A Rare Case of Combined Choriocarcinoma and Placental Site Trophoblastic Tumor Presenting as Skin Lesion: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Despite the tendency to metastasize widely, Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia (GTN) is one of the most curable solid tumors with chemotherapy. CASE REPORT A 41-year-old female, G4P2A2, presented with a slowly growing lump on the left side of the scalp associated with a headache. The patient had intermittent, sharp left eye pain which radiated to the side of her face, photophobia, early morning blurring of vision, and nausea. Palpation over scalp lesion produced deep retro-orbital pain and pain was exacerbated with bending over. An ophthalmological evaluation was unremarkable. Ultrasonography (USG) of the left scalp showed an intramuscular mass superficial to the left frontal bone. During excision biopsy, the mass was found to be invading the frontal bone. Histopathology showed a metastatic trophoblastic tumor with mixed features of choriocarcinoma and placental site trophoblastic tumor. A pregnancy test was positive, the beta HCG level was elevated but USG did not show intrauterine pregnancy. CT head demonstrated an intracranial, dural-based mass that extended against the brain but did not breach the pial membrane. CT chest, abdomen, pelvis, and PET scan showed no evidence of metastatic disease. She was successfully treated with resection of the transcranial lesion followed by aggressive chemotherapy - Etoposide, Methotrexate, Actinomycin-D, Vincristine, and Cyclophosphamide. CONCLUSIONS This was an unusual case of GTN due to its primary presentation as skin metastasis, without any lung metastasis and no identifiable primary lesion. It is also very unusual to see a combination of choriocarcinoma and placental site trophoblastic tumor cells in the same tumor mass.

A rare case of aerococcus urinae infective endocarditis.

Introduction:Aerococcus urinae is a rare cause of infective endocarditis. Aerococcus is a gram positive cocci that is easily misidentified as Staphylococci or Streptococci. The true incidence rate of this pathogen is likely underestimated. Recent advances in laboratory diagnostic methods with matrix-associated laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) have lead to increased recognition of this pathogen in the clinical microbiology lab, and awareness as a cause of infective endocarditis in the infectious disease community. Case reports: Aerococcus usually affects males with underlying urinary tract conditions. Herein, we report a case of prosthetic aortic valve endocarditis caused by Aerococcus urinae. Discussion: Our patient was considered high risk for cardiac surgery and was treated successfully with intravenous antibiotics alone for six weeks. Conclusion: Infective endocarditis should be considered in all cases of Aerococcus bacteremia and appropriate diagnostic evaluations pursued. Abbreviations: AV: Aortic valve; IE: Infective endocarditis.