Percutaneous drainage of pancreatic and peripancreatic fluid collections.

Radiographically guided therapeutic percutaneous catheter drainage was used to manage 25 patients with 27 pancreatic and peripancreatic fluid collections. Nine of 11 (82%) noninfected and 11 of 16 (69%) infected collections were successfully managed with percutaneous drainage. Overall, eight complications and four deaths occurred in this group of patients. The morbidity and mortality in this series is somewhat higher than that previously reported in the radiologic literature. A discussion of the guidelines for percutaneous drainage is presented.

Lung lesions: cytologic diagnosis by fine-needle biopsy.

Small-bore (22- or 23-gauge) needles were used to aspirate 458 lung masses. Sensitivity for the detection of malignancy by this method was 96.6% (312 of 323 patients); accuracy was 98.7%. Surgical confirmation was available for comparison in over half of patients with malignancy. Histologic reclassification of malignancy occurred in only 6.1% of patients, with significant misclassification (misdiagnosis of small cell carcinoma) occurring in only two instances. One hundred thirteen of 117 nonmalignant conditions were properly categorized, with an overall specificity of 96.6%. No major complication occurred. While several recent studies have stressed the advantage of using larger needles, to overcome the limitation of smaller aspiration needles that provide only cytologic material, small-needle aspiration appears to be a safe, reliable, and accurate means for diagnosing lung lesions.

Sonographic findings in abdominal pregnancy.

The sonograms of 20 proven cases of abdominal pregnancy were evaluated to determine the frequency of specific abnormalities associated with this condition. The most frequent and reliable finding was separation of the uterus from the fetus (90%). Extrauterine placenta (75%) and oligohydramnios (45%) were next in frequency. Other features such as fetal parts close to the maternal abdominal wall (25%), failure to visualize myometrium between the fetus or placenta and maternal bladder (15%), abnormal fetal lie (25%), poor visualization of the placenta (25%), and maternal bowel gas impeding fetal visualization (25%) were noted.

Biliary decompression: an institutional comparison of percutaneous and endoscopic methods.

Endoscopically performed biliary drainage (EPBD) is now an alternative to percutaneous biliary drainage. The morbidity, mortality, and survival statistics of 97 patients with obstructive jaundice who had undergone percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) and surgery, PTBD alone, EPBD and surgery, or EPBD alone were compared. Overall, the EPBD group had fewer complications and lower mortality than the other groups. When palliative treatment of patients with malignancies was compared, the complication rates associated with EPBD and PTBD were similar; however, mortality was lower with EPBD. No negative effect on survival was found with EPBD. In addition, EPBD offered several additional advantages over PTBD, including fewer bleeding complications, better patient acceptance, and avoidance of external catheter care. EPBD should be considered as a viable alternative to PTBD. Additional studies are needed to determine whether it is to be considered the initial drainage procedure of choice in patients with obstructive jaundice.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the abnormal female pelvis.

Twenty-three women with 27 instances of pelvic pathology were evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Different pulse sequences were used, which varied the dependence of the images on T1 and T2. Sonography was performed on 22 of the 23 patients. Five patients had CT examinations, including the patient who did not have sonography. MRI was also done in four normal volunteers. The spatial resolution of the MRI scans with short TR and TE intervals approached that of CT. There was overlap of MRI signal characteristics between various pathologic entities and also within the same entity (e.g., cystadenomas and endometriomas).

Biopsy needle characteristics assessed in the laboratory.

Radiologists are frequently called upon to perform percutaneous biopsy. Selection of the proper needle is becoming more complex as the number of types increases and reports of better results with certain needles proliferate. The authors evaluated a wide variety of needles of different caliber, cutting tip, and bevel. Using a standard biopsy technique for in vitro specimens, the samples were analyzed quantitatively by precise weight measurement and qualitatively by cytopathological means. It was concluded that large-bore needles were superior to "skinny" needles, and small-bore needles having an acute bevel angle were superior to flat-bevel needles of similar gauge in terms of specimen size and preservation.