Ball valving laryngeal masses: a difficult “ball” in the anaesthetists’ court

Dynamic airway obstruction (also called ball-valve effect) is a serious condition often seen in glottic lesions. This is an anesthetic challenge as total airway obstruction can occur after the induction of general anesthesia. We present a case of a middle aged female who had a large laryngeal mass which was showing ball-valve effect. The patient had refused for tracheostomy despite it being the safest procedure in the circumstances. We then performed videolaryngoscopy and managed to intubate the patient with the help of some improvisation. The patient underwent a succesful and uneventful surgery.

Pólipo del colon que genera un síndrome de ball valve. Reporte de un caso (con video) / Ball Valve syndrome caused by a colon polyp. Case report (with video)

Resumen La obstrucción intestinal es una patología potencialmente letal y cuyo tratamiento, por lo general, es quirúrgico. Presentamos el caso de un paciente con dolor abdominal y clínica de obstrucción intestinal recurrente, en quien se documenta, durante una colonoscopia, un gran pólipo pediculado que causaba obstrucciones parciales por el fenómeno de ball valve.

Abstract Intestinal obstruction is a potentially lethal pathology, and its treatment is usually surgical. The following is the case of a patient with abdominal pain and recurrent intestinal obstruction, in whom a large pediculated polyp that caused partial obstruction by Ball valve effect was observed during a colonoscopy.

El signo de la hermana María José, un hallazgo semiológico que no se debe olvidar. Reporte de un caso (con video) / The Sister Mary Joseph Nodule, a Semiological Finding that Should not Be Forgotten. Case Report with Video

Resumen Se presenta el caso de una paciente con hemorragia digestiva alta, en quien durante el examen físico se documentó el signo de la hermana María José, que se confirmó ulteriormente mediante endoscopia digestiva y estudios histopatológicos la presencia de un cáncer gástrico avanzado.

Abstract We present the case of a patient with upper gastrointestinal bleeding for whom the Sister Mary Joseph nodule was documented during the physical examination. Later, advanced gastric cancer was confirmed by means of digestive endoscopy and histopathological studies.

A Case of Aortic Valve Re-replacement for Starr-Edwards Ball Valve 45 Years after Implantation / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

This patient is a 72-year-old-man who had undergone aortic valve replacement using a Starr-Edwards Ball Valve to treat aortic valve stenosis when he was 28 years old. In April 2015, he was admitted with cardiac failure of NYHA III. Echocardiography showed a remarkable increase of aortic valve pressure gradient and progressive change in mitral valve stenosis and tricuspid valve regurgitation. The Starr-Edwards Ball Valve was replaced using a CEP MAGNA EASE prosthesis, the mitral valve was replaced using a CEP MAGNA MITRAL EASE prosthesis with tricuspid annuloplasty using the MC3 ring. Cloth wear of the Starr-Edwards Ball Valve cage and all-round pannus formation under the valve seat was found at the operation, and the cause of the higher pressure gradient may have been the pannus. The postoperative period of this case following the initial aortic valve implantation of the Starr-Edwards Ball Valve is the longest known in Japan as far as we could discover.

A Case of Brunner's Gland Adenoma Causing a Ball-valve Obstruction: Endoscopic Treatment with a Simple Method of Endoclip-assisted Direct Resection with Using an IT-knife / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Brunner's gland adenoma is a rare benign tumor that is usually asymptomatic and it the result of a benign proliferation of the Brunner's glands of the duodenum. In symptomatic patients, the common clinical presentation is gastrointestinal bleeding and obstructive symptoms. A 48-year-old man presented with abdominal discomfort and vomiting. The endoscopic examination revealed a large pedunculated polypoid mass arising in the bulb and it was prolapsing through the pylorus into the antrum, and this all resulted in a ball-valve obstruction. After endoclips were applied at the peduncle of the mass, this polyp was simply and successfully cut with using an IT-knife without bleeding or perforation. We report here on a case of Brunner's gland adenoma that caused a ball-valve obstruction, and the tumor was removed by a simple and easy method with using endoclips and an IT-knife.

A Successfully Treated Ruptured Aneurysm in a Patient over 90 Years of Age using early Rehabilitation and a One-way Ball Valve for Ventricular Drainage / The Japanese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine

We report a case of a ruptured aneurysm in a patient in her 90's who was treated by coil embolization and returned to her independent life after discharge. A 95-year-old woman with a diagnosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) of Hunt & Kosnik Grade II was treated by coil embolization, ventricular drainage, and a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. The ventricular drainage was assembled as a closed system using a newly developed one-way ball valve to regulate the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) outflow. With this system the patient was able to assume any posture and perform any movement she wished. The patient was freed from the physical constraint involved in conventional ventricular drainage. Early rehabilitation during the ventricular drainage would be useful to prevent pneumonia and muscle atrophy.

A Case of The Surgically Treated Intraspinal Extradural Meningeal Cyst Demonstrating 'Ball-Valve' Mechanism of Formation

The intraspinal extradural meningeal cyst is a rare cause of compression of spinal cord. The most common clinical presentation is a slowly progressive myelopathy, but our case was presented with polyradiculopathy at admission. The authors believe that our case is particularly attributable to a ball-valve mechanism involving an idiopathic dural rent and a herniated segment of an underlying dorsal rootlet in the operative finding. As in our case, magnetic resonance imaging provides accurate diagnosis to identify an intraspinal extradural meningeal cyst. Closure of dural rent with marsupialization of the meningeal cyst through minimal laminectomy can be successfully managed with favorable clinical outcome as in our case.

Post-Traumatic Tension Pneumocephalus of Delayed Onset: Case Report

The authors present a case of post-traumatic tension pneumocephalus of delayed onset. A 23-year-old man fell down and was admitted to our hospital with initial diagnosis of basal skull fracture associated with small amounts of pneumocephalus on brain computerized tomography(CT). At admission, the consciousness was alert without focal neurological deficit. During conservative therapy, headache was slowly progressive and consciousness became drowsy on 13th day after admission. The brain follow-up CT showed huge low air density lesion in the right frontal area. We performed unilateral subfrontal craniotomy with duroplasty for removal of air and dural repair with galea aponeurotica and abdominal fat. Postoperatively, the condition was recovered.

A Case of Sjogren's Syndrome with Interstitial Lung Disease and Multiple Cystic Lung Disease / 결핵

A 47-years-old woman presented with a 2-month history of a dry mouth and dry cough. The patient had been taking medication for Sjogren's syndrome for approximately 7 years. The chest radiography showed multiple cystic lesions and a hazy density in both lower lung fields. The HRCT showed a diffuse ground glass like appearance and multiple variable sized cystic lesions in both lung fields. After medication, the symptoms were aggravated. Bronchoscopy was preformed with a transbronchial lung biopsy. The biopsies showed an infiltration of lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes and histiocytes through the interstitial space of the alveola and a widening of the alveolar septa. However, the histological findings of the cysts were not obtained. Sjogren's syndrome is a slowly progressive inflammatory autoimmune disease, which is characterized by lymphocyte mediated destruction of the exocrine glands, with pulmonary involvement in approximately 19-65%, High-resolution CT is a sensitive technique for assessing the pulmonary involvement in patients with Sjogren's syndrome. Although a lung biopsy is not always necessary for establishing a diagnosis of an interstitial lung disease in Sjogren's syndrome. A lung biopsy may reveal a wide spectrum of changes ranging from a mild inflammatory response to end stage fibrosis with honeycombing. Because of the predominantly peribronchiolar inflammatory infiltration and inspissated secretions the cysts were suspected to have been formed by the ballvalve phenomenon. However, no definite evidence was obtained.