Breast cancer in young women: Imaging and clinical course.

The purpose of this study was to characterize presenting imaging findings in women younger than 40 diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the context of pathology and clinical course. Retrospective chart and imaging reviews were performed in patients under 40 diagnosed with breast cancer between July 1, 2004, and December 31, 2013. Patient demographic, imaging, pathology, and clinical data were collected. Overall and recurrence-free survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate Cox proportional hazards models were performed to identify factors associated with recurrence-free survival. Our study cohort consisted of 110 patients with invasive mammary carcinoma. One hundred one (91.8%) presented with a palpable mass. The mean size of all lesions on imaging was 3.5 cm ± 2.9 cm. Malignant calcifications were present in 54 (49.1%) cases. Imaging demonstrated multifocal or multicentric disease in 45 (40.9%) cases. Seventy four (67.3%) cancers were high grade. Luminal genomic subtypes were the most common (n = 61, 55.5%). At presentation, 4 (3.6%) patients had bilateral malignancy and 8 (7.3%) patients had distant metastatic disease. Ninety seven (88.2%) underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 67 (60.9%) underwent radiation therapy. Seventy five (68.2%) of the patients underwent mastectomy. The restricted mean time to recurrence was 9.01 years (standard error 3.162 months). ER positivity was associated with compromised recurrence-free survival. The overall survival rate was 0.962 at 10 years. Young patients diagnosed with breast cancer typically present with advanced breast imaging findings and undergo aggressive treatment. Recurrence often occurs >5 years from diagnosis, and ER positive subtypes are at increased risk for recurrence.

Transhepatic embolization of a congenital intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy in a noncirrhotic patient using Amplatzer vascular plug device.

A 73-year-old male with no history of liver disease was hospitalized for weakness, confusion, ataxia, and new onset hepatic encephalopathy with hyperammonemia. After management with lactulose and rifaximin, his symptoms persisted, and he underwent transjugular liver biopsy. Biopsy showed normal liver, but a portosystemic shunt was incidentally identified on postbiopsy venogram. The patient underwent occlusion of the shunt with two Amplatzer vascular plugs and four Nester coils. Following embolization, the patient's symptoms resolved completely. Our case reports one of the oldest adults to present with symptoms from a congenital portosystemic shunt. Congenital portosystemic shunts can be considered in patients with new onset hepatic encephalopathy in the absence of underlying liver disease. Prognosis after embolization of congenital portosystemic shunt is great, and embolization may result in full reversal of symptoms.