[Pancreatic cystadenomas. Pitfalls and limitations of radiologic diagnosis]

Pancreatic cystadenoma (CA) are rare tumors. According to the classification described by Compagno and Oertel, microcystic and macrocystic CA are differentiated. The former is a benign tumor with slow growth, but the latter has a malignant potential. According to the literature, these tumors may be differentiated on the basis of US and CT findings in a high percentage of cases. We report a series of 11 cases (5 microcystic CA, 4 mucinous CA, 1 leiomyoblastoma and 1 adrenal cyst) representing all cases of radiologically suspected CA and all cases of histologically proved CA. A correct diagnosis of microcystic CA was possible in 2 out of 5 cases, and in 3 out of 4 cases of mucinous CA. The 2 extra-pancreatic tumors were misinterpreted as mucinous CA. No patient had a false positive diagnosis of microcystic CA. The diagnosis of mucinous CA was made in 7 cases, but only 3 were true positives. There was 1 false negative of mucinous CA. In other cases, laparotomy and resection are mandatory as sonography and CT cannot accurately detect malignancy or differentiate pancreatic CA from adjacent sites tumors.

Bronchiectasis: assessment by thin-section CT

To assess the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) in the evaluation of bronchiectasis, we performed thin-section CT in 36 patients with clinical findings suggestive of this diagnosis. CT was performed with 1.5-mm section thickness and 10-mm intersection spacing. Bilateral (eight patients) and unilateral (28 patients) bronchograms were obtained. CT and bronchographic findings were correlated in 44 lungs. In 15 lungs no bronchiectasis was observed on CT scans and bronchograms. In 25 lungs both examinations accurately indicated the presence and extent of bronchiectasis. In two lungs the extent of disease was underestimated on CT, which failed to indicate bronchiectasis in one segment of the affected lobe. In one case CT findings suggested focal bronchial disease, but the lung was misinterpreted as not bronchiectatic; the bronchogram showed cylindric bronchiectasis. In one case CT disclosed cylindric bronchiectasis in a lobe that was bronchographically normal, but in this case the bronchogram was probably misinterpreted as false negative. In two cases lung findings were better visualized on CT scans than on bronchograms. It is concluded that thin-section CT is an accurate procedure in the recognition of bronchiectasis.

[Spontaneous fracture of the sacrum due to "insufficiency". An overlooked cause of low lumbago in elderly women]

A case of insufficiency fracture of the sacrum is reported. These fractures usually occur in elderly women and are secondary to various conditions, mainly postmenopausal or steroid-induced osteoporosis and radiation therapy. They are often overlooked or confused clinically and radiographically with metastatic disease. Findings on plain films are often subtle. Radionuclide bone scan shows a characteristic H or butterfly shaped pattern of increased uptake in the sacral alae. The diagnosis is confirmed by conventional tomograms or CT which show the fracture always surrounded by prominent sclerosis.

[Complications of colonic esophagoplasty. Radiologic aspects]

Early or late postoperative complications in 52 patients undergoing colic esophagoplasty for benign (27 cases) or malignant (25 cases) lesions of esophagus are discussed in relation to radiologic findings. Immediate postoperative complications due to infection were mainly bronchopneumopathies (14 cases), their incidence being increased by recurrent nerve palsy, and mediastinitis (3 cases). The frequency of upper anastomotic fistulae (16 cases) emphasizes the need for routine radiologic follow up on the 7th postoperative day by upper digestive tract follow-through examination with water-soluble contrast. Stenosis of upper part of graft may be of ischemic or fibrous origin. Ischemic stenosis develops 2 weeks to 4 months after surgery as a long filiform narrowing. Fibrous stenosis occurs in upper anastomosis at a later stage, after the 3rd month, as a short regular narrowing. Other complications are rare.

[Modified profiles of the elbow in traumatology. The value of the radial head-capitellum view and a new coronoid-trochlea view]

2 modified lateral views of the elbow are described. They are accomplished by angling the tube 45 degrees cranially and ventrally, parallel to the arm. The first view, recently reported, shows the radial head and capitellum, free of overlap of other bones. The second view, first reported here, demonstrates well the coronoid and the trochlea. Some representative case reports are exposed. The usefulness of these view is discussed.

[Surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis. Value of peroperative ultrasonography]

During the past three and half years, 19 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma associated with cirrhosis were operated on. Pain was present in seven patients while 12 were asymptomatic. Alpha foeto-protein was negative in 7 patients. Intraoperative ultrasonography was performed in the last 15 patients. Three right hepatic resections, 5 left hepatic lobectomies and 11 segmentectomies or subsegmentectomies were performed. The operative mortality was 5 p. 100 (one patient). The long term survival in the 3 patients who underwent palliative resection was 6 months. Among the 15 other patients, four died from causes unrelated to their tumor; three patients with tumors larger than 8 cm died from recurrence 12 to 26 months after surgery; and the remaining 7 are still alive without evidence of recurrence 3 to 18 months after surgery. We concluded that in patients with cirrhosis, resection of limited hepatocellular carcinoma is possible, using intraoperative sonography, with low operative mortality. Early detection by repeated ultrasonic examination of the liver in patients with cirrhosis could be the best way to improve the surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

[Magnetic resonance imaging in the study of pulmonary hilar involvement]

A retrospective analysis of results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was conducted in 28 patients with uni- or bilateral pulmonary hilum lesions and findings compared with those of computed tomography (CT). All abnormal hilar masses examined were between 1 and 5 cm in diameter and were easily detected by transverse axial imaging. Contrast of their images was very high in relation to hilar bronchovascular elements in the two types of spin echo sequence with a short TR (0.5-0.7 s) and a long TR (1.5-2 s). Differentiation between tumoral or adenopathies and vessels was simpler than with CT with intravenous contrast. For screening of possible extension of hilar tumors. MRI appears to be superior to CT for providing data on vascular relations of lesions but inferior to CT for determining bronchial relations. Mediastinal extension of hilar tumors is easily defined by the short TR sequence but MRI supplies data of greater value than CT only in a low proportion of cases and then partly as a result of complementary coronal and sagittal imaging.

[Left inferior vena cava. Ultrasonic diagnosis]

A case of left infrarenal vena cava is detected by ultrasonography and confirmed inferior cavography. Embryogenesis of the inferior vena cava aids understanding of this type of congenital anomalies. Ultrasonographic diagnosis is based on the absence of right infrarenal vena cava, the presence of a vascular structure left to the abdominal aorta an a normal hepatic segment of inferior vena cava.

[Bone metastases of bronchial carcinomas. 3 cases of subperiosteal cortical osteolysis]

The morphologic appearance of osseous metastasis may rarely suggest a specific site of origin. A subperiosteal location has recently been reported to be typical for metastatic lung carcinoma. We report three cases of such metastasis which destroyed the cortex so that it appears saucer shaped. The primary tumor was a bronchogenic carcinoma in every case. We conclude that in the cancer-age group cortical metastasis is a highly characteristic feature of lung carcinoma.

Pseudohypoaldosteronism type II: proximal renal tubular acidosis and dDAVP-sensitive renal hyperkalemia

The mechanisms of metabolic acidosis and hyperkalemia were investigated in a patient with chronic mineralocorticoid-resistant renal hyperkalemia (5.3-6.9 mmol/l), metabolic acidosis (arterial blood pH 7.27, total CO2 17 mmol/l), arterial hypertension, undetectable plasma renin activity (less than 0.10 ng/ml/h), high plasma aldosterone level (32-100 ng/dl), and normal glomerular filtration rate (131 ml/min/1.73 m2). During the hyperkalemic period, urine was highly acidic (pH 4.6-5.0), urinary NH4 excretion (10-13 microEq/min) and urinary net acid excretion (19-24 microEq/min) were not supernormal as expected from a chronic acid load. During NaHCO3 infusion, the maximal tubular HCO3 reabsorption was markedly diminished (19.8 mmol/l glomerular filtrate), and the fractional excretion of HCO3 (FE HCO3) when plasma HCO3 was normalized was 20%. Urine minus blood PCO2 increased normally during NaHCO3 infusion (31 mm Hg), and the urinary pH remained maximally low (less than 5.3) when the buffer urinary excretion sharply increased after NH4Cl load. When serum K was returned toward normal limits, metabolic acidosis disappeared, urinary NH4 excretion rose normally after short NH4Cl loading while the urinary pH remained maximally low (4.9-5.2), the maximal tubular HCO3 reabsorption returned to normal values (24.8 mmol/l glomerular filtrate), and FE HCO3 at normal plasma HCO3 was 1%. Nasal insufflation of 1-desamino-8-D-Arginine Vasopressin (dDAVP) resulted in an acute normalization of the renal handling of K and in an increase in net urinary acid excretion. We conclude that: the effect of dDAVP on renal handling of K may be explained by the reversal of the distal chloride shunt and/or an increase in luminal membrane conductance to K; the distal acidification seems to be normal which in the event of distal chloride shunt impairing distal hydrogen secretion might be explained by the presence of systemic acidosis which is a potent stimulus of hydrogen secretion, and metabolic acidosis in the steady state was accounted for by the diminution of bicarbonate reabsorption and ammonia production in the proximal tubule secondary to chronic hyperkalemia.

Budd-Chiari syndrome: US evaluation

Twelve patients with proved Budd-Chiari syndrome (eight acute and four chronic cases) were examined, using real-time ultrasonography (US). In all acute cases, US study showed at least one hepatic vein with findings suggestive of the syndrome, such as stenosis, dilatation, thick wall echoes, thrombosis, abnormal course, or extrahepatic anastomosis. In chronic cases, hepatic veins were usually not visible. Modifications of liver morphology were present in all patients except those with recent onset of the disease. Caudate lobe hypertrophy was present in only six cases. US study is therefore the procedure of choice for initial diagnosis of acute Budd-Chiari syndrome. Pitfalls were the failure to detect two caval thromboses and one hepatic vein web. Cavography should still be performed systematically, but hepatic phlebography is useful in selected cases only.

[Value of the sitting position for studying suprahepatic veins by ultrasonography]

Ultrasound imaging of suprahepatic veins was conducted in 50 patients in the sitting and lying down positions and under the same respiratory conditions. Results showed that the sitting down position was frequently useful during exploration of suprahepatic veins, and it should be performed whenever visibility in the lying down position in unsatisfactory.

Sonographic and computed tomographic evaluation of intrahepatic calculi

Intrahepatic calculi in non-Asian patients were studied by sonography and computed tomography (CT). Three patients were studied by CT cholangiography also. In two cases, the calculi were consecutive to Caroli disease, and in two others, the biliary stones were formed proximal to a stenosis of a previous surgical anastomosis. Five patients spontaneously developed intrahepatic calculi. All sonograms were abnormal. Image specificity was good, even when bile ducts were not dilated, if appropriate technique allowed identification of a double-arc-shadow pattern. Sonography strongly suggested the diagnosis in eight patients and was nonspecific in only one. On CT, calculi had various densities, and they were not visible in two patients. CT cholangiography was not particularly helpful. Finally, CT added little more information when performed after sonography. Both examinations strongly underestimate the number of stones, and direct cholangiography remains indicated if surgery is planned.

[Magnetic resonance imaging in the exploration of hepatic masses]

Exploration was conducted by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 0.15 T in 33 patients with hepatic masses, including 18 with malignant tumors, 11 with benign tumors and 4 with non-tumoral masses. All tumors appeared hyperintensive in relation to liver on images acquired by long TR spin echos (SE) and all, except for one fatty tumor, appeared hypointense in relation to liver on images acquired in inversion-recuperation (IR). The study seemed to provide data demonstrating that MRI at 0.15 T enables visualization of hepatic masses with a degree of precision that approaches that of other imaging methods. Tumors of the small size of the order of a centimetre can be detected. Tumor outlines and vascular relations are clearly demonstrated without use of contrast. Characterization of masses is still insufficient since the simple play of contrasts between tumor, parenchyma and vessels does not allow differentiation of malignant from benign tumors, nor the identification of a given histologic type.

[Peroperative echotomography in the surgery of liver tumors]

Intra-operative ultrasonography was performed in 10 patients with apparently single malignant tumours of the liver without invasion of the portal or hepatic veins. Five patients had hepatocellular carcinoma associated with cirrhosis and 5 had a secondary liver cancer. At laparotomy other tumoral lesions in 3 cases, portal vein thrombosis in 2 cases and invasion of the left hepatic vein in 1 case were detected by ultrasonography. In 2 patients deep intra-hepatic tumours less than 2 cm in diameter, which were neither visible nor palpable, were also detected by this method. As a result of the examination, subsegmental resection was carried out in 3 cases and hepatic lobectomy in 2 cases. Intra-operative ultrasonography therefore is a useful method to locate invisible tumours and vascular structures, thus preventing vascular injuries during the operation, facilitating limited tumoral resections and generally improving prognosis in patients operated upon for malignant hepatic tumours.

[Pitfalls of the dorsal decubitus in aortography]

The use of the prone position in aortography improves the visualization of the anterior wall of the aorta. This is supported by observation of an obstructed aortobifemoral by-pass and seems interesting in the study of aneurysms. More often, it is useful in case of decreased blood flow or increased local turbulence.

[Cervical spondylolysis. 7 cases. Review of the literature]

Seven cases of cervical spondylolysis are reported one of them with cervical myelopathy, and the literature is reviewed. The particular anatomical features of the articular processes observed in 4 cases, as well as the many characteristics common to cervical and lumbar spondylolysis, suggest that both diseases might be caused by acquired fatigue fractures of the isthmus due to abnormal stress in patients predisposed by neural rich malformations.

[Modulated filtration for routine standard thoracic films]

A new system is described for the filtration of routine posteroanterior chest films. The apparatus consists of a sliding support and two filters of different thicknesses and slit widths. The whole equipment, filter and sliding support as described is simple in use, and allows correct centering and a choice of two options of modulation as a function of morphology of patients examined.

[The value of ceruletide in oral cholecystography]

The action of Ceruletide, a decapeptide with a chemical formula close to that of the terminal acid amines of cholecystokinin pancreozymin, was investigated during oral cholecystography. Intramuscular injections of Ceruletide provoked gallbladder contractions that were stronger and occurred more rapidly than after the conventional "fatty meal". Visualization of the extrahepatic biliary pathways was improved, the duration of the examination shortened, and the number of films required reduced, the useful time in approximately 3 out of 4 cases being equal to or less than 6 minutes.

[Heterogeneous steatosis. Echographic aspects]

Heterogeneous fatty degeneration of the liver was detected in 8 patients by ultrasound recordings, and confirmed by biopsy and the subsequent course. The etiology was alcoholism in most cases. Elevated transaminases and gamma GT were associated with modifications in hepatic ultrasound images. Foci of liver fatty degeneration were hyperechogenic, usually with clearly defined outlines, and were segmental, polygonal or rounded, and lacking mass effects. This condition requires differentiation from primary or secondary liver tumors, and can be confirmed by a CT scan and biopsy of a hyperechogenic zone found on ultrasonographic images strongly suggestive of the lesions.