Traumatic lymphorrhea is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication. Postoperative lymphorrhea is the leading cause of traumatic lymphorrhea and can arise anywhere within the lymphatic system. Leaks arising from the aortoiliac region to the thoracic duct (TD) and from hepatic lymphatics can be identified with intranodal lymphangiography and transhepatic lymphangiography, respectively. Therefore, an appropriate lymphangiography technique is essential for identifying the sources of leaks. Chylothorax resulting from damage to the TD can be serious because the TD transports large amounts of lymphatic fluid from the gastrointestinal, hepatic, and aortoiliac regions. Percutaneous TD embolization-comprising access to the TD followed by embolization-has recently become a minimally invasive alternative to surgical TD ligation for high-output chylothorax. The selection of access routes to the TD depends on its anatomy. If the TD cannot be approached by such means, other options include TD needle interruption or drainage of lymphatic fluid adjacent to the leakage point followed by sclerotherapy. Most cases of abdominal lymphorrhea arise from the aorta-iliac lymphatic system, and lymphangiography alone or computed tomography-guided sclerotherapy might be useful. Rarely, leakage may arise from hepatic lymphatics due to a damaged gastroduodenal ligament and can be visualized and embolized transhepatically. This article comprehensively reviews clinically relevant anatomic TD variations, lymphangiography techniques and criteria for their selection, and treatment strategies for lymphorrhea. RSNA, 2016.
Objectives: To review the imaging findings of renal epithelioid angiomyolipomas. Methods: Eight patients treated at two institutions were pathologically diagnosed as having epithelioid angiomyolipoma. All of them underwent computed tomography, and four underwent magnetic resonance imaging. The tumor size, existence of fat, heterogeneity, computed tomography attenuation, degree of enhancement, enhancement pattern and magnetic resonance imaging signal intensity were evaluated. Results: Intratumoral fat was not detected in any of the cases. On unenhanced computed tomography, the intratumoral attenuation was hyperattenuating in six of the seven patients who were examined using this modality. On T2-weighted images, the signal intensity of the solid component, cyst wall or septum was low in three of the four cases. Four of the eight cases were heterogeneous solid-type accompanied by hemorrhage, necrosis or hyalinization. One homogeneous solid-type lesion was large in size and was pathologically accompanied by neither hemorrhage nor necrosis. All three multilocular cystic types were pathologically accompanied by massive hemorrhage in the cystic component. One was accompanied by spontaneous perirenal hematoma.
Conclusions:The radiological appearance of most epithelioid angiomyolipomas has a tendency to be hyperattenuating on unenhanced computed tomography images, with low intensities on T2-weighted images. They can be heterogeneously solid, homogeneously solid or a multilocular cystic lesion with massive hemorrhage.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.