ABSTRACT
We performed a balloon dilatation without a fluoroscopy monitoring by ultrasound. A 44 year old female patient was presented with subglottic stenosis, due to prolonged intubation. Although she had undergone tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis, the tracheal stenosis had recurred. She was scheduled for balloon dilatation. However, fluoroscopic guidance was not available, and thus, we used ultrasonographic monitoring as an alternative method. We performed a transverse scan, just cranial to the suprasternal notch, and we obtained a real time image of the trachea dilated by the balloon. We suggest that ultrasonographic monitoring is a useful adjunct to balloon dilatation in patients with tracheal stenosis.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Constriction, Pathologic , Dilatation , Fluoroscopy , Intubation , Trachea , Tracheal StenosisABSTRACT
Hemorrhage through the pancreatic duct into the duodenum, so called 'hemosuccus pancreaticus', is a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding with diagnostic difficulties. We report a 44-year-old man with recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to rupture of pseudoaneurysm into the pancreatic duct. Initial upper gastrointestinal endoscopy failed to identity the site of the hemorrhage. Active bleeding from the ampulla of Vater in duodenum was found on repeat endoscopy. Abdominal computed tomography disclosed pseudoaneurysm arising from the splenic artery caused by chronic pancreatitis. Splenic angiogram showed large psudoaneurysmal sac with wide neck, arising from distal splenic artery. Angiographic embolization was successful in controlling the arterial hemorrhage. The patient remained symptom-free 5 months after the embolization. Hemosuccus pancreaticus, although rare, remains important in the differential diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal bleeding of obscure orgin.