Bile emboli were found at autopsy in the small pulmonary arteries of a 68-year-old man with a past history of polyposis coli who had required percutaneous transhepatic drainage of his biliary tree because of an obstructing ampullary carcinoma. A communication between the biliary tract and a hepatic vein was shown to be due to the catheter. Eight previously reported cases of bile pulmonary emboli have been found. All but one had a clear history of hepatic trauma or intrahepatic abscess. Bile pulmonary embolism is a rare, occasionally fatal, complication of fistulous communication between the biliary tree and the hepatic venous system.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clear-cell adenocarcinoma of the female urethra.

Malignant cells were found in the urine of a 54-year-old woman. The papillary tumor subsequently removed from the posterior wall of the urethra proved to be a clear-cell adenocarcinoma. The cytologic, histologic and ultrastructural features of this tumor were very similar to clear-cell adenocarcinomas arising in the female genital tract, suggesting a possible Müllerian origin of this neoplasm.

Adenocarcinoma↗