Kazunori Nishimura

Unusual liver carcinomas with sarcomatous features: analysis of four cases.

Abstract We recently examined the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features of four cases of primary hepatic carcinoma with sarcomatoid elements. Three of the four patients had associated ordinary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and one had a sarcomatoid carcinoma with no apparent elements of HCC. The presenting symptoms were high fever and hypochondralgia in three patients, and right hypochondralgia without a high fever in one. The preoperative diagnoses were liver abscess in two patients, HCC in one, and cholangioma in one. Preoperative imaging showed necrotic change or abscess formation in the tumors. The sarcomatous elements showed a positive reaction to vimentin in three patients, but the ordinary HCC cells did not. Macroscopically, the tumors appeared as a single nodule with pericapsular growth. The prognoses of these patients were poor due to the early development of intrahepatic or distal metastases. We conclude that symptoms such as a high fever or hypochondralgia are characteristics of these tumors and that they may be histogenetically derived from a dedifferentiation of HCC, although no elements of HCC were found in one of our cases.

Xanthogranulomatous Cholecystitis with a Liver Abscess and Metastatic Endophthalmitis: Report of a Case

Abstract There have been no reported cases of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis with a liver abscess and metastatic endophthalmitis in the literature. There has been only one other case of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis associated with a liver abscess in Japan prior to the present report. A 53-year-old man was admitted to a local hospital complaining of high fever. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography showed a liver abscess. After percutaneous transhepatic abscess drainage, he complained of an abnormal sensation in his left eyeball and was diagnosed to have endophthalmitis. After being treated for the endophthalmitis, he was referred to our hospital to have the liver abscess evaluated. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography showed a normal biliary system without any communication with the liver abscess. Two weeks after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography he complained of right hypochondralgia. Ultrasonography revealed the presence of sludge in the swollen gallbladder. Under a diagnosis of cholecystitis with a liver abscess, a cholecystectomy was performed. A histological examination indicated xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis based on the findings of a granulomatous lesion consisting of foamy cells in the gallbladder wall. We herein present the first known case of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis with a liver abscess and metastatic endophthalmitis, while also making a review of the literature.