Efficacy and safety of superselective trans-catheter arterial embolization of upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding using N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of superselective trans-catheter arterial embolization (TAE) with N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (NBCA) for patients with acute non-variceal upper and lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. METHODS: TAE using NBCA was performed in 21 patients (13 males, 8 females, mean age 60.9 years) with acute non-variceal upper (n = 15) and lower (n = 6) GI bleeding. TAE using other embolic agents was performed in 25 patients (13 males, 12 females, mean age 69.1 years) with acute non-variceal upper (n = 16) and lower (n = 9) GI bleeding. Technical success, clinical success, clinical failure, major and minor complications, bleeding-related 30-day mortality, and overall in-hospital mortality were analyzed. RESULTS: In 21 patients who underwent TAE with NBCA, the overall technical success was 100% (21/21) and overall clinical success was 72.2% (13/18). Uncontrolled bleeding, recurrent bleeding, and clinical failure were seen in 11.1% (2/18), 16.7% (3/18), and 27.8% (5/18) of cases, respectively. The minor complication rate was 16.7% (4/21) and no major complications occurred. Three patients showed ischemic damage in the treated lesion and one patient showed epigastric pain. The bleeding-related 30-day mortality and overall in-hospital mortality rates were 16.7% (3/18) and 28.6% (6/21), respectively. Two patients died of septic shock and one died of myocardial infarction within 30 days after TAE. In 25 patients who underwent TAE with other agents, the overall technical success was 100% (25/25), and the overall clinical success was 68.2% (15/22). The rates of uncontrolled bleeding, recurrent bleeding, clinical failure, bleeding-related 30-day mortality, and overall in-hospital mortality were 0.5% (1/22), 22.7% (5/22), 31.8% (7/22), 22.7% (5/22), and 32.0% (8/25), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: TAE with NBCA for acute non-variceal upper and lower GI bleeding proved to be a technically feasible, safe, and effective treatment modality. Thus, NBCA could be used as a primary embolic agent for controlling GI bleeding.

Conservative Management of Spontaneous Isolated Dissection of the Superior Mesenteric Artery.

PURPOSE: We report the clinical outcomes of patients with spontaneous isolated dissection of the superior mesenteric artery (SIDSMA) who were treated conservatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review was performed in 14 patients from 2006 to 2016 with SIDSMA. Their clinical features and computed tomographic angiography (CTA) characteristics, treatment methods, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. The mean age was 53.6 (range, 41-73) years, and the mean follow-up duration was 20.6 (range, 1-54) months. Conservative management was the primary treatment if no bowel ischemia or arterial rupture was noted. RESULTS: The mean initial abdominal visual analog pain score was 7 (range, 5-9) in seven patients. The mean total duration of abdominal pain was 10.2 days (range, 2-42 days) in 10 patients. The mean percentage stenosis of the dissected SMA at the initial presentation was 78.8% in 14 patients. Complete obstruction of the SMA at the initial presentation was evident in 4 of the 14 patients (28.6%). Conservative management was successful in all 14 patients. None of the 14 patients developed bowel ischemia or an infarction. Abdominal pain did not recur in any patient during follow-up (mean, 20.6 months; range, 1-54 months). CONCLUSION: Conservative management was successful for all SIDSMA patients, even those with severe compression of the true lumen or complete obstruction of the dissected SMA.

Usefulness and safety of the "God's Hand" pneumatic compression device for hemostasis in femoral catheterization.

PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the usefulness and safety of the God's Hand pneumatic compression device for hemostasis in patients undergoing percutaneous endovascular procedures via femoral artery. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-seven patients in whom hemostasis of femoral catheterization was achieved using a God's Hand pneumatic compression device were enrolled. The patients were divided into group A, those in whom the device was applied for four hours, and group B, those in whom the device was applied for two hours, with an additional two hours of bed rest in both groups. Groups A and B were regrouped to groups A' and B' using the propensity score matching method (n=65, for both). Chi-squared test and logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship between the complication rate and patient characteristics and procedure-related factors. RESULTS: Clinical success was achieved in 216 of 237 patients (91.1%): 63 in group A (84%) and 153 in group B (94.4%); in propensity score matched groups, clinical success was seen in 47 patients in group A' (81.5%) and 62 patients in group B' (95.4%). Group B' showed a higher clinical success rate than group A' (P = 0.028). There were no major complications. In logistic regression models, a negative association was noted between the complication rate and the duration of God's Hand application; however, this association was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The God's Hand pneumatic compression device is effective and safe for the hemostasis of femoral catheterization, and four hours of bed rest is sufficient for hemostasis in selected patients.

Percutaneous jejunostomy through the liver parenchyma for palliation of afferent loop syndrome.

In the treatment of afferent loop syndrome, jejunostomy or Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy have tended to represent the preferred procedures. In patients who are not good candidates for surgery, palliative treatment-i.e., percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage or percutaneous direct transperitoneal jejunostomy techniques-have been applied. Transhepatic biliary drainage confers a risk of ascending cholangitis. Direct percutaneous transperitoneal drainage may be impractical when overlying bowel loops prevent access to deeply located afferent loops. In the present case, percutaneous jejunostomy through the liver parenchyma was performed successfully for palliation of afferent loop syndrome.

Bark Constituents from Mushroom-detoxified Rhus verniciflua Suppress Kainic Acid-induced Neuronal Cell Death in Mouse Hippocampus.

Urushinol, a plant allergen, has significantly restricted the medical application of Rhus verniciflua, although it has been reported to possess a wide variety of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer actions. To reduce the urushinol content while maintaining the beneficial biological activities, mushroom-mediated fermentation of Rhus verniciflua was carried out and this method resulted in significantly attenuated allergenicity [1]. In the present study, to examine the neuroprotective properties of mushroom-fermented stem bark of Rhus verniciflua, two constituents were isolated from mushroom-fermented bark and their neuroprotective properties were examined in a mouse model of kainic acid (KA)-induced excitotoxicity. KA resulted in significant apoptotic neuronal cell death in the CA3 region of mouse hippocampus. However, seven daily administrations of RVH-1 or RVH-2 prior to KA injection significantly attenuated KA-induced pyramidal neuronal cell death in the CA3 region. Furthermore, pretreatment with RVH-1 and RVH-2 also suppressed KA-induced microglial activation in the mouse hippocampus. The present study demonstrates that RVH-1 and RVH-2 isolated from Rhus verniciflua and detoxified using mushroom species possess neuroprotective properties against KA-induced excitotoxicity. This leads to the possibility that detoxified Rhus verniciflua can be a valuable asset in herbal medicine.

Atypical appearance of a neural foraminal elastofibroma of the lumbar spine mimicking a schwannoma on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Elastofibromas are rare benign lesions that are most commonly found in the periscapular region. We describe a rare case of a 40-year-old woman presenting with right buttock radiating pain. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a homogeneously enhanced mass occupying the right neural foramen at the L4/5 level. The clinical and radiological presentation suggested a schwannoma. Pathology examination of the tissue indicated elastofibroma.

Mesothelial cyst of the round ligament mimicking a metastasis: a case report.

A mesothelial cyst of the round ligament is a rare cause of an inguinal mass. Clinically, it is frequently misdiagnosed as one of commoner diseases such as an inguinal hernia, femoral hernia, lipoma, and lymphadenopathy upon physical examination. Some previous reports elaborated the sonographic features of a mesothelial cyst of the round ligament. However, to our knowledge, few reports have described the CT features of a mesothelial cyst. We illustrated here the sonographic and multidetector CT features of a case of a mesothelial cyst of the round ligament that presented as an inguinal palpable mass and mimicked a metastasis in a patient with a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor of the ovary.

Uterine artery pseudoaneurysm manifesting delayed postabortal bleeding.

OBJECTIVE: To study a case of a huge pseudoaneurysm of the uterine artery presenting with vaginal bleeding 2 years after termination of pregnancy in a 23-year-old woman. DESIGN: Retrospective clinical case. SETTING: Academic-based gynecology center of university hospital. PATIENT(S): A 23-year-old women, 2 years after termination of pregnancy, presenting with vaginal bleeding. INTERVENTION(S): The diagnosis of uterine artery pseudoaneurysm was made by color and duplex Doppler ultrasonography and confirmed by arteriography. The angiographic study showed a pseudoaneurysm arising from the right uterine artery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Clinical response to treatment. RESULT(S): The uterine artery pseudoaneurysm was successfully treated by embolization. The vaginal bleeding subsided immediately after embolization. The patient was monitored monthly for 12 months, during which she had normal menstruation period and no further vaginal bleeding. CONCLUSION(S): Although likely not a common complication of abortion, the diagnosis should be considered in those patients with postabortive bleeding and cystic lesion in the pelvis on ultrasonography.

Primary extraskeletal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma arising from the pancreas.

We report here on a case of primary extraskeletal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma that arose from the pancreas. A 41-year-old man was evaluated by CT to find the cause of his abdominal pain. The CT scans showed a heterogeneously enhancing necrotic mass with numerous areas of coarse calcification, and this was located in the left side of the retroperitoneal space and involved the body and tail of the pancreas. Portal venography via the celiac axis also showed invasion of the splenic vein. Following excision of the mass, it was pathologically confirmed to be primary extraskeletal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma that arose from the pancreas.

Primary mucinous adenocarcinoma of a seminal vesicle cyst associated with ectopic ureter and ipsilateral renal agenesis: a case report.

Primary adenocarcinoma of the seminal vesicles is a rare neoplasm. Congenital seminal vesicle cysts are commonly associated with unilateral renal agenesis or dysgenesis. To the best of our knowledge, mucinous adenocarcinoma of the seminal vesicle cyst that's associated with an ectopic ureter opening into the seminal vesicle and ipsilateral renal agenesis has not been described in the radiological literature. We report here on the radiological findings of a primary adenocarcinoma of a seminal vesicle cyst in this condition.

An ROC study of chest radiographs: 2K Versus 4K high-resolution soft-copy images.

Computed radiography of chest with a 4K image array was recently introduced. We performed a multiobserver study to compare the diagnostic accuracy of 2K (standard) and 4K (high quality) chest radiographs displayed on a 5-mega-pixel monitor (2K monitor). One hundred cases of posteroanterior chest radiographs (a total of 200 images) were selected by two chest radiologists. Those radiographs included pneumothorax (n = 14), nodules (n = 15), interstitial disease (n = 10), or neither abnormality (n = 61). These were interpreted by four radiologists in two separate sessions. They recorded their confidence scale for the presence or absence of abnormality. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for each observer. ROC analysis showed no statistically significant difference between the 2K and 4K modes for the detection of any of the different abnormalities by individual readers. Our preliminary study suggests that 2K mode would be sufficient for the detection of abnormality on chest radiograph and there is no considerable validity to incline toward the 4K mode in current picture archiving and communication system environment using 2K monitor. However, we think that additional investigation using more subtle parenchymal or rib lesion should be followed.

CT of nasal-type T/NK cell lymphoma in the lung.

Nasal-type T-cell/natural killer cell lymphoma is a new distinctive clinicopathologic entity with a characteristic immunophenotypic expression of CD56. Most cases show a predilection for the nasopharyngeal region and are referred to as nasal T/NK-cell lymphoma. Few cases occur in areas other than the nose. To the best of our knowledge, nasal type T/NK cell lymphoma with isolated lung involvement has not been reported. We illustrate here the CT findings of this rare tumor occurring primarily in the lung.

Stent placement for chronic iliac arterial occlusive disease: the results of 10 years experience in a single institution.

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to retrospectively evaluate the long-term therapeutic results of iliac arterial stent placement that was done in a single institution for 10 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 1994 to April 2004, 206 patients who underwent iliac arterial stent placement (mean age; 64+/-8.8) were followed up for evaluating the long term stent patency. Combined or subsequent bypass surgery was performed in 72 patients. The follow up period ranged from one month to 120 months (mean; 31+/-25.2 months). The factors that were analyzed for their effect on the patency of stents were age, the stent type and diameter, the lesion site, lesion shape, lesion length, the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology criteria, the total run off scores, the Fontaine stage and the cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypertension and smoking). Follow-up included angiography and/or CT angiography, color Doppler sonography and clinical evaluation with the ankle-brachial index. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty-four stents were placed in 249 limbs of 203 patients. The technical success rate was 98% (203/206). The primary patency rates of the stents at 3, 5, 7 and 10 year were 87%, 83%, 61% and 49%, respectively. One hundred seventy-seven patients maintained the primary stent patency until the final follow up and 26 patients showed stenosis or obstruction during the follow up. Secondary intervention was performed in thirteen patients. Lesions in the external iliac artery (EIA) or lesions in both the common iliac artery (CIA) and EIA were a poor prognostic factor for stent patency. The run off score and stent diameter also showed statistically significant influence on stent patency. The overall complication rate was 6%. CONCLUSION: Iliac arterial stent placement is a safe treatment with favorable long term patency. Lesions in the EIA or lesions in both the EIA and CIA, poor run off vessels and a stent having the same or a larger diameter than 10 mm were the poor prognostic factors for long term stent patency.

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma: CT, sonography, and MR findings in 3 cases.

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) is a distinctive variant of fibrosarcoma characterized by deceptively bland histologic features and a paradoxically aggressive clinical course. The radiologic finding of this uncommon tumor has not been described to date. In this report, 3 cases of LGFMS occurring in axilla, chest wall, and pleura are presented with CT, MRI, and sonographic findings.

Efficient transduction with recombinant adenovirus in EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell lines.

The Epstein-Barr-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell lines, LCL, which express antigens, are potential antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for the induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vitro. However, transfecting LCL with subsequent selection by antibiotics is notoriously difficult because the plating efficiencies of LCL are reported to be 1% or less. Therefore, this study investigated the optimal conditions for increasing the transduction efficiency of a recombinant adenovirus to LCL for use as a source of APCs. The transduction efficiencies were < 13% (SD +/- 2.13) at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 100, while it was increased to 28% (SD +/- 9.43) at an MOI of 1000. Moreover, its efficiencies to LCL that expressed the coxsackie adenovirus receptor were increased to 60% (SD +/- 6.35) at an MOI of 1000, and were further increased to 70% (SD +/- 4.56) when combined with the centrifugal method. The cationic liposome or anionic polymer had no effect on the transduction efficiency when compared to that of the centrifugal method. These results may be used as a convenient source of target cells for a CTL assay and/or autologous APCs for the induction of the in vitro CTL responses that are specific to viral and tumor antigens.

Use of double-occlusion balloon catheter: preoperative portal vein embolization for induction of future remnant liver hypertrophy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of using double-occlusion balloon catheters in preoperative portal vein embolization (PVE) to induce future remnant liver hypertrophy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PVE was achieved with gelatin sponges by using double-occlusion balloon catheter in seventeen patients with hepatobiliary malignant tumors. The ipsilateral approach was used in thirteen patients and the contralateral approach in four patients due to large size of tumor in the right hepatic lobe. Surgery was performed in 15 patients, 14-27 days (mean, 21.9 days) after PVE. Computed tomographic liver volumetric studies were performed before embolization and before surgery. The changes in aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), prothrombin time (PT), and total bilirubin levels before and after the PVE were evaluated. Complications were evaluated after PVE. RESULTS: PVE using double-occlusion balloon catheter was successful in all cases, irrespective of approach technique. The future remnant liver (FRL) volumes were 251-920 cm3 (mean, 437 cm3) before PVE and 281-1042 cm3 (mean, 555 cm3) after PVE. The mean increase in the volume of the FRL was 28.6%; this represented 37% of the preresection volume of the liver. Clinical and biologic tolerance of PVE was mandatory. There were no complications. CONCLUSIONS: PVE using the double-occlusion balloon catheter is safe and well-tolerated and can be performed technically with ease. This hypertrophy allows hepatectomy to be performed safely when the FRL volume is initially insufficient in patients with hepatobiliary tumors.