Pathological findings in enucleated eyes of patients with neurofibromatosis type 1: report of a case with 15-year follow-up and review of 14 patients in the literature.

BACKGROUNDS: Iris nodules are frequently noted as clinical manifestations of neurofibromatosis type 1 but the other intraocular manifestations are rare. The purpose of this study is to present a patient with a phthisic eye who underwent enucleation for a cosmetic reason after 15-year follow-up and also to review 14 patients with enucleation described in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 17-year-old man with neurofibromatosis type 1 from infancy underwent the enucleation of phthisic left eye and also had the resection of eyelid subcutaneous mass lesions on the left side for a cosmetic reason. He had undergone four-time preceding surgeries for eyelid and orbital mass reduction on the left side in childhood and had developed total retinal detachment 10 years previously. Pathologically, the enucleated eye showed massive retinal gliosis positive for both S-100 and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the area with involvement of the detached retinal neuronal layer, together with a more fibrotic lesion along the choroid which were, in contrast, negative for both S-100 and GFAP. The choroid, ciliary body, and iris did not show apparent neurofibroma while episcleral neurofibroma was present. LITERATURE REVIEW: In review of enucleated eyes of 14 patients in the literature, buphthalmic eyes with early-onset glaucoma on the unilateral side was clinically diagnosed in 9 patients who frequently showed varying extent of hemifacial neurofibromatosis which involved the eyelid and orbit on the same side. Pathologically, neurofibromas in varying extent were found in the choroid of 12 patients. One patient showed choroidal malignant melanoma on the left side and fusiform enlargement of the optic nerve on the right side suspected of optic nerve glioma. The phthisic eye in another patient showed massive retinal gliosis similar to the present patient. CONCLUSIONS: In summary of the 15 patients with neurofibromatosis type 1, including the present patient, buphthalmic or phthisic eyes with no vision were enucleated for cosmetic reasons and showed choroidal neurofibroma in most patients and massive retinal gliosis in two patients including the present patient.

Evolutionary origin and distribution of amino acid mutations associated with resistance to sodium channel modulators in onion thrips, Thrips tabaci.

In onion thrips Thrips tabaci, reduced sensitivity of the sodium channel caused by several sodium channel mutations have been correlated with pyrethroid resistance. For this study, using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences, we examined the phylogenetic relation among a total of 52 thelytokous and arrhenotokous strains with different genotypes of the sodium channel mutations. Then, we used flow cytometry to estimate their ploidy. Results showed that the strains are divisible into three groups: diploid thelytoky, triploid thelytoky, and diploid arrhenotoky. Using 23 whole genome resequencing data obtained from 20 strains out of 52, we examined their genetic relation further using principal component analysis, admixture analysis, and a fixation index. Results showed that diploid and triploid thelytokous groups are further classifiable into two based on the sodium channel mutations harbored by the respective group members (strains). The greatest genetic divergence was observed between thelytokous and arrhenotokous groups with a pair of T929I and K1774N. Nevertheless, they shared a genomic region with virtually no polymorphism around the sodium channel gene loci, suggesting a hard selective sweep. Based on these findings, we discuss the evolutionary origin and distribution of the sodium channel mutations in T. tabaci.

CT number calibration audit in photon radiation therapy.

BACKGROUND: Inadequate computed tomography (CT) number calibration curves affect dose calculation accuracy. Although CT number calibration curves registered in treatment planning systems (TPSs) should be consistent with human tissues, it is unclear whether adequate CT number calibration is performed because CT number calibration curves have not been assessed for various types of CT number calibration phantoms and TPSs. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate CT number calibration curves for mass density (ρ) and relative electron density (ρe ). METHODS: A CT number calibration audit phantom was sent to 24 Japanese photon therapy institutes from the evaluating institute and scanned using their individual clinical CT scan protocols. The CT images of the audit phantom and institute-specific CT number calibration curves were submitted to the evaluating institute for analyzing the calibration curves registered in the TPSs at the participating institutes. The institute-specific CT number calibration curves were created using commercial phantom (Gammex, Gammex Inc., Middleton, WI, USA) or CIRS phantom (Computerized Imaging Reference Systems, Inc., Norfolk, VA, USA)). At the evaluating institute, theoretical CT number calibration curves were created using a stoichiometric CT number calibration method based on the CT image, and the institute-specific CT number calibration curves were compared with the theoretical calibration curve. Differences in ρ and ρe over the multiple points on the curve (Δρm and Δρe,m , respectively) were calculated for each CT number, categorized for each phantom vendor and TPS, and evaluated for three tissue types: lung, soft tissues, and bones. In particular, the CT-ρ calibration curves for Tomotherapy TPSs (ACCURAY, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) were categorized separately from the Gammex CT-ρ calibration curves because the available tissue-equivalent materials (TEMs) were limited by the manufacturer recommendations. In addition, the differences in ρ and ρe for the specific TEMs (ΔρTEM and Δρe,TEM , respectively) were calculated by subtracting the ρ or ρe of the TEMs from the theoretical CT-ρ or CT-ρe calibration curve. RESULTS: The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of Δρm and Δρe,m for the Gammex phantom were -1.1 ± 1.2 g/cm3 and -0.2 ± 1.1, -0.3 ± 0.9 g/cm3 and 0.8 ± 1.3, and -0.9 ± 1.3 g/cm3 and 1.0 ± 1.5 for lung, soft tissues, and bones, respectively. The mean ± SD of Δρm and Δρe,m for the CIRS phantom were 0.3 ± 0.8 g/cm3 and 0.9 ± 0.9, 0.6 ± 0.6 g/cm3 and 1.4 ± 0.8, and 0.2 ± 0.5 g/cm3 and 1.6 ± 0.5 for lung, soft tissues, and bones, respectively. The mean ± SD of Δρm for Tomotherapy TPSs was 2.1 ± 1.4 g/cm3 for soft tissues, which is larger than those for other TPSs. The mean ± SD of Δρe,TEM for the Gammex brain phantom (BRN-SR2) was -1.8 ± 0.4, implying that the tissue equivalency of the BRN-SR2 plug was slightly inferior to that of other plugs. CONCLUSIONS: Latent deviations between human tissues and TEMs were found by comparing the CT number calibration curves of the various institutes.

[Development of a Phantom and Analysis Program for Assessment of Positional Accuracy of Image-guided Radiation Therapy].

PURPOSE: We created a phantom and analysis program for the assessment of IGRT positional accuracy. We verified the accuracy of analysis and the practicality of this evaluation method at several facilities. METHOD: End-to-end test was performed using an in-house phantom, and EPID images were acquired after displacement by an arbitrary amount using a micrometer, with after image registration as the reference. The difference between the center of the target and the irradiated field was calculated using our in-house analysis program and commercial software. The end-to-end test was conducted at three facilities, and the IGRT positional accuracy evaluation was verified. RESULT: The maximum difference between the displacement of the target determined from the EPID image and the arbitrary amount of micrometer displacement was 0.24 mm for the in-house analysis program and 0.30 mm for the commercial software. The maximum difference between the center of the target and the irradiation field on EPID images acquired at the three facilities was 0.97 mm. CONCLUSION: The proposed evaluation method using our in-house phantom and analysis program can be used for the assessment of IGRT positional accuracy.

Nontuberculous mycobacterial abscess of lacrimal sac and eyelid debridement: Case report.

Key Clinical Message: It is important to stain acid-fact bacilli on the smear of abscess puncture in addition to Gram stain to detect nontuberculous and tuberculous mycobacteria in the early phase since both can cause rare and challenging extrapulmonary manifestations. Abstract: A 56-year-old otherwise healthy woman developed abscess from dacryocystitis in the right lower eyelid. The smear of puncture fluid showed acid-fast bacilli and Mycobacterium abscessus was identified after a month. The early start of clarithromycin/ethambutol was switched to clarithromycin/levofloxacin. Debridement specimen after 7-month treatment showed granulomatous tissue with no bacilli.