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Abstract: A 57 year-old man presented with abdominal discomfort and melena. Abdominal ultrasonography clearly revealed a duodenal tumor as a hypoechoic mass in the transverse segment of the duodenum. The lesion was a 4 x 4-cm oval mass with partial concavity, an irregular surface, high-level central echoes, and a hypoechoic periphery. After confirmation of the diagnosis of duodenal carcinoma, a pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy was performed curatively. Pathological examination revealed moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma partially invading the pancreatic parenchyma. Ultrasonography can be used to detect lesions of the transverse segment of the duodenum as the first imaging procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 27-year-old woman was admitted to Nagasaki University Hospital complaining of abdominal pain and fever. Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography showed multiple cystic dilatations of the intrahepatic bile ducts without stone formation. The illness was diagnosed as a pure type of Caroli's disease. No surgical intervention was made. Subsequently, the patient suffered repeated attacks of cholangitis, and six years later, computed tomography demonstrated cystic lesions of both lobes of the liver and stones within the cystic lesions of the right lobe. We collected 62 cases of Caroli's disease reported in the Japanese literature, including our own case. Among them, cholangitis was found in 43.5%, hepatolithiasis in 30.6%, esophageal varices in 17.7% and cholangiocarcinoma in 8.1%. It is difficult to successfully treat Caroli's disease involving both lobes of the liver. Long-term repeated cholangitis could lead to fibrosis of the liver, hepatolithiasis, portal hypertension and cholangiocarcinoma. Considering the above-mentioned aspects of the disease, careful follow-up studies are required in each case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve patients with discharge of clear colorless fluid during percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) were encountered during a period of 4.5 years. On the average, the fluid appeared on the 12th day after PTGBD and continued to flow until the completion of observation. The volume was usually less than 60ml per day. It flowed in an alternating pattern with normal yellow color bile each day. The fluid was observed in patients in whom satisfactory patency of the biliary system was confirmed by cholangiography and/or cholangio-fiberscopy. Biochemical examinations of the fluid revealed lower biliary lipids but a similar electrolyte composition compared to bile of normal color. It was alkaline. These observations indicate that the clear colorless fluid is different from what is known as 'white bile', which is produced when there is an obstruction of the biliary tree. The fluid may be secreted from the gallbladder epithelium or the bile duct epithelium. The significance was not clarified in this study. Further investigation is necessary to elucidate the clinical implications of the clear and colorless fluid secretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilateral intrahepatic lithiasis is a rare condition, and for this reason a nationwide survey was conducted. Reports on 675 patients with bilateral intrahepatic lithiasis over a 10-year-period were collected. Among these, 258 patients with bilateral intrahepatic lithiasis having no extrahepatic bile duct stones were analyzed. The peak incidence was seen in the fourth to sixth decades. Males and females were equally effected. The stones removed were mainly calcium bilirubinate stones (75.6%). The main clinical symptoms were abdominal pain, fever and jaundice. Charcot's triad was seen in 29.7%, while 12.4% of the patients had no symptoms. Visualization of each segmental duct of the liver by direct cholangiography was excellent in this survey and ranged from 88 to 97.3% of the patients. The most frequent site of stones was the left hepatic duct (60.1%). The site of bile duct dilatation coincided with the location of stones. The most common sites of stenosis were the central part of the lateral segmental duct (32.5%) and the left hepatic duct (37.6%). Hepatic resection was employed in 49.2% of the patients, and drainage procedures were added in 95.6%. Follow-up studies of 236 patients treated by surgery revealed good results in 67.4%, fair in 13.6%, and poor in 7.6%. In these patients, however, endoscopie lithotomy was often employed intra- and/or post-operatively. Conducting hepatic resection, with adequate biliary drainage procedure and cholangiofiberscopic lithotomy may help to improve the therapeutic results of bilateral intrahepatic lithiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the various benign biliary tract diseases, intrahepatic lithiasis is the most refractory condition to treat surgically. Recently, endoscopic treatment (mainly cholangiofiberscopic lithotomy) has been more and more frequently employed. A nationwide survey by questionnaire was conducted in 1985 to clarify the exact status of the current therapies for intrahepatic lithiasis in Japan. A total of 143 institutions (33.4%) responded to our questionnaire, and 2614 cases over a 10-year-period were collected and analyzed. Operation alone was performed in 53.8%, operation plus endoscopie treatment in 38.6%, operation plus dissolution therapy in 5.5%, operation plus endoscopie treatment and dissolution therapy in 0.04% and endoscopie treatment alone in 2.1%. The most common treatment was surgery. This was employed in 97.9% of all the patients, but endoscopie treatment was added in 40.7% of the cases to extract stones mainly intra- and/or post-operatively. Dissolution therapy was carried out occasionally, but with poor results. Conducting both adequate surgical biliary drainage and cholangiofiberscopic lithotomy may result in a marked improvement in the treatment of this intractable disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stage classification (SC) for carcinoma of the pancreas recommended by UICC (UICC-SC) was compared with that of Japan Pancreas Society (JPN-SC) using 229 patients encountered consecutively at the Second Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University School of Medicine over the past 20 yr. By UICC-SC, 51% of the patients belonged to stage IV and 38% to Stage III. By JPN-SC, 82% of the patients belonged to stage IV. Curative resection rates in JPN stage II and III were significantly higher than those in UICC-SC by the chi-squared test. In 60 patients undergoing resectional surgery, postoperative cumulative survival (PCS) curves and rates by each staging criterion (tumor size [T], lymph node metastasis [N], distant metastasis [M], serosal invasion [S], retroperitoneal invasion [Rp], and invasion to the portal venous systems [V]) were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Among these prognostic factors, significant differences in the PCS curves were demonstrated only between Rp(-) and Rp(+), and between V( - ) and V( + ) according to the generalized Wilcoxon's text. In UICC-SC, the underestimation of these factors leads to a tendency to classify the patients in a less advanced stage than in JPN-SC. JPN-SC is more complex than UICC-SC. Continuing efforts are necessary to establish a more practical, simple, and universal staging system for the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arterial intimal thickening and thrombosis of the pancreatic artery has frequently been found in Watanabe heritable hyper-lipidemic (WHHL) rabbits. Three of the 20 rabbits used in this study showed histopathological findings such as intra- or interlobular fibrosis with lymphocytic infiltration, acinar degenerative changes, ductular proliferation and small ductal dilatations which were identical to those of human chronic pancreatitis. These findings were observed in discrete areas clearly demarcated from normal pancreatic parenchyma and adjacent to parenchymal necrosis. These discrete areas were developed just peripheral to regions of necrotic or inflammatory obstruction of the pancreatic duct, which might have been caused by parenchymal necrosis due to severe ischemia. The stasis of pancreatic juice in the ductal tree may result in such findings in the WHHL rabbit. Fat replacement of pancreatic parenchyma was observed in 17 of the 20 WHHL rabbits, and was classified into two types, diffuse and massive. Massive fat replacement may occur from fat necrosis and intra-lobular parenchymal necrosis. Vascular alterations and secondary ischemia in the pancreas is one of the most important factors involved in the pancreatic lesions present in the WHHL rabbit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 72-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of loss of weight, general fatigue, and upper abdominal pain. Barium studies suggested that a fistula was present between the proximal transverse colon and the stomach which originated from a carcinoma of the colon. A plain computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed the presence of a gastrocolic fistula. A two-thirds distal gastrectomy and right hemicolectomy with a resection of a bulky tumor in the mesocolon were performed en bloc. Histological examination revealed a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the transverse colon which was involved with the wall of the stomach. We were able to obtain information on 14 previous cases of gastrocolic fistula originating from transverse colon cancer in the Japanese literature, including the present case. The most common symptom was abdominal pain (64%). A preoperative diagnosis of fistula was confirmed in 10 of the 11 cases examined by barium studies. A plain CT and a CT scan after the barium studies may also be helpful in detecting fistula formation. A fistula between the carcinoma of the middle or distal transverse colon and the stomach was found in 13 of 14 cases, but not in our case. Only one case lived longer than 9 years, even though a surgical resection was possible in 9 of 11 cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To elucidate the effect of lithium carbonate in the preoperative preparation of patients with Graves' disease, it was given without any other antithyroid medication to two patients as an alternative to thionamide, which had caused adverse effects. The initial dose of lithium carbonate was 600 mg/day, and the final doses were 1200 and 900 mg/day, while the periods of administration were 67 and 27 days, respectively. The highest serum concentrations of lithium during the administration period were 0.83 and 0.43 mEq/l, respectively. This preoperative preparation lowered serum thyroid hormone levels and clinical improvement. A subtotal thyroidectomy was performed uneventfully in both patients, after which the serum lithium levels decreased rapidly and the thyroid hormone levels increased only slightly for a few days. No adverse effects of lithium carbonate were observed. Thus, we conclude that the administration of lithium carbonate alone is an effective and safe method for the preoperative management of Graves' disease when conventional antithyroid drugs show adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 66 year old Japanese female was admitted to our department for the examination and treatment of a mass in the cecum. She had experienced no symptoms or signs other than a positive test result for fecal occult blood. The mass in the cecum was confirmed by barium enema, colonofiberscopy and CT scanning. The presumptive diagnosis was a submucosal tumor of the cecum, however, a laparotomy subsequently revealed intussusception of an appendiceal mass. An ileocaecal resection with an ileocolic anastomosis was therefore performed and the mass was histologically diagnosed as a mucocele of the appendix. This patient is only the 24th case of intussusception of a mucocele of the appendix to be reported in Japan. A review of the available literature on this condition follows the case report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the tumor size that constitutes early pancreatic cancer, we reviewed and analyzed the English-language and Japanese literature (a total of 25 publications) on small pancreatic cancers less than 2 cm in diameter and/or stage 1 cancers. Reports on in situ carcinoma and intraductal carcinoma of the pancreas were also evaluated. The results were: (1) A total of 302 cases of small pancreatic cancer less than 2 cm in diameter reported at separate institutions were pooled from 15 reports. The rates for patients in stage I and those with no lymph node metastasis averaged 41.7% and 57.9%, respectively. The 5-year postoperative cumulative survival rate (5Y-PCR) was less than 50% in almost all these reports. Similar data were shown in the 7 collective reviews. (2) Another 33 cases of small pancreatic cancer of 1 cm or less in diameter were collected from three reports. The rates for stage I tumor and 5Y-PCR at one institution with two reports were 100% and 100% and the rates in the other report were 85% and 78%, respectively. (3) Twelve cases of in situ carcinoma and intraductal carcinoma of the pancreas were collected from four reports. All of the patients were stage I and were alive with no evidence of tumor recurrence for periods ranging from 6 to 78 months. Small pancreatic cancer less than 1 cm in diameter is better viewed as an early pancreatic cancer, and in situ carcinoma and intraductal carcinoma of the pancreas with minimal invasion to the pancreatic parenchyma may be defined as early pancreatic cancer, regardless of size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of several bile acids on tetragastrin-stimulated gastric secretion in dogs in which diversion of the biliary system was performed. Cholecystojejunostomy of the Roux-en-Y type was performed, along with the creation of a Heidenhain pouch (HP) and an external duodenal fistula. Gastric juice was collected from the HP and a mixture of bile acids and corn oil was administered through the duodenal fistula. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) exerted an inhibitory effect on gastric hypersecretion. Conjugated UDCA and several bile acids with different hydroxyl groups were also examined, and these bile acids also showed evidence of an inhibitory effect on the secretion of gastric juice, although there were no significant differences between them. Thus, it appears that all bile acids inhibit tetragastrin-stimulated gastric hypersecretion. This finding suggests that peptic ulcer disease can be prevented by the administration of bile acids to patients who undergo biliary diversion and are at a high risk for this postoperative complication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-three patients with hyperparathyroidism (HPT) including 20 atomic bomb survivors (46.5 per cent) were treated surgically in our institute during the last 19 years. The mean age of the patients at the time of atomic bomb exposure (ABE) was 17.6±1.5 years. The mean latent interval between atomic bomb exposure and detection of HPT was 39.1±1.1 years. We compared the 20 ABE patients with 23 patients who had a history of neither atomic bomb exposure nor therapeutic irradiation to the neck region (non-ABE patients). It was determined that females were more prominently affected by HPT than males among ABE patients. The parathyroid lesions in ABE patients consisted of adenoma in 16 patients and hyperplasia in 4. A similar proportion of pathological lesions was also observed in non-ABE patients. Thyroid lesions accompanied by HPT, however, were more often revealed in ABE patients than in non-ABE patients. The two most common lesions in ABE patients were papillary carcinoma in 3 patients (15 per cent) and adenoma in 3 (15 per cent). These findings suggest that atomic bomb survivors may be at a greater risk of developing HPT with a high incidence of accompanying thyroid disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A extremely rare case of Hashimoto's thyroiditis presenting with pressure symptoms is described herein. A 50 year old Japanese woman was referred to our department with swelling of the anterior neck, facial edema and recent heavy snoring. Oto-rhinolaryngological examinations revealed no movement of the bilateral vocal cords, severe laryngeal edema and diffuse edema of the tongue and pharynx. These findings had apparently been induced by compression of the bilateral recurrent nerves and internal jugular veins by an enlarged thyroid gland. The results of thyroid function and autoimmune tests were compatible with a diagnosis of Hashimoto's disease and thus, total thyroidectomy with a tracheostomy was performed uneventfully. The resected specimen weighed 168 grams and was confirmed histologically to be Hashimoto's disease. Following her operation all the above symptoms disappeared and 4 months later, the patient is well and asymptomatic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rare case of a primary tuberculous liver abscess with bronchobiliary and gastrobiliary fistula formation is presented herein, emphasizing the difficulty in establishing its diagnosis. The clinical course was complicated and a wide range of antibiotics administered repeatedly, based on the initial diagnosis of a liver abscess, until the final diagnosis of a tuberculous liver abscess was established by histopathological reinvestigation of the resected liver specimen. Thereafter, antituberculous chemotherapy proved extremely effective for the alleviation of symptoms, reduction of the abscess and closure of the fistulae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium carbonate was given in the preoperative preparation of 12 patients with Graves' disease, the reasons for its use being side effects of thionamide in 9 patients, insufficient control by thionamide in 1 and psychic symptoms in 2. Lithium carbonate was often used in combination with other drugs, namely; thionamide in 4 patients, beta-adrenergic blockades in 5, reserpine in 5 and glucocorticoid in 1. This preoperative control significantly decreased the mean serum T and T levels from 656±55 ng/dl to 180±16 ng/dl and from 25.9±2.1 μg/dl to 9.7±1.5 μg/dl, respectively. The only adverse effect of lithium carbonate was pollakisuria observed in one patient. All patients underwent subtotal thyroidectomy uneventfully. It is concluded that the administration of lithium carbonate alone or in combination with other durgs is an effective method of preoperatively controlling hyperthyroidism when conventional antithyroid drugs show adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rare case of the segmental type of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is reported herein. A 27 year old Japanese man with obstructive jaundice was referred to our hospital with a provisional diagnosis of bile duct cancer at the hepatic hilum. A PTCD tube had been inserted from the right anterior segmental duct and direct cholangiograms showed complete obstruction of the bile duct at the confluence of the right and left hepatic ducts. Resection of the extrahepatic bile duct and partial hepatectomy were thus performed, however, the postoperative histological examination revealed no malignant features. Instead, the lesion was shown to be compatible with PSC microscopically. A diagnosis of PSC was finally established on the basis of clinical features, cholangiographic appearance and the pathological report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method of retrograde transhepatic biliary drainage (RTBD) using and RTBD tube with primary closure of the common duct was investigated with special reference to the usefulness and feasibility of this procedure. At operation, an atraumatic vinyl chloride tube was inserted from a choledochotomy incision and in most cases advanced via the left hepatic duct to the liver surface, which was then penetrated. After the choledochotomy incision had been primarily sutured, the RTBD tube was fixed to the abdominal wall. This drainage method was applied to 71 patients as an alternative to the conventional T-tube drainage and its effect on bile drainage was prominent. The insertion of an RTBD tube did not influence liver function tests and an RTBD tube cholangiography revealed no severe deformity at the primary closure site of the bile duct. The most common complication was movement of the optimal site for stenting of the bile duct, however, no serious complications were encountered. On average, the RTBD tube was removed on the 16th postoperative day, the mean postoperative stay in hospital being 22 days. These findings suggest the need for a prospective randomized clinical trial to prove the usefulness and feasibility of primary bile duct closure using our drainage method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report herein, a case of a 75 year old woman with breast cancer in whom lymph node metastasis within the pectoralis major muscle was found. The breast mass measured 10×6 cm, and its overlying skin was red and edematous, suggesting inflammatory carcinoma. An extended radical mastectomy was performed and the lesion was histologically confirmed to be solid-tubular carcinoma with regional lymph node involvement. In the pectoralis major muscle, where lymph nodes do not usually exist, one positive metastatic lymph node and another metastatic lymph node-like nodule were histopathologically confirmed. To our knowledge, no other such case has ever been reported, yet the possibility of lymph nodes existing in the pectoralis major muscle, albeit rare, should nevertheless be considered in the treatment of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of a 77 year old woman with a heterotopic pancreas in the distal common bile duct is reported herein. The patient had no symptoms, but an ultrasound examination showed bile duct dilatation and subsequent endoscopic retrograde cholangiography demonstrated a spherical filling defect in the distal common bile duct. Under suspicion of a benign neoplasm in the common bile duct, resection of the common bile duct and hepaticojejunostomy using a Roux-en Y jejunal limb were successfully performed. Pathological examination revealed heterotopic pancreatic tissue in the distal common bile duct. This is only the ninth reported case of heterotopic pancreas occurring in the common bile duct or ampulla of Vater, and thus, a review of the literature is also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to define early carcinoma of the extrahepatic bile duct through a study of 11 patients whose carcinomatous invasion did not extend to the outer layer of the bile duct. The patients were divided into the following 3 groups, namely; a mucosa group comprised of 3 patients, a fibromuscular layer group comprised of 5 patients, and an adventitia group comprised of 3 patients. None of the patients had any lymphnode metastases. Histological characteristics were determined according to infiltrative growth (INFα, β, γ), lymphatic invasion (ly), venous invasion (v) and perineural invasion (pn). In the mucosa group, INFα was observed in 2 patients, while ly, v, and pn factors were all negative. In the fibromuscular layer group, INFβ was seen in 3 patients, ly was positive in 2 patients, while v, and pn factors were negative in all patients. In the adventitia group, INFγ was found in 2 patients, and ly, v, and pn factors were positive in all patients except for 1 in whom v was negative. Death from recurrence occurred in all the adventitia group patients and in 1 other patient. Early carcinoma of the extrahepatic bile duct could therefore be defined at present, as being carcinoma confined to within the mucosa and fibromuscular layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 39 year-old Japanese female patient with a duplication of the distal portion of the common bile duct is presented herein. Moreover, an abnormal arrangement of the pancreaticobiliary ductal union, congenital biliary dilatation and carcinoma of the gallbladder were all demonstrated by cholangiographic and endoscopical studies. The patient underwent radical surgery for advanced adenosquamous carcinoma of the gallbladder, and her postoperative course was satisfactory. A reflux of pancreatic juice into the bile duct was demonstrated, but it was eliminated and considered to be a contributory etiologic factor of the gallbladder carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of selective portal blood interruption on gallstone formation were investigated experimentally in dogs. The gallstone incidence in group I (left portal vein occlusion, N=10) was 60 per cent at 1 month after the ligation, 64 per cent at 2 months (N=9) and 88 per cent at 3 months (N=8), whereas the incidence in group II (right portal vein occlusion, N=5) was 0 per cent at 1 and 2 months (N=5) after the ligation and 20 per cent at 3 months (N=5). All canine gallstones, which were similar to human black stones on morphological and infrared spectroscopic examination, formed only in the gallbladders of both groups. Bile analysis showed that cholesterol, phospholipids and total bile acid concentrations in the gallbladder bile were significantly decreased in group I after the ligation. Microscopy of the gallbladders in group I showed prominent PAS-positive material in the gallbladders. Gallstone formation after portal vein occlusion is thought to depend on the extent of the area of portal blood interruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eighty-seven patients with carcinoma of the gallbladder treated in our hospital over a 15-year period were reviewed. Macroscopic curative resection was performed in 30 cases, 6 of which received second-look operations, and their cumulative five-year survival rate was 42.6 per cent. Histological and clinical analysis of our cases initially diagnosed by postoperative histologic examination revealed that the depth of carcinomatous invasion was the most important criterion for the indication of second-look operation, and that the second-look operation is mandatory for the inapparent carcinoma limited to the muscularis or subserosa. The surgical procedures of the second-look operation were: resection of the anterior inferior and medial inferior areas of the liver and dissection of the regional lymph-nodes. The presence of invasion of carcinoma to the cut end of the cystic duct or severe carcinomatous invasion to the lymphatic vessels were also important histopathologic findings for a second-look operation. Cases in which lymphatic invasions are remarkably observed, should receive an en bloc hepato-cholecystectomy plus a resection of the extrahepatic bile duct with neural tissues and soft fatty tissues in the hepatoduodenal ligament in a two-stage operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]