Extra-abdominal lumbar abscesses caused by retroperitoneal gastrointestinal perforations through the lumbar triangle of Petit: report of two cases diagnosed by CT.

Extra-abdominal abscesses of gastrointestinal origin developing within the lumbar subcutaneous tissues are extremely rare. We report two cases of retroperitoneal bowel perforation presenting spontaneously at admission with a lumbar abscess trespassing the lumbar triangle of Petit, a classical "locus of minus resistencia" of the posterior abdominal wall. The first case was caused by perforation of a retrocecal appendicitis--being concomitantly responsible of a necrotizing fasciitis of the thigh--and in the second case perforation was caused by left colonic diverticulitis. In both cases, the full diagnosis was made with abdominal CT. The patients were threatened by a two-step surgical approach comprising a direct posterior percutaneous drainage of the abscess followed by classical laparotomy.

MDCT diagnosis of ruptured tubal pregnancy with massive hemoperitoneum.

We report a case of ruptured tubal pregnancy with massive life-threatening hemoperitoneum. The 38 year-old woman presented with gynaecologic haemorrhage, pelvic pain and hypovolemic shock. Without any ambiguity, the diagnosis was directly made during contrast enhanced Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT). Massive hemoperitoneum with fresh blood clots in the hypogastric area, active free peritoneal extravasation of intravascular contrast material and dramatic peripheral enhancement, - "ring of fire" sign - of an adnexal cystic structure were the key signs. These signs must be known by the emergency radiologist because of the more and more use of CT as the first imaging modality in emergency departments particularly for patients with abdominal pain and presenting life-threatening symptoms.

Spiral CT and multidetector-row CT diagnosis of perforation of the small intestine caused by ingested foreign bodies.

The aim of this retrospective study was to emphasize the performances of spiral CT (HCT) and multidetector-row CT (MDCT) as very effective imaging modalities for the diagnosis of intestinal perforations caused by calcified alimentary foreign bodies. Eight sites of perforations of the ileum by ingested foreign bodies were found in seven patients--one patient presenting with two separate sites of perforation. The diagnosis was successfully made by HCT in four patients and MDCT in the remaining three. Involuntarily and generally unconsciously ingested chicken and fish bones were the implicated calcified foreign bodies. The acute clinical presentations were nonspecific, mimicking more common acute abdominal conditions. A thickened intestinal segment (7/8 sites) with localized pneumoperitoneum (4/8 sites), surrounded by fatty infiltration (4/8 sites) and associated with already present or developing obstruction or sub-obstruction (5/7 patients) were the most common CT signs, but the definite diagnosis was clearly made by the identification of the calcified foreign bodies (7/7 patients). In each patient, this identification was only possible thanks to the scrupulous analysis of very thin overlapping reconstructions obtained not only in the perforation sites (6/8 sites), but also through the entire abdomen (2/8 sites). Our report emphasizes the high performances of CTA and MDCT in identifying intestinal perforation caused by calcified alimentary foreign bodies. Moreover, the high specificity of the CT diagnosis made it possible to avoid surgerical exploration in three patients.