Cystic appearance of a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma by ultrasonography and computed tomography: a case report

Our plain-English summary of Cystic appearance of a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma by ultrasonography and computed tomography: a case report, by K.W. Preidler, H. Steiner, D. Szolar, et al (European Journal of Radiology, 1994).

The study

• Authors: K.W. Preidler, H. Steiner, D. Szolar, R. Kern
• Journal: European Journal of Radiology
• Published: 1994;18(2):137-9
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a case report describing one patient with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the abdomen. The patient was a 45-year-old male with a history of alcoholism who was admitted to hospital with diffuse abdominal complaints, nausea, vomiting and increasing obstipation (constipation). The article states that there was no history of asbestos exposure, and a CT scan of the chest showed no pleural lesions typical for asbestosis. Ultrasound and CT scans showed signs of liver cirrhosis. They also showed a diffuse tumor infiltrating the mesentery, the abdominal wall and loops of bowel, with multiple fluid-filled cysts up to 5 cm across. A needle sample found malignant tumor tissue. At surgery, the surgeons found cysts filled with mucous liquid and removed three of them. They then closed the abdomen because of the extent of the tumor. The authors called the cysts a very rare finding in this disease. They concluded that this picture cannot be accurately diagnosed by CT and ultrasound alone and usually needs examination of tissue or cells.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (one patient)
• Who was studied: One 45-year-old male patient with a history of alcoholism, admitted to hospital with abdominal complaints
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure was reported for this patient. The article states there was no history of asbestos exposure.
• Main results:
  • Ultrasound showed signs consistent with cirrhosis of the liver.
  • Ultrasound showed multiple cystic lesions up to 5 cm in diameter spread throughout a diffuse lesion in the mid and lower abdomen. The lesion infiltrated the mesentery, the abdominal wall and loops of bowel. CT confirmed these cysts.
  • On CT, the infiltrating lesion measured 14 cm at its maximum transverse extension and 21 cm from top to bottom (craniocaudal diameter).
  • Ultrasound-guided aspiration of the tumor mass yielded malignant tumor tissue with tubular and papillary cell formations and mild cellular atypia.
  • A CT scan of the chest showed no pleural lesions typical for asbestosis.
  • Exploratory surgery found multiple cystic areas filled with mucous liquid. Three cysts were removed, and the abdomen was closed because of the extent of the tumor.
  • Histology of the surgical specimens showed tubular and papillary complexes with abundant mucous. An immunohistochemical stain for CEA was negative.
  • Both the abdominal (ascitic) fluid and the fluid in the cysts contained tumor cells.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that a diffuse peritoneal infiltration with multiple cystic areas and ascites cannot be accurately diagnosed by CT and ultrasonography. In their view, histologic or cytologic evaluation is usually necessary, because several other conditions look similar.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated it was not clear whether the cysts were encapsulated collections of abdominal fluid or cystic, dead (necrotic) parts of the tumor.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma, Peritoneal mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Ultrasonography and computed tomography of peritoneal mesothelioma — H.C. Yeh, A.P. Chahinian (1980)
• Giant benign cystic peritoneal mesothelioma: US, CT, and MRI findings — A. Ozgen, D. Akata, et al. (1998)
• Imaging appearance of benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma: a case report and review of the literature — V. Mehta, V. Chowdhary, et al. (2017)
• Benign cystic peritoneal mesothelioma incorrectly diagnosed as an ovarian borderline mucinous tumor of intestinal type at transvaginal preoperative ultrasound evaluation — A.C. Testa, G.F. Zannoni, et al. (2011)
• Pediatric Benign Cystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma — J. Durell, H. Dagash, et al. (2016)
• Peritoneal benign cystic mesothelioma: a case report and review of the literature — S. van Ruth, M.W. Bronkhorst, et al. (2002)

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