The role of interventional radiology in urologic tract trauma

The kidney is the third most common abdominal organ to be injured in trauma, following the spleen and liver, respectively. Several classification systems convey the severity of injury to kidneys, ureter, bladder, and urethra. The most commonly used classification scheme is the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) classification of blunt renal injuries, which grades renal injury according the size of laceration and its proximity to the renal hilum. Ureteral injury is graded according to its extent relative to the circumference of the ureter and the extent of associated devascularization. Bladder injury is graded according to its location relative to the peritoneum. Urethral injury is graded according to the extent of damage to surrounding anatomic structures. Although these classification schema may not be always used in common parlance, they do help delineate most important features of urologic tract injury that impact patient management and interventions.

Renal lymphangiomatosis: a rare cause of bilateral nephromegaly

We report the ultrasound, excretory urography and MR findings in a young child with renal lymphangiomatosis who presented with gradually progressive bilateral flank swelling but who was otherwise asymptomatic. The typical perirenal and parapelvic cysts are visualized as hypoechoic lesions on sonography and hyperintense on T2-weighted HASTE images. T1-weighted image could not delineate the cysts clearly. The renal parenchyma was hyperechoic on sonography, and MRI showed reversal of the normal corticomedullary signal intensity, and confirmed the diagnosis by suggesting the non-parenchymal origin of the cysts.

Successful treatment of pulmonary artery aneurysms secondary to possible Behçet's disease

Pulmonary artery aneurysm (PAA) secondary to Behçet's disease (BD) is a rare condition. The commonest presentation is hemoptysis, which can be fatal. Though the classical triad of recurrent oral and genital ulcers and relapsing iritis is present in most patients of BD, isolated pulmonary artery involvement termed as incomplete BD has been reported. Prompt diagnosis and immunosuppressive therapy can cause regression of aneurysm and prevent fatal hemoptysis. We report a case of PAA due to BD who presented with hemoptysis and responded to steroid therapy.

New parameter of hemoglobin status as an indicator of efficacy of preoperative angioembolization in extracranial hypervascular tumours

BACKGROUND

Routinely, the standard for measuring the success of preoperative embolization procedure as an adjunct in the management of head and neck vascular tumours has been to evaluate the amount of blood loss, duration of surgery, and intraoperative neurovascular injuries.

OBJECTIVE

We hypothesized that the rate of change in the preoperative hemoglobin status would more accurately and objectively reflect the effectiveness of the embolization technique.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-six patients with extracranial vascular tumours were divided into two groups (A and B) of 13. Group A patients had preoperative embolization and group B patients directly underwent surgery. The difference between the preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin levels and the percentage rate of change of hemoglobin status were calculated.

RESULTS

The percentage rate of change of preoperative to postoperative hemoglobin is less in group A (9.43%) when compared with group B (18.27%). The ratio of preoperative to postoperative hemoglobin in the two groups is also statistically significant (1:1.9).

CONCLUSIONS

The percentage rate of change of preoperative to postoperative hemoglobin and the ratio of preoperative to postoperative hemoglobin are more accurate and objective parameters for assessment of success of preoperative embolizations rather than other variables such as intraoperative blood loss or duration of surgery.

Extracranial head and neck circulation aneurysms in a case of polyarteritis nodosa

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a rare systemic necrotising medium vessel vasculitis. The hallmark of this condition is aneurysms which are seen in visceral arteries. Aneurysms of extracranial neck and head vessels are rare. We describe a case of PAN who had such aneurysms together with characteristic aneurysms in the mesenteric circulation.

Cerebrospinal fluid pseudocyst of the breast

Cerebrospinal fluid pseudocyst of the breast is a rare complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement. Two cases of cerebrospinal pseudocyst of the breast are reported here. The mammography and ultrasound findings in these two cases are described.