WB-MRI that included DWI was useful for detecting bone metastasis.

Purpose: To compare the eŠectiveness of whole body MRI (WB-MRI [magnetic resonance imaging]) and bone scintigram (BS) at detecting bone metastasis.Materials and Methods: WB-MRI was performed on 16 patients for detecting bone metastasis (6 breast carcinoma, 7 prostatic carcinoma, 1 renal cell carcinoma [RCC], 1 hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC], and 1 primary unknown). BS was also performed in all cases. Patients were placed on a table top extender (Philips Medical Systems). The maximal longitudinalˆeld of view (FOV) was 200 cm. Atˆrst, the total spine was imaged in the sagittal plane with a three-station approach for two image sets (fast spin-echo [SE] T 1 -weighted images [T 1 WI] and short tau inversion recovery [STIR] images). The whole body was then imaged in the coronal plane with a seven-station approach for two image sets (fastˆeld echo [FFE] T 1 WI and STIR). Total examination time, including patient positioning, was within 40 min. Three independent radiologists interpreted the imaging data.Results: WB-MRI identiˆed 5 cases of 24 lesions as bone metastasis, while BS identiˆed 3 cases of 25 lesions. Concordance between WB-MRI and BS was seen in 3 cases of 22 lesions (81z). For two cases of 2 lesions, which were identiˆed only with WB-MRI, the lesions were located in the sacrum and thoracic spine. For one case of 3 lesions, which was identiˆed only with BS, the lesions were located in the skull and rib.Conclusion: WB-MRI was an excellent method for screening bone metastasis, especially the vertebral body.

This report presents the case of a 58-year-old man who was found to have foreign body granulomas (FBGs) that mimicked disseminated gastric cancer. The patient presented with a severe attack of acute upper abdominal pain, was admitted to the hospital, and thereafter underwent an immediate laparotomy due to a diagnosis of an upper gastrointestinal perforation. Follow-up endoscopy revealed an ulcer scar measuring 2 cm in size in the anterior wall of the middle stomach. The pathological examination of biopsy specimens taken around the scar revealed well to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. At the time of reoperation performed 2 months after the first operation, many small white granulomas were observed which were thought to be the result of peritoneal dissemination of the gastric cancer. However, both the cytology of the Douglas washing and pathological examination of frozen section specimens were negative for carcinoma, and therefore a distal gastrectomy was performed. The pathological examination revealed the presence of FBGs. In this rare case, the FBGs formed shortly after surgery and were difficult to distinguish from disseminated cancer.

Membrane-associated phospholipase A(2) was purified to homogeneity from human spleen. The enzyme was solubilized from the particulate fraction by the addition of KBr, and purified by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The estimated molecular weight of the enzyme was 14,000. The enzyme had a pH optimum around 9.5, required the presence of Ca^2+ for its activity, and hydrolyzed phosphatidylethanolamine more efficiently than phosphatidylcholine.

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