Mediastinal metastasectomy from a primary germ cell testicular tumour resulting in occult thoracic duct injury and chylothorax.

A 22-year-old man underwent mediastinal metastasectomy for a testicular germ cell tumour via median sternotomy. Intraoperatively, the tumour was massive, measuring 88 mm in anterior-posterior (AP) diameter. It was densely adherent to the trachea and aggressive debulking resulted in tracheal injury. Therefore, the patient was kept nil by mouth for 3 days postoperatively and was discharged uneventfully. He represented only 2 days later with a large right-sided chylothorax. His chylothorax was managed conservatively with insertion of an intercostal catheter (ICC) and a low-fat diet. Over the course of 9 days, the ICC drained approximately 5 L of fluid. His admission was further complicated by severe gastroparesis requiring feeding Nasojejunal (NJ) tube placement. The delayed feeding in this case resulted in late detection of the occult thoracic duct injury. This case illustrates that conservative and multidisciplinary management of a postoperative chylothorax from a suspected thoracic duct injury achieves favourable outcomes avoiding further surgical intervention.

[Carcinomatous mediastinitis secondary to carcinoma of the bladder]. / Médiastinite carcinomateuse secondaire à un carcinome vésical.

INTRODUCTION: This is the first reported case of a histologically-proved mediastinal metastatic site of a transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. CASE: A 61-year-old woman who had undergone a total cystectomy 3 years earlier for transitional cell carcinoma was hospitalized for dysphagia. Endoscopy showed impassable stenosis beginning 25 cm below the dental arch, without any developing endoluminal lesion. Histologic analysis of the biopsy samples identified transitional cell carcinoma infiltration of the muscularis and deep mucosa of the esophagus. DISCUSSION: Three years after a diagnosis of bladder cancer, invasion of the paraesophageal lymph nodes was accompanied by infiltration of the esophageal muscularis and contiguous mucosa. Esophageal stenoses by carcinomatous mediastinitis are rare; when they occur, it is usually secondary to breast cancer. They are generally treated endoscopically, which entails a risk of perforation.

Extranodal follicular dendritic cell tumor of the tonsil: report of a diagnostic pitfall and literature review.

Follicular dendritic cell tumor (FDCT) usually arises in the dendritic reticulum cells of the lymph nodes. Extranodal cases are rare; only 24 cases have been reported in the head and neck region, and most are in the oropharynx. Nine cases of primary FDCT of the tonsil have been reported in English-language literature, to which we add the 10th case. This 77-year-old white woman presented with a tonsillar mass that was misdiagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma. She underwent neoadjuvant radiotherapy plus combined oropharyngeal and mandibular resection with radical neck dissection. Eight years later, she presented with dyspnea and was found to have a lung mass with hilar lymphadenopathy. A biopsy specimen was taken from the hilar lymph nodes, and histologic analysis yielded results similar to those found in the original tumor. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed that FDCT was present at both sites. We wish to highlight this potential diagnostic pitfall because the treatment and prognosis for FDCT are vastly different from the treatment and prognosis for squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil.

Fibrosarcoma in children--a rare tumour with long-term survival even with advanced disease--a report of 3 cases.

Fibrosarcoma is a rare tumour in children. The potential of malignancy has been questioned. We present three cases of fibrosarcoma in children . The follow-up periods range from 10 to 37 years. The first patient had pulmonary metastases at the time of diagnosis in 1958. The primary tumour in fossa ischio-rectalis was resected in 1960. Lung metastases were resected in 1960 and 1989. Radiotherapy was given in 1992. He is still alive with metastases 37 years after the first manifestation of disease. The second patient had a primary tumour and several local recurrences in the mandible. He is alive without evidence of disease 4 years after resection of pulmonary metastases and 21 years after resection of the primary tumour. The third patient has no signs of recurrence or metastatic spread 10 years after a wide excision of subcutaneous tumours of the left upper arm. The cases demonstrate a special tumour-entity of low-grade malignancy, which show a good prognosis and a wide spectrum of biological behaviour.

[Extra-abdominal desmoid tumor--report of a case].

A case of an extra-abdominal desmoid tumor in a 17-year-old female is reported. At the time of the first examination, the tumor was found to already involve the floor of the mouth, the submandibular region, both sides of the neck, the anterior chest wall and the mediastinum and hence was considered inoperable. The patient was treated by external irradiation and interstitial irradiation (Ir and Au). The therapeutic response was very slow, becoming noticeable 4 months after completion of the therapy and lasting for more than a year. Experience in this case indicates that in order for radiotherapy to prove successful in the treatment of desmoid tumor, it must be administered in relatively high doses. Since desmoid tumors reportedly have the potential for sarcomatous transformation, a long-term follow-up seems to be necessary in the management of patients with this neoplasm. It is considered that inoperable extra-abdominal desmoid tumors are a good indication for radiation therapy.

Linfoma No Hodgkin en niños / Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in children

El presente trabajo es una evaluación de 250 pacientes en edad pediátrica, con Linfoma no Hodgkin (LNH), tratados en el Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas (I.N.E.N.) en un período de 35 años, entre 1952 y 1986. La edad mediana del grupo evaluado fue de 90 meses, siendo el 75 por ciento de los pacientes menores de 10 años y el pico de incidencia de 4 a 6 años.El sexo masculino tuvo preponderancia sobre el femenino, con una relación M/F de 2.1:1 en todas las presentaciones. El tiempo promedio de enfermedad hasta el diagnóstico fue de 2 meses, encontrándose que en el 72 por ciento de los casos, la evolución de los síntomas fue de 3 meses. El 75.2 por ciento de los pacientes fue diagnosticado en estadíos avanzados (III-IVA/B) y solo el 24.8 por ciento en estadíos I-II. En el 65 por ciento de los pacientes, el linfoma primario fue extraganglionar (abdomen, subcutáneo, cabeza y cuello) y en el 35 por ciento de los casos fue ganglionar (mediastino y ganglios periféricos). La localización primaria más frecuente fue la abdominal (37 por ciento), seguida por la ganglionar (21 por ciento), en cabeza y cuello (18 por ciento), mediastinal (14 por ciento) y subcutánea (9 por ciento). El 98 por ciento de los pacientes presentaron histología de alto grado de malignidad y de patrón difuso, siendo el tipo histológico más frecuente el linfoma indiferenciado (Burkitt y No Burkitt), con 30.8 por ciento de los casos, seguido en frecuencia por el histiocítico y el linfocítico poco diferenciado. La localización más frecuente de los linfomas indiferenciados fue en el abdomen, los linfoblásticos en el mediastino, los linfocíticos poco diferenciados difusos en el abdomen y ganglios periféricos y los histiocíticos en el abdomen y ganglios. En la presentación abdominal, el tumor fue irresecable en el 90 por ciento de los casos, siendo el íleon terminal la localización intraluminal más frecuente. La intususcepción intestinal fue el hallazgo más frecuente en los pacientes que presentaron abdomen agudo. En el 14 por ciento de los pacientes se detectó compromiso de la M.O. al diagnóstico. En la presentación ganglionar, el 43 por ciento de los pacientes tuvo compromiso de M.O. al diagnóstico. En la presentación de cabeza y cuello, la localización más frecuente fue el seno maxilar. En el 63 por ciento de los casos la enfermedad se encontraba en estadío avanzado al diagnóstico, presentando 24 por ciento de los pacientes compromiso de M.O. al diagnóstico. En la presentación media