Respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma (REAH) of the nasopharynx with high 18F-FDG uptake on PET/CT.

Respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma (REAH) is a rare benign non-neoplastic sinonasal lesion that usually presents in the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, or olfactory cleft. We report a case of nasopharynx REAH mimicking a malignant tumour with incidental high 18-FDG uptake in a patient with colon cancer. Less than five similar cases have been reported to date, and this is the first case of REAH to show high uptake on PET/CT scans. Although hamartoma arising from the nasopharynx region is very rare, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis because it is a benign lesion and complete surgical resection is curative.

Determination and clinical correlation of markers of inflammation in unvaccinated patients with varicella-zoster infection.

BACKGROUND: Chicken pox is commonly known as a benign exenthamatous disease of childhood, occasionally neurologic or hemorrhagic complications, or even death may ensue. Early predictors of severity of disease have yet to be identified. TNF-alpha and IL-6 stimulate virus-specific immunoglobulin production and it has been postulated that determination of levels of these cytokines may be useful as a prognostic factor. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who were diagnosed with a varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection in the Outpatient Clinic of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases were evaluated for eligibility. Laboratory assays included an evaluation of complete blood counts, erythrocyte-sedimentation rate (ESR), c reactive protein (CRP), and the number of tumor necrosis factor-alpha/interleukin-6-(TNF-alpha/IL-6-) producing mononuclear cells as determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS: A total of 339 patients (320 with chickenpox and 19 with shingles) were enrolled. Blood samples could only be obtained from 81 of the 320 patients with chickenpox. Patients were also divided into three groups depending on the number of skin (vesicular) lesions. (group 1, ≤ 50 lesions; group 2, 51-100 lesions; group 3, >100 lesions). Correlation analyses did not reveal the presence of a statistically significant correlation between number of skin lesions with either of white blood cells (WBC) count (p = 0.231), ESR (p = 0.879) or CRP (p = 0.373). The mean percentage of TNF-alpha-producing mononuclear cells was significantly higher in group 2 compared to group 3 (p = 0.003). A similar difference was observed with regard to IL-6-producing mononuclear cells, albeit bordering on statistical significance (p = 0.058). CONCLUSIONS: Decreased expression of the cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6 may be responsible for the development of a more severe clinical picture in patients with VZV infection, and determination of intracellular levels of these cytokines may be of benefit for early identification of patients who may have a more severe clinical course.

Piperacillin/tazobactam plus amikacin versus carbapenem monotherapy as empirical treatment of febrile neutropenia in childhood hematological malignancies.

A prospective, randomized clinical trial was conducted to compare the efficacy of piperacillin/tazobactam and amikacin combination with carbapenem monotherapy for the empirical treatment of febrile neutropenic episodes of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or acute myeloblastic leukemia. Patients aged 2-16 years with hematological malignancies who had febrile neutropenia were randomly assigned to receive piperacillin/tazobactam (80 mg/kg piperacillin/10 mg/kg tazobactam, q6h) combined with amikacin (PTA) (7.5 mg/kg, q12h) or meropenem or imipenem (20 mg/kg, q8h) (C). Response to antimicrobial therapy, evaluated for etiological agents, was measured. Duration of fever, neutropenia, and hospitalization, mortality, and the need for additional antibiotics or antifungal drugs were compared for the treatment success between the two groups. Out of 87 febrile neutropenic episodes that were evaluable for comparison, 46 patients received PTA and 41 patients were treated with carbapenems (imipenem or meropenem). Overall, the microbiologically documented infection rate was 21.9%, with Staphylococcus epidermidis as the most common cause of bacteremia. The rate of treatment modification was 56.5% in the PTA group and 53.6% in the carbapenem group with no statistical difference (p > .05). There was no infection-related mortality during the study period. There was no difference between the two regimens for durations of fever, neutropenia, and hospitalization (p > .05 for all categories). PTA was as effective as carbapenem monotherapy as an initial empirical regimen in febrile neutropenic episodes of pediatric hematological malignancies.

Screening for tuberculosis in a primary school in Ankara.

Tuberculosis is still an important health problem in developing countries. A screening program was conducted upon learning that one of the teachers of a primary school in Ankara was diagnosed to have active pulmonary tuberculosis. A total of 341 students in the same building with the index case were screened for tuberculosis. There were 109 students with positive tuberculin test reaction. A higher ratio of tuberculin test positivity among the students of the teacher with active tuberculosis versus students vaccinated with BCG one year previously according to the routine vaccination program was determined. Isoniazid prophylaxis was given to the students with positive tuberculin test. The study shows the importance of an urgent work-up of index cases and their environment to prevent the spread of tuberculosis.

Giant cell pneumonia in a leukemic child in remission: a case report.

Giant cell pneumonia is a rare and uncommon type of lung infection developing as a complication of measles, especially in immunocompromised patients, whether their immune systems are affected primarily or whether they have acquired immune defects. As well as being uncommon, it is also atypical because of absence of the characteristic rash and of absent or low antibody titers against measles in most of the cases. It is known that cellular immunity is more important than humoral immunity in the host response to measles, so hypogammaglobulinemic patients with normal cellular immunity usually recover uneventfully from measles and also have the characteristic rash. We report a case with giant cell pneumonia that was confirmed by postmortem histopathological examination. We especially want to point out that even in the absence of rash, with the clinical and radiological features of pneumonia, measles should be considered in a patient, whether in remission or not, receiving immunosuppressive treatment.