Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R G Gibney.
True accessory bile ducts occur in only 1% of patients. An accessory bile duct connecting the right and left hepatic ducts at the porta hepatis is described. This anomaly has never been reported previously, and was clinically significant in the presence of partial obstruction of an anomalous right hepatic duct by stones. The embryologic origin of this duct, which we term an "interhepatic duct," is uncertain.
We report a case of choledochocele associated with choledocholithiasis. The patient became symptomatic when a gallstone was trapped within the choledochocele, causing intermittent biliary obstruction. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) provided the diagnosis and endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed for definite nonoperative treatment. The lesion could not be identified on ultrasound even after its demonstration by ERC. The importance of direct cholangiography in the diagnosis of a choledochocele is discussed.
Gallbladder disease, and the patients with symptoms suggestive of gallbladder disease, remains a widespread clinical problem that requires investigation by imaging techniques. Sonography, and to a lesser extent cholescintigraphy, has facilitated the evaluation of these patients and allows the diagnosis of cholelithiasis, and its principal complication of cholecystitis, with a high degree of reliability and accuracy. Interventional techniques are being developed that may provide nonsurgical approaches to improved therapy of gallbladder calculi and their complications.
Segmental intrahepatic ductal obstruction with calculi can be a significant cause of acute cholangitis that may remain entirely undetected on a routine, "blind" direct cholangiogram. Ultrasonography (US) or computed tomography can demonstrate isolated intrahepatic ductal dilatation with or without calculi. US, in particular, can be used to direct the needle puncture for percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) and thus enable the differential diagnosis and appropriate therapy to be determined. Four cases are reported in which US-guided PTC enabled confirmation of the diagnosis of acute cholangitis secondary to segmental biliary obstruction and intrahepatic calculi. In two the correct diagnosis could not be made with initial blind direct cholangiography, and in the other two, US and US-guided PTC were performed initially.
In a patient with choledocholithiasis, a duodenal diverticulum precluded endoscopic retrograde bile duct cannulation. A transhepatic catheter was used to opacify the bile ducts and to guide the endoscopic sphincterotome into the major duodenal papilla. Because limited sphincterotomy did not allow extraction or spontaneous passage of the common duct stones, extracorporeal lithotripsy was performed. Following fragmentation, the stones passed spontaneously and without complications.
Ultrasound-guided surgical cholecystostomy with local infiltration anesthesia was combined with radiologic removal of gallstones in 36 elderly patients with acute calculous gallbladder disease who were considered to be at high risk due to multiple coexisting diseases. At cholecystostomy, the fundus of the gallbladder was sutured to the anterior abdominal wall resulting in a short surgical track to the gallbladder. This permitted early percutaneous stone removal through the cholecystostomy track under fluoroscopic guidance. All gallstones were removed in 31 of 36 patients, for an overall success rate of 86%. The success rate was 97% for gallbladder stones, 86% for cystic duct stones, and 63% for common bile duct stones that were removed by traversing the cystic duct. The treatment in the five patients in whom radiologic stone removal was incomplete or unsuccessful consisted of elective cholecystectomy in three, with common bile duct exploration in two of these; endoscopic sphincterotomy and stone extraction in one; and expectant management in one. There were no deaths or serious complications. This technique has thus proved safe and effective in these 36 high-risk patients.
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Hepatic hemangiomas are the most common benign tumors of the liver and commonly present as incidental findings on sonographic examination of the abdomen. To chart more precisely the natural course of the sonographic appearance of hepatic hemangiomas, 47 patients with 68 hemangiomas were rescanned 1-6 years after the initial study. Fifty-six lesions (82%) showed an identical appearance on follow-up study. However, 12 (18%) of the lesions had an appreciably changed sonographic appearance. Three lesions could not be found, seven were less obvious (less echogenic), one was larger, and one smaller. This study shows that once hemangiomas are identifiable sonographically in adults, they have reached a stable size and change in size or appearance only rarely. They do not continue to grow slowly over time. Furthermore, this study also confirms that the sonographic appearance in the appropriate patient can differentiate these hemangiomas relatively reliably from metastases.
Interventional radiologists are being asked more frequently to evacuate stones from the gallbladder. In order to facilitate such evacuation in patients with a large number of small gallbladder stones, a readily available medical suction machine was adapted for this purpose, and we describe here the adaptation and its successful use in six patients.
Endoscopic shock-wave lithotripsy, although now the standard treatment of urolithiasis, has only recently been applied to cholelithiasis. The authors describe the case of an 88-year-old man, a high-risk patient with choledocholithiasis, in whom endoscopic stone extraction after sphincterotomy failed. Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy was used for noninvasive stone fragmentation and the fragments were passed without complication.
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Forty-two abdominal and retroperitoneal abscesses were drained percutaneously under ultrasound guidance. A success rate of 85.7% was achieved. Subsequent surgery was required in only 5 patients. Postoperative and spontaneous abscesses did equally well. Most intra-abdominal and retroperitoneal abscesses are amenable to this form of percutaneous drainage. The procedure requires only local anaesthesia and is well tolerated. Surgical management should probably now be reserved for those cases which are considered unsuitable for percutaneous drainage or which fail to resolve following this procedure.
Balloon dilatations is the preferred method of dilatation for most gastrointestinal strictures, because of its efficacy and relative safety. Radiologically guided balloon dilatation was successful in 20 of 24 patients referred for dilatation with a variety of tight gastrointestinal strictures with diameters of 0.5 cm or less. Attempts at endoscopic or bougie dilatation had either failed or were felt unlikely to be successful. A satisfactory result was obtained in all cases in which dilatation was performed. There were no serious complications. Radiologically guided balloon dilatation is both safe and effective for the treatment of very tight or obstructing gastrointestinal strictures.
We describe our experience with fluoroscopically guided percutaneous gastrostomy, assessing in particular the functional performance of inserted tubes. We also examine the ability of radiological investigations to detect intraperitoneal gastrostomy leakage after the procedure. A functioning gastrostomy tube was established and maintained for as long as was required in 34 (89.5%) of 38 patients referred during a 21-month period. This necessitated further gastrostomy tube placements in 13 patients. On average, inserted gastrostomy tubes functioned for 10.75 weeks and during the review period a total of 34 malfunctioning tubes required replacement or removal. This was most commonly due to tube dislodgement, blockage, or intraperitoneal leakage. We found increasing pneumoperitoneum on sequential postprocedure erect chest films a reliable sign in the diagnosis of the latter complication. In conclusion, while we have been disappointed with aspects of individual tube function, our satisfactory overall functional success rate indicates that percutaneous gastrostomy is an effective method for establishing and maintaining enteral feeding. We also propose a protocol for the management of suspected intraperitoneal leakage based on the findings on postprocedure erect chest films.
Two cases are described in which portal venous gas (PVG) was detectable by ultrasound, but the liver appeared normal on computed tomography (CT). The finding of PVG was associated with ischemic bowel in one case but was a benign finding in the other case. The gray-scale and Doppler ultrasound findings associated with PVG are described. This case report illustrates two key points. First, ultrasound may detect gas within the portal venous system when CT is negative. Second, when PVG is detected on ultrasound, urgent clinical assessment followed by contrast-enhanced CT is indicated to assess for associated intestinal ischemia.
We report a patient with symptomatic biliary disease and who was diagnosed by ultrasound to have a large polypoid gallbladder lesion. Histopathology revealed adenoma in combination with carcinoma in situ. The evidence for the adenoma-carcinoma sequence in gallbladder cancer and diagnostic and therapeutic implications are discussed.