Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA) as paraneoplastic syndrome in metastasized signet ring cell carcinomas: case reports and review of the literature.

We report on two spontaneous cases of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA) as first manifestation due to metastasized signet ring carcinoma, one of gastric and one of unknown origin. The patients presented with an acute onset of Coombs negative hemolytic anemia and fragmentocytes in the peripheral blood smear which are typical for MAHA. These case reports present MAHA as a rare paraneoplastic syndrome in patients with metastasized signet ring carcinoma.

Informatics in radiology (infoRAD): new tools for computer assistance in thoracic CT. Part 1. Functional analysis of lungs, lung lobes, and bronchopulmonary segments.

Owing to the rapid development of scanner technology, thoracic computed tomography (CT) offers new possibilities but also faces enormous challenges with respect to the quality of computer-assisted diagnosis and therapy planning. In the framework of the Virtual Institute for Computer Assistance in Clinical Radiology cooperative research project, a prototypical software application was developed to assist the radiologist in functional analysis of thoracic CT data. By identifying the anatomic compartments of the lungs, the software application enables assessment of established functional CT parameters for each individual lung, pulmonary lobe, and pulmonary segment.

[Differential diagnosis of morbus Crohn disease: intussusception of the colon].

We report on a 35-year old women with severe abdominal pain, cramps, diarrhea with blood and a palpable paraumbilical resistance. The symptoms appeared a few days before admission and were recurrent within the last two years. The abdominal ultrasound showed a target sign with a thickened wall from the right to the left colon flexure with inhomogeneous reflexes.

[Use of high-resolution algorithms and thick sections in computerized tomography staging of bronchial carcinoma].

The purpose was to determine whether 8 mm slice sections with high resolution algorithms would prove superior to standard methods for the CT staging of bronchial carcinomas. The raw data from CT examinations in 50 patients using standard methods and the high resolution method was calculated, documented and compared. Within the lung parenchyma, small foci or metastases, peritumorous infiltrates, bronchial narrowing, bronchial outlines, vessels and areas of poor aeration were significantly clearer.