[Carcinoid tumor. An analysis of 131 cases]. / Tumor carcinoide. Análisis de 131 casos.

We would like to describe the characteristics of affection by carcinoid tumor in our surroundings. In so doing, we have reviewed the clinical histories of the 131 cases of carcinoid tumor diagnosed in our center between 1972 and 1990. The incidence has been 0.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The age at diagnosis is from 8 to 88 years, and the proportion of men to women is practically 1. The most common locale affected the appendix (54 cases) followed by the bronchials (46 cases). The most common clinical presentation has been casual discovery and in the bronchials, in addition to hemoptysis and pneumonia. Carcinoid syndrome was found in only 4 cases, and of 17 determinations of indole acetic 5-hydoxi acid, only 2 resulted pathological. There were four cases of hepatic metastasis and two deaths related with the tumor.

Probable early acute hepatitis with parenteral amiodarone.

A patient with acute changes suggesting acute hepatitis after parenteral amiodarone administration is described. A 77-year-old man with previous myocardial infarction was admitted with chronic left heart failure and atrial tachycardia. Initial hepatic function tests were strictly normal. After therapy with parenteral amiodarone (2300 mg in 3 days) and other measures, signs of congestive heart failure disappeared; subsequently the patient developed jaundice, marked increase in serum transaminase levels and fall in prothrombin time, and histologic changes of severe centrilobular necrosis were observed in hepatic biopsy. Clinical, laboratory (absence of others markers of hepatic disease), and histological findings seem to rule out common causes of hepatic disease. Therefore, parenteral amiodarone was implicated as the cause of acute hepatitis in this patient. In addition, there were findings suggesting a possibly immunologically mediated mechanism.