Ultrasound contrast agent delivered per os first diagnoses pharyngoesophageal tumour.

Oral administration of ultrasound contrast agents has been described very little so far in medical literature. These agents are mainly administered intravenously and, less commonly, intracavitarily. We present the case of a patient with a cervical mass in whom sonographic examination with per os administration of SonoVue led to the diagnosis of a pharyngoesophageal tumour. The diagnosis was confirmed on barium swallow and endoscopy-guided biopsy.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound for imaging blunt abdominal trauma - indications, description of the technique and imaging review.

Patients with blunt abdominal trauma are initially imaged with ultrasound (US) for the evaluation of free abdominal fluid. However, lacerations of solid organs can be overlooked. Although computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard technique for abdominal trauma imaging, overutilization, ionizing radiation, need to transport the patient and potential artifacts are well known disadvantages. Contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) can be used as an imaging tool between the two methods. It can easily and reliably reveal solid abdominal organ injuries in patients with low-energy localized trauma and decrease the number of CT scans performed. It can be rapidly performed at the patient's bedside with no need for transportation. There are only very few contraindications and anaphylactoid reactions are extremely rare. Altogether, CEUS has proved to be very helpful for the initial imaging of traumatic lesions of the liver, kidney and spleen, as well as for patient follow-up.

Complications of percutaneous nephrostomy, percutaneous insertion of ureteral endoprosthesis, and replacement procedures.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to record and identify the frequency of complications following percutaneous nephrostomy, replacement of nephrostomy drains and percutaneous insertion of ureteral endoprostheses. METHODS: During a 10-year period 341 patients were referred to our department with indications for percutaneous nephrostomy and/or percutaneous insertion of a ureteral endoprosthesis, and a total of 1036 interventional procedures were performed (nephrostomy, catheter change, stenting). RESULTS: There were three major complications (0.29%): two patients died during the first 30 days after the procedure, due to aggravation of their condition caused by the procedure, and one patient had retroperitoneal bleeding requiring surgery. There were 76 complications of intermediate severity (7.33%): catheter or stent displacement (n = 37, 3.57%) catheter occlusion (n = 18, 1.73%), hematuria (n = 12, 1.16%), and urinary tract infection (n = 9, 0.87%). The 55 minor complications (5.3%) comprised inflammation of the skin at the site of insertion of the percutaneous catheter. CONCLUSION: The small number of complications observed during acts of interventional uroradiology prove transcutaneous manipulations to be safe medical procedures.

Long-term follow-up in patients with malignant biliary obstruction after percutaneous placement of uncovered wallstent endoprostheses.

PURPOSE: Evaluation of the treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice by percutaneous insertion of uncovered stents. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 51 patients (35 men, 16 women) with inoperable malignant biliary obstruction underwent percutaneous placement of uncovered Wallstent biliary endoprostheses. A total of 65 endoprostheses were inserted. RESULTS: The technical success rate was 98%, and the procedure-related complications rate was 10%. Early complications rate within the first 30 days was 2%. The clinical success rate within the first 30 days was 98% and the 30-day mortality rate was 2%. The late complications rate was 16%. The overall stent occlusion rate was 18% at a mean of 288.4 days. Mean survival time of the 50 patients was 214 days, and the mean total duration of hospital stay was 9.8 days. CONCLUSIONS: The advantages of uncovered Wallstent endoprostheses justify their placement in patients with inoperable malignant obstructive jaundice since patients' quality of life is markedly improved. Stent insertion is associated with a low complication rate, most stents remain patent longer than the patients' survival time and patients' hospital stay is relatively short.