Gallbaldder perforation causing a subcutaneous abscess.

Introduction: This is a report of a rare case of an old woman with a large round mass in the right hypochondrium that was proven to be an abscess.

Presentation Of Case: A 82-year old woman with a firm round mass in the right hypochondrium was admitted for evaluation. The abdominal CT showed an abscess produced by a gallbladder perforation, and a gallstone impacted at the Hartmann's pouch.

Massive Uterine Leiomyoma in a Patient with Friedreich's Ataxia: Is There a Possible Association?

A possible association between Friedreich's ataxia (FA) and neoplastic development has been recognized. FA patients have low frataxin levels and insufficient response to oxidative stress. In these patients fibroblasts are characterized by a high rate of mutations.

Arteriovenous malformation of the pancreas.

Pancreatic arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is a very rare and mostly congenital lesion, with less than 80 cases described in the English-published literature. It is defined as a tumorous vascular abnormality that is constructed between an anomalous bypass anastomosis of the arterial and venous networks within the pancreas. It represents about 5% of all arteriovenous malformations found in the gastrointestinal tract.

Colocutaneous fistula complicating sigmoid diverticulitis.

Colocutaneous fistula is a very rare complication of colonic diverticular disease. Herein we describe a case with a fistula connecting the sigmoid with the left flank area complicating diverticulitis of the sigmoid colon. An 85-year-old female patient with a history of acute diverticulitis 3 months earlier, was admitted with a subcutaneous abscess in the left flank.

Pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm with concomitant heterotopic pancreatic cystic neoplasia of the stomach: a case report and review of the literature.

A 60-year-old Caucasian male underwent a total pancreatectomy for a mixed type pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) arising in the main and secondary pancreatic ducts. During surgery, a subserosal polypoid mass was noted at the greater curvature of the gastric antrum and was enucleated. This mass was proven to be heterotopic pancreatic tissue with cystic neoplasia of the IPMN histologic subtype.

Adrenocortical carcinoma secreting cortisol, androgens and aldosterone: a case report.

Introduction: Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare malignancy with a poor prognosis and presents with mass effects and less often with signs of hormone excess (approximately 60% of all adrenocortical carcinoma's). Hormonally active adrenocortical carcinomas most commonly secrete cortisol while the co-secretion of multiple steroid hormones is rare.

Case Presentation: We report the case of a 59 year-old woman with a medical history of hyperaldosteronism due to a right adrenal adenoma.

Localized peripancreatic plasma cell Castleman disease.

Castleman disease (CD) is a rare, benign, and usually systemic lymphoproliferative disorder. Unicentric Castleman disease of the pancreas is extremely rare, with only less than 10 cases described in the literature. We describe a case of an isolated peripancreatic localization of a plasma cell-type Castleman disease, its clinical presentation, the diagnostic evaluation, and the cure of disease by surgical excision.

Parathormone and 1,25(OH)2D3 but not 25(OH)D3 serum levels, in an inverse correlation, reveal an association with advanced stages of colorectal cancer.

Experimental, epidemiologic, and clinical trial data indicate the antineoplastic effects of calcium and vitamin D in large-bowel neoplasia. The aim of this study was to determine serum levels of vitamin D metabolites and parathormone (PTH) in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and to extract conclusions comparing their different levels in serum with healthy individuals. Group 1 (cancer patients) was consisted of 140 patients with CRC with clinical stages Duke's A: 12, B: 52, C: 62, and D: 14.

Serum and tissue selenium levels in gastric cancer patients and correlation with CEA.

Background: An inverse relationship between selenium (Se) intake and cancer mortality is evident in humans.

Materials And Methods: In eighty patients who had been operated on for primary gastric cancer, serum Se and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were measured preoperatively using a fluorometric and immunoradiometric assay (IRMA), respectively.

Results: The serum Se levels were 43+/-6.

Iliopsoas abscesses: diagnostic, aetiologic and therapeutic approach in five patients with a literature review.

Objective: Iliopsoas abscess is a relatively rare disease. Many cases present atypical clinical characteristics. Iliopsoas abscess can be primary or secondary to gastrointestinal and genitourinary infections and in developed countries most of these abscesses are of non-tuberculous aetiology.

Pituitary-adrenal responses following major abdominal surgery.

Objective: Perioperative pituitary-adrenal responses after major abdominal surgery have not been well characterized. The aim of the present study was to further clarify perioperative pituitary-adrenal responses.

Design: Thirty-six patients (20 men), aged 68+/-10 years (mean+/-SD), undergoing major abdominal operations were studied.

A role for surgery in primary pancreatic B-cell lymphoma: a case report.

Introduction: Primary pancreatic lymphoma is a very rare but manageable malignant tumour which may be clinically confused as a pancreatic carcinoma. This case report demonstrates the value of surgical resection in the management of pancreatic lymphoma.

Case Presentation: We report a case of a 65-year-old man who was admitted with obstructive jaundice, vague upper abdominal pain and weight loss.

Thyroid function changes and cytokine alterations following major surgery.

To establish whether cytokine release is implicated in thyroid hormone changes during surgical stress we studied 36 adult patients (20 men; mean age +/- SD: 68.5 +/- 10.5 years) undergoing elective major abdominal operations.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy after open cholecystostomy for gallbladder empyema: a case report.

The case of a patient with gallbladder empyema initially drained through a minilaparotomy procedure under local anesthesia with a tube cholecystostomy is reported in this paper. Eight weeks later, the patient underwent an elective interval laparoscopic cholecystectomy. At laparoscopy, the gallbladder and the cholecystostomy tube were dissected free from the abdominal wall and the greater omentum, which was attached to the gallbladder.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin-10 are crucial mediators in post-operative systemic inflammatory response and determine the occurrence of complications after major abdominal surgery.

Background: The course of serum cytokine levels in patients with postoperative systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) after major abdominal surgery remains currently unclear.

Methods: Blood was sampled pre- and post-operatively and on days 1 and 2 in 40 patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin (IL) -6, IL-8, and IL-10 were measured by the LINCOplex assay; those of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) by an enzyme immunoassay.

Short bowel syndrome: current medical and surgical trends.

Short bowel syndrome is a chronic malabsorptive state usually resulting from extensive small bowel resections. A combination of diarrhea, nutrient malabsorption, dysmotility, and bowel dilatation may constitute the clinical symptomatology of this syndrome. The remaining bowel undergoes a process called adaptation, which may replace lost intestinal function.

Total thyroidectomy for the treatment of thyroid diseases in an endemic area.

Introduction: Thyroidectomy is a common operation with very low mortality and an acceptable morbidity rate. Total thyroidectomy has become the predominant type of surgery used today for the treatment of thyroid diseases. In this retrospective study, we analyzed the complications of thyroid surgery according to the operative technique used in our department.

Immunohistochemical localization of thymidine phosphorylase in gastric cancer: is there a role of the differential expression in tumor cells and associated stromal cells?

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of thymidine phosphorylase (TP), a known angiogenic factor for endothelial cells, in gastric carcinoma cells and tumor-associated stromal cells.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-six gastric carcinomas were studied. TP expression was assessed with the P-GF.