Adenocarcinoma arising at an ileostomy site: report of a case

A case is reported of a 60-year-old man, who developed an adenocarcinoma in the abdominal wall adjoining an ileostomy. Thirty-one years previously a total colectomy was performed for ulcerative colitis. Because of extensive prolapse the ileostomy was excised 6 years before the final operation, and a fresh part of the ileum, 10 cm proximal to the original stoma, was reimplanted in the abdominal wall at the same location. The pathogenesis of the malignant growth is uncertain; several possibilities as to the course of events at the ileostomy and surrounding skin are discussed.     

A case of Kartagener's syndrome associated with pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumothorax and pulmonary aspergilloma

A case of Kartagener's syndrome associated with multiple pulmonary complication was presented. A 19-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of pulmonary tuberculosis in May 1972. He had been diagnosed as Kartagener's syndrome because of the presence of chronic parasinusitis, bronchiectasis and complete situs inversus. His chest radiographs in Dec 1972 revealed left pneumothorax. Chest radiographs in Aug 1975 appeared aspergilloma in the right middle lung field. He was administrated intravenous and oral anti-fungal agent and transbronchial installation of Amphotericin-B because of hemoptysis. Chest radiographs in July 1980 resolved the aspergilloma and his symptom were also resolved. In 1996, he had no pulmonary symptoms and respiratory failure. We consider that the Kartagener's syndrome was good prognosis with adequate pulmonary therapy.     

Cytokine production at the site of disease in human tuberculosis

Clinical and immunologic evidence suggests that tuberculous pleuritis provides a model to understand protective immune mechanisms against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We therefore evaluated the pattern of cytokine mRNA expression and cytokine production in pleural fluid and blood of patients with tuberculous pleuritis. RNA was extracted from mononuclear cells, reverse transcribed to cDNA, and amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). After normalization for T-cell cDNA, cDNA from pleural fluid cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was amplified with cytokine-specific primers. PCR product was quantified by Southern blot. For the Th1 cytokines gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-2 (IL-2), PCR product was greater in pleural fluid than in blood, whereas PCR product for the Th2 cytokine IL-4 was decreased in pleural fluid compared with blood. Concentrations of IFN-gamma were elevated in pleural fluid compared with serum, but IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 were not detectable. Mean concentrations of IFN-gamma and IL-2 in supernatants of M. tuberculosis-stimulated pleural fluid cells were significantly greater than corresponding concentrations in supernatants of stimulated PBMC. In situ hybridization showed that increased IFN-gamma production by pleural fluid cells was associated with a 20- to 60-fold increase in the frequency of antigen-reactive IFN-gamma-mRNA-expressing cells. Because IL-10 can be produced by T cells and macrophages, pleural fluid cells and PBMC were normalized for beta-actin cDNA content and then amplified by PCR with IL-10-specific primers. IL-10 mRNA was greater in pleural fluid cells than in PBMC and was expressed predominantly by macrophages. IL-10 concentrations were elevated in pleural fluid versus serum. These data provide strong evidence for compartmentalization of Th1 cytokines and IL-10 at the site of disease in humans with a resistant immune response to mycobacterial infection.     

A subpopulation of reactive astrocytes at the immediate site of cerebral cortical injury

Data presented in this paper show that bromhexine and its pharmacologically active metabolite can easily be determined by capillary zone electrophoresis. The composition of the running buffer had a significant effect on the reproducibility of the migration time for which a carrier solution containing 30 mM phosphate buffer (pH 3.0), 5 M urea and 10% (v/v) acetonitrile was used. The method was validated with respect to its response linearity and reproducibility. The method is suitable for the determination of bromhexine and ambroxol in several samples such as pharmaceuticals, urine and serum. Photodiode-array detection permitted the rapid identification of both drugs in the sample analyzed.     

A case of adenocarcinoma arising in the vesical diverticulum

A 70-year-old woman presented at our hospital with the chief complaint of gross hematuria and pain on urination. Cystoscopy revealed a broad-based tumor covered with mucus on the right wall of the bladder and therefore a transurethral resection was performed. At surgery the tumor was found to arise from the diverticulum and could not be resected because of the risk of perforation. A histopathological examination disclosed adenocarcinoma including a small region of signet ring cell carcinoma. The tumor was thus diagnosed to be adenocarcinoma originating from the vesical diverticulum and total cystectomy and urinary diversion (ileal conduit) were scheduled. At operation, the carcinoma was found to have infiltrated into the cecum. The operation procedure was therefore changed to partial cystectomy and excision of the cecum in consideration of both the patient's quality of life and her overall prognosis. Although a tumor originating from the vesical diverticulum and adenocarcinoma are both considered to be factors indicating a poor prognosis, no signs of recurrence or metastasis have been detected in this patient at 26 months after the operation.     

A case suspected of early active pulmonary tuberculosis detected by CT with the onset of episcleritis

A 56-year-old female with the chief complaint of conjunctival injection was referred to our hospital after treatments with oral and topical corticosteroid under the diagnosis of episcleritis without any therapeutic efficacy. Possible causes of the episcleritis such as collagen vascular disease were not found, but a chest CT revealed centrilobular nodules, branching linear lesions and bronchial wall thickening which were not detected in a plain X-ray picture. We suspected pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculous episcleritis based on these CT findings, strongly positive tuberculine skin test result and a history of contact with a smear positive tuberculosis patient. The pulmonary lesion disappeared and the episcleritis healed after the treatment with systemic antituberculous agents.     

Detection of pulmonary tuberculosis among the homeless at Moscow reception-distribution facilities

A total of 5532 homeless persons were examined. The affection with pulmonary tuberculosis was 10.9%. The disease was first detected in 2.53% of the examinees. Relatively curable types of pulmonary tuberculosis were encountered in 70.2% of patients. A system of social and antituberculous measures should be set up for this population group.     

A case report of angiomyolipoma arising from the renal capsule

A case of angiomyolipoma arising from the renal capsule is reported. A 49-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with a complaint of abdominal mass pointed out by ultrasonography during her yearly health check. The tumor was 10 cm in size. On abdominal enhanced CT, the tumor was existed behind the left kidney. The capsule of the tumor was enhanced and the septums were seen inside of the tumor. MRI revealed a hemorrhage in the tumor and selective renal angiography showed the tumor was fed by the renal capsular artery. A tumor of the renal capsule was suspected and a laparotomy was done. Pathological results by the frozen section suggested malignancy and radical nephrectomy was performed. Angiomyolipoma was diagnosed histologically. Tumors of the renal capsule are uncommon and angiomyolipoma of the renal capsule is extremely rare. We have found only two cases in Japanese medical literature.     

Direct approach to the site of injury of the thoracic duct in treatment of chylothorax after pulmonary resection

Chylothorax, a rare complication after pulmonary resection, has no single established treatment. Generally, conservative therapy is tried first, but surgery should be done without delay if chyle leakage is severe. A 73-year-old woman underwent upper left lobectomy for lung cancer. Two days later, chylothorax was diagnosed, and because chyle leakage was great, emergency re-thoracotomy was done on day 4 after the first operation. With the preoperative ingestion of 200 ml of milk and 20 g of margarine, chyle leakage from the injured thoracic duct was readily located in the upper mediastinum. Closure of the trunk of the thoracic duct may be undertaken, but a direct approach to the site of injury is more preferable, because the trunk may have collateral.     

A case of miliary tuberculosis with brain tuberculoma, following intraocular tuberculosis

A 52-year-old woman with visual loss of her left eye consulted a ophthalmology clinic. She was conducted left vitrectomy and administered corticosteroid under the diagnosis of uveitis of unknown cause. But her visual acuity was not improved. Although re-surgery was planned, pus retention was found in her left eye. After her left eye was resected, fever and general malaise appeared suddenly. Her chest X-ray film revealed diffuse micronodular opacities. Acid-fast bacilli were detected from her sputum and identified to be Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She was diagnosed miliary tuberculosis, and then antituberculous chemotherapy consisting of 4 drugs was started. Granulomatous inflammation destructing retina and numerous acid-fact bacilli were found in histologic examination of the resected eye. This case was thought to be miliary tuberculosis disseminated from intraocular tuberculosis. After 2 months of therapy, neurologic symptoms which might be caused by brain tuberucloma appeared and deteriorated rapidly. But by adding corticosteroid to antituberculous therapy, symptoms were diminished gradually.     

A report of outbreaks of pulmonary tuberculosis in two bars

We experienced small outbreaks of M. tuberculosis infection in two bars. 9 patients were diagnosed as tuberculosis by identifying M. tuberculosis from their sputa. Six of them were regular customers or employees of the bar, one of them was a family members. Each outbreak within the two bars was suspected of the common source of infection, because one patient was a regular customer of the both bars. The analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was done on 5 strains of M. tuberculosis which were isolated from five of 9 patients. The result unexpectedly showed that 5 isolates were classified into 3 groups. Within each group, identical fingerprints were shown. It does mean that each outbreak in two bars was originated from independent source. There was also one relapsed case of tuberculosis. He was suspected of relapsed tuberculosis after a period of 7 years because of the similarity of drug resistance compared with his primary tuberculosis. It was cleared up that 3 different strains of M. tuberculosis were concerned with these outbreaks in the two bars. In this case, almost all patients were heavy drinkers, however, liver dysfunction and malnutrition were not recognized among them. These experiences indicate that a place like bar may be a space of infection of M. tuberculosis. We should always keep in mind a spread of tuberculosis in a place like a bar as one of problems in tuberculosis control.     

Differential diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Differential diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is discussed. Chest X-ray findings of pulmonary tuberculosis may be greatly varied, because tuberculosis may cause three different lesions: an exudative lesion, a proliferative lesion, and a fibrotic lesion, and because it may invade all the structure. Thus, the differential diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis includes very many diseases. The most important differential diagnosis of nodule is tuberculoma and lung cancer. The clue of the diagnosis is the feature of the nodule and surrounding structure, such as pleural indentation, or knotching. There is, however, the limitation of the diagnosis by imaging: some tuberculoma may show the identical feature with the pulmonary adenocarcinoma. It is important to gather the pathological or bacteriological evidences by means of suitable procedures.     

A case of syphilitic interstitial pulmonary fibrosis

We report a case of acne neonatorum developed in a boy since birth. His mother and his aunt had different signs of hyperandrogenism including acne and hirsutism. This case illustrates the correlation between acne neonatorum and familial hyperandrogenism. It shows the importance of the family history and the eventual clinical and serological presence of hyperandrogenism in the mother when confronted with acne neonatorum.     

A case of congenital quadricuspid pulmonary valve

The present report describes a case of congenital quadricuspid pulmonary valve, encountered during the dissection of an 84 year-old Japanese female cadaver at Kanazawa Medical University. In this case, no evidence of heart failure was found clinically or pathologically. The semilunar valve on the right posterior was the biggest and that of the left anterior was the smallest.     

A study on the relapse and its potential causes in pulmonary tuberculosis

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to acquire the general picture of relapse in pulmonary tuberculosis in China and to clarify the relationship between potential causes and relapse rate. All data were collected from 4,797 initial sputum-positive cases. Results showed: (1) Bacteriological relapse rate within two years after chemotherapy was 4.6%. (2) Cumulative relapse rates within half a year and a year only accounted for respectively 28% and 43% of that within two years after chemotherapy. (3) Patients over 60 years old, with drug-resistant bacilli, with long excretion of bacilli, or with residual cavity(ies) or bacterial-negative conversion of less than 3 months at the end of treatment, were the high risk population of relapse.