Middle bile duct cancer with portal vein tumor thrombus

Gastric cancer simultaneously complicated with extrahepatic bile duct metastasis and portal vein tumor thrombus: a case report

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer metastatic to the extrahepatic bile duct or accompanied by portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) is rare. To our knowledge, there have been no cases complicated with both of these factors.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 72-year-old man presented with icterus and melena. A biochemical blood test showed abnormal values for hepatobiliary enzymes and a tumor marker, and abdominal computed tomography scan revealed wall thickening of the lower bile duct with intra- and extra-hepatic bile duct dilatation and PVTT. A biopsy of the lower bile duct during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography demonstrated a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. Moreover, gastroduodenoscopy showed a type 3 tumor at the lesser curvature of the gastric antrum, and an endoscopic biopsy demonstrated a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. We diagnosed concomitant gastric cancer and distal bile duct accompanied by PVTT, and pancreatoduodenectomy with combined resection of the portal vein was performed. The resected specimen revealed a tumor in the lesser curvature of the gastric antrum and circumferential wall thickening in the lower bile duct. In pathological findings, infiltration of a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma from the mucosal layer to the subserosal layer of the stomach was observed. In contrast, a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma demonstrating the same histological type as the gastric cancer had spread not to the mucosal layer but mainly to the fibromuscular layer of the lower bile duct. Immunohistochemical staining showed identical patterns between gastric cancer and the bile duct tumor: negativity for cytokeratin 7 (CK7), and positivity for CK19 and 20. Therefore, the final diagnosis was extrahepatic bile duct metastasis from gastric cancer with PVTT. Unfortunately, multiple liver metastases occurred in the early postoperative period and chemotherapy was conducted, but the patient died 12 months after the surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

In the diagnosis of extrahepatic bile duct metastasis, immunohistochemical staining of gastric cancer and the bile duct tumor was essential and helpful as decisive evidence.

Role of imaging in visceral vascular emergencies

Differential diagnosis in non-traumatic acute abdomen is broad and unrelated diseases may simulate each other from a clinical perspective. Despite the fact that they are not as common, acute abdominal pain due to diseases related to visceral vessels may be life-threating if not detected and treated promptly. Thrombosis, dissection, and aneurysm in the abdominal visceral arteries or thrombosis in visceral veins may cause acute abdominal pain. Imaging with appropriate protocoling plays a fundamental role in both early diagnosis and determination of the treatment approach in these cases where early treatment can be life-saving. Computed tomography (CT) appears to be the most effective modality for the diagnosis as it provides high detail images in a very short time. Patient cooperation is also a less concern as compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As the imaging findings may sometimes be really subtle, diagnosis may be difficult especially to inexperienced imagers. Correct protocoling is also very critical to detect arterial abnormalities as visceral arterial abnormalities may not be detectable in portal phase only abdominal CT scans. In this article, we aimed to increase awareness among imaging specialists to these not very common causes of acute abdomen.

The role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in differentiating malignant from benign portal vein thrombosis

AIMS

In this retrospective study, we evaluated the role of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) in differentiating malignant from benign portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in patients with known malignant tumors.

METHODS

Seventy-two patients with histologically or clinically confirmed PVT and who had undergone (18)F-FDG PET/CT were included. Visual and semiquantitative analyses of PET/CT scans were performed. Metabolic activity was measured using the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) by drawing the region of interest at the site of thrombosis. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was conducted to identify the optimal cutoff of SUVmax for detecting neoplastic thrombosis. Malignancy was defined using the following criteria: (1) visual analysis and (2) SUVmax >3.35. PET/CT results were confirmed with histopathological results and clinical and imaging follow-up.

RESULTS

The SUVmax of tumor thrombus (6.37 ± 2.67) was significantly higher than that of bland thrombus (2.87 ± 1.47; P < 0.01). The sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies for the two criteria were 91.5 % and 93.6; 64.0 and 80.0 %; and 81.9 % and 88.9 %, respectively.

CONCLUSION

(18)F-FDG PET/CT is a promising new method for distinguishing between portal venous neoplastic thrombosis and bland thrombosis using semiquantitative analysis, with the optimal cutoff value of SUVmax >3.35 as a criterion.