ABSTRACT
Prognosis for patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is very poor, and most patients are beyond cure by the time the diagnosis has been made. The pathogenesis of this uncommon neoplasm seems to be related to asbestos and radiation exposure. The authors report a case of diffuse peritoneal mesothelioma in a 33-year-old man. Since the patient complained of aspecific symptoms and both biochemical and "imaging" studies did not provide useful informations for a definitive diagnosis, an exploratory laparotomy was performed. Intraoperative histological findings demonstrated the presence of a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma which had spread all over the omentum; considering the inoperability assessment of this case, the operation was completed and the patient was dismissed with an adjuvant chemo-therapy. Five weeks later the patient died.
Subject(s)
Mesothelioma/pathology , Peritoneal Neoplasms/pathology , Adult , Humans , Lymph Nodes/pathology , Male , Mesothelioma/surgery , Omentum/pathology , Peritoneal Neoplasms/surgeryABSTRACT
The Authors report the case of a patient who, following a side-to-side Wirsung-jejunostomy for chronic pancreatitis, became symptomatic again for anastomotic obstruction and progression of the pancreatic disease. Results of pancreaticojejunostomy are compared to those reported by other Authors. Controversies on pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapy are analyzed as well.
