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Query: UMLS:C0027627 (metastases)
 103,950 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Actinomycosis due to Nocardia asteroides is a mainly pulmonary disease; the metastases are due to migration of the germ in the blood from the primary lung focus. The case reported here concerned a patient whose initial symptoms were mainly hepatic, suggesting an amoebic abscess of the liver. The pulmonary lesions appeared only secondarily with presence in the sputum of the nocardia which was responsible. Prolonged treatment with trimethoprime sulfamethazole led to complete and lasting cure of the lesions, confirmed radiographically and by a liver scan.
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PMID:[Hepato-pulmonary Nocardia infections (report of one case) (author's transl)]. 40 Feb 93

Alternating chemoradiotherapy has recently been reported to produce encouraging results in patients with advanced head and neck cancer. We have treated 17 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the upper esophagus by alternating chemoradiotherapy and by following the patients for 2 to 5 years, or until their death. Chemotherapy (cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil) was delivered during weeks 1, 4, and 7, and radiotherapy (180 to 200 cGy twice each day to 2,000 cGy) during weeks 2, 5, and 8 (total 6,000 cGy). Three patients (18%) died of toxicity (nadir sepsis). All 14 patients who survived the treatment achieved a complete response as shown by endoscopy and biopsy specimens, with restoration of swallowing, and none experienced a local relapse. Three patients died of distant metastases (actuarial incidence 32% at 3 years). The 5-year survival rate was only 16%, however, because 8 other patients with no evidence of the cancer died of a variety of other causes: radiation pneumonitis (1), chronic neutropenia (1), esophageal actinomycosis (1), pneumonia (2), stroke (1), myocardial infarction (1), and small-cell lung cancer (1). Conceivably, some further improvement in the results might occur from cytokines, stem cells, and brachytherapy (by decreasing deaths due to toxicity), but with so many causes of comorbidity it seems unlikely, for the foreseeable future, that the 5-year survival rate could be much improved by better treatment of esophageal cancer.
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PMID:Patterns of failure in carcinoma of the upper esophagus after alternating chemoradiotherapy. 797 65

Infections due to Actinomycosis species are located in the cervico-facial region in 50 to 65 percent of the cases. Extra-cervical cutaneous lesions are exceptional. The most frequently encountered germ is Actinomyces israeli, observed in 85 percent of the cases. We report the case of an Actinomyces meyeri infection which presented as a leg abscess and a pulmonary lesion. There was no cervico-facial localization. There was however a chronic parodontitis. A second germ, Capnocytophaga sp. was isolated from the abscess. This case is of particular interest because of the extracervical localization and the rare species isolated (17 other cases of Actinomyces meyeri infection have been reported). The mechanism of the infection can be better understood in light of pulmonary lesions in the lower right lobe due to inhalation and the coexistence of a buccodental germ in the culture of the leg abscess: buccodental origin of the germ, pulmonary lesion secondary to inhalation, septicaemic dissemination with cutaneous metastases.
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PMID:[Actinomyces meyeri cutaneous actinomycosis with pulmonary localization]. 807 51

Because of its decreased invasiveness Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) has advantages over the traditional open thoracotomy. However, resection of small and subpleural pulmonary nodules via the thoracoscope is often technically difficult or impossible. To facilitate the resection of these difficult-to-palpate lesions, a protocol was established to localize the nodules percutaneously with a fine needle under CT guidance. This method was used in four patients to localize five lung lesions identified radiographically in various lung segments. Of the four patients in the study, three presented with malignancy of the lower extremities (alveolar sarcoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and spindle cell carcinoma). In two of these patients (having alveolar sarcoma and spindle cell carcinoma primaries), the resected pulmonary lesions proved to be metastatic disease. The lesions of the other two patients were nonmalignant (actinomycosis and fibrotic granuloma). The patients with actinomycosis had two distinct lesions which were identified preoperatively with two localizations. All five lesions were able to be localized and resected with clear margins. The patients tolerated the procedures well without complication. VATS with preoperative CT guided needle localization of a subpleural nodule can be a useful diagnostic tool. Its use in therapeutic metastasectomy, nonetheless, remains controversial.
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PMID:CT guided needle localization for video-thoracoscopic resection of pulmonary nodules. 926 86

Disseminated actinomycosis is uncommon in the pediatric population and rarely presents as a renal mass mimicking a renal tumor with metastases. Diagnosis may be difficult. In this case, percutaneous biopsy results only showed necrosis and fibrosis and, hence, were not helpful in diagnosis. Exploratory laparotomy and open biopsy results showed that this renal tumor was an actinomycotic abscess with similar abscesses in the liver and lung masquerading as metastases. The treatment for disseminated actinomycosis is with parenteral and oral penicillin.
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PMID:Disseminated actinomycosis presenting as a renal tumor with metastases. 1158 12

Although the vast majority of gastrointestinal (GI) masses are epithelial neoplasms, a variety of subepithelial masses are infrequently encountered during endoscopic or radiologic examination. A subepithelial mass, which was previously called a submucosal mass, is defined as a mass covered with normal-appearing mucosa, whether the underlying process is intramural or extramural in origin. At contrast material-enhanced computed tomography (CT), hypervascular subepithelial masses are usually detected more easily than isoattenuating or hypovascular masses. Entities that appear as intramural hypervascular subepithelial lesions include neuroendocrine tumors, GI stromal tumor, glomus tumor, hemangioma, angiosarcoma, Kaposi sarcoma, nerve sheath tumors, hypervascular metastases, heterotopic tissues, and vascular structures. Entities that appear as extramural hypervascular subepithelial lesions include Castleman disease, solitary fibrous tumor, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, and actinomycosis. Some rare gastric cancers resemble subepithelial tumors. In comparison with endoscopic ultrasonography, CT is of limited value in differentiating the layers of the GI wall and determining the origin of mass lesions. However, recent advances in multidetector CT with multiplanar reformation allow one to determine whether a GI mass is of epithelial, intramural subepithelial, or extramural subepithelial origin. Furthermore, the full extent of tumors can be delineated, and local invasion and distant metastases can be identified. Familiarity with the characteristic CT appearances of hypervascular subepithelial masses of the GI tract will help radiologists make a more confident diagnosis.
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PMID:Hypervascular subepithelial gastrointestinal masses: CT-pathologic correlation. 2105 27

Authors present the case of a 65 year-old man without any remarkable previous illness, hospitalized because of having prolonged fever caused probably by an infection due to a tick bite. Tularaemia and bartonellosis based on serological results as well as neoplasm of the sigma with multiple metastases to the liver raised by ultrasonography and abdominal CT could be excluded with detailed investigations. Multiple abscesses of the liver were diagnosed, followed by a percutaneuos ultrasonography directed aspiration of one of the abscesses which resulted in 150 ml buffy pus. Microbiological examination evaluated the presence of Actinomyces meyeri. Instead of neoplasm, diverticulosis and diverticulitis of the sigma could be clarified with perforation of one of the diverticuli causing peridiverticulitis, retroperitoneal abscess and probably abscesses in the liver by haematogenous dissemination. Surgical intervention, resection of the liver and the sigma resulted in recovery of the patient. Difficulties of diagnosis are discussed in the article pointing out the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, involving also infectologist. Diverticulosis of the sigma as presumably origin of hepatic actinomycosis is a literary curiosity. This was the cause of the case presentation.
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PMID:[Multiple hepatic abscesses due to actinomycosis: difficulties of diagnosis]. 2129 36

Actinomycosis is a chronic disease characterized by abscess, tissue fibrosis and draining sinuses. Pelvic actinomycosis in women most commonly occurs during ascending infections, which are usually associated with intrauterine devices; however, secondary hepatic actinomycosis, while rare, can also occur. We describe a patient with an unusual case of metastatic hepatic actinomycosis misdiagnosed as distant metastases of ovarian cancer.
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PMID:Metastatic hepatic actinomycosis masquerading as distant metastases of ovarian cancer. 2238 Nov 13

Actinomycosis is an uncommon, chronic suppurative granulomatous infection and needs to be considered as a differential diagnosis. A 56-year-old woman with a background of type 2 diabetes mellitus and breast carcinoma was referred to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 2-week wait clinic, regarding a tender sublingual mass and firm erythematous swelling in the right submandibular and submental region. This was slowly progressive and had not responded to oral co-amoxiclav. An orthopantomogram showed a well-defined radiolucency and smaller radiolucent lesions throughout the edentulous right body of the mandible. A contrast-enhanced CT confirmed a right submandibular abscess communicating with cavitating lesions. The differentials included osteomyelitis, bony metastases, multiple myeloma or other cystic lesions. The patient underwent incision and drainage of the abscess, alongside biopsies, and intravenous co-amoxiclav was given. Microbiology cultures confirmed the presence of Actinomyces israelii and a diagnosis of cervicofacial actinomycosis with mandibular osteomyelitis. The patient was successfully treated with prolonged antibiotics.
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PMID:Bony cystic lesion with associated submandibular lymphadenopathy on a background of breast carcinoma: an unexpected case of cervicofacial actinomycosis. 3226 8

Actinomycosis is a chronic bacterial infection characterized by continuous local spread, irrespective of anatomical barriers, and granulomatous suppurative inflammation. Due to its expansive local growth, it can simulate a malignant tumour. Subsequent hematogenous dissemination to distant organs can mimic metastases and further increase suspicion for malignancy. A case of severe disseminated pelvic actinomycosis associated with intrauterine device is described here. The patient presented with a pelvic mass mimicking a tumour, bilateral ureteral obstruction, ascites, multinodular involvement of the liver, lungs and spleen, inferior vena cava thrombosis and extreme cachexia. Actinomycosis was diagnosed by liver biopsy and confirmed by culture of Actinomyces naeslundii from extracted intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD). Prolonged treatment with aminopenicillin and surgery resulted in recovery with moderate sequelae.
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PMID:Disseminated Pelvic Actinomycosis Caused by Actinomyces Naeslundii. 3313 89


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