A rare spontaneous breast abscess due to Mycobacterium chelonae: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium chelonae, a nontuberculous mycobacterium, commonly causes skin, soft tissue, eye, pulmonary, catheter-related, and post-surgical infections in patients with immunosuppression or trauma. M. chelonae breast infections are rare, and most cases occur following cosmetic surgery. Here, we report the first case of spontaneous breast abscess due to M. chelonae. CASE PRESENTATION: A 22-year-old Japanese woman presented at our hospital with swelling and pain in the right breast for the past 2 weeks without any fever. She had a 19-month-old child and stopped breastfeeding 1 month after giving birth. The patient had no history of trauma or breast surgeries, no family history of breast cancer, and was not immunocompromised. Breast ultrasonography revealed a heterogeneous hypoechoic lesion with multiple fluid-filled areas suspected to be abscesses. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 64 × 58 × 62 mm, ill-defined, high-signal-intensity lesion with multiple ring enhancements in the upper half of the right breast. The first diagnosis was inflammatory breast cancer or granulomatous mastitis with abscess. A core needle biopsy led to drainage of pus. Gram staining did not reveal any bacteria in the pus, but the colonies from the biopsy grew on blood and chocolate agar cultures. Mass spectrometry detected M. chelonae in these colonies. Histopathological findings revealed mastitis without malignancy. The patient's treatment regimen was oral clarithromycin (CAM) based on susceptibility. Three weeks later, although the pus had reduced, the induration in the breast did not resolve; therefore, multidrug antibiotic treatment was initiated. The patient received amikacin and imipenem infusion therapy for 2 weeks, followed by continuation of CAM. Three weeks later, tenderness in the right breast recurred with slight pus discharge. Hence, minocycline (MINO) was added to the treatment. The patient stopped CAM and MINO treatment 2 weeks later. There was no recurrence 2 years after treatment. CONCLUSION: We report a case of M. chelonae breast infection and abscess formation in a 22-year-old Japanese woman without obvious risk factors. M. chelonae infection should be considered in cases of intractable breast abscess, even in patients without immunosuppression or trauma.

[A Case of Suspected Non-Occlusive Mesenteric Ischemia following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Esophageal Cancer with an Extremely Poor Prognosis].

Non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia(NOMI)is defined as intestinal ischemia or necrosis with patency of the mesenteric arteries. Here, we report a case of suspected NOMI following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for esophageal cancer with an extremely poor prognosis. A 79-year-old man complained of weight loss and vomiting. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a tumor extending from the lower intrathoracic esophagus to the gastric cardia. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer(small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, T3(AD)N0M0, cStage Ⅱ)accordingly. He received cisplatin and etoposide as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Tube feeding was initiated due to tumor stenosis. His weight increased rapidly by more than 8 kg on the second day of treatment. He did not display any signs of heart failure, and so continued chemotherapy in conjunction with diuretics. Upon completion of chemotherapy, his continued use of diuretics gradually reduced his weight. On day 7, the patient complained of nausea and experienced a decrease in blood pressure. Bicarbonate Ringer's solution was administered intravenously, but the patient lost consciousness after 3 hours. Plain computed tomography revealed massive gas collections in the portal vein, tumor wall, stomach, and ascending colon. NOMI was strongly suspected. His condition continued to deteriorate, until his demise several hours later. Here, we present the above-mentioned case and discuss the relevant literature.

Cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to compression of the heart owing to esophageal hiatal hernia: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal hiatal hernia is commonly encountered in clinical practice. We describe a case of cardiac compression caused by an esophageal hiatal hernia that resulted in circulatory failure and cardiac arrest. CASE PRESENTATION: An 82-year-old woman presented to our hospital with vomiting, which progressed to cardiac arrest in the emergency room after computed tomography (CT) imaging. CT revealed gastric herniation into the mediastinum, with marked cardiac compression. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, and a nasogastric tube was inserted for gastric decompression, which resulted in the return of spontaneous circulation and subsequent hemodynamic stabilization. However, the patient died of aspiration pneumonia 4 days later. CONCLUSION: Gastric decompression can lead to rapid improvements in respiration and circulation in patients with an esophageal hiatal hernia. Nonetheless, to prevent complications, such as those observed in our patient, definitive surgical treatment is warranted.

Neoadjuvant CAPOX and bevacizumab alone for locally advanced rectal cancer: long-term results from the N-SOG 03 trial.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) alone for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) remains an experimental treatment, and the efficacy in terms of long-term outcome has not been fully elucidated. The N-SOG 03 trial examined the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant CAPOX and bevacizumab (Bev) without radiotherapy in patients with poor-risk LARC. METHODS: Thirty-two patients with MRI-defined LARC received neoadjuvant CAPOX and Bev followed by curative resection between 2010 and 2011. The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and local-relapse rate (LRR) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the risk factors were evaluated by multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazard models. This trial is registered with UMIN, number 000003507. RESULTS: In the entire cohort, the 5-year OS was 81.3%. Because of disease progression during chemotherapy, 3 patients ultimately did not undergo curative surgery. As a result, 29 patients underwent R0/1 resection. Among these 29 patients, the 5-year OS, PFS, and LRR were 89.7%, 72.4% and 13.9%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, cT4b tumor was an independent poor prognostic factor for OS and LRR, and ypT4b tumor and absence of N down-staging were independent poor prognostic factors for PFS. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with cT4b tumor were not suitable for NAC alone. However, the long-term outcomes of the other patients were satisfactory, and NAC alone might be an option for treatment of LARC. N down-staging was likely to bring favorable PFS, even in patients with cStage III.

Phase II trial of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with S-1 and oxaliplatin plus bevacizumab for colorectal liver metastasis (N-SOG 05 trial).

PURPOSE: This Phase II trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with S-1 and oxaliplatin (SOX) plus bevacizumab (Bev) in patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM). METHODS: Patients with initially resectable CRLM received four cycles of SOX plus Bev as NAC. We adopted the R0 resection rate as the primary endpoint, and the threshold R0 resection rate was set at 80%. RESULTS: Between December 2010 and August 2014, 61 patients were enrolled in this study and all started NAC. The completion rate of NAC was 82.0%. Three patients (4.9%) developed severe liver dysfunction caused by NAC and one patient finally decided against resection. Three patients (4.9%) were judged as having progressive disease during or after NAC and did not undergo liver resection. Among 57 patients who underwent liver resection after NAC, three patients were diagnosed with CRLM by pre-treatment imaging modalities and received NAC although a final pathological diagnosis was another malignant disease or benign condition. Finally, 47 of the 54 patients (87.0%) with resected CRLM achieved R0 resection. The pathological complete response rate of the 54 patients was 13.0%, and 31.5% were judged as pathological responders. However, the R0 resection rate of 77.0% in the entire cohort did not meet the endpoint. CONCLUSIONS: NAC with SOX plus Bev has an acceptable toxicity profile and achieved a satisfactory pathological response. However, accuracy of pre-operative diagnoses and liver dysfunction caused by NAC were serious problems. Easy introduction of NAC for initially resectable CRLM should not be performed.

[A case of ischemic colitis induced by hypereosinophilic syndrome].

A 58-year-old man came to our hospital, complaining of diarrhea and bloody stool of about 2 weeks' duration. Colonoscopic examination showed mucosal edema and bleeding, and irregular ulcer in the transverse colon and sigmoid colon. Laboratory data indicated elevated WBC (22300/mm(3)) and CRP (11.93mg/dl), and hypereosinophilia (30%). We diagnosed ischemic colitis with thrombosis due to hypereosinophilic syndrome. He started medication with prednisolone and heparin. However, after 15 days, he underwent emergency surgery because of perforation of the sigmoid colon. Thrombosis is associated with a high incidence of hypereosinophilia. It is important to consider the possibility of ischemic colitis associated with hypereosinophilic syndrome.

Diagnosis and treatment of inferior vena caval invasion by hepatic cancer.

Hepatectomy with concomitant resection of the inferior vena cava (IVC) has become common for hepatic malignancies involving the IVC. However, diagnosing IVC invasion and the procedure of choice have yet to be standardized. Medical records of nine patients with liver cancer (five metastatic tumors from colorectal cancer and four intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas) believed to have directly invaded the IVC wall were retrospectively abstracted for data on preoperative radiologic studies, surgical procedures, histology of the resected specimen, and treatment outcome. All nine patients underwent hepatectomy: Five did not undergo IVC resection because the IVC could be isolated from the tumor; the remaining four underwent combined IVC resection (wedge and segmental resections in two each). The segmentally resected IVC was reconstructed using an external iliac vein graft. Total hepatic vascular exclusion, venovenous bypass, and the ex vivo technique were not used. Interestingly, the tumor was smaller and the percentage of the IVC circumference in contact with tumor as seen on computed tomography (CT) was less in patients with IVC invasion than in those without it (40 +/- 11 vs. 134 +/- 61 mm, p < 0.05; 30% +/- 8% vs. 60% +/- 20%, p < 0.05). The length of the IVC compressed by tumor on cavography was similar in the two patient groups (47 +/- 9 vs. 55 +/- 8 mm). All patients were discharged from the hospital in good condition: Seven died of cancer recurrence, and the remaining two are currently alive and disease-free 15 and 73 months after surgery, respectively. In conclusion, imaging modalities demonstrating caval deformation, such as CT and cavography, are unreliable for diagnosing direct invasion of the IVC wall. Even when IVC invasion is strongly suggested by conventional radiologic studies, the surgeon should endeavor to peel the tumor from the IVC. This strategy is important to avoid unnecessary resection of the IVC, use of a prosthetic graft, or ex vivo hepatectomy.