Extensive colonic pneumatosis in a patient on adjuvant chemotherapy after right colectomy for primary terminal ileum lymphoma: A decision-making process between surgical and non-surgical management.

INTRODUCTION: Pneumatosis intestinalis is a rare condition that may be idiopathic or a sign of numerous underlying gastrointestinal, pulmonary and systemic diseases. PRESENTATION OF CASE: Herein, the case an otherwise-healthy 82-year-old female patient with vague abdominal pain due to total colonic pneumatosis 20 days after completion of R-CHOP chemotherapy for a stage IIE primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the terminal ileum submitted to right hemicolectomy and ileal resection 6 months previously is presented. As no evidence of intramural bowel gas was present on pre-operative CT, pneumatosis coli considered to be secondary. As no worrisome clinical, laboratory and imaging findings were present, pneumatosis coli seemed to be benign. As no other etiologic factors identified, pneumatosis coli considered to be chemotherapy-induced. The patient treated conservatively with cessation of enteral nutrition and broad spectrum antibiotics with uneventfull recovery. DISCUSSION: Pneumatosis intestinalis can be benign or life-threatening. Bowel obstruction, perforation, ischemia and severe colitis represent the most life-threatening causes. In clinical practice it is often challenging to distinguish between life-threatening and benign pneumatosis intestinalis, a decision which should be based on the presence or absence of worrisome clinical, laboratory and imaging findings. CONCLUSION: In analogous cases, the main dilemma for the physicians is to identify whether surgical intervention is required or not. Given the potential severity of pneumatosis intestinalis, early diagnosis and recognition of its severity is critical as it would dictate surgical or non-surgical management.

Carcinoid tumor of the appendix during pregnancy. A rare case and a review of the literature.

We present a rare case of a carcinoid tumor of the appendix that was diagnosed during pregnancy in a 24-year-old female. The patient was admitted to our department for acute abdominal pain localized on the right half of the abdomen, mimicking acute appendicitis. Open appendectomy was carried out and at the histological examination carcinoid was found in the surgical specimen. Only few similar cases were found in the literature reporting appendiceal carcinoid tumor during pregnancy.