Intestinal malrotation complicated with gastric cancer: A case report

BACKGROUND

Intestinal malrotation is a congenital defect of embryonic development caused by various teratogenic factors. In this condition, the intestinal tube, along with the superior mesenteric artery serving as the axis for the counterclockwise movement, is incomplete or abnormally rotated due to incomplete attachment of the mesentery and abnormal intestinal tube position. Such a case is usually asymptomatic and thus difficult to detect. Therefore, similar variant malformations are only found during an operation required for other abdominal diseases.

CASE SUMMARY

An elderly male patient was admitted to the hospital due to gastric cancer. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan with contrast revealed that the ascending and descending colon were parallel on the right side of the abdominal cavity, while the sigmoid colon extended into the right iliac fossa, allowing the diagnosis of congenital midgut malrotation. Following thorough preoperative preparation, the patient underwent laparoscopic radical gastrectomy to treat his gastric cancer. Intraoperatively, an exploration of the abdominal cavity uncovered the absence of the transverse colon. The distal colon at the hepatic flexure, along with the ascending colon, extended into the right iliac fossa, where it continued as the sigmoid colon. As planned, the laparoscopic radical gastrectomy was performed, and the patient was discharged from the hospital 7 d after the surgery.

CONCLUSION

Asymptomatic intestinal malrotation is best detected by CT, requiring no treatment but possibly interfering with the treatment of other diseases.

Colonic tubular duplication combined with congenital megacolon: A case report

BACKGROUND

Colonic duplication refers to a spherical or tubular cavity which shows similar properties with the native colon and is attached to the mesenteric side of the alimentary tract. It is the rarest in alimentary tract duplications. Based upon anatomic feature, colonic duplications can be classified as spherical (cystic) or tubular, with the latter being less common (approximately 20%). Symptoms of colonic duplication are dependent on the duplication site and extent, and patient age, etc. Usually, patients with colonic duplication manifest typical intestinal obstruction, potentially accompanied by recurrent dark or bright red bloody stool, varying degrees of anemia-related symptoms, and body wasting.

CASE SUMMARY

A young male patient was admitted to our hospital due to recurrent abdominal pain. No definite diagnosis was achieved by computed tomography (CT) or electronic colonoscopy, and the bowel preparation efficacy was suboptimal. Hirschsprung disease was suspected, and thus laparoscopic exploration was performed. An approximately 60-cm-long inverted duplicated colon with severe edema and dilation was identified. It originated from the mesenteric side of the transverse colon and ended in the terminal part of the descending colon with a blind end. The parallel native colon had a thickened colonic wall, became stiff, and was poor in peristalsis. The patient then underwent subtotal colectomy and was discharged 7 d after the surgery. From 3 mo post-surgery to date, the patient had regular bowel movement once daily and a steady increase in body weight.

CONCLUSION

Tubular colonic duplication is a rare type of alimentary tract duplication that can be detected by ultrasonography, CT, or magnetic resonance imaging based on the actual clinical situation. Surgical resection of aberrant colon (including the duplicated colonic segment and other potentially involved colonic segments) is the only approach to cure this medical condition.

[Untargeted metabolomic analysis of serum samples from children with mycoplasma pneumonia in a hospital in Beijing]

Objective: This study was aimed to analyze the untargeted metabolomics of serum samples from children with mycoplasma pneumonia in a hospital in Beijing. Methods: A total of 50 children with mycoplasma pneumonia as the case group were recruited from Department of Pediatrics, China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing from January 2019 to February 2020, and meanwhile 50 age-and gender-matched heathy children were selected and formed the control group. 2 ml venous fasting blood samples was collected from all children. Serum metabolites were quantified by using the untargeted ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) technique. Unsupervised principle component analysis and (orthogonal) partial least-squares-discriminant analysis were employed to identify differential metabolites between cases and controls. MBRole software was used for pathway enrichment analysis. Results: There were 27 boys and 23 girls in the case group with an average age of (6.0±3.65) years, and the control group consisted of 28 boys and 22 girls with an average age of (6.62±2.64) years. A total of 392 different metabolites were detected. Compared with the control group, 306 metabolites were decreased and 86 increased in case group. Forty-one differential metabolites with variable important in projection (VIP) values larger than 5 and P values less than 0.05 were teased out, and they mainly concentrated on phospholipid. The levels of 38 metabolites were significantly lower in the case group, yet 4 metabolites were significantly higher than that of the control group. Metabolic enrichment analysis showed that different metabolites were related to the biosynthesis of phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, unsaturated fatty acid, ammonia acyl tRNA and insulin signaling pathway, as well as the metabolism of ABC transporters. Conclusion: The serum untargeted metabolomics differed remarkably between children with mycoplasma pneumonia and healthy children.