Choledocholithiasis: a prospective study of spontaneous common bile duct stone migration.

BACKGROUND: The rate of spontaneous migration of bile duct stones through the duodenal papilla is not well known. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) has been the standard method to diagnose bile duct stones, but accumulating data show there is a good agreement between ERC and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence and time course of stone migration in patients with bile duct stones by analyzing discrepancies between EUS and ERC as a function of the elapsed time between these two procedures. Stone migration was considered as the absence of stones at time of ERC regardless of the number of stones seen at EUS. METHODS: The main criterion for inclusion was the presence of bile duct stone as shown by EUS. Ninety-two consecutive patients were prospectively included in this study. RESULTS: Choledocholithiasis was absent at ERC in 12 patients. In univariate analysis, presence of gallbladder was significantly associated with an increased rate of stone migration (correction for multiple testing would remove this statistical significance). The size of the stone was the only independent factor to predict migration. CONCLUSION: Migration occurred in about 21% of cases within 1 month. Our study emphasizes the need to analyze carefully the results of comparative imaging studies of bile duct stones.

[Plurifocal alveolar pneumonia in a patient with AIDS: disseminated Mycobacterium avium intracellulare infection with difficult diagnosis]. / Pneumopathie alvéolaire plurifocale chez un patient atteint de SIDA: une infection disséminée à Mycobacterium avium intracellulare de diagnostic difficile.

In patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), manifestations of generalized Mycobacterium avium intracellulare infection are non-specific and pneumopathy is rarely encountered. We report a case of a patient with AIDS who had clinical and radiological manifestations of multifocal alveolar pneumopathy which was found on autopsy to be due to disseminated Mycobacterium avium intracellulare.