Two Cases of Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis With Intraperitoneal Free Air

Clinical and Endoscopic Features of Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis: A Retrospective Study in 192 Patients

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis is not well recognized. Clinical features vary in several case reports, and prognosis remains unclear. We aimed to summarize the clinical and endoscopic features of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis and to explore potential factors associated with lesion size.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively collected clinical and endoscopic features of patients diagnosed with pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis from July 2015 to October 2021. Patients were allocated to 2 groups according to lesion size with 2 cm as boundary value. Baseline characteristics were compared between the groups.

RESULTS

A total of 192 patients were included in this study with a 1.3:1 male-to-female ratio. About 91 lesions (47.70%) were ≥2 cm and those patients were more likely to have a history of polypectomy or abdominal surgery compared to lesion size <2 cm (P < .05). For 50 patients who received follow-up colonoscopy, 28 cases (56.00%) disappeared spontaneously and 22 cases (44.00%) remained unchanged. No factors have been observed to be connected with prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Colonoscopy is beneficial to the diagnosis of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis. Patients with a history of polypectomy or abdominal surgery were more likely to develop lesions <2 cm. Most patients do not need special treatments and have favorable prognosis.

Pseudo-pneumatosis of the gastrointestinal tract: its incidence and the accuracy of a checklist supported by artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to reduce the misinterpretation of pneumatosis

PURPOSE

To assess the incidence of erroneous diagnosis of pneumatosis (pseudo-pneumatosis) in patients who underwent an emergency abdominal CT and to verify the performance of imaging features, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, to reduce this misinterpretation.

METHODS

We selected 71 radiological reports where the presence of pneumatosis was considered definitive or suspected. Surgical findings, clinical outcomes, and reevaluation of the CT scans were used to assess the correct diagnosis of pneumatosis. We identified four imaging signs from literature, to differentiate pneumatosis from pseudo-pneumatosis: gas location, dissecting gas in the bowel wall, a circumferential gas pattern, and intramural gas beyond a gas-fluid/faecal level. Two radiologists reevaluated in consensus all the CT scans, assessing the four above-mentioned variables. Variable discriminative importance was assessed using the Fisher exact test. Accurate and statistically significant variables (p-value < 0.05, accuracy > 75%) were pooled using boosted Random Forests (RFs) executed using a Leave-One-Out cross-validation (LOO cv) strategy to obtain unbiased estimates of individual variable importance by permutation analysis. After the LOO cv, the comparison of the variable importance distribution was validated by one-sided Wilcoxon test.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven patients proved to have pseudo-pneumatosis (error: 38%). The most significant features to diagnose pneumatosis were presence of dissecting gas in the bowel wall (accuracy: 94%), presence of intramural gas beyond a gas-fluid/faecal level (accuracy: 86%), and a circumferential gas pattern (accuracy: 78%).

CONCLUSION

The incidence of pseudo-pneumatosis can be high. The use of a checklist which includes three imaging signs can be useful to reduce this overestimation.

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis with pneumoperitoneum secondary to stenosing pyloro-duodenal peptic ulcer: Case series of three patients and literature review

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Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) is a rare condition which can be associated to pneumoperitoneum without gastro-intestinal perforation.

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PCI is most often secondary to various diseases and the stenosing peptic ulcer is one of them.

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Careful correlation of the clinical presentation with corroborating biological tests should determine whether a conservative medical approach or emergency surgical exploration is appropriate.

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Knowledge of this pathology is important to avoid unnecessary exploratory laparotomy.

Introduction

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) is a rare condition, which can affect the entire gastro-intestinal tract. It can be idiopathic or most often secondary to various diseases. The causes remain multiple and the stenosing peptic ulcer is one of them. We report three case reports of pneumatosis cystoides with pneumoperitoneum intestinalis secondary to stenosing pyloro-duodenal peptic ulcer.

Case presentation

We report a case series of three patients with PCI that presented to the emergency department with a reassuring clinical picture with the discovery in imaging of a pneumoperitoneum. All our patients presented with a pyloro-duodenal stenosis secondary to a complicated peptic ulcer, one of which was treated surgically and the other two endoscopically.

Discussion

The objective of this report is to provide an update on pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis secondary to stenosing pyloro-duodenal peptic ulcer, by specifying its etiopathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics.

Conclusion

Knowledge of this pathology is necessary in order to avoid unnecessary abusive surgery.

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis: Not uncommon cause of free air in acute abdomen

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis is generally benign in course and sometimes, if cysts ruptured, behave as the not uncommon cause of free air in acute abdomen. In our case, we illustrate ruptured isolated cysts of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis are responsible for pneumoperitoneum in a 94-year-old male patient. Laparotomy with gastrotomy for decompression of intraluminal aeropressure was performed, with an uneventful recovery. This paper presents with preoperative and intraoperative images of high educational value for this, often underdiagnosed, clinical entity.