Sister Mary Joseph nodule

Common card · No. 406652

In medicine, the Sister Mary Joseph nodule (sometimes Sister Mary Joseph node or Sister Mary Joseph sign) refers to a palpable nodule bulging into the umbilicus as a result of metastasis of a malignant cancer in the pelvis or abdomen through the round ligament of liver. Sister Mary Joseph nodules can be painful to palpation. A periumbilical mass is not always a Sister Mary Joseph nodule. Other conditions that can cause a palpable periumbilical mass include umbilical hernia, infection, and endometriosis. Medical imaging, such as abdominal ultrasound, may be used to distinguish a Sister Mary Joseph nodule from another kind of mass. Gastrointestinal malignancies account for about half of underlying sources (most commonly gastric cancer, colonic cancer or pancreatic cancer, mostly of the tail and body of the pancreas), and men are even more likely to have an underlying cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. Gynecological cancers account for about 1 in 4 cases (primarily ovarian cancer and also...

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