Alternative methods for hepatic decompression.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C E Cahow.
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Intra-abdominal abscesses after colon surgery usually appear within eight weeks. Over the past few years, we have observed nine patients who underwent colectomy for inflammatory bowel disease in whom large and relatively asymptomatic abscesses developed, requiring surgical drainage as long as three to five years after the operation. In five patients, there was no report of intraoperative complications such as perforation or fecal spillage. At the time of discharge from the hospital, all patients were afebrile. In three of these patients, abscesses were discovered when they were readmitted to the hospital for elective abdominal procedures; most of the others had localized abdominal pain.
A simplified technic for performing intrahepatic cholangiojejunostomy has been described, which can be utilized to bypass proximal biliary tract obstruction where the usual methods of choledochoenteric decompression are not possible. This technic has been performed nine times in seven patients, with a mortality of 30 per cent. In all but the two patients who died of liver failure in the immediate postoperative period, jaundice and pruritus were relieved. There was one wound infection and one instance of stenosis of the anastomosis which responded to dilatation.
A technic for pancreatobiliary sphincteroplasty providing accurate approximation of tissues in a bloodless field has been presented. It is suitable and adaptable to the common duct with duodenum, as well as pancreatic duct with common duct.
Lymphomatoid granulomatosis is a necrotizing vasculitis involving multiple organs which may be associated with lymphomatous transformation. A case of lymphomatoid granulomatosis is presented in which gray scale ultrasound identified lymphomatous transformation involving the right kidney and retroperitoneum, thus preventing unnecessary surgery. Ultrasound is a valuable modality for identifying and characterizing abdominal masses in patients at risk for neoplastic disease.
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A 25 year old woman presented with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. She had undergon splenectomy 12 years previously for traumatic splenic rupture. Thrombocytopenia was ultimately resistant to steroid therapy. Howell-Jolly bodies were absent from the peripheral smear and 99mTC-spleen scan demonstrated foci of increased uptake thought consistent with accessory spleens. However, splenosis alone was demonstrated at laparotomy, and all visible splenotic tissue was surgically removed. The patient responded and adequate platelet counts were maintained after discontinuation of steroid therapy. The functional capacity of splenic implants has been previously demonstrated both in animal and man. However, reports linking splenosis to hematologic disease are rare. In the present case, characteristic splenic function was demonstrated by both the the -9mTc-spleen scan and the absence of the typical peripheral blood findings of asplenia. The hematologic response to the removal of the splenotic tissue attests to its importance in maintaining the thrombocytopenic state. In the setting of prior splenectomy for splenic trauma, splenosis may contribute to hematologic disease. Removal of this splenotic tissue may result in hematologic remission.
Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography is a safe, effective diagnostic procedure for use in evaluating the jaundiced patient. As is the case with most invasive diagnostic procedures there is a risk: an overall mortality rate of 0.5% and morbidity rate of 3-10%. Fortunately hemobilia is an uncommon complication, encountered only four times in our series of 102 percutaneous cholangiograms. In every case of hemobilia the clotting parameters were normal. The one factor common to each case was distal obstruction of the extra hepatic bile ducts. However, this one factor may play an important role in the etiology and therapy of post cholangiographic hemobilia. The hemorrhage subsided spontaneously in every case following surgical decompression of the bile ducts and there was no further active bleeding postoperatively. The possible explanation for the cause of bleeding and the fact that it subsided following demcompression of the bile ducts is discussed. All four patients survived this complication and in the 102 patients there were no deaths attributable to percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography.
A patient with an hepatic artery aneurysm is presented with preoperative angiographs, and intra-operative photographs demonstrating erosion and fistulazation into the common duct. The aneurysm was ligated and excised, and the erosion of the common duct was treated successfully with a Roux-en-Y choledochoduodenstomy. This is the fourth case with erosion into the common duct to be treated successfully by surgery. The other three cases are discussed. A review of the literature reveals that hepatic artery aneurysms are rare, and successful treatment is based on several different techniques. Ligation of the hepatic artery, with or without excision of the aneurysm, is discussed as a method that may in fact be the safest treatment in a group of patients who because of their disease are already in a high risk category.
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Syndromes involving peptide or nonsex steroid hormone secretion due to aberrantly located tumors are rare. We report a collected series of 16 patients with ectopic hormone production from ovarian neoplasms, including 3 patients recently encountered at our institution as well as 13 additional cases identified in the recent literature. These tumors included 2 insulin-producing ovarian carcinoids, 1 ACTH-producing pituitary adenoma within a benign ovarian cystic teratoma, 2 cortisol-producing ovarian neoplasms, 8 gastrin-producing ovarian cystadenomata or cystadenocarcinomata, and 3 thyroxine-producing ovarian strumal carcinoids. All patients presented with syndromes of hormone excess. Only 62% of all tumors were localized preoperatively. Following ovarian resection, 87% of patients remained disease-free with a median follow-up period of 1.5 years. In addition to ovariectomy, 8 additional unnecessary ablative procedures were performed in 7 patients. These included distal pancreatectomy, pancreaticoduodenectomy, adrenalectomy, total gastrectomy, selective vagotomy, and subtotal thyroidectomy. Failure to localize the ovarian neoplasm preoperatively was associated with a significantly higher risk of subsequent unnecessary ablative procedures. Because of the potential for the ovary to act as a source of aberrant hormone secretion, we recommend complete preoperative evaluation of the pelvis in female patients presenting with nonlocalizable endocrine tumors.