Iron deficiency anaemia over the last decades - Osler's disease diagnosed by Doppler and contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

CASE REPORT: A 72-year-old woman with a 30-year history of iron deficiency anaemia was admitted for fatigue and increasing weakness. On physical examination, the patient appeared dyspneic and pallor. The tongue showed angiodysplasias. Laboratory analysis showed a microcytary anaemia with an iron deficiency. Firstly a routine ultrasound examination (iU22, Philips Medical Systems) was performed. A left accessory artery, a dilated common hepatic artery and ectatic tortuous intrahepatic liver arteries were found. A contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) detected two intrahepatic arteriosystemic shunts in the left liver lobe. Endoscopy revealed multiple angiodysplasias of the stomach and the duodenum, 4 isolated angiodysplasias in the colon and telangiectasias in the oropharyngeal region. The angiodysplasias were treated with argon plasma coagulation. Osler's disease was diagnosed based on the Curacao criteria. CONCLUSION: Transabdominal B-mode sonography in combination with colour Doppler, pulsed wave Doppler and contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a very important tool to detect hepatic vascular malformations. It is an excellent procedure for the screening of patients with an iron deficiency anaemia. For the first time, we have demonstrated CEUS as an additional approach in the diagnosis of liver involvement in patients with Osler's disease.

[Ultrasonographic diagnosis of a biliary-digestive fistula with gallstone ileus]. / Sonographische Diagnose einer biliodigestiven Fistel mit Gallensteinileus.

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 72-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and obstipation. INVESTIGATIONS: Percutaneous ultrasound found aerobilia, a biliary-digestive fistula, and an ileus with gallstones within the small bowel. The findings were confirmed at computed tomography. TREATMENT AND COURSE: A gallstone ileus on the basis of a biliary-digestive fistula was diagnosed. The patient was treated by surgery and with antibiotics. CONCLUSION: This case report demonstrates that percutaneous ultrasonography should be used as the first imaging procedure in the diagnosis of acute abdominal pain. This procedure makes it possible to detect a gallstone ileus. It is important also to define various intestinal structures accurately.

Advances in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis.

Early and accurate assessment of both the aetiology and the severity of acute pancreatitis enables clinicians to follow therapeutic algorithms and can result in better outcomes. Technological advances over the past decade, in particular the development of imaging modalities, have revolutionised the management of patients with acute pancreatitis. This article reviews approaches to determining the diagnosis, aetiology and severity of acute pancreatitis, with particular emphasis on new imaging techniques.

Severe gastrointestinal disease due to HIV-1-seronegative AIDS.

An HIV-1 seronegative man presented with odynophagia, dysphagia, diarrhea, tenesmus and a 50-lb weight loss. A large esophageal ulcer and a rectal fissure were identified endoscopically. Stool samples and biopsy specimens from the esophageal ulcer, duodenum, colon and rectum were negative for pathogens. Seronegative AIDS was suspected, and high levels of HIV-1 mRNA (> 242,000 copies/mL) were detected. The esophageal ulcer responded to oral steroids and the HIV-1 infection to highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). The virus isolated from the patient and an HIV-1 seropositive, asymptomatic, female sex worker with whom he had recently terminated a one-year heterosexual relationship showed sequence homology, indicating her as the source of his virus. The unusual presentation of severe gastrointestinal disease in an HIV-1 seronegative man with HIV-1 viremia underscores the importance of including AIDS in the differential diagnosis of wasting syndrome (i. e., B-type symptoms such as fever, night sweats, weight loss) in patients who are HIV-1 seronegative but at risk for AIDS.

Feasibility of double-balloon enteroscopy-assisted chromoendoscopy of the small bowel in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) are at increased risk of developing duodenal and jejunal adenocarcinomas. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of double-balloon enteroscopy- (DBE-) assisted chromoendoscopy for the detection and characterization of small-bowel polyps in patients with FAP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a prospective evaluation of patients with clinically and genetically proved FAP who were enrolled in an endoscopic surveillance program. DBE was performed using a Fujinon intestinoscope (FN 450P 5/20; Fujinon Corp., Omiya, Japan), and chromoendoscopy was performed using indigo carmine. The severity of small bowel polyposis was based on the Spigelman-Saurin classification. RESULTS: Nine patients underwent DBE-assisted chromoendoscopy. Small-bowel polyps (including papillary adenomas) were detected in seven patients (88 %). The mean depth of small-bowel insertion was 180 cm (range 120-320 cm). The mean Spigelman-Saurin score was 4.6 (range 0-8). Jejunal polyps were detected in six patients (67 %). Chromoendoscopy aided in the detection of additional polyps in two patients. In one patient the polyps were flat and only visible with chromoendoscopy (biopsy confirmed these to be adenomas). Jejunal polyps and advanced neoplasms were more frequent in patients with APC gene mutations in exon 15. The following endoscopic therapies were performed: polypectomy (n = 1), duodenal mucosectomy (n = 1), and ablation therapy with argon plasma coagulation (n = 2). CONCLUSIONS: DBE was found to be a helpful method for the evaluation of small-bowel polyps in patients with FAP. DBE-assisted chromoendoscopy was of further assistance for the detection of jejunal polyps.

Echo enhanced ultrasound: a new valid initial imaging approach for severe acute pancreatitis.

AIM: This prospective study aimed to compare the accuracy of echo enhanced ultrasound with spiral computed tomography (CT) in assessing acute pancreatitis and to explore the correlation between ultrasound findings and clinical outcome. METHODS: Thirty one patients (24 men and 7 women, median age 39 years, range 19-67 years) with acute pancreatitis were investigated by contrast enhanced CT and echo enhanced ultrasound within 72 hours after admission. Echo enhanced ultrasound (with intravenous injection of 2.4 ml SonoVue, pulse inversion technique, mechanical index 0.1 to 0.2, Siemens Elegra) was performed following conventional ultrasound. Balthazar's grading system was used to measure CT and ultrasound severity indices (CTSI and USSI). Correlations between CTSI and USSI and between USSI and clinical parameters were tested by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. RESULTS: A strong correlation was demonstrated between CTSI and USSI (r = 0.807, p<0.01). Ultrasound correlated with the following: the Ranson score (r = 0.401, p<0.05), C-reactive protein levels 48 hours after admission (r = 0.536, p<0.01), duration of hospitalisation (r = 0.422, p<0.05), and clinical outcome regarding morbidity, including local and systemic complications (r = 0.363, p<0.05). Based on CT findings as the gold standard, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ultrasound for detecting severe acute pancreatitis based on imaging criteria (Balthazar score D or E and/or presence of hypoperfusion compatible with necrosis and/or SI>/=3) were, respectively, 82% (95% CI 61 to 93), 89% (95% CI 57 to 98), 95% (95% CI 75 to 99), and 67% (95% CI 39 to 86). CONCLUSION: Echo enhanced ultrasound produces excellent results in the staging of acute pancreatitis severity. The procedure is cheaper and has fewer contraindications than CT. Further multicentre studies need to be performed before including the method in the diagnostic algorithm of patients with acute pancreatitis.

[Sonographic diagnosis of a liver abscess caused by an enterohepatic fistula in a patient with Crohn's disease]. / Sonographische Diagnose eines Leberabszesses infolge einer enterohepatischen Fistel bei einem Patienten mit Morbus Crohn.

Liver abscesses in patients with Crohn's disease are rare. We report on a patient with Crohn's disease and a liver abscess of the left lobe caused by an enterohepatic fistula. With treatment of antibiotics and Infliximab the abscess showed complete regression. Percutaneous drainage of the liver abscess was not performed because the abscess was shown not to be completely liquefied at echo-enhanced ultrasound. This case report demonstrates the usefulness of percutaneous conventional and echo-enhanced ultrasound for the diagnosis of liver abscesses. Furthermore, this case also shows that enterohepatic fistulas can be diagnosed precisely with percutaneous ultrasound.