Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in two pediatric patients: MR imaging findings

Our plain-English summary of Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in two pediatric patients: MR imaging findings, by M. Haliloglu, F.A. Hoffer, B.D. Fletcher (Pediatric Radiology, 2000).

The study

• Authors: M. Haliloglu, F.A. Hoffer, B.D. Fletcher
• Journal: Pediatric Radiology
• Published: 2000;30(4):251-5
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 25 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare tumor in childhood. We present two cases of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in which contrast-enhanced, fat-saturated magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was used advantageously to detect peritoneal tumor involvement.

In plain English

This article reported two cases of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in teenage girls, from the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. It focused on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The first patient, a 15-year-old girl, had no history of asbestos exposure or radiation therapy. Her omental tumor was first reported as an epithelioid angiosarcoma. Later tissue and pleural fluid findings were consistent with mesothelioma. Her tumor did not respond to chemotherapy, and she died. The second patient, an 18-year-old girl, had a ventriculoperitoneal shunt and had received local radiation therapy for a brainstem glioma at age 9. She had no history of abdominal radiation or exposure to asbestos. Biopsies were consistent with mesothelioma, and her tumor responded well to methotrexate. CT showed the tumors in both cases, but the authors reported that contrast-enhanced, fat-saturated MR images showed the extent of peritoneal tumor better. These images were also more useful than T2-weighted and STIR MR images. The authors concluded that this MR method is useful for identifying peritoneal involvement by malignant mesothelioma, especially when ascites (fluid in the abdomen) is present.

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 (two patients) focused on imaging findings
• Who was studied: Two girls, aged 15 and 18 (the second described as white), referred to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma
• Exposure: Neither patient had a history of asbestos exposure. Case 1 had no history of radiation therapy. Case 2 had received local radiation therapy for a brainstem glioma at age 9, had no history of abdominal radiation, and had a ventriculoperitoneal shunt placed at age 3.
• Main results:
  • Case 1 (15-year-old): pathology initially reported the omental tumor as an epithelioid angiosarcoma
  • Case 1: abdominal MR imaging showed ascites and diffusely abnormal peritoneal enhancement with multiple peritoneal nodules
  • Case 1: histopathology of the original omental mass and pleural fluid cytology were both consistent with mesothelioma
  • Case 1: the tumor did not respond to doxorubicin or to methotrexate and vincristine, and the patient died
  • Case 2 (18-year-old): biopsies of the abdominal wall and omentum were consistent with mesothelioma
  • Case 2: the tumor responded well to methotrexate chemotherapy
  • In both cases CT showed the peritoneal tumors, but contrast-enhanced, fat-saturated MR images showed the extent of the peritoneal tumor better
  • Contrast-enhanced MR images were much more useful than T2-weighted and STIR sequences, which did not separate the signal of ascites from that of the thickened peritoneal lining
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that contrast-enhanced, fat-saturated MR imaging is a useful method for identifying peritoneal involvement by malignant mesothelioma, especially when ascites is present

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, Malignant Mesothelioma.

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