A dyadic genotype–phenotype approach to diagnostic criteria for Proteus syndrome

Phenotype‐based diagnostic criteria were developed for Proteus syndrome in 1999 and updated in 2006. Subsequently, the causative mosaic gene alteration was discovered, the c.49G>A p.E17K variant in AKT1. As well, a number of overlapping overgrowth disorders attributable to mosaic PIK3CA variants have now been characterized, leading to the designation of PIK3CA‐related overgrowth spectrum (PROS). Finally, ongoing work to better characterize Proteus syndrome has led to identification of additional features of that disorder that could be useful in diagnostic criteria. We have taken the opportunity of these discoveries to re‐evaluate the Proteus syndrome diagnostic criteria. Here we propose a new set of diagnostic criteria that establishes a weighted, point‐based system for the phenotypic attributes and then integrates that with the potential molecular test results to result in one of two designations: AKT1‐related Proteus syndrome or AKT1‐related overgrowth spectrum. A patient whose only manifestation is an AKT1 c.49G>A‐positive tumor would receive neither of these designations. Here we review the rational basis of diagnostic criteria and argue that a unitary diagnostic entity is a distinct gene‐phenotype dyad and that this should be the model for all mendelian disorders. The gene‐alone or phenotype‐alone approach is inadequate to rigorously delineate a unitary diagnostic entity.     

Outcome of low level lasers versus ultrasonic therapy in de Quervain's tenosynovitis

Background:

de Quervain''s tenosynovitis is an inflammation of abductor pollicis longus (APL) and extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) muscle tendon sheaths at the level of radial styloid process. Its conservative management includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, wrist and thumb immobilization, ultrasonic therapy (US Th.) and low level laser therapy (LLLT). Literature is scanty on comparative efficacy of US Th. and LLLT for its management. This prospective study evaluates outcome of US Th. versus LLLT in de Quervain''s disease.

Materials and Methods:

Thirty patients clinically diagnosed de Quervains tenosynovitis were included in the study and randomly assigned to two groups. The average age was 36 years (range: 21-45 years). One group was given LLLT and the other US Th. for a total of 7 exposures on alternate days. The clinical criteria used were Finkelstein''s test, tenderness over radial styloid (Ritchie''s tenderness scale), grip strength, pain (visual analog scale [VAS]) and radiological criteria was ultrasonographic assessment of change in thickness of APL and EPB tendon sheath. They were measured before commencement and at the end of seven sessions of therapy, as per standard procedure.

Results:

Significant improvement was seen within both groups in the following outcome measures assessed: Ritchie''s tenderness scale, grip strength and VAS. Finkelstein''s test was not significantly improved in either groups. Ultrasonographic measurement of tendon sheath diameters, the mediolateral (ML), and anteroposterior (AP) diameters was not found to be significantly different in the US Th. group and the laser therapy group after treatment. On comparing both the groups, no statistically significant difference was found. However, looking at the mean values, the grip strength and VAS showed better improvement in the US Th. group as compared to the laser therapy group.     

Return to sporting activity after Birmingham hip resurfacing arthroplasty: Mid term results

Background:

Hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA) is primarily indicated for young, active patients with disabling coxarthrosis who wish to remain active and return to sports after surgery. Relatively few prospective studies have assessed return to sporting activity and impact of gender and age on this.

Materials and Methods:

Seventy-nine consecutive patients treated with HRA were included. Patients were reviewed clinically and radiologically. Function was assessed using the modified University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score. The Oxford, Harris and WOMAC hip scores were calculated.

Results:

Average age at the time of surgery was 54.9 years (range 34.5–73.6 years). Average preoperative and postoperative UCLA scores were 4 and 7.6 respectively. Patients were involved in 2 (0–4) sporting activities preoperatively and 2 (0–5) postoperatively. Preoperative and postoperative Oxford Hip Scores, Harris Hip Score and WOMAC scores were 40, 46 and 51 and 16, 94 and 3 respectively (P < 0.0001). Patients returned to sports at an average of 3 months postoperatively.

Conclusion:

Patients were able to return to sports by 3 months and perform the same number of activities at preoperative intensity. Activity levels are maintained up to the medium term with few complications.     

Nodular fasciitis and solitary fibrous tumor of the oral region: tumors of fibroblast heterogeneity

OBJECTIVE: Fibroblastic proliferations of the oral cavity are extremely varied, yet they share certain features-spindle cell morphology, collagen synthesis, and fasciculation. Nodular fasciitis is a cellular fibroblastic lesion, uncommonly located in the oral submucosa, that shows smooth muscle actin (SMA) immunoreactivity. Solitary fibrous tumor expresses a CD34 fibroblast phenotype. The aim of this study is to report instances of nodular fasciitis and solitary fibrous tumor in the orofacial region and investigate immunohistochemical markers to compare and contrast fibroblastic phenotypic heterogeneity in these tumors. STUDY DESIGN: Seven benign cellular fibrogenic tumors initially diagnosed as nodular fasciitis over a 10-year period were examined. Immunohistochemical markers, including S-100 protein, SMA, CD68, CD34, and vimentin, were used to further characterize these lesions. RESULTS: All tumors occurred in adults, and the buccal mucosa was found to be the favored site. The spindle cells in these tumors showed phenotypic heterogeneity both within and between tumors. All were vimentin-reactive and harbored small populations of CD68-positive macrophage/dendrocytes. Five tumors were SMA-positive and CD34-negative; the tumor in one case was SMA-negative and CD34-positive, and that in another was SMA-positive and CD34-positive. CONCLUSION: Although rare, nodular fasciitis and solitary fibrous tumor arise in oral submucosa, usually in the cheek. The histopathologic features and immunomarkers indicative of myofibroblastic differentiation are seen in nodular fasciitis, whereas solitary fibrous tumor is CD34-positive; however, one instance was found to be positive for both markers. All of these cases harbored subpopulations of CD68-positive cells. Immunomarkers are a valuable adjunct in differentiating nodular fasciitis from solitary fibrous tumor, yet some tumors may harbor heterogeneous fibroblast phenotypes.     

Haploidentical Bone Marrow Transplantation with Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide/Bendamustine in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

More than half of patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation at our institution are ethnic or racial minorities, making the search for matched unrelated donors more challenging. Since the introduction of haploidentical bone marrow transplant (haplo-BMT) into our pediatric BMT program in 2015, 69.2% of recipients have been minorities. Herein, we describe our experience with the first 13 pediatric and young adult patients with hematologic malignancies who have undergone T cell–replete haplo-BMT after myeloablative conditioning (MAC) at our institution. We have previously documented that in experimental haplo-BMT, post-transplant bendamustine (PT-BEN) is at least as effective as post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PT-CY) against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and elicits superior graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects. We report on, for the first time in humans, 4 patients treated with PT-CY and PT-BEN after haplo-BMT as part of our ongoing institutional phase I/II study (NCT02996773). The remaining 9 patients reviewed in this report received PT-CY. Our findings indicate that MAC haplo-BMT is well tolerated by children and young adults with advanced hematologic malignancies with no observed nonrelapse mortality or grades III to IV GVHD. All patients who underwent haplo-BMT remain alive and disease-free with a median follow-up of 15.6 months (range, 1.5 to 31.2). Preliminary findings from our ongoing clinical trial demonstrate that partial substitution of PT-BEN for PT-CY is feasible and safe after haplo-BMT as an immune modulatory strategy to alleviate GVHD and potentially more effectively preserve GVL.     

紫杉醇药物涂层支架植入术后患者外周血单核细胞中热休克蛋白70的变化：生物材料临床应用近期效果随访

目的:植入材料、靶血管病变特征、术前状态、炎症因子及急性期蛋白均对急性冠状动脉综合征接受支架材料介入治疗后的效果有影响,为验证紫杉醇涂层支架临床应用后材料及宿主的相关反应,实验观察了接受紫杉醇涂层支架介入治疗的急性冠状动脉综合征患者的外周血热休克蛋白70水平变化,并分析其临床意义。方法:①连续性入选2004-12/2006-03在江苏大学附属人民医院行经皮冠状动脉介入治疗的78例急性冠状动脉综合征患者,全部病例均置入紫杉醇药物涂层支架。采用流式细胞仪测定症状发作平均(34.1±16.2)h的外周血单核细胞热休克蛋白70阳性表达水平。②所有患者随访至术后6个月,出现心源性死亡、再次心肌梗死、再发心绞痛、再次血运重建术和继发心衰等主要心脏不良事件者为近期预后不良组,无上述情况者判定为近期预后良好组,用logistic多元回归法分析术前状态、靶血管病变特征、植入支架的各项参数及外周血热休克蛋白70水平与主要心脏不良事件发生率的关系,并以同期健康体检者20例为正常对照组。结果:68例患者完成随访进入结果分析。①外周血热休克蛋白70水平:急性心肌梗死患者和不稳定型心绞痛患者比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),但均显著高于正常对照组(P<0.05)。②在多变量的logistic回归分析中,外周血热休克蛋白70独立于其危险因素,能预测急性冠状动脉综合征患者经皮冠状动脉介入治疗后近期主要心脏不良事件发生率(OR值为0.904,P<0.05)。结论:回归分析结果提示,应用紫杉醇涂层支架临床治疗近期效果评估中,外周血热休克蛋白70水平高的急性冠状动脉综合征患者近期心脏事件发生率较高,说明外周血热休克蛋白70可能成为判断紫杉醇涂层支架介入治疗后不良事件发生率的独立因素之一。     

Lyme disease—another transfusion risk?

Lyme disease (or Lyme borreliosis) is caused by a spirochetal bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi. Increased recognition of the disease and increased exposure to the vector (ticks) capable of spreading B. burgdorferi from animal hosts have resulted in a rise in the number of cases of Lyme borreliosis reported in the United States. There are three stages of the clinical course of Lyme borreliosis; however, not all those infected will have typical manifestations of each stage, such as the arthritis of the third stage. Routine blood cultures will rarely document bacteremia and serologic testing is not yet reliable. Early treatment can prevent later stages of Lyme borreliosis. There is evidence that transmission of B. burgdorferi by blood transfusion is possible, but, to date, there has been no documentation of transfusion- associated Lyme borreliosis. Thus, no new recommendations for screening donors to identify possible carriers of B. burgdorferi are suggested at this time.     

Haemodynamic Studies During the Management of Severe Tetanus

Detailed invasive haemodynamic studies were performed in 27of 32 patients with severe tetanus. Nineteen had severe uncomplicatedtetanus and eight had associated major complications, chieflyinfection and pulmonary complications. The results were comparedwith those obtained from 15 healthy male volunteers who servedas controls. There were two deaths in 32 patients (mortality6.25 per cent). Severe tetanus without major complications wascharacterized by a high output hyperkinetic circulatory statewith tachycardia (heart rate 131 (19.2) beats/minute), increasedstroke volume index (43.1 (10.7) ml/m²), increased cardiac index(5.48 (0.94)1/min/m²) and a normal left ventricular stroke workindex (60.5 (15.9) g/m/m²). Volume loading demonstrated a significanthaemodynamic response and increased vascular capacitance. Evenso the maximum percent rise from baseline values of these indicesafter volume load was significantly higher in controls (p <0.001). Autonomic cardiovascular disturbances affected bothsympathetic and parasympathetic activity. Hypertension and tachycardiaalternating with hypotension and bradycardia were related tosudden fluctuations in systemic vascular resistance. Our studiessuggested some degree of myocardial dysfunction in patientswith severe uncomplicated tetanus. The haemodynamics of severetetanus were masked and altered by complicating infection, pneumonia,and atelectasis.