was abolished by G protein inactivator (GDP-beta-S), c-Src tyrosine kinase inhibitor (radicicol), protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor (Ro31-8220), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase inhibitor (PD98059), or Rho kinase inhibitor (Y27632). Mox-LDL at 5 microg/ml showed the maximal mitogenic effect (211%), which was inhibited by free radical scavenger (catalase), intracellular and extracellular antioxidants (N-acetylcysteine and probucol), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase inhibitor (diphenylene iodonium), or c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor (SP600125). These results suggested that U-II acts in synergy with mox-LDL in inducing VSMC DNA synthesis at the highest rate among these vasoactive agents. Activation of the G protein/c-Src/PKC/ERK and Rho kinase pathways by U-II together with the redox-sensitive JNK pathway by mox-LDL may explain the synergistic interaction between these agents.