Suture granulomas simulating tumors: a preventable postgastrectomy complication

Suture granulomas can occur after gastric surgery with nonabsorbable suture material. They are usually an asymptomatic, incidental finding on post-surgical x-ray studies, but have to be recognized because their radiological appearance may mimic gastric neoplasms and therefore may lead to unnecessary reoperations. Four cases of suture granulomas are presented, their diagnostic criteria outlined, and a plea is made for the use of a new completely absorbable suture material which could eliminate the occurrence of suture granulomas as well as the other known complications related to nonabsorable sutures, such as suture-line ulcers, abscesses, and adhesions.

Solitary phalangeal defect in the hand. Report of 2 rare cases

Two unusual causes of bone defect in the finger are described. In one patient, erosion of the proximal phalanx was caused by a ring that eroded its way through the soft tissue and bone after an injury. In the other, a subungual wart caused a defect on the distal phalanx.

Calcified postoperative epicardial granuloma

A sterile calcified granuloma on the external surface of a right ventriculotomy in an 8-year-old boy was identified four years after closure of a ventricular septal defect; He had no symptoms, but a systolic ejection murmur was identified and disappeared after resection of the lesion. Sensitivity to silk suture material is suggested by the operative findings and a history of multiple silk suture sinuses developing in his uninfected original thoracotomy incision.