High-Frequency Color Doppler Sonography of Bullous Pemphigoid: Correlation With Histologic Findings.

Bullous pemphigoid is the most frequent autoimmune-mediated blistering skin disease, belonging to the group of subepidermal bullae. We performed high-frequency color Doppler sonography in 3 cases of bullous pemphigoid, in bullous and adjacent non-bullous skin, which showed homogeneous sonographic findings. Subepidermal cystic structures with dermal hypoechogenicity were observed in bullous skin. In nonbullous skin, the dermis showed hypoechogenicity compared to normal skin. Color Doppler signals were increased in both areas. These findings correlate histologically with subepidermal bullae and dermal inflammatory infiltrates.

Evaluation of Celiac Disease by Minimally Invasive Biomarkers in a Spanish Pediatric Population.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of celiac disease (CD) has been substantially improved with the availability of highly sensitive CD-specific IgA-TG2, Ig-GDP, and IgA-EMA. The European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) published (2012) and updated (2020) diagnostic criteria for CD in order to simplify CD diagnosis and to avoid biopsies in selected patients. METHODS: A prospective study including 5641 pediatric patients (0-16 years old) from January 2012 to January 2019 was performed. CD diagnosis was made according to the ESPGHAN algorithm. The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of biomarkers and the relationship between TGA-IgA and EMA titers. RESULTS: CD diagnoses were confirmed in 113 patients, 110 were IgA-TG2-positive and 3 (2.7%) had IgA deficiency. The diagnosis was made by serologic tests in 95 (84.1%) patients. Only 18 (15.9%) patients underwent intestinal biopsy. We obtained 100% concordance between IgA-EMA and positive results for IgA-TG2 ≥ 10 ULN with IgA-EMA antibody titer ≥ 1:80. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence of a positive correlation between IgA-TG2 antibody serum levels and IgA-EMA. The diagnosis could be guaranteed with strict application of IgA-TG2 values ≥ 10 ULN (confirmed by subsequent testing) plus the serological response to the gluten-free diet (GFD).

Ki-67 immunoexpression and radiological assessment of necrosis improves accuracy of conventional and modified core biopsy systems in predicting the final grade assigned to adult-soft tissue sarcomas. An international collaborative study.

Based on the French Federation Nationale des Centers de Lutte Contre le Cancer (FNCLCC) grading system, this study assesses the accuracy of conventional and modified core biopsy (CB) systems in predicting the final grade (low vs high) assigned to the resected specimen. Substituting Ki-67 immunoexpression for mitotic count, and radiological for histological assessment of necrosis, we used two modified FNCLCC CB grading systems: (1) Ki-67 immunoexpression alone, and (2) Ki-67 plus radiological assessment of necrosis. We graded 199 soft tissue sarcomas (STS) from nine centers, and compared the results for the conventional (obtained from local histopathology reports) and modified CB systems with the final FNCLCC grading of the corresponding resected specimens. Due to insufficient sample quality or lack of available radiologic data, five cases were not evaluated for Ki67 or radiological assessment of necrosis. The conventional FNCLCC CB grading system accurately identified 109 of the 130 high-grade cases (83.8%). The CB grading matched the final FNCLCC grading (low vs high) in 175 (87.9%) of the 199 resected tumors; overestimating the final grade in three cases and underestimating in 21 cases. Modified system 1 (Ki-67) accurately identified 117 of the 130 high-grade cases (90.0%). The CB grading matched the final FNCLCC grading (low vs high) in 175 (89.7%) of the 195 evaluated cases; overestimating seven and underestimating 13 cases. Modified system 2 (Ki-67 plus radiological necrosis) accurately identified 120 of the 130 high-grade cases (92.3%). This last matched the final FNCLCC grading (low vs high) in 177 (91.2%) of the 194 evaluated cases; overestimating seven and underestimating 10 cases. Modified system 2 obtained highest area under ROC curves, although not statistically significant. Underestimated CB grades did not correlate with histological subtypes, although many of the discrepant cases were myxoid tumors (myxofibrosarcomas or myxoid liposarcomas), leiomyosarcomas or undifferentiated pleomorphic/spindle cell sarcomas. Using modified FNCLCC CB grading systems to replace conventional mitotic count and histologic assessment of necrosis may improve the distinction between low and high-grade STS on CB. Our study confirms that classifying grade 1 as low grade and grades 2 and 3 as high grade improves correlation between CB and final grade by up to 21%, irrespective of CB system used. A higher than expected Ki-67 score in a low-grade sarcoma diagnosed on CB should raise concern that a higher-grade component may not have been sampled. Furthermore, correlation of all clinicopathological and radiological findings at multidisciplinary meetings is essential to assess the histological grade on CB as accurately as possible.

THEMS: an automated thermal and hyperspectral proximal sensing system for canopy reflectance, radiance and temperature.

BACKGROUND: Earth Observation 'EO' remote sensing technology development enables original insights into vegetation function and health at ever finer temporal, spectral and spatial resolution. Research sites equipped with monitoring infrastructure such as flux towers operate at a key bridging scale between satellite platform measurements and on-the-ground leaf-level processes. RESULTS: This paper presents the technical details of the design and operation of a proximal observation system 'THEMS' that generates unattended long-term high quality thermal and hyperspectral images of a forest canopy on a short (sub-daily) timescale. The primary purpose of the system is to measure canopy temperature, spectral reflectance and radiance coincident with a highly instrumented flux tower site for benchmarking purposes. Basic system capability is demonstrated through low level data product descriptions of the high-resolution multi-angular imagery and ancillary data streams. The system has been successfully operational for more than 2 years with little to no intervention. CONCLUSIONS: These data can then be used to derive remotely sensed proxies of canopy and ecosystem function to study temporal forest dynamics over a wide range of wavelengths, spatial scales (individual trees to canopy), and temporal scales (minutes to multiple years). The multi-purpose system is intended to provide unprecedented spatio-temporal ecophysiological insight and to underpin upscaling of remotely sensed dynamic ecosystem water, CO2, and energy exchange processes.