1/220. Bleeding from self-administration of phenindione: a detailed case study. A young woman presented with a 2 year history of a severe bleeding disorder and marked deficiencies in all four vitamin-K-dependent factors. Metabolic studies with tracer doses of tritium-labelled vitamin K1 suggested that the patient might be taking an oral anticoagulant; and subsequently her plasma was found to contain a substance identical to phenindione in its spectrophotometric and chromatographic properties. The half-disappearance times of factors II, IX, X were measured after the administration of a concentrate of these factors and were found to conform with published figures. The concentrate controlled the patient's excessive bruising and prolonged skin and gingival bleeding. It would therefore seem that factor vii may not be essential in reversal of the bleeding disorder induced by anticoagulant overdose. ( info) |
2/220. Pseudoaneurysm in gall bladder fossa following laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A 32-year-old lady presented with severe hematemesis and melena after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Initial ultrasonography and spiral CT suggested a vascular lesion in the gall bladder fossa. Selective hepatic angiography confirmed the presence of a pseudoaneurysm close to the surgical clip and filling through the right hepatic artery. This was treated with coil embolization, resulting in cessation of hematemesis and amelioration of symptoms. ( info) |
3/220. Intractable oesophageal variceal bleeding caused by splenic arteriovenous fistula: treatment by transcatheter arterial embolization. We describe a rare case of splenic arteriovenous fistula and venous aneurysm which developed after splenectomy in a 40-year-old woman who presented with epigastralgia, watery diarrhoea, repeated haematemesis and melaena caused by hyperkinetic status of the portal system and bleeding of oesophageal varices. It was diagnosed by computed tomography and angiography, and obliterated with giant Gianturco steel coils. ( info) |
4/220. Painless intussusception and altered mental status. A 7-month-old child presented to the emergency department (ED) with 2 hours of painless, nonprojectile emesis and a normal mental status. Over a 3-hour period in the ED, the child remained pain-free, but developed hematemesis, hematochezia, and lethargy, progressing to unresponsiveness. The patient was evaluated for toxic ingestion, intracranial bleed, sepsis/meningitis, and intraabdominal pathology. The diagnosis was made by an abdominal ultrasound, which demonstrated an ileal-cecal intussusception that ultimately required surgical reduction. This case illustrates an insidious and poorly understood presentation of a common childhood affliction, as well as the utility of abdominal ultrasound in evaluating a hemodynamically stable patient with intussusception. ( info) |
5/220. Massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage in systemic lupus erythematosus: successful treatment with corticosteroid pulse therapy. Although mesenteric vasculitis due to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is relatively uncommon, it is the most dangerous manifestation associated with high mortality. We describe the case of a SLE patient with life-threatening gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to mesenteric vasculitis in whom methylprednisolone pulse therapy was quite effective in controlling the hemorrhage and resulted in a satisfactory long term outcome. A 47-yr-old woman presenting with high fever, rash, and melena was diagnosed with SLE from positive antinuclear antibodies, anti-dsDNA, and low complement titers. Although fever and rash subsided with administration of prednisolone, massive hematemesis appeared with melena. endoscopy demonstrated bleeding ulceration of the antrum, which was intractable despite intensive antiulcer therapy and transfusion. Surgical exploration revealed ileal penetration, and multiple bleeding ulcerations were observed over the resected ileum as well as the antral ulceration. However, bleeding persisted after surgery and surgical findings prompted us to select methylprednisolone pulse. Hemorrhage responded promptly to the therapy, and the patient has remained well since then for >10 yr. Our report indicates that corticosteroid pulse may serve as one of the therapeutic options for SLE with massive hemorrhage due to widespread mesenteric vasculitis. ( info) |
6/220. Gastric leiomyosarcoma presenting as a sentinel hemorrhage. A 43-year-old Asian woman who was initially seen because of hematemesis later had a gastric leiomyosarcoma diagnosed. Epigastric palpation, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging assisted in determining the size, borders, and location of the tumor while a second esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed friable gastric mucosa with erosions. biopsy specimens taken for frozen section during surgical abdominal exploration revealed a malignant gastric stromal tumor. An en bloc excision of the mass then followed, with the final pathologic diagnosis a gastric leiomyosarcoma. Metastases were later found in the liver, peritoneum, and mesentery. Differentiation of gastric leiomyosarcoma from other stromal tumors is difficult and requires standardized nuclear and cellular evaluation of atypia, necrosis, mitosis, and tumor doubling time. The most common symptoms at initial presentation are abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding. Abdominal computed tomography remains more specific in suggesting gastric stromal tumors than esophagogastroduodenoscopy and upper gastrointestinal barium series. lymph node involvement in gastric leiomyosarcoma is rare and affords the first-line therapy of laparoscopic wedge gastrectomy with a good prognosis in tumors less than 6 cm in diameter. The prognostic factors include metastasis, size of the tumor, histologic grade, dna ploidy of the tumor, and ulceration of overlying gastric mucosa. ( info) |
7/220. Gastric adenocarcinoma presenting with persistent, mild gastrointestinal symptoms in pregnancy. A case report. BACKGROUND: Mild gastrointestinal symptoms are common during pregnancy but can also be the only symptoms in stomach cancer until the late stage. Clinicians' reluctance to pursue diagnostic studies appears to be a major contributing factor to delayed diagnosis and poor outcome. We report a case of maternal death to alert clinicians to this rare possibility. CASE: A 36-year-old woman had persistent, mild epigastric discomfort, nausea, vomiting and frequent episodes of dark stools since the second trimester of pregnancy. These were attributed to peptic ulcer and an iron supplement given, without investigation. gastroscopy was performed only at 32 weeks of gestation, when the patient had heavy hematemesis. biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the stomach. cesarean section was performed after steroid therapy. Advanced stomach cancer with stomach perforation was found. Curative surgery was not possible. The patient died four weeks after delivery. CONCLUSION: stomach cancer is a rare complication of pregnancy. Delay in diagnosis is commonly due to clinicians' reluctance to request diagnostic studies and the nonspecific symptoms of the disease. Early recognition and diagnosis are the only possibilities for a better outcome. Clinicians must be alert to this possibility and include this in the differential diagnosis of minor gastrointestinal discomfort during pregnancy. ( info) |
8/220. Intrahepatic spontaneous portosystemic venous shunt: value of color and power Doppler sonography. Spontaneous portosystemic venous shunts (SPVSs) within the hepatic parenchyma are rare. Fewer than 50 cases have been reported, and most of them were diagnosed by angiography. We present a case of SPVS diagnosed by color Doppler sonography in a 5-year-old boy admitted for bleeding due to rupture of esophageal varices. Conventional color and power Doppler sonography as well as CT showed a large shunt between the posterior branch of the right portal vein and the inferior vena cava. We believe that accurate diagnosis and follow-up of SPVS can be done with color Doppler sonography without resorting to angiography. ( info) |
9/220. Esophageal tuberculosis: a rare presentation with massive hematemesis. A 43-year-old female presented with massive hematemesis. esophagoscopy showed an ulcer 22 to 25 cm from the incisor with active bleeding. A thoracotomy and primary closure of the ulcer was performed. Massive hematemesis recurred 8 days later, resulting in hypovolemic shock. The thoracic esophagus was resected and histological examination showed granuloma with central caseous necrosis. Combined chemotherapy was given for 10 months. At 6 months after the subtotal esophagectomy, the esophagus was reconstructed using the right-side colon. ( info) |
| A 5-year-old boy presented with abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting of blood. Twelve hours after admission, "diabetic ketoacidosis" was diagnosed on the basis of elevated glycaemia, glycosuria, ketonuria and a low bicarbonate blood level, which led to treatment with fluids and regular insulin infusion. Over a 36-hour period, insulin was progressively decreased and finally stopped because of the rapid fall and normalization of blood glucose concentration. Drug poisoning was suspected on the basis of persistent tachycardia in the absence of other signs of dehydration. Salicylate intoxication was excluded, and theophylline was finally incriminated. This compound, used by adults in the child's home, had caused accidental theophylline poisoning, mimicking diabetic ketoacidosis. Pre-diabetic immune markers were repeatedly negative, and no diabetes has developed after four years of follow-up. Thus, the transient increase in blood glucose was not related to a pre-diabetic status. A diagnosis of masked theophylline poisoning should be considered in similar situations involving a rapid decrease of insulin requirements. ( info) |