ABSTRACT
A 52 year old woman presented to the emergency department of Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China in May 2022, complaining of a palpable lower abdominal mass since two days. She denied haematuria, umbilical drainage, or any other urinary symptoms. Previous health record indicated that the patient was diagnosed with urachal inflammatory pseudotumour. Inflammatory pseudotumourous masses of the urachal canal are rare chronic inflammatory disorders with only a few case reports. Ultrasonography is the preferred method for diagnosing urachal lesions. Contrast- enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) allows real-time visualization of the microvascular blood flow within the solid lesion, reducing the probability of misdiagnosis of the disease. We have reported a case of urachal inflammatory pseudotumour and analyzed its ultrasonographic findings from two-dimensional conventional ultrasonography and CEUS to provide support for the diagnosis of urachal inflammatory pseudotumour in the clinic and to assist clinical selection of effective treatment modalities.
Subject(s)
Granuloma, Plasma Cell , Urachus , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Urachus/diagnostic imaging , Urachus/pathology , Granuloma, Plasma Cell/diagnostic imaging , Treatment Outcome , Diagnosis, Differential , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pacemaker lead-induced heart perforation is a rare but life-threatening complication of pacemaker implantation, and timely diagnosis remains a challenge for clinicians. Here, we report a case of pacemaker lead-induced cardiac perforation rapidly diagnosed by a "bow-and-arrow" sign on point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). CASE SUMMARY: A 74-year-old Chinese woman who had undergone permanent pacemaker implantation 26 d before suddenly developed severe dyspnea, chest pain, and hypotension. The patient had received emergency laparotomy for an incarcerated groin hernia and was transferred to the intensive care unit 6 d before. Computed tomography was not available due to unstable hemodynamic status, so POCUS was performed at the bedside and revealed severe pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade. Subsequent pericardiocentesis yielded a large volume of bloody pericardial fluid. Further POCUS by an ultrasonographist revealed a unique "bow-and-arrow" sign indicating right ventricular (RV) apex perforation by the pacemaker lead, which facilitated the rapid diagnosis of lead perforation. Given the persistent drainage of pericardial bleeding, urgent off-pump open chest surgery was performed to repair the perforation. However, the patient died of shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome within 24 h post-surgery. In addition, we also performed a literature review on the sonographic features of RV apex perforation by lead. CONCLUSION: POCUS enables the early diagnosis of pacemaker lead perforation at the bedside. A step-wise ultrasonographic approach and the "bow-and-arrow" sign on POCUS are helpful for rapid diagnosis of lead perforation.
