Complicated Liver Cystic Echinococcosis-A Comprehensive Literature Review and a Tale of Two Extreme Cases.

Cystic echinococcosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease that affects the liver in more than 70% of cases, and there is still an underestimated incidence in endemic areas. With a peculiar clinical presentation that ranges from paucisymptomatic illness to severe and possibly fatal complications, quality imaging and serological studies are required for diagnosis. The mainstay of treatment to date is surgery combined with antiparasitic agents. The surgical armamentarium consists of open and laparoscopic procedures for selected cases with growing confidence in parenchyma-sparing interventions. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is extremely useful for the diagnosis and treatment of biliary fistulas. Recent relevant studies in the literature are reviewed, and two complex cases are presented. The first patient underwent open surgery to treat 11 liver cysts, and during the follow-up, a right pulmonary cyst was diagnosed that was treated by minimally invasive surgery. The second case is represented by the peritoneal rupture of a giant liver cyst in a young woman who underwent laparoscopic surgery. Both patients developed biliary fistulas that were managed by ERCP. Both patients exhibited a non-specific clinical presentation and underwent several surgical procedures combined with antiparasitic agents, highlighting the necessity of customized treatment in order to decrease complications and successfully cure the disease.

The pterygopalatine ganglion, palatine nerves and vessels: dissection and pathway / El ganglio pterigopalatino, nervios palatinos y vasos: disección y trayecto

SUMMARY: Background and Objectives: The palatine nerves and vessels cross the pterygopalatine fossa, the palatine canals, the palatine foramina and the submucosal space, at the level of the hard palate and the palatine recess of the maxillary sinus. Their trajectory is long, complicated and difficult to highlight on a single dissection piece. In the literature that we studied, we did not find clear images that fully highlight the real configuration of the pterygopalatine ganglion and nerves and of the palatine vessels. Our aim was to provide a clear and representative dissection of the pterygopalatine ganglion and of the palatine neurovascular bundle throughout its pathway in a simple, coherent and useful presentation for the practitioners interested in the regional pathology. We resected the posterior and inferomedial osseous walls of the maxillary sinus and highlighted the neurovascular structures in the pterygopalatine fossa and the wall of the maxillary sinus. We photographed the dissection fields and detailed the important relations. The images that we obtained are clear, simple and easy to interpret and use. We successfully highlighted the aspect and the main relations of the pterygopalatine ganglion and the pathway and distribution of the palatine nerves and vessels, from their origin to the terminal plexuses. There is a broad spectrum of clinical procedures or situations that require a proper knowledge and understanding of the anatomical pathway and relations of the palatine neurovascular elements. This includes the various types of regional anesthesia, tumor resection surgery, flaps of the palatine mucosa, the LeFort osteotomy etc. Demonstration of the pterygopalatine ganglion and its relations is useful in endoscopic interventions at the level of the pterygopalatine fossa.

RESUMEN: Los nervios y vasos palatinos atraviesan la fosa pterigopalatina, además de los canales palatinos, los forámenes palatinos y el espacio submucoso a nivel del paladar duro y el receso palatino del seno maxilar. Su trayectoria es larga, complicada y difícil de destacar en una sola pieza de disección. En la literatura que estudiamos, no encontramos imágenes claras que resalten completamente la configuración real del ganglio y los nervios pterigopalatinos y de los vasos palatinos. Nuestro objetivo fue proporcionar una disección clara y representativa del ganglio pterigopalatino y del haz neurovascular palatino a lo largo de su trayecto en una presentación simple, coherente y útil para los médicos interesados en la patología regional. Resecamos las paredes óseas posterior e inferomedial del seno maxilar y resaltamos las estructuras neurovasculares en la fosa pterigopalatina y la pared del seno maxilar. Fotografiamos los campos de disección y detallamos las relaciones importantes. Las imágenes que obtuvimos son claras, sencillas y de fácil interpretación. Resaltamos con éxito el aspecto y las principales relaciones del ganglio pterigopalatino y el trayecto y distribución de los nervios y vasos palatinos, desde su origen hasta los plexos terminales. En conclusion, existe un amplio espectro de procedimientos o situaciones clínicas que requieren un adecuado conocimiento y comprensión del trayecto anatómico y las relaciones de los elementos neurovasculares palatinos. Esto incluye los distintos tipos de anestesia regional, cirugía de resección tumoral, colgajos de mucosa palatina, osteotomía de LeFort, etc. La demostración del ganglio pterigopalatino y sus relaciones es útil en intervenciones endoscópicas a nivel de la fosa pterigopalatina.