Lenalidomide in the management of eosinophilic dermatosis of hematological malignancy

Eosinophilic dermatosis of hematological malignancy is a paraneoplastic skin eruption associated with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other B‐cell malignancies. It clinically resembles an insect bite reaction and it can precede the symptoms of the hematological malignancy or be related to a more aggressive course. Different treatments have been proposed, but partial response and recurrence are frequent. Herein, we describe a case of eosinophilic dermatosis associated with mantle cell lymphoma with remission after lenalidomide therapy.     

A leg ulcer as manifestation of metastatic squamous cell vaginal carcinoma

Cutaneous metastasis of vaginal carcinoma is extremely rare. So far, the total number of reported skin metastasis of vaginal carcinoma is only one. We present another case with an unusual manifestation of vagina carcinoma metastasis: skin metastasis presenting as a leg ulcer on the lower leg.     

Clinical significance of intraoperative cultures of aneurysm walls and contents in elective abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy

To investigate the clinical significance of intraoperative cultures in elective abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy, we cultured the aneuryrymml wall and contents in 90 patients undergoing vascular graft surgery. Prosthetic graft infection was documented in 1 out of 62 patients with negative cultures and in none of 28 patients with positive cultures (x² = 0.4, p > 0.1). Bacterial growth was seen in neither of 2 inflammatory aneurysms, 3 of 14 atherosclerotic aneurysms and 2 of 5 aneurysms without specific features. A retrospective analysis of patients' charts aimed at finding possible risk factors failed to identify any correlation between results of cultures and length of hospitalization before surgery, time interval between angiography and surgery, route of angiography procedure or minutes of surgery before sample collection. We conclude that positive cultures may not imply clinical infection at the time of surgery and that prolonged post-operative organism-specific antibiotic therapy does not appear necessary to prevent graft contamination in patients undergoing elective abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy.     

Localization of a gene for otosclerosis to chromosome 15q25-q26

Among white adults otosclerosis is the single most common cause of hearing impairment. Although the genetics of this disease are controversial, the majority of studies indicate autosomal dominant inheritance with reduced penetrance. We studied a large multi- generational family in which otosclerosis has been inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. Five of16 affected persons have surgically confirmed otosclerosis; the remaining nine have a conductive hearing loss but have not undergone corrective surgery. To locate the disease- causing gene we completed genetic linkage analysis using short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRPs) distributed over the entire genome. Multipoint linkage analysis showed that only one genomic region, on chromosome 15q, generated a lod score >2.0. Additional STRPs were typed in this area, resulting in a lod score of 3.4. STRPs FES (centromeric) and D15S657 (telomeric) flank the 14. 5 cM region that contains an otosclerosis gene.