Revista Cubana de Medicina Militar (Feb 2024)
Professor Raquel Pérez González and "crab claw" sign
Abstract
Dr. Raquel Pérez González, better known among colleagues, students and co-workers as "professor Raquel", obtained her degree in Medicine in 1976. She began her Radiology residency directly and obtained the title of first-class specialist degree in 1979. Thus, the Central Military Hospital "Dr. Carlos J. Finlay" is the cradle of her professional training and in later years, in her home where she saw her grow up, especially as a teacher to numerous generations of radiologists and imaging scientists. Today, part of her ashes rest in the garden of the Imaging Department, guarded by the love that she was able to cultivate. In 2016, a 60-year-old female patient attended the gastroenterology clinic with diffuse abdominal pain. The simple, anteroposterior abdominal x-ray, in the lying position, showed a "crab claw" image, visible when breathing into the left transverse hemicolon, as contrast, which partially borders on that side, a soft tissue opacity, which extends from the mesogastrium to the right iliac fossa, where the meniscus sign is observed. The imaging studies performed showed typical radiological signs of invagination due to malignant tumor. On several occasions, Professor Raquel used the image of this case as a question in resident promotion exams. The publication of this case constitutes a tribute to someone who will always be a paradigm of a teacher.
