[Melena associated with a Brunner's adenoma]. / Melena op basis van een Brunner-adenoom.

A 68-year-old woman presented at the Casualty Department due to collapse, anaemia, fatigue and progressive dyspnoea. She suffered from melena, indicative of a haemorrhage in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Gastroduodenoscopy revealed the presence of a polyp in the duodenum, which was endoscopically resected. Pathological investigation demonstrated that the polyp was a Brunner's adenoma, i.e. a circumscript benign submucosal nodular hyperplasia of the Brunner's glands.

[Abdominal pain following placement of an endoprosthesis in the biliary duct]. / Buikpijnklachten na plaatsing van een endoprothese in de ductus choledochus.

A 76-year-old man presented with diffuse progressive abdominal pain. He had undergone endoscopic retrograde pancreaticocholangiography (ERCP) 5 weeks earlier for jaundice and increased levels of liver enzymes. A dilated biliary duct with multiple concrements had been seen, and a plastic endoprosthesis was placed. During a follow-up ERCP the stent was not found, and the obstruction was still present. Another stent was placed. Abdominal x-ray revealed migration of the first endoprosthesis to the distal jejunum and signs of ileus and free gas. CT showed that the stent was stuck in a perforated diverticulum of the sigmoid, surrounded by an abscess mass. The stent was removed by laparotomy, the perforation was closed, and a double-loop stoma was made. Two weeks after initial recovery, abdominal pain recurred. CT revealed a second dislocated stent with a perforation of the jejunum. Laparotomy was performed again with removal of the stent and repair of the perforation. Migration is a known complication of biliary endoprosthesis placement, and should be considered in cases of abdominal pain after ERCP. Perforations rarely occur and mostly affect areas of the bowel that are fixed or that present obstacles to normal elimination. Two perforations within a short period of time is an extremely rare complication of migration.

[A man with a classic serious milk-alkali syndrome and a carcinoma of the stomach]. / Een man met een ernstig klassiek melk-alkalisyndroom en een maagcarcinoom.

A 42-year-old man was transferred to the Emergency Department after his friends had found him unresponsive and confused in his room. He had been experiencing upper abdominal complaints for a period of several months. He had taken large amounts of a calcium carbonate/magnesium subcarbonate preparation (Rennie) and had consumed at least 3 litres of dairy products per day. His behaviour was reported as being more and more abnormal during the previous few weeks. On admission he was confused and agitated and had involuntary movements of his limbs. Laboratory investigation indicated a triple acid base disorder, i.e. metabolic alkalosis, respiratory alkalosis and high anion gap metabolic acidosis, with severe dehydration. The metabolic alkalosis was caused by the intake of large amounts of dairy and antacids: milk-alkali syndrome. The metabolic acidosis was the result of hypovolaemia and pre-renal renal failure and the respiratory alkalosis was caused by hyperventilation due to the organic psychosyndrome. The patient was treated with volume expansion by isotonic saline and the administration of potassium and he was sedated with low-dose midazolam, which led to a full respiratory compensation of the metabolic alkalosis. A few days following admission, both the plasma calcium concentration and renal function returned to normal; the acid-base disorder completely normalized and the organic psychosyndrome disappeared. On gastroduodenoscopy a gastric ulcer was found; biopsies revealed a signet ring cell adenocarcinoma of the stomach.