1/55. Disseminated carcinomatosis after laparoscopic surgery for presumably benign ruptured ovarian teratoma.The authors reported the intraperitoneal carcinomatosis after laparoscopic surgery for presumably benign ruptured ovarian teratoma in a 28-year-old woman. A 28-year-old female patient exhibited intraperitoneal carcinomatosis after a laparoscopic surgery for ruptured mature teratoma of the ovary with occult malignant transformation. The complication was found two months after initial laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgery was smooth including oophorectomy, and removing all spilled specimens within the abdominal cavity. At the end of the laparoscopic surgery, cleaning the abdominal cavity and irritating the port site were also performed. Cytology of the abdominal cavity and all removed specimens did not show evidence of malignancy. She followed up regularly and uneventfully except for persistently abdominal fullness and erythematous change of umbilical portal site. Evidence demonstrated intestinal obstruction associated with ascites after a detailed evaluation. Although the patient received supportive treatment the symptom exacerbated. Therefore, the patient was treated with exploratory laparotomy. pathology proved with intraperitoneal carcinomatosis caused by squamous cell carcinoma. All tumor evaluations including tumor markers, a thorough physical examination, imaging studies and evaluations of the nuclear medicine were negative except of intraperitoneal carcinoma, origin to be determined. The patient is dead 14 months' post-treatment by exploratory laparotomy. Although it was not clear that the laparoscopic approach or the disease itself worsened indeed the prognosis because the disease was already disseminated before the laparoscopy, we still emphasized the possible limitation of laparoscopic surgery if diagnosis at original surgery is impaired, of if excision is incomplete and the delay between the laparoscopic procedure and the carcinomatosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/55. 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 = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/55. Two paraneoplastic syndromes in a patient with ovarian cancer: nephrotic syndrome and paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration.BACKGROUND: A paraneoplastic syndrome-a rare, indirect system disturbance located distant from a neoplasm-has been reported in association with ovarian cancer. CASE: Two paraneoplastic syndromes-nephrotic syndrome and paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD)-developed in a patient who had no symptoms from ovarian cancer. She presented with the nephrotic syndrome. Evaluation for metastasis, including computed tomography (CT) scan and ultrasonography, showed a slightly enlarged right ovary and a 2-cm lower paraaortic lymph node on the right side. A 5-cm ovarian mass and multiple paraaortic lymph nodes were excised, and six cycles of carboplatin and paclitaxel were given. nephrotic syndrome symptoms had greatly subsided at 6 weeks after surgery. At 7 months after surgery, symptoms of PCD developed yet CT, CA-125 levels, and physical examination showed no evidence of ovarian cancer. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, development of two paraneoplastic syndromes in one patient with ovarian cancer has not been reported. nephrotic syndrome resolved with treatment of the neoplasm whereas PCD did not.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/55. A case of a primary ovarian leiomyosarcoma.A primary ovarian leiomyosarcoma is extremely rare. Moreover, there is no established treatment modality other than surgery, and the prognosis is extremely poor. We report a case of a primary ovarian leiomyosarcoma. The patient was a gravida 4, para 2, 73-year-old female. She first presented with chief complaints of constipation and a pelvic mass. A physical examination revealed a solid tumor in the pelvic cavity. Which was about the size of an infant's head and had an irregular shape. The patient was suspected of having a subserosal myoma of the uterus or an ovarian tumor, and she was subjected to a laparotomy. A solid tumor about the size of an infant's head was found in the left uterine adnexa, and an intraoperative rapid pathological diagnosis of an ovarian leiomyosarcoma was made. A total abdominal hysterectomy, a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, a pelvic lymphadenectomy, and an omentectomy were then performed. The final pathological diagnosis confirmed a left primary ovarian leiomyosarcoma. After a series of discussions with the patient's family about her therapeutic plan, we decided to let the patient be followed-up without adjuvant therapy. Forty-two months after the surgery, the patient accumulated massive amounts of pleural effusion and ascites, with extensive organ metastasis. She received terminal care and soon died.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/55. Curschmann's spirals in cyst fluid associated with a teratoma of the ovary. A case report.BACKGROUND: Curschmann's spirals, first described more than 100 years ago, are common in cytologic specimens from the respiratory tract and have also been observed in cervical smears, urine, and peritoneal and pleural effusions. No simple theory can explain the exact mode of spiral formation, which is presumed to be a complex physical and biochemical phenomenon. CASE: A 29-year-old woman, gravida 2, para 2, underwent right ovarian cyst excision after an abdominal ultrasound examination revealed a cystic mass of the right ovary. Histologically, the cyst was an immature cystic teratoma containing respiratory epithelium with mucous glands in the submucosa. Cytologic examination of the cyst fluid showed the presence of Curschmann's spirals. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, the formation of Curschmann's spirals associated with an immature cystic teratoma has not been previously reported. In this situation, the presence of spirals could be explained by formation from mucus normally found in that environment.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.063250593142733keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/55. Presacral schwannoma with purely cystic form.STUDY DESIGN: Case report. OBJECTIVE: To point out that presacral schwannoma can display markedly cystic degeneration. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Benign schwannoma sometimes displays degenerative changes, such as cyst formation, calcification, hemorrhage, and hyalinization. Usually these degenerations are partially seen in the tumors. methods: Medical history, physical findings, imaging features, and histologic findings were reviewed in a case with a large presacral schwannoma. RESULTS: A 62-year-old woman presented with an 18-month history of right sciatic pain. Magnetic resonance images detected a large cystic, presacral tumor. Initially the tumor was misdiagnosed as a cystic ovarian tumor. Preoperative diagnostic workup led to the diagnosis of cystic schwannoma. Intralesional curettage achieved good pain relief. CONCLUSIONS: This tumor was unusual in its totally cystic appearance and resemblance to a cystic ovarian tumor or anterior sacral meningocele. Preoperative diagnosis is important to prevent major neurologic deficit at surgery.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.063250593142733keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/55. Solitary metastatic carcinoma of the spleen.A care is reported in which an isolated metastatic lesion of the spleen was discovered one year after a modified radical mastectomy for carcinoma of the breast, and seven years following total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for carcinoma of the left ovary. splenectomy was followed by significant clinical improvement of the patient who remains alive and well four years after operation. Regular physical and roentgen examinations have revealed no evidence of recurrent disease. The factors relating to the occurrence of solitary splenic metastasis are discussed briefly. This case is apparently the fifth reported in the literature.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.063250593142733keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/55. Dual-modality PET/CT tomography for clinical oncology.diagnosis and follow-up in clinical oncology are traditionally based on computed tomography (CT). In recent years, however, functional imaging using positron emission tomography (PET) has been recognized as an important imaging modality and adjunct to CT that provides complementary metabolic information in many oncology applications. To overcome the challenges of aligning independently acquired PET and CT image sets several ad hoc concepts of integrating PET and CT imaging in a single device have been proposed. This article comments on the development of the first combined dual-modality PET/CT prototype at the University of Pittsburgh, and illustrates commercial advances to dual-modality PET/CT tomography. The current PET/CT designs from the major manufacturers comprise a commercial CT scanner in tandem with a commercial PET scanner. While the level of physical integration is actually less than that of the original prototype it is fair to assume that current PET/CT models may serve as intermediate solutions towards near-future design concepts that aim at greatly reduced costs of the dual-modality tomographs and offer a greater level of physical integration. The goal of the next generation of PET/CT systems is to design and build a device specifically for imaging the function and anatomy of cancer in the most informative and effective way without necessarily conceptualizing it as combined PET and CT scanners. Such a concept of a diagnostic imaging device relates more to a disease management approach rather than the usual division into medical specialities such as radiology and nuclear medicine.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.12650118628547keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/55. Whole-body PET with FDG is useful for following up an ovarian cancer patient with only rising CA-125 levels within the normal range.In April 2000, a 54-year-old woman underwent surgery for ovarian serous cell carcinoma (stage IIb). After initial treatment, the patient underwent a physical examination, ultrasound examination and measurement of serum CA-125 levels every month. Although neither diagnostic imaging (ultrasound and computed tomography) nor physical examination showed any evidence of recurrence, the CA-125 level rose slowly and continuously within the normal range. In March 2001, an increased accumulation of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in the pelvic cavity was seen on a positron emission tomography (PET) scan obtained 2 weeks before a relapse of a malignant lesion was diagnosed by gadolinium-enhanced MRI (Gd-MRI). It is reasonable to suppose that FDG-PET is clinically useful for detecting an early, small region of relapsed ovarian cancer. Moreover, FDG-PET may be helpful for determining whether a patient who has a continuous rising CA-125 level within the normal range should be treated in the absence of relapse regions detected by conventional methods.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.0632505931427keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/55. The use of antioxidants with first-line chemotherapy in two cases of ovarian cancer.OBJECTIVE: Because of poor overall survival in advanced ovarian malignancies, patients often turn to alternative therapies despite controversy surrounding their use. Currently, the majority of cancer patients combine some form of complementary and alternative medicine with conventional therapies. Of these therapies, antioxidants, added to chemotherapy, are a frequent choice. methods: For this preliminary report, two patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer were studied. One patient had Stage IIIC papillary serous adenocarcinoma, and the other had Stage IIIC mixed papillary serous and seromucinous adenocarcinoma. Both patients were optimally cytoreduced prior to first-line carboplatinum/paclitaxel chemotherapy. Patient 2 had a delay in initiation of chemotherapy secondary to co-morbid conditions and had evidence for progression of disease prior to institution of therapy. Patient 1 began oral high-dose antioxidant therapy during her first month of therapy. This consisted of oral vitamin C, vitamin e, beta-carotene, coenzyme Q-10 and a multivitamin/mineral complex. In addition to the oral antioxidant therapy, patient 1 added parenteral ascorbic acid at a total dose of 60 grams given twice weekly at the end of her chemotherapy and prior to consolidation paclitaxel chemotherapy. Patient 2 added oral antioxidants just prior to beginning chemotherapy, including vitamin C, beta-carotene, vitamin e, coenzyme Q-10 and a multivitamin/mineral complex. Patient 2 received six cycles of paclitaxel/carboplatinum chemotherapy and refused consolidation chemotherapy despite radiographic evidence of persistent disease. Instead, she elected to add intravenous ascorbic acid at 60 grams twice weekly. Both patients gave written consent for the use of their records in this report. RESULTS: Patient 1 had normalization of her CA-125 after the first cycle of chemotherapy and has remained normal, almost 3(1/2) years after diagnosis. CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis remain without evidence of recurrence. Patient 2 had normalization of her CA-125 after the first cycle of chemotherapy. After her first round of chemotherapy, the patient was noted to have residual disease in the pelvis. She declined further chemotherapy and added intravenous ascorbic acid. There is no evidence for recurrent disease by physical examination, and her CA-125 has remained normal three years after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: antioxidants, when added adjunctively, to first-line chemotherapy, may improve the efficacy of chemotherapy and may prove to be safe. A review of four common antioxidants follows. Because of the positive results found in these two patients, a randomized controlled trial is now underway at the University of kansas Medical Center evaluating safety and efficacy of antioxidants when added to chemotherapy in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical examination, physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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