Intradural primary marginal zone lymphoma of the cervical spine 2 years following a posterior cervical instrumented fusion.

Primary low grade central nervous system lymphoma is a rare entity, with the majority being intracranial marginal zone B-cell lymphoma. Primary spinal lymphoma is unusual, and commonly presents as an epidural lesion with diffuse large B-cell histology, as described in prior literature. We present a case of a 56 year-old woman diagnosed with a primary intradural spinal lymphoma two years after a posterior cervical fusion at the same level. She was treated successfully with surgical resection and postoperative radiotherapy. To our knowledge, this is the first case in the literature describing an intradural primary marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the spine.

Spontaneous, Intrasphenoidal Rupture of Ecchordosis Physaliphora with Pneumocephalus Captured During Serial Imaging and Clinical Follow-Up: Pathoanatomic Features and Management.

BACKGROUND: Ecchordosis physaliphora (EP) is a congenital, uniformly asymptomatic, hamartomatous lesion of the primitive notochord. Herein we report, to our knowledge, the first credible case report of unprovoked intrasphenoidal rupture resulting in recurrent pneumocephalus and cerebrospinal fluid leak, definitively captured over serial imaging during clinical and radiologic surveillance. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 68-year old woman with Marfan syndrome presented to the emergency department with the worst headache of her life. Imaging demonstrated extensive pneumocephalus and revealed a small, dorsal midline clival lesion consistent with EP and a transsphenoidal defect. Remote imaging encounters confirmed typical EP without pneumocephalus or cortical defect, and an uneventful clinical course years preceding presentation. Over the ensuing months during neurosurgical follow-up, the patient reported recurrent headaches, imbalance, and unprovoked clear rhinorrhea. Further imaging demonstrated an apparently enlarging transsphenoidal defect which was managed by endoscopic transnasal resection and nasoseptal flap. Pathologic evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of EP and chronic dural defect. CONCLUSIONS: This represents, to our knowledge, the first unambiguous example of spontaneous EP rupture and recurrent pneumocephalus captured over serial imaging. The case further underscores rare but potentially significant complications of EP and highlights management options.

Oxidation of a mustard gas analogue using an aldehyde/O2 system catalyzed by V-doped mesoporous silica.

Vanadium-doped mesoporous silica was shown to be an effective heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of a mustard gas analogue, 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES), in the presence of an aldehyde and molecular oxygen. The oxidation was shown to involve a radical mechanism, which was indicated by the appearance of an induction period when the reaction occurred in the presence of a free radical scavenger. The reaction was initially selective for the oxidation of CEES to the sulfoxide, CEESO, although oxidation of the sulfoxide to the sulfone occurred once all the CEES had been oxidized. Chemical analysis indicated that V species did not leach from the silica support when the reaction was performed in the fluorinated solvent HFE-7100.

High-density single-nucleotide polymorphism maps of the human genome.

Here we report a large, extensively characterized set of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering the human genome. We determined the allele frequencies of 55,018 SNPs in African Americans, Asians (Japanese-Chinese), and European Americans as part of The SNP Consortium's Allele Frequency Project. A subset of 8333 SNPs was also characterized in Koreans. Because these SNPs were ascertained in the same way, the data set is particularly useful for modeling. Our results document that much genetic variation is shared among populations. For autosomes, some 44% of these SNPs have a minor allele frequency > or =10% in each population, and the average allele frequency differences between populations with different continental origins are less than 19%. However, the several percentage point allele frequency differences among the closely related Korean, Japanese, and Chinese populations suggest caution in using mixtures of well-established populations for case-control genetic studies of complex traits. We estimate that approximately 7% of these SNPs are private SNPs with minor allele frequencies <1%. A useful set of characterized SNPs with large allele frequency differences between populations (>60%) can be used for admixture studies. High-density maps of high-quality, characterized SNPs produced by this project are freely available.