Scintigraphic diagnosis of hepatic hemangioma: its role in the management of hepatic mass lesions.

Hepatic cavernous hemangiomas are benign tumors of the liver that are often an incidental finding. They are usually asymptomatic but may cause symptoms when traumatized, may bleed spontaneously, or may produce pain by virtue of their large size and mass effect. A retrospective analysis of the clinical presentation, liver function tests, and diagnostic imaging procedures in 20 patients with hepatic hemangiomas is presented and the literature is reviewed. The 20 patients had 27 mass lesions as seen on liver scintigraphy, computed tomography, or sonography. Technetium-99m-labeled red blood cell flow studies and blood pool scintigrams showed delayed filling of the mass lesions, diagnostic of hemangiomas. This finding was not encountered in any other type of lesion. A new diagnostic algorithm is proposed in which blood-flow and blood-pool scintigraphy play a more prominent role in the diagnostic workup. According to this algorithm, if liver function tests in a patient with hepatic mass are either normal or abnormal and suggestive of hepatocellular dysfunction, the patient should undergo hepatic blood-flow and blood-pool studies.

Renal infarction after aerobics.

Renal infarction is most frequently due to emboli from the heart or aorta. Other causes include atheromatous disease, renal artery aneurysm, vasculitis, hypotension, hypercoagulable states, aortic dissection, and major trauma. Most renal infarctions are segmental. The extent of disease is dependent upon the size and number of renal vessels involved, coexistent renal disease, and collateral circulation. Flank pain, fever, leukocytosis, hematuria, renal failure, or hypertension may suggest the diagnosis, but these findings are nonspecific and diagnosis will depend not only on history and physical examination, but also on the appropriate imaging tests. The type of treatment is dictated by the etiology of the infarction.

Mediastinal needle biopsy.

A review of 52 consecutive needle biopsies of the mediastinum is presented. The aspirated material yielded cytologic and/or histologic diagnosis in 50 needle biopsies; two needle biopsies failed to yield adequate cellular material for diagnosis. All but two of the 50 patients had confirmation of the biopsy diagnosis by surgical, autopsy, or clinical correlation. In 32 patients, a 20-gauge needle was used for the biopsy. A larger-bore (17-gauge) needle with a cutting device was used in 20 cases to obtain more tissue for histologic diagnosis of benign or unusual malignant lesions. Despite the larger size of the needle, the rate of complications remained low.