1/89. Embolization--an optional treatment for intractable hemorrhage from a malignant rectovaginal fistula: report of a case.PURPOSE: patients rarely have intractable hemorrhage from rectovaginal fistulas, which usually require surgical intervention. This report presents our experience with nonsurgical treatment of a high-risk patient with uncontrolled hemorrhage originating from a malignant rectovaginal fistula. methods: A 74-year-old female developed uncontrolled hemorrhage from a malignant rectovaginal fistula. Because of her poor physical condition, an embolization with metal clips of the right and left hypogastric arteries was performed, distal to the superior gluteal artery. RESULTS: Embolization was successful in controlling the rectovaginal bleeding, allowing the patient to live 12 months. She refused adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Selective angiography and embolization is a worthwhile alternative in patients with uncontrolled bleeding from a malignant rectovaginal fistula who are poor candidates for surgical intervention.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/89. Endometrial adenocarcinoma in pregnancy.OBJECTIVE: The coexistence of endometrial adenocarcinoma and pregnancy is rare. Most cases are discovered in the first trimester due to irregular bleeding or spontaneous abortion. CASE: A 44-year-old woman, gravida 3, para 2, was admitted due to abnormal vaginal bleeding. After complete history, physical examination, and laboratory evaluation, she was diagnosed with spontaneous abortion and underwent a suction curettage. Pathological examination of the tissue included chorionic villi and an area of atypical hyperplasia and endometrial cancer. CONCLUSION: Recent association between first-trimester spontaneous abortions and subsequent endometrial cancer makes these rare cases of concurrent endometrial cancer and first trimester of pregnancy attractive in that they may disclose insights into the pathophysiology of hormone-dependent cancers.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11.008651406577keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/89. cisplatin-5-fluorouracil therapy with remarkable effect and 5-year survival for paraaortic lymph node metastases of rectal carcinoma in females: a case report.A 68-year-old woman was admitted because of a rectal carcinoma with huge paraaortic lymph node metastases. Low anterior resection with regional lymph node dissection was performed, leaving the paraaortic mass. After the operation, cisplatin-5-fluorouracil therapy was used as supplemental chemotherapy. The metastatic lymph nodes shrank remarkably in response to anticancer drugs. We evaluated the effect of chemotherapy as a partial response. The physical condition of the patient was well controlled for more than 4 years until she was admitted again because of cardiac failure accompanied by relapse of abdominal lymph node swelling. She died of cardiac failure 5 years and 3 days after the operation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/89. Atypical medullary carcinoma of the breast with cartilaginous metaplasia in a patient with a BRCA1 germline mutation.We examined a 34-year-old premenopausal woman who had noticed a left-breast lump a month previously. She had no past history of malignancies but had a family history of breast and ovarian cancers. Her mother had suffered from ovarian cancer when aged 47 years and had died of the disease at age 52. The younger two of the patient's four aunts had developed breast cancer when they were 37 and 48 years old. A physical examination showed an ill-defined mass, 1.5 cm in diameter, located in the upper outer quadrant of the patient's left breast. mammography revealed diffuse microcalcification in both breasts but ultrasonography revealed an irregular tumorous lesion only in the left breast. Aspiration breast cytology revealed adenocarcinoma of the left breast. Modified radical mastectomy of the left breast and excision of a biopsy specimen from the right breast were carried out simultaneously. Histopathologically the left-breast tumor was an atypical medullary carcinoma with cartilaginous metaplasia, of histological grade 3, and the right-breast specimen showed fibrocystic changes with atypical ductal hyperplasia. Estrogen receptors were positive, but progesterone receptor was not detected on the tumor cells, which were immunopositive for nuclear p53 although c-erbB-2 overexpression was not observed. A nonsense germline mutation of the BRCA1 gene (exon5) was detected. The patient has been well since the operation (10 months). These findings may provide useful information about the carcinogenesis and biological behavior of BRCA1-associated breast cancers.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11.008651406577keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/89. Recurrent invasive adenocarcinoma after hysterectomy for cervical adenocarcinoma in situ.BACKGROUND: Unlike its squamous counterpart, therapy for cervical adenocarcinoma in situ with positive endocervical cone margin remains controversial. CASE: A 52-year-old gravida 2, para 1,0,1,1, presented with vaginal bleeding. Gynecologic history was significant for cervical cold knife conization with a positive endocervical margin and endocervical curettage with atypical endocervical cells. Repeat cone biopsy was considered unsafe given the large initial cone specimen. An extrafascial hysterectomy was performed 5 weeks later and pathology confirmed a disease-free cervix. Pap smear performed 1 year later was interpreted as recurrent adenocarcinoma but later downgraded to inflammation. Inspection and random biopsies of the vaginal cuff revealed only inflammation. Two subsequent Pap smears also returned inflammation. Seventeen months after the hysterectomy physical examination revealed a 2 x 3-cm smooth mass at the vaginal cuff. biopsy revealed invasive adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent an upper vaginectomy followed by postoperative pelvic radiation. CONCLUSION: This case suggests that despite extrafascial hysterectomy for presumed adenocarcinoma in situ of the cervix, a residual focus could remain and present later as invasive adenocarcinoma.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11.008651406577keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/89. BRCA1 germline mutation presenting as an adenocarcinoma of unknown primary.BACKGROUND: The work-up of adenocarcinoma of unknown primary usually includes history, physical examination, radiographic imaging, tumor markers, and more recently molecular and genetic information. We report here on how the suggestion by family history of a BRCA1 mutation guided the diagnostic and therapeutic approach in a patient with metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary. methods: BRCA1 mutation was screened for by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis. Primers for PCR amplification included selected BRCA1 exons 2, 110, 11L, 13, and 20. The PCR product was cloned into a PCRII vector and sequenced with a Sequenase Version 2.0 Sequencing Kit. RESULTS: Single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis suggested a mutation in the region of exon 20 and sequencing confirmed the presence of a germline mutation 5382insC. CONCLUSIONS: This case illustrates an unusual presentation of adenocarcinoma of unknown primary in a patient with a germline BRCA1 mutation, the use of a suspected germline mutation to guide the work-up and treatment, and finally the value of positron emission tomography scanning in the work-up of an unknown primary.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11.008651406577keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/89. The sign of Leser-Trelat in a case of adenocarcinoma of the lung.This is what we believe to be the first report of the sign of Leser-Trelat in association with occult adenocarcinoma of the lung. The sign of Leser-Trelat is proposed as a sign of possible occult malignancy, despite various suggestions to the contrary. Also, it is suggested that a tumor-produced humoral factor (eg, transforming growth factor-alpha [TGF-alpha]) could be responsible for both the acute eruption of the monomorphous seborrheic keratoses and the nearly concomitant development of acanthosis nigricans, which occurred in our case. The possible distinction between a hyperplastic and a neoplastic origin of various types of seborrheic keratosis is discussed in relation to this hypothetical humoral factor. In addition, we suggest a refinement of the definition of the sign of Leser-Trelat and discuss the use of "sign of Leser-Trelat" and "syndrome of Leser-Trelat" in relation to physical findings. All patients with the sign of Leser-Trelat should undergo a thorough evaluation for occult malignancy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/89. Gastric cancer with Virchow's and multiple lung metastases showing a remarkable response to preoperative chemotherapy: report of a case.We report herein a rare case with advanced gastric cancer combined with group 4 lymph node and lung metastases that responded remarkably to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A 65-year-old man was found to have a well-differentiated type 3 gastric cancer that invaded the duodenum locally and was accompanied with Virchow's, para-aortic lymph nodes, and multiple lung metastases based on physical, endoscopic, and radiological examinations. In addition, his carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 was elevated to 3965U/ml, and CA72-4 to 46U/ml. Prior to surgery, he was treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 500mg/body per day) and low-dose cisplatinum (CDDP; 10mg/body per day) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 6 weeks. As a result, a partial response was obtained in all lesions, and CA19-9 and CA72-4 decreased to 463U/ml and 9.4U/ml, respectively. Four weeks after the completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a distal gastrectomy was performed, and a histopathological examination of the resected specimen showed a grade 2 response to chemotherapy. Immunohistochemically, the thymidylate synthase expression level was very low in the tumor tissues, which might account for the good response to the combination chemotherapy with 5-FU and CDDP observed in the present case.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/89. Significant medical pathology discovered during a male infertility evaluation.PURPOSE: Because a pregnancy can be achieved without a male infertility evaluation, some have questioned its usefulness. However, by bypassing a urological evaluation the man might not learn the cause of infertility and not be offered specific corrective therapy. In addition, men with subfertility may have a serious underlying medical or genetic problem that could also be overlooked. We determine the incidence of significant medical pathology discovered during a male infertility evaluation at 2 academic infertility practices. MATERIALS AND methods: All men examined for either primary or secondary infertility were included in our study, while men seen for vasectomy reversal were not. All patients underwent evaluation, consisting of a complete history, physical examination, semen analysis, hormone testing, urinalysis and genetic testing when appropriate. RESULTS: Significant medical pathology was discovered in 33 of 536 (6%) patients. A total of 27 patients had genetic abnormalities, including cystic fibrosis mutations in 24 and karyotypic abnormalities in 3. Of the remaining 6 patients 1 had testis cancer, 1 prostate cancer, 3 diabetes mellitus and 1 hypothyroidism. CONCLUSIONS: Significant medical pathology can be detected by a male infertility evaluation. In addition to identifying the cause of infertility, the evaluation may uncover conditions that threaten the health of the male partner or any potential offspring.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11.008651406577keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/89. Temporary PSA rises and repeat prostate biopsies after brachytherapy.PURPOSE: The long-standing confusion regarding the clinical relevance of postimplant biopsies is complicated by the common occurrence of temporary PSA rises between 1 and 2 years after brachytherapy. We report here 4 patients with temporary, self-limited PSA rises and postimplant biopsies, for whom radical prostatectomy was strongly advised but for whom surgery would probably have been the wrong choice. MATERIALS AND methods: Transperineal I-125 or Pd-103 implants were performed as previously described. After implantation, patients were followed routinely, with repeat PSA and physical examination at approximately every 4 to 6 months. Timing of postimplant PSAs was at the discretion of the patient and his doctors. Postimplant biopsies were performed in all cases out of concern for a persistently elevated serum PSA. Sections of fixed and embedded tissue were stained with standard hematoxylin and eosin. RESULTS: All 4 patients presented here were advised to have a salvage prostatectomy based primarily on their PSA changes. However, all of the patients have subsequently had a dramatic PSA fall, consistent with long-term cancer control, despite the fact that 3 of the 4 had histologic evidence of persistent cancer on repeat prostate biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: It is crucial that clinicians be aware of the potential for the doubly confusing situation of temporary PSA rises and apparently positive rebiopsies and the pressure it puts on both patients and their physicians to go ahead with inappropriate salvage therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11.008651406577keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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