Surgical resection of a giant pericardial cyst: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Pericardial cysts are rare congenital mediastinal cysts. They are typically asymptomatic and are often discovered incidentally, although some patients may present with chest pain and dyspnoea. Asymptomatic patients are managed conservatively with multiple modalities, with surgical resection often recommended for symptomatic patients only. The frequency of follow-up imaging has yet to be established. CASE SUMMARY: We report a case of a 59-year-old female with a gradually increasing pericardial cyst, first noted 10 years prior as an abnormal cardiac silhouette on routine chest radiography. Further evaluation confirmed the presence of a pericardial cyst compressing the left ventricle with new-onset atrial fibrillation. The patient underwent successful thoracoscopic excision of the pericardial cyst under general anaesthesia. The patient's post-operative course was uneventful, and she was ultimately discharged in stable condition. DISCUSSION: Pericardial cysts are typically benign, but complications may arise in the case of compression of adjacent cardiac structures, inflammation, haemorrhage, or rupture of the cyst. Magnetic resonance imaging is considered the better modality for both diagnosis and follow-up of pericardial cysts. This case illustrates the need for long-term clinical follow-up in order to optimize the time for treatment.

Rupture of a huge infectious abdominal chronic expanding hematoma.

A 72-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with the diagnosis of peritonitis due to the rupture of a huge abdominal cystic tumor, 27 cm in diameter. Abdominal computed tomography 14 years before revealed the tumor, which was 18 cm in diameter. She had undergone no examinations or treatment in the interim. She was in shock upon presentation to our hospital. She was intubated immediately and underwent an emergent laparotomy. The huge ruptured tumor with adherent small intestine was resected. The tumor weighed 6 kg and consisted of solid and cystic components filled with 4 kg of brown feces-like fluid. Bacteroides fragilis was detected in a fluid specimen. The cystic component of the tumor was filled with old blood clots, and a portion of the tumor wall was highly calcified. Old blood and fibrin with blood vessels of various sizes inside the tumor were observed during the pathologic evaluation; there were no malignant features. The final pathologic diagnosis was a chronic expanding hematoma (CEH). The patient had an uneventful recovery and was discharged 16 days post-operatively. She was involved in a traffic accident approximately 30 years before the current hospital admission; however, she did not recall if she had abdominal pain at that time. A CEH is a benign lesion, but rupture of a CEH can be life-threatening.

Conversion surgery for initially unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with synchronous liver metastasis after treatment with FOLFIRINOX.

FOLFIRINOX is a highly effective anticancer treatment, even in advanced pancreatic cancer, which provides a potential cure in patients initially treated with a palliative strategy. A 47-year-old man was found to have an unresectable pancreatic cancer (4 cm in size) surrounding both the superior mesenteric artery and superior mesenteric vein. A simultaneous liver metastasis in Segment 8, with a diameter of 17 mm, was also detected. The pancreatic tumor markers CEA, CA19-9, and DUPAN-2 were significantly elevated to 21.7 ng/mL, 6224 ng/mL, and 1200U/mL, respectively. After 21 courses of FOLFIRINOX, the primary pancreatic tumor diminished in size (partial response) from 42 to 17 mm, and the liver mass almost disappeared. The tumor markers significantly decreased to almost normal levels. Fourteen months after the initial chemotherapy, conversion surgery was performed. Upon surgical resection, the pancreatic tumor was found to be Grade 1b, and a pathologically complete response was observed for the liver metastasis. The patient is still alive 32 months after initial treatment with no recurrence. This is an informative case of a locally advanced pancreatic cancer with a synchronous liver metastasis that had a significant response to FOLFIRINOX, allowing for subsequent curative resection.

Clinicopathologic Diversity of Undifferentiated Sarcoma With BCOR-CCNB3 Fusion: Analysis of 11 Cases With a Reappraisal of the Utility of Immunohistochemistry for BCOR and CCNB3.

Undifferentiated sarcoma harboring the BCOR-CCNB3 fusion is characterized by its predilection to affect skeletons of adolescent males, cellular small round/spindle cell morphology, and CCNB3 immunoreactivity. We analyzed 11 cases of BCOR-CCNB3 sarcoma, 10 of which were identified in a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-based screen of 85 patient samples recorded in our database as unclassified small round or spindle cell sarcomas. BCOR rearrangements were confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization in 8 tumors. All patients were males aged between 6 and 31 years. In addition to 5 tumors in soft tissue and 4 in the axial or appendicular skeletons, which are typical locations, a tumor was located in the paranasal sinus and another in the lung. Microscopically, the tumors comprised proliferating atypical spindle and/or small round cells with diverse morphologic features such as small concentric whorls, myxoid stroma, a hemangiopericytomatous appearance, and/or hyalinized collagen resembling a solitary fibrous tumor, and angiomatous or slit-like spaces containing extravasated erythrocytes. Tumor cells were immunoreactive to CCNB3 (9/11), BCOR (10/10), TLE1 (6/10), bcl-2 (9/11), CD99 (8/10), CD56 (8/10), c-kit (4/10), and cyclin D1 (10/10). In an immunohistochemical analysis of an additional 412 small round or spindle cell tumors, CCNB3 was detected in 6 (1.5%) and BCOR in 18 (4.4%). Our analysis highlights the varying clinicopathologic features of this tumor, which partially overlap with other small round or spindle cell tumors, including solitary fibrous tumor and vascular tumors. Because CCNB3 and BCOR immunohistochemistry lacks adequate sensitivity and specificity, a molecular genetic approach remains essential for diagnosis.

An autopsy case of aortic root rupture with thin porcelain aorta during balloon-expandable transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

A 92-year-old woman was transferred to our institute due to drug-resistant heart failure from severe aortic stenosis. She seemed to be a candidate for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) because of her frailty and porcelain aorta. There were no severe calcified nodules in the left-ventricular outflow tract area. Because three-dimensional computed tomography analysis showed that her basal annulus area was 419 mm2, a 26-mm SAPIEN XT (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA, USA) was selected for implantation. After deployment of the valve with 10% reduced volume, aortic root rupture occurred and her blood pressure fell due to acute cardiac tamponade. Emergent cardiac pericardial fenestration was done and drained blood was continuously returned to the circulation through percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass. Despite strenuous efforts to save her life, she died 13 h after the event. An autopsy revealed a thin porcelain aorta and aortic root rupture with a fragile aortic wall. .

Resting angina due to papillary fibroelastoma of the right coronary cusp.

A 63-year-old man with chest pain at rest was referred to our hospital. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a mobile ball-like mass at the top of the right coronary cusp. Subsequently, transesophageal echocardiography also showed a mobile mass at the right coronary cusp. Aortic valve replacement with a mechanical valve was performed under general anesthesia. We diagnosed this condition as papillary fibroelastoma based upon the pathological findings with hematoxylin and eosin staining, and Elastica van Gieson staining. Coronary angiography revealed no organic lesions. The operation was successful, and the patient remains asymptomatic. We speculate that the resting chest pain was induced by transient occlusion of the right coronary orifice by the tumor. We describe this rare case in detail including a review of the literature.

Repeated recurrence of a gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor on the chest wall after initial curative resection: Report of a case.

INTRODUCTION: Extra-abdominal recurrence or metastasis of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is very rare. Chest wall recurrence of a resected gastric GIST is extremely rare. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 64-year-old Japanese man had undergone proximal gastrectomy for a gastric submucosal tumor 11 years previously. The histopathological diagnosis was GIST (size, 8cm). He did not receive adjuvant therapy, and underwent imaging evaluations every 6 months for the first 5 years after surgery and then annually. He was admitted to our hospital because of a lump on his right anterior chest wall 7 years after curative resection. We resected the tumor, and histopathologic findings revealed metastatic GIST. Four years after metastasectomy, another lump appeared at a different location on the right anterior chest wall. The patient was diagnosed with a second recurrence of gastric GIST and began adjuvant treatment with imatinib after second resection. He has remained alive without tumor recurrence for 2 years. DISCUSSION: Most recurrences were predominantly found in the intra-abdominal cavity, either locally or involving the liver or peritoneum. Extra-abdominal recurrence was much less common. Although we assume that the recurrent tumor of our patient was derived from his gastric GIST, based on the histopathological examinations and clinical course, it is possible that the recurrent tumor of our case was an "extragastrointestinal GIST". CONCLUSION: Because extra-abdominal recurrence can occur many years after curative resection, continued, careful whole-body follow-up is required for patients with high-risk GIST.

Inadvertent coronary endarterectomy during aspiration thrombectomy with a Thrombuster III GR catheter in a patient with acute coronary syndrome.

We describe a 41-year-old woman who presented with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Emergent percutaneous intervention was performed with aspiration thrombectomy followed by coronary artery stenting. White material was extracted from the aspiration catheter. Reperfusion therapy after stenting was successful. After undergoing a cardiac rehabilitation program, she was discharged from hospital on day 10. Pathological examination revealed that the aspirated material consisted of normal vascular components including endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Aspiration thrombectomy is a commonly used procedure with a low complication rate. This case presents the previously unreported complication of coronary artery injury.

Adenocarcinoma of the minor duodenal papilla: report of a case.

We report a case of adenocarcinoma of the minor duodenal papilla, a rare type of duodenal neoplasm. A 76-year-old man with a history of surgery for rectal cancer and gastric cancer was referred to us after a follow-up upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed an abnormal elevation in the minor duodenal papilla. The pathological diagnosis of a biopsy specimen was adenocarcinoma. Preoperative examination of other organs revealed a tumor in the ascending colon, which was also identified as adenocarcinoma. We performed synchronous pancreatoduodenectomy and ileocecal resection with lymph node dissection. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen revealed that the papilla tumor arose from the duodenal mucosa and infiltrated the submucosa of the duodenal wall, but not the pancreatic parenchyma. Based on these findings, we diagnosed primary adenocarcinoma of the minor duodenal papilla. To our knowledge, this is only the sixth such case reported in the English-language literature, and we review all six cases after this case report.

An autopsy case of the rupture of a giant aneurysm in a saphenous vein graft: 18 years after CABG.

The saphenous vein is a widely used blood vessel for arterial bypass procedures. Failures of saphenous vein aortocoronary bypass grafts are predominantly the result of subsequent vein graft atherosclerotic disease. Rarely saphenous vein grafts undergo aneurysmal degeneration. This report describes a case of a ruptured aneurysm in a saphenous vein graft that occurred in an 82-year-old female who underwent a coronary artery bypass operation 18 years previously. We could not resuscitate her, but describe the autopsy findings in detail.

Free-floating thrombus in the right common carotid artery.

We report the case with type A acute aortic dissection that vascular echo disclosed a free-floating thrombus in the right common carotid artery.

[A patient with an angiomyolipoma of the liver in whom the course of enlargement could be confirmed].

The patients was a 54-year-old woman. In the liver, a high-echo phyma was detected. The lesion increased from 5 to 23mm over 2 years and 4 months. On CT and MRI, it was difficult to differentiate the phyma from hepatocellular carcinoma. However, angiography revealed early outflow to the hepatic vein. In the late CTHA phase of angio-CT, there was no ring-like dark staining reaction (corona), as observed in hepatocellular carcinoma patients, outside the tumor. Hepatectomy was performed, suggesting angiomyolipoma. The course of enlargement could be followed-up, and we present findings that may be useful for differentiating this tumor from hepatocellular carcinoma.

Radical excision of thymic adenocarcinoma with selective cerebral perfusion.

Most cases of thymic carcinoma have some invasion to neighboring organs when diagnosed, and it is generally difficult to completely remove. We adopted selective cerebral perfusion as a cerebral protection and successfully performed resection of a thymic adenocarcinoma that involved the superior vena cava, left brachiocephalic vein, right brachiocephalic artery and vein, and left common carotid artery in a 47-year-old woman. Even if multiple great vessels were involved by mediastinal malignant tumor, complete resection with selective cerebral perfusion could be safely performed.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma arising from the aortic wall mimicking a pseudoaneurysm with ulceration.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the thoracic aorta associated with ulcer-like projection has not been reported previously. The hypovascular tumor of the thoracic aorta involved the mural layer, which showed intra- and extra-mural growth patterns and no significant filling defect within the aortic lumen, and mimicked ulcer-like projection with secondary pseudoaneurysm formation. Aortic tumor, although rare, should be included among the causes of an ulcer-like projection.

A novel bacterium Achromobacter xylosoxidans as a cause of liver abscess: three case reports.

Achromobacter xylosoxidans is a microorganism that may cause opportunistic infections. We detected A. xylosoxidans in three of 46 patients with liver abscess. The clinicopathologic findings of the three patients were uniform with respect to a prior history of cholecystectomy, multi-lobulated 'coral-like' abscess under CT and epithelioid granulomas in the periphery of the abscess. Achromobacter xylosoxidans is an unrecognized cause of liver abscess in humans.