Pseudoaneurysm of the cystic artery is a rare cause of hemobilia, with only 11 cases having been reported in the English literature. We report this unusual condition in a 62-year-old Japanese man whose chief complaint was repeated upper abdominal pain. A liver function test showed obstructive jaundice, and endoscopy revealed a small amount of blood coming from the papilla of Vater. We diagnosed him as having hemobilia, and immediate angiography was performed. The results demonstrated a pseudoaneurysm arising in the cystic artery. Selective embolization of the cystic artery then followed. Ten days later the patient underwent elective cholecystectomy and had a good postoperative course. Microscopically, the resected specimen revealed caliculous cholecystitis and an organized pseudoaneurysm perforating the lumen of the gallbladder. We supposed that this pseudoaneurysm was associated with the inflammatory reaction seen with the acute cholecystitis. This case emphasizes the need for a high level of awareness of hemobilia whenever bleeding is associated with signs of biliary disorders. Immediate angiography and embolization of the pseudoaneurysm followed by radical surgery may be the preferred strategy. We believe this is the first reported case of successful "two-step" treatment of such a pseudoaneurysm.
In this study, we investigated the expression of genes for inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta), interleukin 6 (IL-6) of Kupffer cells in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the tissue expression of iNOS in a rat liver after LPS injection at various time intervals. The effects of L-NG-nitroarginine-methyl-esther HCI (L-NAME), a NO inhibitor, also were examined. The mRNA transcripts of TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, and IL-6 were rapidly detected no more than at 1 h after LPS stimulation, whereas the iNOS transcript was detectable from 3 h after LPS stimulation and maximally increased at 12 h. This fact suggested that these early induced cytokines were related to expression of iNOS. Using an anti-iNOS antiserum raised against recombinant iNOS protein, immunohistochemical analysis was made to reveal kinetics of NO producing cells. The cells immunoreactive for iNOS appeared at 6 h post-LPS injection in the sinusoids of the liver. By structural and immunohistochemical studies, almost all iNOS positive cells were identified as Kupffer cells and endothelial cells. The number of cells immunoreactive for iNOS increased until 12 h post-LPS injection. At 24 h after LPS injection, iNOS positive cells were restricted to the foci of spotty necrosis. Hepatic injury measured by released enzymes was increased by pretreatment of L-NAME before LPS injection.
In this study, we investigated the expression of genes for inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta), interleukin 6 (IL-6) of Kupffer cells in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the tissue expression of iNOS in a rat liver after LPS injection at various time intervals. The effects of L-NG-nitroarginine-methyl-esther HCI (L-NAME), a NO inhibitor, also were examined. The mRNA transcripts of TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, and IL-6 were rapidly detected no more than at 1 h after LPS stimulation, whereas the iNOS transcript was detectable from 3 h after LPS stimulation and maximally increased at 12 h. This fact suggested that these early induced cytokines were related to expression of iNOS. Using an anti-iNOS antiserum raised against recombinant iNOS protein, immunohistochemical analysis was made to reveal kinetics of NO producing cells. The cells immunoreactive for iNOS appeared at 6 h post-LPS injection in the sinusoids of the liver. By structural and immunohistochemical studies, almost all iNOS positive cells were identified as Kupffer cells and endothelial cells. The number of cells immunoreactive for iNOS increased until 12 h post-LPS injection. At 24 h after LPS injection, iNOS positive cells were restricted to the foci of spotty necrosis. Hepatic injury measured by released enzymes was increased by pretreatment of L-NAME before LPS injection.
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