The Lateral Gastric X-ray Examination in Malignant Lymphomas.
The authors studied the radiological findings of compression on the posterior wall of the stomach due to nodal involvement by malignant lymphomas. Compression is nearly always seen when the pathological node are peripancreatic and around the splenic vessels and perigastric (near the lesser curvature on the posterior wall). The para-aortic lumbar nodes do not usually cause compression, because they He nearer the midline. They are usually shown by means of lower limb lymphangiography. The present study describes the most characteristic aspects of these lesions and it outlines the radiological findings in numerous cases of biopsy proven malignant lymphomas. The radiological diagnosis of nodal involvement was confirmed by the clinical evolution of the disease, by repeated X-ray examinations after chemotherapy and cobalt therapy and by exploratory laparotomies in the last two years. Because of the above data and their extensive experience in this field, the authors suggest that lateral gastric X-ray examinations could indicate in a high numer of involved cases the presence of lymphoma in this area. These data supply a new radiological parameter to help classify and plan the treatment of these systemic diseases more correctly.