Rare post-operative intracranial abscess due to Serratia marcescens: what we can learn from it?

BACKGROUND: Nosocomial infections caused by Serratia marcescens mostly occurred in pediatrics and it was very rarely reported after adult surgery. Here, an intracranial abscess caused by Serratia marcescens was reported. We report a rare case of a postoperative intracranial abscess caused by Serratia marcescens in a 63-year-old male patient with a left parietal mass. The patient underwent resection of the mass on June 1, 2022, and the postoperative pathology revealed an angiomatous meningioma, WHO I. He then experienced recurrent worsening of right limb movements, and repeated cranial CT scans showed oozing blood and obvious low-density shadows around the operation area. Delayed wound healing was considered. Subsequently, a large amount of pus was extracted from the wound. The etiological test showed that Serratia marcescens infection occurred before the removal of the artificial titanium mesh. Antibiotics were initiated based on the results of drug susceptibility tests. At present, the patient is recovering well and is still closely monitored during follow-up. CONCLUSION: It is rare for Serratia marcescens to cause brain abscesses without any obvious signs of infection. This report provided in detail our experience of a warning postoperative asymptomatic brain abscess caused by an uncommon pathogen.

CD47: the next checkpoint target for cancer immunotherapy.

Cancer immunotherapy using checkpoint blockade has brought about a paradigm shift in the treatment of advanced-stage cancers. Unfortunately, not all patients benefit from these therapies, paving the way for other immune checkpoints to be targeted. CD47, a 'marker-of-self' protein that is overexpressed broadly across tumor types, is emerging as a novel potent macrophage immune checkpoint for cancer immunotherapy. Recently, CD47 blockade by Hu5F9-G4 has shown promise combined with Rituximab in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Here we review the complex structure and various physiological functions of CD47 and their implications in cancer biology. Further, this review considers future directions and challenges in advancing this promising target platform to widespread therapeutic use.

Radiomic Analysis of Craniopharyngioma and Meningioma in the Sellar/Parasellar Area with MR Images Features and Texture Features: A Feasible Study.

Purpose: To investigate the ability of qualitative Magnetic Resonance (MR) images features and quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) texture features in the contrastive analysis between craniopharyngioma and meningioma. Method: A total number of 127 patients were included in this study (craniopharyngioma = 63; meningioma = 64). All the features analyzed in this study were acquired from preoperative MRI images. Qualitative MR images features were evaluated with chi-square tests or Fisher exact test, while MRI texture features were evaluated with the Mann-Whitney U test with the Benjamini-Hochberg method. Then binary logistic regression analysis for texture features was performed to evaluate their ability as independent predictors, and the diagnostic accuracy was calculated next for these texture features with high abilities as independent predictors using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Four qualitative MR images features showed significant difference between craniopharyngioma and meningioma, but only cystic alteration could be considered as diagnostic independent predictors. Meanwhile, three quantitative parameters, histogram-based matrix- (HISTO-) Skewness, Grey-level co-occurrence matrix- (GLCM-) Contrast on contrast-enhanced images, and HISTO-Skewness on images of T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), showed promising abilities in the contrastive analysis. Besides, these texture features were found significantly to be relative to cystic alteration. Conclusion: MR images features and texture features were useful in the contrastive analysis of craniopharyngioma and meningioma. Furthermore, qualitative MR images features and MRI texture features could be related to each other.

The Diagnostic Value of MRI-Based Texture Analysis in Discrimination of Tumors Located in Posterior Fossa: A Preliminary Study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the diagnostic value of MRI-based texture analysis in discriminating common posterior fossa tumors, including medulloblastoma, brain metastatic tumor, and hemangioblastoma. METHODS: A total number of 185 patients were enrolled in the current study: 63 of them were diagnosed with medulloblastoma, 56 were diagnosed with brain metastatic tumor, and 66 were diagnosed with hemangioblastoma. Texture features were extracted from contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (T1C) images and fluid-attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) images within two matrixes. Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to identify whether texture features were significantly different among subtypes of tumors. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess if they could be taken as independent predictors and to establish the integrated models. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was conducted to evaluate their performances in discrimination. RESULTS: There were texture features from both T1C images and FLAIR images found to be significantly different among the three types of tumors. The integrated model represented that the promising diagnostic performance of texture analysis depended on a series of features rather than a single feature. Moreover, the predictive model that combined texture features and clinical feature implied feasible performance in prediction with an accuracy of 0.80. CONCLUSION: MRI-based texture analysis could potentially be served as a radiological method in discrimination of common tumors located in posterior fossa.

Intrasellar symptomatic salivary gland: case series and literature review.

PURPOSE: Ectopic salivary glands have been found in both extracranial and intracranial locations, however, intrasellar symptomatic salivary gland is extremely rare and its clinical manifestation, radiological characteristics and outcome have not been systematically studied. Here we present a case series of intrasellar symptomatic salivary gland and perform a literature review to better characterize this disease. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the data of three patients with intrasellar symptomatic salivary gland from our institutional and other cases available in literatures. Information for sex, age at diagnosis, clinical symptoms, radiological features, treatment strategy and prognosis were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 11 cases (including our own) were identified. There were three men and eight women, with an average age at diagnosis of 28.3 years. The peak incidence was in the second and the third decade (72.7% of all cases). The most common symptom was headache (81.8% of all patients). About 63.6% patients had one or more abnormal hormone levels, and prolactin was likely the most vulnerable hormone. The radiological appearances of intrasellar salivary gland were various, and four cases mimicked pituitary adenoma radiologically. All patients underwent transsphenoidal surgery with no mortality. CONCLUSION: Although intrasellar symptomatic salivary gland is rare, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intrasellar lesions. Preoperative diagnosis is challenging since it mimics pituitary neoplasm in clinical and radiological manifestations, and confirmation for this disease could only be conducted through pathological examination. Transsphenoidal surgical resection is the preferred therapy and the patient prognosis is usually good.

The expanding family of noncanonical regulatory cell subsets.

The overwhelming body of research on regulatory lymphocytes has focused on CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ T cells (regulatory T cells); however, the last 5 years have witnessed inspiring progress in our understanding of regulatory B cells, regulatory CD8+ T cells, regulatory γδ cells, and, more recently, regulatory innate lymphoid cells(ILCregs). This review focuses on these so-called noncanonical regulatory cell subsets. We primarily survey existing information on the phenotype, function, sustaining factors, and clinical value of the 4 best-characterized non-CD4 + Foxp3+ T regulatory cells. We then take a brief journey into the advances and challenges associated with next-generation sequencing technologies and the application of sequencing to the study of noncanonical regulatory cell subsets.