Intestinal pneumatosis in which CT colonography was of significant diagnostic value: case report.
Intestinal pneumatosis refers to the presence of gas in the gastrointestinal wall. It is often difficult to clinically differentiate this condition from gastrointestinal perforation, sometimes resulting in emergency surgery. Imaging studies are important to establish the differential diagnosis. However, there have been few studies showing the efficacy of computed tomography (CT) colonography in diagnosing pneumatosis. We report a case of intestinal pneumatosis in which CT colonography was of significant diagnostic value. A 43-year-old man was referred to our hospital for a detailed investigation of multiple submucosal tumor-like lesions associated with multiple pneumatosis from the cecum to the ascending colon. These lesions were revealed by colonoscopy performed in another hospital on May 21, 2008. Abdominal 3-dimensional CT showed multiple pneumatic lesions from the cecum to the ascending colon, and the patient was diagnosed as having intestinal pneumatosis. The patient is being followed conservatively because he is asymptomatic.
Department of Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Ryu
R
Shimada
Tamuro
T
Hayama
Norihito
N
Yamazaki
Takuya
T
Akahane
Atushi
A
Horiuchi
Hajime
H
Shibuya
Hideki
H
Yamada
Soichiro
S
Ishihara
Keijiro
K
Nozawa
Keiji
K
Matsuda
Toshiaki
T
Watanabe
D000328:Adult; D023881:Colonography, Computed Tomographic; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D011006:Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*