The Use of Chest Computed Tomographic Angiography in Blunt Trauma Pediatric Population.

INTRODUCTION: Blunt chest trauma in children is common. Although rare, associated major thoracic vascular injuries (TVIs) are lethal potential sequelae of these mechanisms. The preferred study for definitive diagnosis of TVI in stable patients is computed tomographic angiography imaging of the chest. This imaging modality is, however, associated with high doses of ionizing radiation that represent significant carcinogenic risk for pediatric patients. The aim of the present investigation was to define the incidence of TVI among blunt pediatric trauma patients in an effort to better elucidate the usefulness of computed tomographic angiography use in this population. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted including all blunt pediatric (age < 14 y) trauma victims registered in Israeli National Trauma Registry maintained by Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research between the years 1997 and 2015. Data collected included age, sex, mechanism of injury, Glasgow Coma Scale, Injury Severity Score, and incidence of chest named vessel injuries. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS statistical software version 9.2 (SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC). RESULTS: Among 433,325 blunt trauma victims, 119,821patients were younger than 14 years. Twelve (0.0001%, 12/119821) of these children were diagnosed with TVI. The most common mechanism in this group was pedestrian hit by a car. Mortality was 41.7% (5/12). CONCLUSIONS: Thoracic vascular injury is exceptionally rare among pediatric blunt trauma victims but does contribute to the high morbidity and mortality seen with blunt chest trauma. Computed tomographic angiography, with its associated radiation exposure risk, should not be used as a standard tool after trauma in injured children. Clinical protocols are needed in this population to minimize radiation risk while allowing prompt identification of life-threatening injuries.

Splenectomy for breast carcinoma diffusely metastatic to the spleen presenting as severe transfusion-dependent anaemia and thrombocytopaenia.

We report a 48-year-old woman with metastatic infiltrating lobular carcinoma of the breast. Though her metastatic disease remained stable, she was repeatedly admitted for symptomatic anaemia and treated by red blood cell and platelet transfusions with increasing frequency as time elapsed. Abdominal examination and ultrasound revealed splenomegaly (27 cm span). A bone marrow biopsy showed fibrosis and foci of metastatic carcinoma. Splenectomy ameliorated her transfusion-dependent anaemia and thrombocytopaenia. Histopathology revealed multiple foci of metastatic carcinoma and scattered foci of extramedullary haematopoiesis. Differential diagnosis of anaemia and thrombocytopaenia in patients with cancer include bone morrow involvement by cancer cells, iron-deficiency anaemia, microangiopathies and chemotherapy suppression of haematopoiesis. Splenic involvement with cancer is common in patients with multivisceral disease. Many may regard transfusion-dependent severe anaemia and thrombocytopaenia as an end-stage disease in these patients. Nevertheless, palliative splenectomy should be considered in patients with possible hypersplenism who will otherwise survive for a relatively prolonged period of time.

The impact of abdominal fat on abdominal aorta calcification measured on non-enhanced CT.

Cardiovascular (CV) morbidity, atherosclerosis, and obesity are all targets of clinical concern and vast research, as is the association between them. Aim of this study is to assess the impact of adipose tissue (including visceral and subcutaneous fat) on abdominal aorta calcification measured on non-enhanced computed tomography (CT). We retrospectively included 492 patients who underwent non-enhanced CT scans during workup for clinically suspected renal colic. All scans were reviewed for abdominal aorta calcification, liver attenuation, and thickness of visceral and subcutaneous fat. Multivariate general linear regression models were used to assess the association between abdominal aorta calcium score and adiposity measures. In the model that included only adiposity measures; visceral fat thickness had statistically significant direct association with abdominal aorta calcium score (B = 67.1, P <.001), whereas subcutaneous pelvic fat thickness had a significant inverse association with abdominal aorta calcium score (B = -22.34, P <.001). Only the association of subcutaneous pelvic fat thickness with abdominal aorta calcium score remained statistically significant when controlling for age, sex, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia (B = -21.23, P <.001). In this model, the association of visceral fat remained statistically significant in females (B = 84.28, P = .001) but not in males (B = 0.47, P = .973). Visceral fat thickness and subcutaneous pelvic fat thickness were found to have opposing associations with abdominal aorta calcium score. This suggests that while visceral fat may have a lipotoxic effect on aortic atherosclerotic processes, subcutaneous pelvic fat may have a protective role in these processes.

Short- and long-term outcomes of surgical management of peptic ulcer complications in the era of proton pump inhibitors.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the short-term and long-term outcomes of emergency operations for peptic ulcer (PUD) complications in a period of time in which the need for surgery is infrequent. METHODS: Retrospective review of operated patients (2007-2015) in one medical center. RESULTS: 81 patients were included (8.9 patients/year): 70 (86.4%) male; 11 (13.6%) female. Indications for operation were hemorrhage in 18 (22.2%), perforation in 62 (76.5%) and gastric-outlet obstruction in one (1.2%). Only 16 (19.8%) operations included a procedure to reduce gastric acid secretion. Six (7.4%) patients had a second operation for recurrent or persistent complication. Of these, two had a procedure to reduce gastric acid secretion in their first operation. 16 (19.8%) patients died during the index hospitalization. Three (3.7%) patients were rehospitalized for a PUD complication following 3-24 months. One patient, who had surgery for a second perforation 3 months following the first operation, was treated empirically for Helicobacter Pylori (HP) between the two operations. In comparison to perforation, patients with hemorrhage were older (69.9 ± 20.3 vs. 52.1 ± 19.9 years; p = 0.0015), more commonly had a history of PUD or treatment by nonsteroidal anti-inflammotry drugs (55.6 vs. 19.4%; p = 0.0054), more commonly had a procedure to reduce gastric acid secretion during their index operation (61.1 vs. 6.5%; p < 0.0001), and had a higher mortality (38.9 vs. 14.5%; p = 0.0406). CONCLUSIONS: Mortality is high following surgery for the complications of PUD, moreso in patients undergoing surgery for hemorrhage. Reoperations and repeated hospitalizations for complications are not uncommon, even in patients who have had procedures to reduce gastric acid secretion and HP eradication.

Association between nephrolithiasis and fatty liver detected on non-enhanced CT for clinically suspected renal colic.

PURPOSE: To estimate a direct association between nephrolithiasis and hepatosteatosis in patients referred to CT due to clinical suspicion of renal colic. METHODS: A 508 non-contrast CT scans were examined for calculi in the kidneys or urinary tract, including measurements of liver attenuation, spleen attenuation, thickness of visceral and subcutaneous fat. Logistic regression examined the association of nephrolithiasis and hepatosteatosis findings. RESULTS: Nephrolithiasis was found in 421 (83.9%) and hepatosteatosis in 80 (15.7%) cases. Univariate analysis showed a statistically significant association between nephrolithiasis and hepatosteatosis OR=3.24 (95% CI 1.36-7.68), p=0.008. CONCLUSIONS: A significant association was determined between nephrolithiasis and hepatosteatosis.