Imaging
Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology.
The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend. Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology. The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend.
Medical Image of the Week: Ascending Cholangitis from Biliary Obstruction
Figure 1 – Sagittal view of the gallbladder on ultrasound showing gallstone (red arrow).
Figure 2 – Cholangiogram showing multiple filling defects in the gallbladder (red arrowheads) and diffuse dilatation of the common bile duct to 16mm with no contrast flow into the duodenum (arrow), suggestive of distal obstruction.
A 79 year old man with a history of quadriplegia presented to an outside hospital in septic shock. He was found to have an elevated total bilirubin of 10 mg/dL, direct bilirubin of 7 mg/dL, alkaline phosphatase of 405 U/L, and lipase of 370 U/L. Imaging showed cholelithiasis with likely intra- and extrahepatic biliary duct dilatation. The patient underwent placement of a biliary drain with clinical improvement. Additional imaging was requested prior to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), but magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) was unavailable due to metallic implants. Interventional radiology performed a cholangiogram using the biliary drain which confirmed biliary obstruction. ERCP was then performed, with significant biliary sludge found and two stents placed.
Candy Wong, MD1, Preethi William, MD2 and Gordon Carr, MD1
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
2Department of Medicine
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Reference as: Wong C, William P, Carr G. Medical image of the week: ascending cholangitis from biliary obstruction. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2013;6(4):187-8. PDF