RESUMO
We report 3 cases of mediastinal pseudotumours in cirrhotic patients. In the 3 cases, plain chest X-ray showed regular homogeneous radiolucency superposed on cardiac shadow. Computerized tomography bolus injection, performed in 2 cases, was poorly contributive in one case. On the other hand, magnetic resonance imaging ensured the diagnosis in all 3 patients showing significant dilatation of the azygos vein and prominent esophageal varices connected with spontaneous abdominal portacaval shunts. These vascular mediastinal structures were well documented by frontal and sagittal spin echoes. Knowledge of such neovascular mediastinal pseudotumours may prevent the use of invasive investigations such as direct puncture or thoracotomy.
Assuntos
Cirrose Hepática/complicações , Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética , Neoplasias do Mediastino/diagnóstico , Mediastino/irrigação sanguínea , Varizes/diagnóstico , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Varizes/etiologiaRESUMO
The type and predicting factors of response to alpha interferon therapy have been studied in 26 patients with chronic non-A non-B hepatitis. Interferon was administered three times weekly during 6 months at a dose of 3 millions units/day. Eleven patients (42 percent) had serum alanine aminotransferase levels below 1.5 times the upper limit of normal range at the end of treatment. Only eight (31 percent) patients had persistent normalization of seric alanine aminotransferase value, 6 months after the end of the interferon treatment. The main factors involved in the response to therapy were age, apparent duration of the disease, and mode of contamination: patients who responded to interferon were younger, had a shorter duration of hepatitis and a parenterally transmitted disease.