A rare case of ischaemic pneumatosis intestinalis and hepatic portal venous gas in an elderly patient with good outcome following conservative management.

INTRODUCTION: Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) and hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG) are typically associated and are likely to represent a spectrum of the same disease. The causes of both entities range from benign to life-threatening conditions. Ischaemic causes are known to be fatal without emergency surgical intervention. PRESENTATION OF CASE: In this case a 93year old male experienced acute abdominal pain radiating to his back, with nausea and vomiting and a 2-week history of altered bowel habit. Examination revealed abdominal tenderness and distension. He had deranged white cell count (WCC) and renal function. Computed tomography (CT) revealed PI with associated HPVG. The cause was due to ischaemic pathology. The patient was managed conservatively with antibiotics and was discharged 7days later with resolution of his abdominal pain and WCC. DISCUSSION: The pathogenesis of HPVG secondary to PI is poorly understood but usually indicates intestinal ischaemia, thought to carry a mortality of around 75%. HPVG in the older patient usually necessitates emergency surgery however this is not always in the patient's best interest. CONCLUSION: There are few reported cases of patient survival following conservative management of PI and HPVG secondary to ischaemic pathology. This case demonstrates the possibility of managing this condition without aggressive surgical intervention especially when surgery would likely result in mortality due to frailty and morbidity. Further work is required to identify suitable patients.

A potential pitfall of pelvic computed tomography.

The cross-sectional areas of the common iliac veins were measured by pelvic computed tomography (CT) in 51 patients. The left common iliac vein was significantly larger than the right (p less than 0.01) and in 35% of patients there was at least a two-fold difference between the cross-sectional areas of the veins. Recognition of this normal asymmetry is important when interpreting pelvic CT scans. It is thought to be due to the oblique course of the left common iliac vein and to partial obstruction of the left common iliac vein by the right common iliac artery.

The left ascending lumbar vein: a potential pitfall in CT diagnosis.

A communication between the left ascending lumbar vein and the left renal vein may be mistaken for a para-aortic mass on abdominal computed tomography due to a localised dilatation at the confluence of these veins. The use of contiguous closely collimated sections and the injection of intravenous contrast medium overcomes this potential pitfall which may be particularly important in the staging of patients with testicular neoplasms.

The posteroanterior chest radiograph in depressed sternum.

The posteroanterior and lateral chest radiographs of 72 consecutive patients with sternal depression, together with 72 age- and sex-matched controls, have been reviewed. We assessed size and position of the cardiac silhouette, mediastinal contour, radio-opacity in the right lower zone and rib configuration. The degree of depression was determined from the lateral radiograph. The most significant signs of sternal depression on the posteroanterior chest radiograph are a straight left heart border, displacement of the cardiac silhouette to the left and an indistinct right heart border. These three signs have a high specificity for sternal depression and are significantly more commonly seen with increasing severity of depression. The presence of any three, or of more than three, of the described signs was 95.5% specific. However, despite this high specificity, the sensitivity and positive predictive value even for a combination of signs are low. Sternal depression is a relatively common chest deformity and the radiologist should be aware of the changes on the posteroanterior chest radiograph to avoid pitfalls in diagnosis.

Crohn's disease limited to the mouth and anus.

A young girl developed painful swelling and ulceration of her lips and mouth. She had gingival hyperplasia, an anal fissure, and anal skin tags without evidence of intervening intestinal disease. A diagnosis of Crohn's disease was made. All lesions regressed with appropriate therapy. She remains asymptomatic 14 months after presentation.

The in vitro effect of high-dose recombinant human erythropoietin on granulocyte-macrophage colony production in premature infants using a defined serum deprived cell culture system.

Recent reports of neutropenia associated with the use of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEpo) in preterm infants with the anaemia of prematurity have raised concern over the clinical use of this hormone. The present studies were undertaken to determine whether high-dose r-HuEpo has an effect on granulocyte production in vitro. The studies used a serum deprived, optimized semi-solid cell culture system to investigate the effect of lineage specific and non-specific granulocyte and erythroid colony stimulating factors on circulating peripheral blood granulocyte-macrophage colony forming units (CFU-GM), erythroid burst forming units (BFU-E) and multilineage colonies (CFU-Mix) from nine premature infants and seven healthy adults. CFU-GM were grown in the presence of interleukin 3 (IL3) 8 ng/ml, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) 20 ng/ml and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) 15 ng/ml alone and combinations of G-CSF with GM-CSF or IL3. The number, size and differentiation of CFU-GM colonies were then analysed in the presence and absence of high dose r-HuEpo (4 U/ml). High-dose r-HuEpo did not exert any significant modulatory effects on the number of CFU-GM colonies produced in the presence of IL3, GM-CSF and G-CSF alone or in combination. The number of cells within each CFU-GM colony did not change significantly, nor was there a significant change in the degree of differentiation. The combined number of BFU-E, CFU-GM and CFU-Mix colonies increased with r-HuEpo in both adults (1.8 x) and preterm infants (1.4 x), almost exclusively due to an increase in BFU-E derived colonies. Thus, no evidence was found for an r-HuEpo mediated redirection of multipotential haemopoietic stem cells into committed erythroid precursors at the expense of myeloid precursors.

Serum amoxycillin levels following oral loading dose prior to outpatient general anaesthesia for dental extractions.

Serum amoxycillin levels were measured 4 h after oral administration of a 3 g loading dose given prior to outpatient dental treatment under general anesthesia. A mean level of 8.49 mg/l +/- (1 S.D.) 5.07 mg/l of amoxycillin was obtained, which is adequate at the time of bacteraemia to protect patients susceptible to bacterial endocarditis. A second identical dose of amoxycillin was given following recovery from anaesthesia (mean 18.7 min) and was tolerated by 97.6% of patients.