Signet-ring cell carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater
Chia-Lang Fang1, Jan-Show Chu, Mao-Chih Hsieh
1Department of Pathology, Taipei Municipal Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract:
Carcinomas of the ampulla of Vater are uncommon, and signet-ring cell carcinoma is rare. We report a case of signet-ring cell carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater with obstructive jaundice in a 53-year-old man. Abdominal ultrasonography and abdominal computed tomographic scan revealed dilatation of the common bile duct, intrahepatic duct, and main pancreatic duct, with the obstruction level in the distal common bile duct near the ampulla of Vater. Duodenoscopy displayed an ampullary tumor protruding from the papilla of Vater with an erythematous and sloughing surface. Endoscopic biopsy of the tumor showed a signet-ring cell carcinoma. The patient received percutaneous transhepatic cholangiographic drainage, and the jaundice gradually improved. A Whipple operation including pancreatoduodenectomy and hemigastrectomy was performed. Pathological examination confirmed signet-ring cell carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater with direct invasion of the periampullary duodenum and distal common bile duct. No gastric lesion or nodal metastasis was found. The postoperative course was uneventful. The patient was alive with no recurrent disease during a follow-up period of 25 months.
Related Concept Videos
What are Cells?
Basic Characteristics of Cells
A living cell has a plasma membrane, a bilayer of lipids that separates the aqueous solution inside the cell called the cytoplasm from the outside environment.
Furthermore, a living cell possesses genetic information...
What are Cells?
Basic Characteristics of Cells
A living cell has a plasma membrane, a bilayer of lipids that separates the aqueous solution inside the cell called the cytoplasm from the outside environment.
Furthermore, a living cell possesses genetic information...
What is Cell Signaling?
Chemistry of the Cell
Water
The polarity of the water molecule and its resulting hydrogen bonding makes water a unique substance with special properties that are intimately tied to the processes of life. Life originally evolved in an aqueous environment, and most of an organism’s cellular chemistry and metabolism occur inside the aqueous contents of the cell’s cytoplasm. Special properties of water are its high heat capacity...
Concentration Cells
Consider the following voltaic cell:
Cell Size
Surface Area
Cells can take in nutrients and water via diffusion through the plasma membrane itself or through specific channels in the membrane. The area of the membrane surrounding...


