Cellular Angiofibroma Presenting as an Inguinal Subcutaneous Mass: a Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Backgfound: Cellular angiofibroma is a rare benign mesenchymal tumor that occurs in the inguinal and vulvovaginal region. We report a case of the tumor occurring in the right inguinal region of a 64 old male and a review of the current literature. Case: A 64 year old male veteran was referred to our general surgery service with an incidentally discovered right inguinal mass on a computerized tomography scan. The scan was performed to follow a history of prostate cancer that had been treated with brachytherapy. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lesion helped confirm that the mass did not represent a hernia or an undescended testicle. Surgical resection revealed encapsulated, yellowish, pink tissue measuring 6.5 x 5 x 3.5 cm. Microscopically, the sections showed densely fibrous to loose and focally fibromyxoid background of oval to spindle-shaped cells with a few scattered plasma cells and mast cells. Based upon the clinical, histologic, and immunohistochemical findings, the lesion was classified as a cellular angiofibroma. Conclusion: Cellular angiofibroma of the inguinal region is a rare benign encapsulated tumor.It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a male with an inguinal mass proven not to be a hernia or undescended testicle.

The role of circulating 25 hydroxyvitamin D in asthma: a systematic review.

Asthma is a major public health issue. The co-occurrence of the high prevalence of asthma and vitamin D deficiency documented globally in recent decades has prompted several investigations into a possible association between the two conditions. The objective of this paper was to synthesize the evidence from studies that have measured the association between serum vitamin D and asthma incidence, prevalence, severity and exacerbations. A systematic search of the literature was performed in PubMed, and the available evidence was summarized both qualitatively and by meta-analysis. Only English language, observational studies measuring serum levels of 25(OH)D as the exposure were included, as this is the most robust measure of vitamin D levels. The search identified 23 manuscripts: two case-control, 12 cohort and nine cross-sectional studies. Collectively, the evidence suggests that higher serum levels of 25(OH)D are associated with a reduced risk of asthma exacerbations, but there was little evidence to suggest an association with asthma incidence, prevalence or severity. A significant amount of heterogeneity between study methodology and results restricted the scope for meta-analysis. These results suggest that vitamin D supplementation may be effective for the prevention of asthma exacerbations, but the findings need to be confirmed by clinical trials.

Systematic radiologic detection of kidney stones in Canadian children: a new era of asymptomatic stones?

INTRODUCTION: Asymptomatic, or incidental, pediatric kidney stones detected on abdominal imaging pose a clinical challenge as their significance and expected outcome are not well described. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to estimate the incidence of nephrolithiasis in pediatric patients undergoing abdominal ultrasound (US) or computerized tomography (CT), for all indications, in a pediatric tertiary care hospital. Our secondary objective was to determine the clinical outcome of these radiographically detected stones. METHODS: All abdominal US or CT radiology reports for patients younger than 18 years between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2016, were retrieved. Reports were automatically flagged using textual analysis if they contained one of the 32 keywords potentially indicating nephrolithiasis. Flagged reports, as well as 10% of unflagged reports, were reviewed to confirm the radiologist impression of presence or absence of stones. Patient and stone-related clinical data were extracted. RESULTS: Two thousand four hundred forty-nine (5%) of 53 235 imaging reports cited at least one of the keywords. Manual review of flagged reports identified 498 studies having a radiologist impression of stones (244 unique patients). Stone incidence in children undergoing abdominal imaging more than doubled between 2011 and 2016. Medical record review found that 140 patients (57%) were symptomatic, while the other 104 patients (43%) were asymptomatic. Spontaneous resolution was greater (57% vs 34%) in asymptomatic patients compared to symptomatic patients. Asymptomatic patients were younger with a median age of 0.6 compared to 12.3 years. Asymptomatic and symptomatic stones were followed up for similar lengths of time (2.3 vs 2.0 years, p > 0.05) and had a similar number of follow-up USs (3.9 vs 4.6 studies, p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of radiologically identified stones in children undergoing abdominal imaging at our center increased over time. Asymptomatic stones follow a benign course with minimal need for intervention; however, they were detected almost as frequently as symptomatic stones. Asymptomatic stones may represent increased healthcare resource utilization due to similar follow-up compared to symptomatic stones. Further research regarding the optimal imaging intervals and long-term follow-up for asymptomatic stones is warranted.