Photography Transillumination Techniques: Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Photography Transillumination Techniques: Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma, by M. Jones, F. Mohamed (The Journal of Biocommunication, 2020).

The study

• Authors: M. Jones, F. Mohamed
• Journal: The Journal of Biocommunication
• Published: 2020;44(1):e3
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Medical photography can be both challenging and rewarding, particularly when faced with less than ideal situations and under pressure of time, environment, and clinicians' expectations. Clinical photographs are a scientific record, therefore, should be accurately focused, exposed and framed. They should fulfil the brief and illustrate the subject effectively. I will describe a photography technique that has been invaluable in the documentation and diagnosis of a rare clinical condition, (multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma) and in informing fellow clinicians of the visual appearance of disease.

In plain English

This article, by a hospital medical photographer and a surgeon in Basingstoke, UK, described a photography technique. It did not mention asbestos. It recounted photographing one patient with multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma during cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Tumor specimens were first photographed using a hand-held flash bounced off the operating lights, but with some specimens this did not fully show the fragile membranes or the fluid inside. The operating lights were then placed behind a specimen held by the surgeon so that light shone through it (transillumination). Twenty photographs went into the patient's medical record and were shown at a multidisciplinary team meeting. The patient was reported to have had the surgery successfully and to be under annual surveillance with CT scans and tumor markers. Two further examples were given. Pseudomyxoma peritonei tumors looked fairly solid with flash but entirely fluid-filled with transillumination. A cyst on a newborn's leg was lit by a torch from below. The authors concluded that the techniques are non-invasive, comply with infection control policies, and are quick, easy and low or no cost.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive single-case account (the article calls it a case study) of a medical photography lighting technique, with two further illustrative examples
• Who was studied: One patient with multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma photographed during cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC at Basingstoke, UK; further examples from a pseudomyxoma peritonei operation and a newborn with a leg cyst
• Exposure: Not reported: the article does not discuss asbestos or any other exposure; it concerns photographic lighting techniques
• Main results:
  • For the mesothelioma specimens, hand-held flash (ISO 200, 1/160th sec, f/16, bounced off the operating lights) did not fully show the fragile membranes or fluid of some specimens
  • For transillumination, the operating lights were repositioned behind the specimen held forward by the surgeon, and the camera was set to ISO 1600, 1/160th sec at f/11
  • Twenty clinical photographs of the mesothelioma patient were placed in the electronic medical record and presented with radiographic imaging at the multidisciplinary team meeting
  • The mesothelioma patient was reported to have undergone surgery with HIPEC successfully and to be under surveillance with annual CT scans and tumor markers
  • In a pseudomyxoma peritonei example, tumors that looked fairly solid with hand-held flash appeared entirely fluid-filled with transillumination
  • In a newborn's leg cyst lit by a torch held below the leg, transillumination showed the internal structure of the cyst
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the transillumination techniques described are non-invasive, comply with infection control policies, are quick and easy and cost little or nothing, and can help image internal structures to aid diagnosis
• Limitations the authors state:
  • A tripod, which would have allowed a slower shutter speed, could not be used because of limited space and infection control policies in the operating theatre
  • White balance was not adjusted for the operating lights used as the light source in transillumination

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Outcomes of multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma treatment with cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy — A. Zahid, L. Clarke, et al. (2021)
• Multi-institutional experience of diffuse intra-abdominal multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma — T.C. Chua, T.D. Yan, et al. (2011)
• Benign multicystic mesothelioma and peritoneal inclusion cysts: are they the same clinical and histopathological entities? A systematic review to find an evidence-based management — A.M.C. Rapisarda, A. Cianci, et al. (2018)
• Multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma: a systematic review of the literature — B. Noiret, F. Renaud, et al. (2019)
• Multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma: outcomes and patho-biological features in a multi-institutional series treated by cytoreductive surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) — D. Baratti, M. Vaira, et al. (2010)
• Multicystic mesothelioma: Operative and long-term outcomes with cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intra peritoneal chemotherapy — E. Nizri, D. Baratti, et al. (2018)

Browse return to medical research.