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Objective: To evaluate the routine use of abdominal ultrasonography (US) in patients admitted to the surgical emergency unit with acute abdominal pain.Design: Prospective study with a three-step evaluation of patients over a 12-month period.Setting: University hospital, Switzerland.Subjects: 496 patients (male/female ≥ 234/262; mean age 45 years) who presented with acute abdominal pain.Interventions: Every patient underwent routine investigations and had an abdominal US by the attending surgeon.Main outcome measures: Clinical diagnosis, post-ultrasonography diagnosis and final diagnosis.Results: US improved the correct diagnostic rate from 348 (70%) to 414 (83%). The diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis and biliary tract disease improved after US from 455 (92%) to 488 (98%) and from 463 (93%) to 490 (99%), respectively; the corresponding sensitivities and specificities were 91% and 99% and 94% and 99%.Conclusions: Ultrasonography should be part of routine surgical investigation and should be mastere...

Thoracic endometriosis is a rare disorder. We report a case of a 26-year-old woman with a 4-year history of catamenial hemoptysis due to thoracic endometriosis which was diagnosed by MRI and treated successfully by means of video-assisted thoracoscopic wedge-resection of the solitary pulmonary lesion. Medical therapy with hormones was not necessary. There is no evidence of recurrence 10 months after the operation. This case demonstrates that MRI of the chest may be considered for the diagnostic work-up of patients with catamenial hemoptysis. It also shows that wedge-resection of pulmonary endometriosis foci by means of video-assisted thoracoscopy-an approach that has not been described in the literature thus far-is an effective therapy in localized peripheral pulmonary parenchymal endometriosis.

Infrapopliteal pseudoaneurysms and arteriovenous fistulae are known complications of Fogarty balloon embolectomy. Management of these complications in two patients with associated critical foot ischemia by modified interventional embolization techniques is described.

Ganglion cysts of the hip joint are uncommon synovial-lined fluid-filled juxtaarticular groin lesions. Whereas in the past the correct diagnosis was often made only at surgery there are now valuable imaging methods used for the diagnostic work-up. In experienced hands ultrasonography (US) combined with colour duplex Doppler ultrasonography (CDDS) as a real-time imaging technique easily performed at the patient’s bedside is a valid alternative to more expensive or invasive investigations. We report on a patient who presented with a ganglion cyst and in whom first supported by conventional US an aneurysm of the femoral artery was suspected. The diagnosis of a juxtaarticular ganglion was subsequently correctly made at our institution by CDDS and magnetic resonance imaging, respectively, and the cyst was exstirpated successfully. The differential diagnosis of a pulsating groin mass as well as the most useful and specific imaging methods in the diagnostic work-up in this clinical setting are discussed.

Purpose: We assessed the etiology and the prevalence of peripheral arterial and venous disease in leg ulcers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis and analyzed the outcome after treatment of macrovascular disease. Methods: A clinical study on 15 consecutive patients with chronic leg ulcers in collagen vascular disease (nine patients with rheumatoid arthritis, six patients with systemic sclerosis) was carried out in a referral center. Angiography was used when the ankle-arm index was less than 0.8; venography was used when venous reflux was detectable by means of a hand-held Doppler examination. Therapies included percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (seven patients), femoropopliteal bypass grafting surgery (one patient), saphenectomy of the greater saphenous vein (six patients), and split skin graft (11 patients). Results: All patients with rheumatoid arthritis exhibited a multifactorial etiology of their ulcers: four of nine patients had peripheral arterial disease, and five of nine patients had venous insufficiency. In one of these patients, arterial and venous disease was combined. Five of six patients with systemic sclerosis exhibited a multifactorial etiology of their ulcers: three of six patients had peripheral arterial disease, and three of six patients had venous insufficiency. One of these patients had both arterial and venous disease. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, healing was achieved in six of nine patients, and marked improvement occurred in two of nine patients. A below-knee amputation was necessary in one patient with rheumatoid vasculitis. In patients with systemic sclerosis, healing was achieved in three of six patients, and marked improvement occurred in the other three patients. Conclusion: Most leg ulcers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis disclose a multifactorial etiology. Relevant arterial and venous disease can be found in approximately half the patients. Our study suggests that revascularization and vein surgery improve the healing of leg ulcers in patients with collagen vascular disease. A prospective trial is now required to confirm these results. (J Vasc Surg 2000;32:322-9.)

True aneurysm formation in arterialized autologous veins is an unusual complication. We studied a patient with 2 aneurysms occurring in the mid and distal portion of an in situ femoropopliteal bypass. The first aneurysm led to graft occlusion 4 years after the primary intervention, requiring replacement of the ectatic graft segment. The graft was still patent when the patient was examined 7 years after the primary intervention and 3 years after the first aneurysm. In the mid portion of the graft, a true aneurysm measuring 5 by 8 cm had developed. The aneurysm was replaced by a reversed segment of the contralateral greater saphenous vein. Recovery was uneventful. Advanced atherosclerotic changes with extensive intimal fibroplasia, subendothelial cholesterol deposits, and ulcerations were revealed by means of histopathology of the aneurysm wall. Atherosclerosis is considered to be the main cause of aneurysm formation in vein grafts, but a review of the literature suggests the additional etiopathogenic factors should be further investigated. (J Vasc Surg 1998;28:944-8.)