Primary aortoenteric fistula in the Emergency Department.

A primary aortoenteric fistula is a rare, life-threatening cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. Primary aortoenteric fistula results most commonly from an abdominal aortic aneurysm, with the fistula forming most often between the aorta and the third portion of the duodenum. Often, the classic triad of abdominal pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, and pulsatile mass is absent. A heraldic bleed frequently precedes lethal exsanguination from a primary aortoenteric fistula. Patient survival is dependent on prompt diagnosis and emergent therapeutic laparotomy.

Peroral enteroscopic removal of a retained percutaneous transhepatic guidewire from the jejunum using a colonoscope.

Several authors have described the ability to perform small-intestine endoscopy with long, flexible fiberscopes. A peroral colonoscope has been used for small-bowel enteroscopy and biopsy. A pediatric colonoscope for jejunoscopy has been described. Herein we report a patient undergoing percutaneous transhepatic decompression for the extrahepatic biliary obstruction in whom the guidewire broke and was lost in the liver. The proximal end of the wire was within the liver, while the distal end exited the ampulla and lay within the upper jejunum. Utilizing a peroral approach with the flexible pediatric colonoscope, we recovered the guidewire without advancing it further into the jejunum, where it may have been lost and have necessitated a celiotomy.

Clinical and pathologic features of primary gastric rhabdomyosarcoma.

The authors report a case of a collision tumor composed of a primary gastric rhabdomyosarcoma intermingled with an adjacent infiltrating gastric adenocarcinoma. Only eight cases of gastric rhabdomyosarcoma have been reported previously and little information is recorded about the behavior of this tumor. Gastric rhabdomyosarcoma has several distinctive clinical features. It is a highly aggressive tumor (median survival, 2.5 months) occurring in both children and adults and frequently presents as metastatic disease to lung or cervical lymph node. The initial diagnosis is often difficult to establish, especially on biopsy material. In several instances, the correct diagnosis was established only at autopsy. The authors' patient was correctly diagnosed during life and received considerable benefit from cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine (CAV) therapy and survived for 26 months after diagnosis. Two of the previously reported eight cases of primary gastric rhabdomyosarcoma and this case have adjacent admixed glandular gastric adenocarcinomas. Since three of the nine known cases of primary gastric rhabdomyosarcoma have an adjacent admixed gastric adenocarcinoma, there appears to be a greater than chance association between these two tumors.

Pancreatic giant cell carcinoma of the osteoclastic type: response to 5-fluorouracil and radiation.

A case of pancreatic giant cell carcinoma of the osteoclastic type is presented. The findings of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography, angiography, computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging scans are described for the first time for this rare neoplasm, showing a large, nonresectable pancreatic tumor. The patient's clinical course is followed during treatment with 5-fluorouracil and radiation therapy, documenting response by computerized tomography scan. The cases reported in the literature are reviewed and surgical and medical treatments are discussed. A combination of 5-fluorouracil and radiation therapy is the first medical treatment with a documented response.