Primary de novo angiosarcoma of the pleura.

Primary angiosarcoma of the pleura is an extremely rare soft tissue tumor with a poor prognosis. We report a case of primary angiosarcoma of the pleura in which the patient was admitted for dyspnea and massive bilateral recurrent hemothorax with fatal outcome. We also review the literature.

Wilke's syndrome. A rare cause of duodenal obstruction.

Wilke's syndrome is a rare cause of partial or complete duodenal obstruction due to exterior compression of the third part of the duodenum by the superior mesenteric artery. It is a true syndrome with characteristic clinical picture which should be included in the differential diagnosis of chronic duodenal ileus. It is initially treated conservatively and then operatively in case of failure of the conservative treatment or if the patient is not willing to follow the medical treatment. We present a case report of Wilke's syndrome with a literature review on this pathologic entity.

Topographic anatomy of bronchial arteries in the pig: a corrosion cast study.

The anatomy of porcine bronchial circulation has not been fully described. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extrapulmonary topographic anatomy of bronchial arteries in pig. Ten pigs weighing 15-25 kg were studied. Between one and four bronchial arteries were found in each pig. The bronchoesophageal artery (BEA), tracheobronchial artery (TBA), inferior bronchial artery (IBA) and accessory bronchial artery (ABA) were present in 10/10, 8/10, 6/10 and 2/10 animals, respectively. The trunk of BEA had a diameter of about 3 mm, a length of 1-7 mm, and originated from the anterior and medial aspect of the descending thoracic aorta at the level between the 2nd and 4th thoracic vertebrae (T2-T4) in all animals. The extrapulmonary topographic anatomy of bronchial arteries in pigs exhibits similarities to that of humans. BEA is the main blood supplier of the porcine tracheobronchial tree with a relatively constant location of origin and a sufficient size for anastomosis. These characteristics render BEA the ideal vessel for bronchial revascularization in pigs.