Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D B Downey.
Orthotopic small-bowel transplantation procedures are being performed increasingly often worldwide. CT plays an important role in both the preoperative assessment and the postoperative care of these patients. This pictorial essay serves to acquaint radiologists with the CT findings related to small-bowel transplantation.
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Five patients with splanchnic arterial aneurysms and one patient with a tortuous splenic vessel presented with peripancreatic masses that exhibited an anechoic portion in real-time ultrasonography (US) images; the masses were incorrectly diagnosed as pseudocysts. In two patients a vascular abnormality was suspected, and colour-flow Doppler and pulsed Doppler US were performed; these techniques showed the presence of pseudoaneurysms. In the other four patients the possibility of a pseudoaneurysm was not entertained until further studies had been performed. These results emphasize the need for colour-duplex US evaluation of all peripancreatic fluid collections during the initial US examination to avoid the misinterpretation of an aneurysm or a pseudoaneurysm as a simple or complex fluid collection and to prevent the potential disaster of performing biopsy, surgery or other interventions.
The sonographic features of pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) are described in 13 patients and correlated with clinical, radiologic, and pathologic findings. At sonography, the wall of the entire colon was moderately to markedly thickened in all patients. The enlarged colon wall was most commonly shown as a wide band of heterogeneous medium echogenicity surrounded by a narrow hypoechoic layer. Pathologic correlations proved that the wide inner stratum represented severely edematous submucosa and mucosa, while the outer layer depicted the muscularis propria. Almost complete effacement of the lumen of the colon occurred secondary to the mural edema in 69% of the cases. The dearth of intraluminal gas combined with thickening of the colon wall and ascites facilitated excellent sonographic evaluation. The diagnosis of PMC is strongly suggested by the presence of these sonographic features in a patient with watery diarrhea and a history of antibiotic therapy.
The authors describe a case of acute cecal diverticulitis in which the ultrasonographic features, as well as the clinical features, mimicked those of acute appendicitis. Though rare, acute cecal diverticulitis is an important differential diagnosis when ultrasonographic features suggest acute appendicitis, because the condition can be managed initially without surgery.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We present a case of reversible psoas muscle calcification associated with acute renal failure and alcohol intoxication. The CT demonstration of calcification led to the recognition of rhabdomyolysis.