Diffuse abdominal lipomatosis.

We report a 22-year male who developed progressive distension of abdomen, clinically diagnosed as ascites. A diagnosis of abdominal lipomatosis was made on the basis of CT evidence of excessive fatty tissue in abdominal cavity which was confirmed on laparotomy.

Fine needle aspiration of intra-abdominal masses for cytodiagnosis.

Fine needle aspiration cytology was performed in 50 consecutive patients who presented with palpable intra-abdominal mass. Ninety-four per cent (47/50) of the aspirations yielded adequate material for cytological interpretation. Histopathological confirmation was made in all the 50 cases by means of laparotomy and various surgical procedures. Of the 45 proven malignant lesions, fine needle aspirates were diagnosed as positive in 44 (97.33%) cases. There was no false positive result and no complication was encountered.

Role of intraperitoneal drains on subhepatic collection following routine uncomplicated cholecystectomy.

The effect of intraperitoneal drains on the incidence and significance of subhepatic fluid collection following elective cholecystectomy was prospectively evaluated by ultrasound scanning in 200 patients. Subhepatic area was drained in 100 patients by using corrugated and vacuum drains while no drains were used in 100 patients. Subhepatic collection was detected in 12 patients (12%) in the drainage group and only 4 patients (4%) in the non-drainage group. The difference is statistically significant (p < 0.05). Two patients (2%) in the drainage group required re-exploration. Overall morbidity (30%) was higher in the drainage group than non-drainage group (18%). It is concluded that routine use of drains following elective cholecystectomy should be abandoned and they should be used only when indicated.

A study of colorectal adenocarcinoma.

One hundred and seven patients with resected colorectal adenocarcinoma were studied between 1983 and 1987. These formed 3.3% of all cancer cases and 19.4% of gastrointestinal malignancies seen during the period. A majority of patients (68.7%) were between 41 and 60 years of age; 31.8% were below the age of 40 years. There was a male preponderance (62.6%). Left sided cancers were more common (65.4%). The predominant histologic patterns were well differentiated adenocarcinoma (72%) and mucinous carcinoma (20.6%). Mucinous carcinoma was more common on the left side. A majority of cases (95.3%) were in Duke's stages B and C. Only 2.8% of cases were confined to the mucosa.

Fibrosarcoma breast. A case report.

The youngest case of Fibro-sarcoma of breast is reported. The review of literature and brief note of management is described.

Pre-operative and post-operative evaluation of circulating immune complexes in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma.

Circulating immune complexes (CICs) in the sera of patients with histologically proven adenocarcinoma of stomach were sequentially studied. Serial CICs levels, quantitated using a sensitive method F(ab')2 anti-C3 ELISA, were measured before surgery and in a post-operative follow up. CICs could be detected in 85% of the patients pre-operatively, while ten days after surgery positivity decreased to 71%. Thirty days after surgery, the mean CIC levels decreased significantly and positivity fell to 46%. The results indicate that removal of primary tumor mass results in a sharp decline of CIC levels.

Primary carcinoma of gall bladder--a review of thirty six cases.

The study presents the clinicopathological findings in thirty six cases of primary carcinoma of gall bladder diagnosed at SKIMS Srinagar over a period of four years (1983-86). Particular attention was paid to age, sex, presenting symptoms, presence of gall stones and site of metastasis. Majority of patients were found to be middle aged females (24 out of 36 cases). Most common presenting symptom was abdominal pain and duration of symptoms was two months or less in majority of cases. Gall stones were found in 55.5% cases. Diagnosis of primary gall bladder carcinoma was an incidental histopathological finding in 22% patients. Well differentiated adenocarcinoma was found to be the commonest type of malignancy (77.7%). 33% cases had widespread metastatic disease at the time of operation and liver was the commonest site of invasion (47.2%). Follow up records of 21 out of 36 patients available show only two patients to be alive till date with more than two year follow up and in both these cases carcinoma was an incidental histopathological diagnosis at cholecystectomy. Rest of the patients had died within 5-6 months after surgery. This reinforces the poor outcome for primary gall bladder carcinoma patients irrespective of treatment unless diagnosed and treated at a very early stage. Long term survival can be expected in incidentally found carcinoma at cholecystectomy.

Leiomyoblastoma stomach.

Three patients with epithelioid leiomyomatous tumors (leiomyoblastomas) of the stomach are presented.