Incidence of Cholangiocarcinoma with or without Previous Resection of Liver for Hepatolithiasis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the incidence of cholangiocarcinoma in patients with hepatolithiasis with or without previous resection of liver. METHODS: From 2002 to 2009, we retrospectively reviewed 117 patients who were diagnosed and treated for hepatolithiasis in Korea University Guro Hospital. Among the 117 patients, 55 patients who were lost during follow-up were excluded, and 62 patients were eligible for analysis. The hepatic resection group (n=25) included patients who underwent left hemihepatectomy (n=2); left lateral segmentectomy (n=10); left lobectomy (n=9); right lobectomy (n=3); or wedge resection (n=1). The nonhepatic resection group (n=37) included transhepatic cholangiographic lithotomy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography-treated patients. The mean follow-up period was 47 months. RESULTS: The incidence of cholangiocarcinoma while patients were followed for hepatolithiasis was 12.9% (8/62) (hepatic resection group, three cases [12%] vs nonhepatic resection group, five cases [13.5%]; p=1.000). The mean follow-up period was 53 months (47+/-11 months) until the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in the incidence of cholangiocarcinoma according to previous liver resections. Patients with hepatolithiasis should be carefully followed up for detection of cholangiocarcinoma even after a previous liver resection.

A Novel Technique for Retrieval of a Drug-Eluting Stent After Catheter Break and Stent Loss

Break of a stent delivery catheter and subsequent stent loss (SL) has been a rare event in the drug-eluting stent (DES) era. We here report a case of successful retrieval of a stent after a break if the delivery catheter and SL from a balloon catheter at a culprit lesion. We finally resolved this situation using a simple balloon technique for both the broken stent catheter inside of the guide catheter and the unexpanded stent in the culprit lesion. Thus balloons are an important weapon in our armamentarium in the cardiac catheterization laboratory for urgent retrieval of a lost stent. Their apt use definitely allowed our patient to avoid undergoing emergency cardiovascular thoracic surgery.

A Case of Pa-tient with Wegener's Granulomatosis Showing Glomerular Immune Deposition in Kidney Biopsy / 대한신장학회지

Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) in Wegener's granulomatosis patients typically has been characterized by pauci-immune glomerulonephritis (PIGN). In some patients, however, significant amount of glomerular immune deposits was detected and reported that they may have poor prognosis. A 30 year-old-female visited due to the skin rash of both lower extremities, arthralgia and nasal stiffness. She had sinusitis, lung opacity, and proteinuria. Serologic PR-3 ANCA was positive and histologic findings of nasal cavity and lung also showed necrotizing vasculitis and granuloma. Thus we could diagnose Wegener's granulomatosis. However, gross hematuria developed and renal function worsened in spite of treatment with high dose prednisolone and oral cyclophosphamide. Therefore we performed a kidney biopsy. The kidney biopsy showed crescentic glomerulonephritis with Ig A deposition in the mesangium. We experienced a case of Wegener's granulomatosis patient with significant IgA deposition in glomeruli. We report this case with brief review of the literature.

Reversible Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome in a Patient with Relapsed Hodgkin's Disease: A Case Report

Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS) is a distinctive clinicoradiological entity that's characterized by headache, confusion, seizure and frequent visual disturbances. It is associated with certain neuro-radiological findings, and predominantly white matter abnormalities of the parieto-occipital lobes. RPLS has been identified mostly in patients with malignant hypertension, pre-eclampsia and renal insufficiency and in those patients who are using immunosuppressive agents or cytotoxic drugs. We report here on a case of RPLS in a patient who was undergoing chemotherapy. A 49-year-old woman presented with abrupt mental changes and visual disturbances five days after the administration of a chemotherapeutic agent. MRI showed hyper-intense signals on the magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion images in the bilateral temporal, parietal and occipital lobes. The clinical manifestations completely resolved after one week of treatment that consisted of blood pressure control, a negative intake-output balance and the best supportive care. These radiological changes and the reversible clinical manifestations were consistent with RPLS.