[Schwannoma of the gallbladder]

Schwanomas of the biliary tract are very rare with about 55 reported cases. Schwanomas of the gallbladder are the rarest, probably with less then ten reported cases. We reported a 61 old woman in whom we did a cholecystectomy for a tumor of gallbladder 6.5 x 9 cm in diameter with a central softness which showed a histologic appearance of schwanoma. Ten years after surgery the patient is symptom-free and with no signs of recurrency.

Leiomyosarcoma of the duodenum. A successful reoperation after recurrency

Leiomyosarcomas of the duodenum are rare tumours. Approximately 160 cases have been reported so far. Pain, bleeding and duodenal obstruction causing vomiting and weight loss are the leading symptoms. The mass may be palpable. If resected, prognosis is favorable in a majority of cases, much better then in carcinomas of the duodenum. Patients have to be followed up as eventual recurrencies are frequently suitable for resection. We present a 62 years old male who was submitted to cephalic duodenopancreatectomy for duodenal leiomyosarcoma (reported earlier) who developed recurrency 6 years after original surgery and in whom a successful reoperation was performed. Two years after second surgery the patient stayed disease free.

[Cholecystitis associated with milk of calcium] ]

Milk of calcium cholecystitis is a rare disease predominantely of adults. The term designates a pathologic accumulation of calcium carbonate in the gallbladder, much rarer in the common bile duct as well. The patient may be symptom-free. If present the symptoms may be very mild or as an acute biliary pain, transient jaundice and mild attack of pancreatitis. Calcium in the bile may be liquid or it may form a paste-like mass. Both may be seen on a plain X-ray of the abdomen. The stone or stones of calcium carbonate may be formed so that they may cause an obstruction of the gallbladder outflow tract or cystic duct or pass into the common bile duct or into the duodenum. [figure: see text] We present a 71 year old male who was admitted for inguinal hernia repair but in whom a mild hiperbilirubinaemia was found and then on ultrasonography a gallbladder stone was diagnosed. We performed a hernia repair as well as cholecystectomy and operative cholangiography which turn to be normal. Within an almost normal gallbladder a gray-whitesh paste-like mass was found composed of calcium carbonate. The postoperative recovery was uneventful and serum bilirubin become normal. Histology of gallbladder showed chronic nonspecific cholecystitis.

Adenomyoma of the common hepatic duct

BACKGROUND

Adenomyoma occurs most commonly in the fundus of the gallbladder, seldom in other parts of the gallbladder and rarely in the extrahepatic biliary tree, where most lesions are localised to the common bile duct or papilla of Vater. Adenomyoma of the common hepatic duct is extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, only three cases have been reported so far.

CASE OUTLINE

A 51-year-old woman was admitted with a three month history of attacks of right upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and fever. Laboratory data, ultrasonography, ERCP and CT confirmed slight cholestasis and proximal bile duct dilatation due to a tumour within the common hepatic duct. Cholecystectomy was performed with excision of the suprapancreatic common bile duct including the convergence of the hepatic ducts plus lymphadenectomy and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. Frozen section histology showed the benign nature of the lesion and a tumour-free resection line. Final histology showed adenomyoma. The patient has remained symptom free for more than 30 months.

DISCUSSION

Although adenomyoma is a benign lesion and the surgical strategy has not been established, complete excision with frozen section is recommended to exclude small malignant foci and local recurrence as well as to avoid surgical over-treatment.

[Retropancreatic hematoma mimicking a tumor in a female patient with liver amyloidosis]

Bleeding in patients with amyloidosis is considered as a frequent complication appearing in up to 40% of cases. It may be spontaneous or provoked. Spontaneous bleeding in the skin or in the gastrointestinal tract is the most frequent. Spontaneous bleeding in the retroperitoneum is rare. It may be diffuse, with possible lethal outcome, or localised, causing haematoma, as in our patient. We present a 62-year old woman with a three-month history of spontaneous, subcutaneous bleeding. No laboratory or other findings could explain the cause of bleeding, as the haemostatic tests were within or close to normal limits. US and CT performed for right subcostal pain discovered a tumour attached to the back of the head of pancreas. Due to mild coaugated hyperbilirubinaemia the "tumour" was held to be the cause of patient's difficulties. However, at operation it turned out to be a retropancreatic haematoma, which was removed and drained. Because of conjugated hyperbilirubinaemia cholecystectomy with operative cholangiography (which was normal) were performed. Due to steatotic appearance of the liver a biopsy was performed. Histological examination revealed amyloidosis. The recovery was uneventful and the patient was transferred to hepatology unit for further treatment where she died 3 months later due to gradual deterioration of kidney and heart function. To our knowledge, retroperitoneal haematoma in liver amyloidosis mimicking retropancreatic tumour has not been reported so far.

[The Mirizzi syndrome--from the first description until today]

Pablo Luis Mirizzi was the first to describe an obstructive jaundice caused by compression of the common hepatic duct by the stone in the cystic duct or the neck of the gallbladder in 1948. McSherry et al in 1982. described a new type of Mirizzi's syndrome calling it type II. Csendes et al in 1989. gave a new classification in four types. According to it, type II of Mirizzi's syndrome was devided in three types depending on the size of the destruction of the common hepatic duct. We previously described a subtype of Mirizzi's syndrome in which besides very wide cholecystohepatic fistula, a combined fistula with duodenum was developed. Nagakawa et al in 1997. described a new type of Mirizzi's syndrom and gave their classification of syndrome in four types. In the present article the authors proposed a combined classification which takes into account not only all described variant of the syndrome but possibilities of operative reconstruction. Type I would be the same as in all previous classifications. Type II would correspond to the cholecystohepatic fistula in which a primary repair is possible. Type III would correspond to the cholecystohepatic fistula in which a primary repair is not possible so that biliodigestive anastomosis has to be carried out. Subtype IIIa would correspond to the same situations but complicated with fistula with the duodenum which has to be repaired as well. A Type IV of Mirizzi's syndrome would correspond to the inflammatory obstruction of the common hepatic duct as described by Nagakawa et al.

[Solid and cystic-papillary tumor of the pancreas]

Solid and cystic-papillary tumour of the pancreas is a rare neoplasm. About 420 cases seem to have been reported as yet. It appears almost exclusively in young women, although it may appear in males in all ages. This is a tumour of benign or low malignant potential with vary rare invasion of surrounding tissues and organs. Metastases of the tumour are rare. Local recurrence after surgical excision is also rare. About 50% of patients have no symptoms. The others may have upper abdominal pain or palpable abdominal mass. Complications such as rupture, bleeding or secondary infection, are rare. The average size of the tumour is cca 10 cm in diameter. The tumour is more frequent in the body and tail of the pancreas. New imaging techniques make diagnosis of the tumour very easy, but exact diagnosis is based on histological findings. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice. We report on a 23-year-old woman with a two-year history of upper abdominal pain and occasional fever, in whom ultrasonographic and CT scan examinations revealed a well defined mass of 5 cm in diameter. The mass was excised with limited resection of the pancreas along with removal of the spleen which was adherent to the mass so that it could not have been saved. Histological findings established a solid and cystic-papillary neoplasm of the pancreas. The recovery was uneventful. The patient was symptom-free, with normal clinical findings and laboratory results.

[Hamartoma of the spleen]

Hamartoma is a rare benign lesion of the spleen. Between 140 and 150 cases seem to have been described so far. Hamartoma of the spleen may appear as a single or multiple lesions which may tend to converge. It appears in all ages, mainly in elderly persons. About 20% of patients were described in paediatric subjects. Half of the patients have no symptoms, so that hamartomas were discovered by chance at autopsy. Other 50% of patients had pain, splenomegaly, haematologic abnormalities (most frequently thrombocytopenia or pancytopenia) and spontaneous rupture with intra-abdominal bleeding. In children, hamartoma of the spleen with haematologic abnormalities may be followed by growth retardation, frequent infections, fever and night sweating. The bigger the hamartoma the greater probability to cause symptoms. The exact preoperative diagnosis is rarely established. Hamartoma has to be taken into account always when tumour of the spleen is diagnosed, particularly in children. Splenectomy is the most frequent treatment of symptomatic hamartoma of the spleen. Partial splenic resection is the preferred surgery whenever it may be carried out, particularly in children. We report a 58 year old woman with a five-year history of left subcostal and lumbar pain in whom in the lower pole of moderately enlarged spleen a tumorous mass, 107 x 75 mm in diameter, was discovered on ultrasonography. She was submitted to splenectomy as well as to cholecystectomy due to gall bladder stones. Histological findings of the spleen showed hamartoma. She had an uneventful recovery. The pain disappeared after surgery. She stayed symptom free so far.

[Mesenteric lipoma causing volvulus of the small intestine]

Volvulus of the small bowel is not so frequent as is volvulus of the colon. A delayed diagnosis and surgical treatment result in high rate bowel infarction which can lead to perforation and stercoral peritonitis. If perforation does not take place, the infarcted bowel has to be resected causing multiple complications and mortality. The small bowel volvulus is caused by mesenteric lipoma in about 5% of cases. We present a 77-year-old man operated on for intestinal obstruction. The patient was admitted in a serious condition with a five-day history of abdominal pain and vomiting. On admission he vomited a small bowel content (miserere), he was dehydrated and with high blood urea and creatinine values. Plain X-ray showed a number of air fluid levels in the small bowel. At operation a small bowel volvulus caused by mesenteric lipoma (18 x 11 x 10 cm in diameter) with bowel infarction but without free perforation and peritonitis, was found. The tumour was removed together with 10 cm of resected bowel with end-to-end anastomosis. The recovery was uneventful. The patient is still symptom free.

[Giant epithelioid leiomyosarcoma of the stomach]

Epithelioid leiomyosarcoma of the stomach is an uncommon tumour, predominantly in old persons. The majority of tumours are small, giant tumours are rare. A tumour is more frequent in the upper part of the stomach. It rarely gives secondary deposits, almost only large ones. In a few big published series of patients, secondary deposit were not found in lymph nodes or other organs. Gastrointestinal bleeding, easy fatigue and pain are the usual symptoms of the disease. Endoscopic and fine needle biopsy was successful in single cases. A limited wedge gastric resection is considered as one of the most appropriate surgical treatments. Major resections are reserved for giant tumours infiltrating surrounding organs, and for recurrencies. Due to rare involvement of lymph nodes, systematic lymph node dissection is not regarded as a necessary procedure. The recurrencies can be successfully removed in a number of cases. Chemo- and radiotherapy are generally regarded as useless. We present a 61-year old male patient who had discomfort in the upper abdomen. CT scan was performed but radiologist missed to diagnose an obvious mass in the upper mid-abdomen. Three years later he came with high temperature and leukocytosis. The preoperative examination showed conflicting results, ultrasonography that the tumour did not belong to the liver but CT scan showed that the tumour arose from the left lobe of the liver. Barium swallow showed signs of external pressure on the stomach from the right toward left and downwards. During the operation, a giant gastric tumour (215 x 139 x 135 mm) originating in the antral part of the small gastric curvature was removed with distal 2/3 of the stomach. Histologic examination showed epithelioid leiomyosarcoma of the stomach with umbilical ulceration. About 50% of the tumour was necrotic. There were no lymph node deposits. Temperature and WBC count dropped to the normal value soon after surgery. The patient stayed symptom-free so far, five months after the operation.