Small bowel perforation is an emergent medical condition for which the diagnosis is usually not made clinically but by CT, a common imaging modality used for the diagnosis of acute abdomen. Direct CT features that suggest perforation include extraluminal air and oral contrast, which are often associated with secondary CT signs of bowel pathology. This pictorial review illustrates the CT findings of small bowel perforation caused by various clinical entities.
The aim of this study is to report the CT findings in patients proved to have congenital internal hernia (CIH) as a cause of small bowel obstruction (SBO). The CT scans of 11 patients (9 men and 2 women, with ages ranging from 20 years to 95 years (mean 60.7 years), presenting with clinical symptoms and signs of SBO without previous abdominal surgery or trauma, were retrospectively reviewed. In all patients features of SBO were seen. In addition, in nine of them a saclike mass, containing dilated small bowel loops with mesenteric vessels converging toward its orifice was demonstrated and a pre-operative diagnosis of an incarcerated internal hernia was suggested. In the other two, a closed loop obstruction was seen without an identifiable cause. Mural thickening of the entrapped loops within the hernial sac was seen in five patients, with hypoperfusion in four of them, blurring of the mesenteric vessels with localized mesenteric fluid was demonstrated in seven and free peritoneal fluid in 10. All patients were operated on following the CT and an incarcerated CIH was confirmed. Gangrenous bowel was present at exploration in seven cases. One patient died. In conclusion, in patients with intact abdomen and SBO, CT may be the first imaging modality to discover a clinically unsuspected CIH, which requires prompt surgical intervention. Radiologists should be aware of the CT features suggestive of a SBO caused by CIH, i.e. a saclike mass of dilated small bowel loops, as a correct diagnosis will influence patient management and prognosis.
CT findings of suburothelial hemorrhage are often subtle and are best appreciated on unenhanced CT scans because of the high density of the hemorrhage. After contrast injection, uniformly thickened soft tissue enveloping the collecting system is suggestive of this condition. Clinical information regarding the presence of coagulopathy is essential for the radiologist to entertain this relatively rare diagnosis.
The role of CT in evaluating patients with small bowel obstruction (SBO) has been extensively described in the current literature. We present the CT findings of SBO due to a phytobezoar, afterwards surgically confirmed, in 5 men and 1 woman (aged 32-89 years) out of 95 patients diagnosed by CT as having SBO in a 44-month period. These six patients underwent abdominal CT prior to operation and the CT findings were retrospectively reviewed. All six patients presented with clinical symptoms and signs of SBO; three of them had undergone gastric surgery 13, 17, and 22 years earlier, respectively. In all six cases, CT showed an ovoid intraluminal mass, 3 x 5 cm in size and of a mottled appearance, at the transition zone between dilated and collapsed small bowel loops. This was in contrast to feces-like material (the "small bowel feces sign"), seen within dilated small bowel loops in nine patients with SBO, and was typically longer. As CT is frequently performed for suspected SBO, an ovoid, short intraluminal mottled mass seen at the site of an obstruction may be regarded as a pathognomonic preoperative sign of an obstructing phytobezoar.
The aim of this study is to report the extrarenal computerized tomography (CT) findings in patients with acute pyelonephritis (APN). Twenty-one CT examinations of 20 patients [19 women and one man, with ages ranging from 18 to 57 years (mean -35.2 years)], presenting either with a clinical diagnosis of APN (n=17) or with a suspected acute appendicitis, fever of unknown origin, and adult respiratory distress syndrome, one in each, were retrospectively reviewed. None had a known preexisting systemic disease. Results showed that renal abnormalities were seen on CT in all patients. In addition, ascites was detected in all women patients associated with subcutaneous edema in five of them. A thickened gallbladder wall was found in 19 cases, all were women, and periportal tracking and a dilated inferior vena cava in 17 CTs. Pleural effusion and thickened interlobular septa were present in 16 and 15 studies, respectively. Relevant laboratory findings included hypoalbuminemia in 14, elevated liver enzymes in 11, hypocholesterolemia in nine, and elevated LDH levels in six cases. In conclusion, radiologists should be familiar with the extrarenal imaging features of APN that may be seen on CT, and on ultrasonography as well, and should look for renal abnormalities to diagnose a clinically unsuspected APN. Alternatively, APN should be included in the differential diagnosis of systemic diseases that cause gallbladder wall thickening to avoid misdiagnosing it as acute cholecystitis.
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