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A 28-year-old primigravida at seven weeks gestation presented to the Accident & Emergency Department complaining of vomiting for five days. She was admitted and managed as a case of hyperemesis gravidarum. Two days later she developed abdominal distension. Ultrasound scan revealed ascites and common bile duct dilatation. The ascitic fluid was bile stained. At emergency laparotomy spontaneous perforation of the supraduodenal part of the common bile duct was seen. This was closed around a T-tube. She then underwent medical termination of pregnancy. The post-operative T-tube cholangiogram was suggestive of a type I choledochal cyst. Three months later this was excised and biliary enteric continuity restored by performing a hepaticojejunostomy. To the best of our knowledge, spontaneous rupture of a choledochal cyst in a patient of hyperemesis gravidarum has not been reported before. In this article, we discuss treatment options for choledochal cyst during pregnancy.

A 24-year-old man presented to us 10 days after suffering blunt trauma to the abdomen. He was diagnosed with pancreatic transection and underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy. Two weeks after the operation, he developed intra-abdominal haemorrhage. Selective visceral angiogram revealed left gastric artery pseudoaneurysm, which had embolised. His recovery was uneventful. To our knowledge, ruptured left gastric artery pseudoaneurysm following pancreatic trauma, has not been reported before. In this article, we discuss some vascular complications of pancreatic trauma.

Two percent of all malignant pancreatic tumors are metastases from other primaries, with small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer and hematological neoplasms being the commonest. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) metastasizing to the pancreas is rare and occurs in 2.8% of patients with metastatic RCC. However, RCC is the most common primary leading to solitary pancreatic metastasis. Metastases often present many years after nephrectomy for primary RCC (median time of 8 years) and should therefore be looked for on surveillance or when patients present with upper abdominal symptoms. Complete surgical resection when possible offers the best chance for cure.

A 70 year old man presented with retrosternal and epigastric pain. He was in shock. The diagnosis on admission was acute myocardial infarction. CT scan of the abdomen showed coeliac and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) occlusion. In addition there appeared to be large collateral from the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) with a retroperitoneal collection. He underwent emergency laparotomy and a ruptured IMA aneurysm was detected. The aneurysm was excised and the IMA was ligated. He developed progressive multi-system organ failure post operatively. We discuss the aetiology, presentation, diagnosis and treatment of IMA aneurysms.

Retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcomas are difficult to treat because the retroperitoneal organs and great vessels are often involved by the time the patients come to a surgeon. We present the case of a 48 year old woman with a retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma that had infiltrated the IVC and the renal veins.