The Riddle of the Double Vision-A Rare Case of Intracranial Tumor: When Imaging Resolves the Mystery.

A 77-year-old-man with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II presented at our clinic for a routine ophthalmological exam. He complained of intermittent double vision. The ophthalmic examination revealed paralysis of III (n. oculomotorius) and VI (n. abducens) cranial nerves with ptosis, deficit in elevation and abduction of the left eye. The patient underwent urgent MRI imaging of the brain/orbits and paranasal sinuses, and urgent neurological assessment. MRI revealed a volume-occupying process, starting from the posterior wall of the left maxillary sinus with perineural diffusion and involvement of the homolateral trigeminal nerve, intracranial spread in the medial cranial fossa and involvement of the cavernous, sphenoidal sinuses and the orbital apex on the left side. Biopsy was performed, and the histology resulted in sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma with intracranial spread.

Neglected Anatomical Areas in Ovarian Cancer: Significance for Optimal Debulking Surgery.

Ovarian cancer (OC), the most lethal gynecological malignancy, usually presents in advanced stages. Characterized by peritoneal and lymphatic dissemination, OC necessitates a complex surgical approach usually involving the upper abdomen with the aim of achieving optimal cytoreduction without visible macroscopic disease (R0). Failures in optimal cytoreduction, essential for prognosis, often stem from overlooking anatomical neglected sites that harbor residual tumor. Concealed OC metastases may be found in anatomical locations such as the omental bursa; Morison's pouch; the base of the round ligament and hepatic bridge; the splenic hilum; and suprarenal, retrocrural, cardiophrenic and inguinal lymph nodes. Hence, mastery of anatomy is crucial, given the necessity for maneuvers like liver mobilization, diaphragmatic peritonectomy and splenectomy, as well as dissection of suprarenal, celiac, and cardiophrenic lymph nodes in most cases. This article provides a meticulous anatomical description of neglected anatomical areas during OC surgery and describes surgical steps essential for the dissection of these "neglected" areas. This knowledge should equip clinicians with the tools needed for safe and complete cytoreduction in OC patients.

Surgical Anatomy of the Liver-Significance in Ovarian Cancer Surgery.

INTRODUCTION: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among all gynecological malignancies. Most patients present with an advanced stage of the disease. The routes of spread in ovarian cancer include peritoneal dissemination, direct invasion, and lymphatic or hematogenous spread, with peritoneal and lymphatic spread being the most common among them. The flow direction of the peritoneal fluid makes the right subphrenic space a target site for peritoneal metastases, and the most frequently affected anatomical area in advanced cases is the right upper quadrant. Complete cytoreduction with no macroscopically visible disease is the most important prognostic factor. METHODS: We reviewed published clinical anatomy reports associated with surgery of the liver in cases of advanced ovarian cancer. RESULTS: The disease could disseminate anatomical areas, where complex surgery is required-Morrison's pouch, the liver surface, or porta hepatis. The aim of the present article is to emphasize and delineate the gross anatomy of the liver and its surgical application for oncogynecologists. Moreover, the association between the gross and microscopic anatomy of the liver is discussed. Additionally, the vascular supply and variations of the liver are clearly described. CONCLUSIONS: Oncogynecologists performing liver mobilization, diaphragmatic stripping, and porta hepatis dissection must have a thorough knowledge of liver anatomy, including morphology, variations, functional status, potential diagnostic imaging mistakes, and anatomical limits of dissection.

Vascular Anatomy and Variations of the Anterior Abdominal Wall - Significance in Abdominal Surgery.

Detailed knowledge of the human anatomy is an integral part of every surgical procedure. The majority of surgery related complications are due to a failure to possess appropriate knowledge of human anatomy. However, surgeons pay less attention of the anatomy of the anterior abdominal wall. It is composed of nine abdominal layers, which are composed of fascias, muscles, nerves, and vessels. Many superficial and deep vessels and their anastomoses supply the anterior abdominal wall. Moreover, anatomical variations of these vessels are often presented. Intraoperative and postoperative complications associated with entry and closure of the anterior abdominal wall could compromise the best surgical procedure. Therefore, sound knowledge of the vascular anatomy of the anterior abdominal wall is fundamental and a prerequisite to having a favourable quality of patient care. The purpose of the present article is to describe and delineate the vascular anatomy and variations of the anterior abdominal wall and its application in abdominal surgery. Consequently, the most types of abdominal incisions and laparoscopic accesses will be discussed. Furthermore, the possibility of vessels injury related to different types of incisions and accesses will be outlined in detail. Morphological characteristics and distribution pattern of the vascular system of the anterior abdominal wall is illustrated by using figures either from open surgery, different types of imaging modalities or embalmed cadaveric dissections. Oblique skin incisions in the upper or lower abdomen such as McBurney, Chevron and Kocher are not the topic of the present article.

Disorder of sexual development, urinary bladder duplication, pancake kidney and neural tube defect.

Congenital malformations of the urogenital system with fully developed duplications, such as urinary bladder, are sporadic. They are often present in the setting of endogenous molecular disbalance, such as steroid metabolism disturbances. Other rare manifestations of hormonal disbalance present as intersex conditions in which the individual has karyotype-specific internal genital organs with opposite-sex signs of the external genitalia, known as ambiguous genitalia. Congenital variations and malformations are often fully recognized and understood during radiological exams. Herein we present a unique case of a 2-month-old baby with female chromosomal sex and ambiguous genitalia together with the manifestation of several anatomical malformations: urinary bladder duplication in the coronal plane, pancake kidney with supernumerary renal arteries, 2 ureters and neural tube defect. Despite their low incidence rate, knowledge of such malformations is paramount for correct diagnosis and treatment in such cases.

Paraaortic Lymphadenectomy in Gynecologic Oncology-Significance of Vessels Variations.

Lymphadenectomy has been an essential part of the surgical treatment in surgical oncology, as the lymphatic channels and nodes are the main dissemination pathway for most of the gynecological cancers. Pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy are frequent surgical procedures in gynecologic oncology. Paraaortic lymph node dissection facilitates staging, prognosis, surgical and postoperative management of patients. It is one of the most challenging retroperitoneal surgeries. A comprehensive knowledge of the paraaortic region is mandatory. Intraoperative bleeding is the most common complication during lymphadenectomy due to direct vascular injury, poor tissue handling, exuberant retraction and possible anatomical variations of the vessels in the paraaortic region. Approximately, one-third of women will have at least one anatomic variation in the paraaortic region. It must be stressed that anomalous vessels may be encountered in every woman who will undergo surgery. Consequently, detailed knowledge of anatomical vessels variations is required in order to prevent iatrogenic vessel injury. The importance of these variations is well described in urology, vascular and general surgery. Conversely, in oncogynecological surgery, there are few articles, which described some of the vessels variations in the paraaortic region. The present article aims to propose a surgical classification and to describe the majority of vessels variation, which could be encountered during paraaortic lymphadenectomy in gynecologic oncology. Moreover, surgical considerations in order to prevent anomalous vessels injury are well described.

Patient doses in endovascular and hybrid revascularization of aortoiliac segment.

OBJECTIVES: Constantly increasing number of procedures performed - endovascular or hybrid in patients with aortoiliac occlusive disease during the last decades finds its explanation in the lower morbidity and mortality rates, compared to bypass surgery. The purpose of the current survey was to estimate patients' radiation exposure in aortoiliac segment after endovascular or hybrid revascularization and to study the main factors which have direct contribution. METHODS: A retrospective study of 285 procedures conducted with the help of a mobile C-arm system in 223 patients was performed. Procedures were grouped according to criteria such as: type of intervention, vascular access, level of complexity and operating team. Different analyses were performed within the groups and dose values. RESULTS: The median values of kerma-air product (KAP), the number of series and the peak skin dose (PSD) significantly increase with the increasing number of vascular accesses: for one access (16.68 Gy.cm2, 6 and 336 mGy), for two (56.93 Gy.cm2, 11 and 545 mGy), and for three (102.28 Gy.cm2, 15 and 781 mGy). Significant dependence was observed in the case of single access site between the type of access and the dose values: hybrid and retrograde common femoral artery/superficial femoral artery (CFA/SFA) endovascular accesses, 10.06 Gy.cm2/301 mGy and 13.23 Gy.cm2/318 mGy respectively, in contrast with the contralateral CFA and left brachial access, 33 Gy.cm2/421 mGy and 38.33 Gy.cm2/448 mGy respectively. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that the most important factors increasing the dose values are number and type of vascular accesses, followed by the combination and number of implanted stents with the complexity of the procedure. The PSD values for a single procedure were between 2 and 12 times lower than those IAEA proposed as trigger levels for radiation-induced erythema. This study shows that trigger levels were not reached even for patients with repeated procedures in the same segment in 1-year period. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: The study gives important understanding and clarity on the growing awareness for dose-modifying factors during endovascular and hybrid revascularization of aortoiliac segment.

The impact of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the clinical management of patients with lymph node metastasis of unknown primary origin.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance and the utility of F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) in the clinical management of patients presenting with lymph node metastasis of undefined primary origin (CUP). A total of 53 patients (34 males, 19 females) with a diagnosis of lymph node metastasis according to the histopathology and/or conventional imaging were enrolled in this retrospective study. Patients were divided into four groups according to the initial location of their metastasis - group 1, cervical lymph nodes (n=39), group 2, axillary lymph nodes (n=6), group 3, mediastinal lymph nodes (n=2) and group 4, abdominal and pelvic lymph nodes (n=6). The site of a probable primary malignancy suggested by PET/CT was confirmed by biopsy/further investigations or follow-up. 18F-FDG PET/CT accurately detected the primary carcinoma in 19 of 53 patients (36%), with head and neck cancer and lung carcinoma being the most common primary locations. The PET-CT scan results were negative for primary site localization in 13% of patients (false-negative), while 45% had true negative results, and 6% displayed false-positive results. Additional distant metastatic foci were identified in 21 of all patients (40%). The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy rates of the study were identified as 73%, 89%, and 81%, respectively; in the group with cervical lymph node metastasis sensitivity 70% and specificity 84%. To conclude, 18F-FDG PET/CT is a sensitive and selective procedure for detecting unknown primary tumors, especially in the clinical setting of cervical lymph node metastasis and its use should be encouraged earlier in the pre-treatment phase of CUP-patients, leading to higher detection of probable primary sites, guiding subsequent biopsy, and more accurate detection of distant metastases in a single examination.

Detection of Ureteral Stump Transitional Cell Carcinoma, Presenting as Bone Metastases from Unknown Primary by 18F-FDG PET/CT: A Case Report with Review of Literature.

A case of occult carcinoma of the ureteral stump is reported. A 67-year-old man presented with pain syndrome due to multiple bone metastases from unknown primary origin detected by previous imaging studies as magnetic resonance imaging, whole body contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), and technetium-99m methyldiphosphonate bone scan. He had undergone a right nephrectomy for a benign disease previously. He was referred to our department for an 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) to help localize possible primary tumor. Our observations in this case show that the use of 18F-FDG PET/CT successfully and more accurately evaluated the overall tumor burden and led to a rapid decision of an adequate therapeutic approach.