Calcified Mucocele of the Appendix, with Rupture

Obstructive Uropathy Due to Unusual Pelvic Swellings

“…Following Rokitansky's (1842) first description of an appendix mucocele as a 'hydrops of the appendix' and the subsequent classical description of the condition by Virchow (1863), the common due to indentation by the ha?mangiopericytoma capillaries and bloodsinuses, surrounded by small spindle cells (pericytes). The zone ofhyalinized collagen immediately complications of fistulae, intussusception, torsion, rupture and pseudomyxoma peritonaei were described over the next fifty years or so, but it was not until 1941 that an obstructive uropathy due to an appendix mucocele was documented (Ostrum & Miller 1941). Appendix mucocele is usually associated with carcinoma of the appendix, carcinoma of the caecum or, as in Case 1, postinflammatory appendix stricture.…”

“…The mode of presentation in this case was unusual in that the pulsating sensation was due to the adherence of the mucocele to the iliac vessels. The smooth calcified outline on the plain radiograph and the regular indentation of the bladder at excretion urography should have made the preoperative diagnosis a possibility in a male (Ostrum & Miller 1941). In order to relieve the obstructive uropathy, caused by the marked adherence of the mucocele to the posterior abdominal structures, the ureter required proximal division and reimplantation into the bladder.…”