[Premature birth in patient with cervix incompetence and history of myasthenia gravis].

Cervical incompetence it's a dilatation of the cervix during the third trimester of pregnancy that ends with the interruption of it. The incidence in Chile is about 0.1-2% of the total pregnancies and it's one of the causes of preterm birth.

[Laparoscopy in traumatic abdominal emergencies].

Over the past few years the laparoscopic technique has changed most of the concepts of traditional surgery and is today the standard approach in elective surgery for many pathologies requiring surgery. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for emergency surgery, though much progress has been made in this field, too. The Authors examine the most important abdominal diseases that can be diagnosed and, possibly, treated by the laparoscopic approach in the emergency setting, concluding that laparoscopic management of such conditions is a feasible proposition in many cases.

[Intraperitoneal neoplastic dissemination of incidental gallbladder carcinoma after laparoscopic surgery].

Background: Several laboratory and clinical studies have raised the concern that laparoscopic procedures might worsen the prognosis of patient with malignant disease due to premature intraperitoneal cancer cell dissemination. The aim of the study was to examine the risk of the dissemination in patients with unsuspected gallbladder cancer diagnosed after laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC).

Methods: A retrospective clinicopathologic study was performed on 5 patients with unsuspected gallbladder cancer without preoperatively diagnosis among 1280 patients that underwent LC in the period 1993-2002.

[Intrabiliary rupture of hepatic hydatid cyst].

Spontaneous hepatic hydatid cyst rupture into the biliary tract is unusual. The authors describe a case of a 62-year-old man with a hepatic hydatid cyst, showing that it is possible to confirm rupture into the biliary system with cholangiography-MRI. Surgical treatment remains the best form of management.

[Diagnostic problems of choledochal cysts in the adult].

Choledochal cysts are rare malformations of the biliary tree, the precise pathogenesis of which remains unclear. The authors present the case of a 21-year-old man with a choledochal cyst and discuss the main issues regarding the diagnosis and treatment of this uncommon lesion. In particular, of all the diagnostic techniques available, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) could become the imaging technique of choice for defining the pancreatobiliary ductal anatomy with at least the same degree of accuracy as that of diagnostic ERCP, while avoiding the potential complications associated with the latter.