Emergency radiology
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Emergency radiology · Feb 2004
CT findings in patients with small bowel obstruction due to phytobezoar.
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. ⋯ 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.
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Emergency radiology · Feb 2004
Case ReportsCT presentation of ruptured appendicitis in an adult with incomplete intestinal malrotation.
Intestinal malrotation is defined anatomically as a developmental anomaly. It may cause atypical clinical symptoms in relatively common intestinal disorders because of the altered anatomy. ⋯ Underlying incomplete malrotation prevented the correct clinical diagnosis of ruptured appendicitis. Computer tomography demonstrated typical signs of malrotation, i.e., right-sided duodenojejunal junction, left position of cecum, inverted position of the superior mesenteric vessels, and pathology revealed a ruptured appendix with an abscess and a coincident mucinous cystadenoma.