Acrocyanosis as a heralding sign of ovarian benign teratoma.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
L Melini
Publications and source records attributed to L Melini.
Combined endoscopic and surgical management of Dieulafoy vascular malformation.
BACKGROUND: Dieulafoy's disease (exulceratio simplex) is an uncommon cause of gastric hemorrhage as a result of an abnormally large, submucosal, eroded gastric artery, often located in the upper part of the stomach. It represents a clinical challenge because of the intermittent nature of massive bleeding accounting for a constantly fatal course in conservatively (nonsurgically or nonendoscopically) treated patients. Published therapeutic options include techniques of endoscopic hemostasis or operative procedures. STUDY DESIGN: Herein we report two patients in whom a combined endoscopic and operative approach was performed to obtain a definitive prevention of rebleeding and an undoubted anatomopathologic diagnosis. RESULTS: Our innovative combined endoscopic and operative approach has offered three significant advantages: endoscopic preoperative diagnosis and control of the bleeding; valid aid in the intraoperative localization of hemorrhagic lesions, which is erratic intraoperatively, requires gastrotomy, and prolongs the duration of operation; and endoscopy-guided limited wedge resection as opposed to standard techniques involving gastrotomy for simple ligation or oversewing of the involved vessel, local excision, or wide wedge resections that used to be recommended until the recent past. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm that seemingly obscure origins of massive recurring hemorrhage of the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract should increase the suspicion of Dieulafoy's disease, prompting careful examination of the gastric fundic area and greater curvature. Endoscopic hemostasis is the first choice; whenever operative treatment is indicated (because of the endoscopic or clinical situation), it should be as conservative as possible because of intraoperative endoscopic localization of the bleeding source.
Aged↗
Are routine duodenal and antral biopsies useful in the management of "functional" dyspepsia? A diagnostic and therapeutic study.
Fifty-three patients with previously uninvestigated chronic dyspepsia symptoms in the absence of gastrointestinal or extra-gastrointestinal disease (functional dyspepsia) underwent antral and duodenal mucosal biopsies to detect the role of such samplings in the presence of normal endoscopic findings. Patients were enrolled in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, receiving either eradicating treatment (colloidal bismuth subcitrate plus metronidazole) or placebo if they had Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis (20 patients), or cisapride or placebo if they had normal antral mucosa (28 cases). Unsuspected celiac sprue was found in one patient. Eradicating treatment ameliorated histological gastritis (p = 0.01). However, owing to great placebo efficacy, symptom remission rates following a 1-month wash-out period in both treatment groups were no higher than that in controls. Independent of the initial randomization, an extremely low symptom recurrence rate was observed during a drug-free follow-up study equivalent to the mean duration of symptoms before enrollment. We conclude that in functional dyspepsia, bulbar and antral biopsies are not useful in clinical management, equivalent symptom relief can be achieved in patients randomly assigned to both drugs and placebos, and such improvement can be long lasting in the absence of any maintenance treatment. We believe the prevalence of unsuspected villous atrophy and the therapeutic role of investigation-based reassurance deserve further assessment.
Adult↗
Right colon adenocarcinoma presenting as Bacteroides fragilis liver abscesses.
Pyogenic abscesses of the liver occur in association with a variety of diseases. Sometimes they are caused by anaerobic infections of liver metastases. Uncommonly, however, multiple hepatic abscesses caused by anaerobic bacteria are the presenting signs of unsuspected colonic cancer in the absence of liver metastases. We report a 60-year-old man who presented with febrile cholestatic liver disease initially thought to be metastases. Repeated ultrasound-directed liver biopsies yielded a diagnosis of multiple abscesses. Bacteroides fragilis was grown from the liver specimen and the patient responded well to metronidazole treatment. Two months later, however, overt symptoms of large bowel disease led to the diagnosis of colonic adenocarcinoma. After a 6-month postoperative follow-up, the patient is free of liver metastases. Anaerobic liver abscesses should always alert the clinician to possible silent colonic cancer.
Adenocarcinoma↗
Hemoductal pancreatitis secondary to gastroduodenal artery-ruptured pseudoaneurysm: a rare cause of hematemesis.
A 65-yr-old alcoholic man with a history of calcific pancreatitis presented with massive hematemesis complicated by lipothymia. Physical examination disclosed stigmata of chronic liver disease. The laboratory picture was predominantly of cholestatic type with impaired liver protein synthetic activity. Emergency esophagogastroduodenoscopy was unable to provide definitive diagnosis, but reendoscopy with a side-viewing duodenoscope revealed active bleeding through the ampulla of Vater. An ultrasound examination showed a large, complex pancreatic lesion that computed tomography showed to be a pancreatic pseudocyst with an inside pseudoaneurysm. A visceral angiography revealed an anomalous arising of the common hepatic artery from the superior mesenteric artery and a pseudoaneurysm of the gastroduodenal artery at its origin. A second massive hemorrhage required an emergency operation, and surgical liver biopsy revealed focal steatosis. In conclusion, bleeding of a pancreatic pseudoaneurysm may be massive but intermittent, and side-viewing duodenoscopy, even prolonged, is essential in the diagnosis.
Aged↗
Peptic ulcer in migrants. Seven case-reports from Italy.
Migrant workers in Central Europe are reported to suffer from an increased prevalence of both duodenal and gastric ulcer as compared to native population. No information is available, however, as far as Italy is concerned. The Authors have thought of interest to report on 7 cases of peptic ulcer disease occurring in migrant workers in Italy. Patients were young adult males from African or Mediterranean developing Countries. In 5 cases the symptoms of their peptic ulcers began after their arrival in Italy. The etiopathogenesis of peptic ulcer was likely to include an interaction among emotional stress, low income, shift and manual work, cigarette smoking and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs self-administration. This last factor has not been reported in literature. The hypothesis that migrant workers in Italy are a peptic ulcer-prone population needs further confirmation for its clinical and social implications.
Adult↗