This report dealt with the case of 58 year old male with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura syndrome. The patient had an occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery on the carotid angiogram. The clinical course of the case with disseminated intravascular coagulation was fulminant. Literatures on pathophysiology, treatment, pathology and clinical course disseminated intravascular coagulation were reviewed.
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Middle Cerebral Artery* ; Pathology ; Purpura, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic

Biliary adenoma of the common bile duct is a rare disease found in biliary tract encounterd in biliary mass lesion, and it is difficult to differentiate from their malignant counterparts. Symptoms and signs of these tumors can mimic choleliathiasis and malignant tumors. Therefore, this tumor is rarely diagnosed preoperatively. In addition, there has been no reported case of a tubular adenoma of the common bile duct in Korea, until recently. We experienced a case of tubular adenoma of the common bile duct, which was diagnosed and partially resected by percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy. The patient was a 84-year-old male who showed abnormal liver function test. Abdominal ultrasonography showed a dilated common bile duct, and a soft tissue was observed on endoscopic retrograde cholangiography. This was initially thought as a stone, but it became partially detachable from the common bile duct during an endoscopic retrograde cholangioscopic basket removal. The mass lesion was partially resected by a percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopic snare. This resected tissue was confirmed as a tubular adenoma.
Adenoma* ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangiography ; Common Bile Duct* ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Function Tests ; Male ; Rare Diseases ; SNARE Proteins ; Ultrasonography

Ossification of ligamentum flavum is a very rare disease and one of the new disease entities in myelopathy. We report three cases of ossification of ligamentum flavum in thoracic spine causing thoracic myelopathy. Main symptoms of this disease are numbness of both legs and feet, gait disturbance and spastic motor weakness. Simple spine X-ray, metrizamide myelogram, CT and MRI are most useful diagnostic tools. Sufficient decompressive laminectomy and facetectomy are treatment of choice.
Foot ; Gait ; Hypesthesia ; Laminectomy ; Leg ; Ligamentum Flavum* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Metrizamide ; Muscle Spasticity ; Rare Diseases ; Spinal Cord Diseases* ; Spine

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The extraction of large common bile duct (CBD) stones after an endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) is successful in 80~90% of cases but it often requires a prolonged time and repeated trials. This study investigated the utility of a combined endoscopic papillary large balloon dilatation (EPLBD) and a mid-incision of an EST (m-EST) method for the removal of large CBD stones. METHODS: Thirty patients with large CBD stones were enrolled in this study. EPLBD was carried out using the one-step inflation of a 15~18 mm diameter balloon after m-EST. RESULTS: The maximum stone diameter was 21.62+/-5.38 mm. Twelve patients had more than 4 stones, 7 patients had 2 stones, and the remainder had a single large stone. Complete ductal clearance was achieved in all patients. After the procedure, the serum amylase and/or lipase levels were elevated in 3 patients (13.3%). However, there was no episode of true pancreatitis. Minor bleeding was encountered in only one patient (3.3%), and was easily controlled by an endoscopic epinephrine injection. The procedure was carried out safely in 6 patients with periampullary diverticulum. No perforation or mortality was encountered. CONCLUSIONS: Combined EPLBD and m-EST is a safe and effective method, and may be a good alternative treatment for removing large CBD stones.
Amylases ; Bile Ducts* ; Bile* ; Choledocholithiasis ; Common Bile Duct ; Dilatation* ; Diverticulum ; Epinephrine ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Inflation, Economic ; Lipase ; Mortality ; Pancreatitis ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic*