ABSTRACT
Infections caused by uncommon and resistant pathogens in unusual sites have been increasingly reported in medical literature. We describe four cases of rare cytological findings and clinical impact for patients. In the first case, Aspergillus sp and Pneumocystis jirovecii were observed in the bronchoalveolar lavage of a patient with severe systemic lupus. In the second and third cases, we describe the presence of Trichomonas sp and Strongyloides sp larvae in samples of pleural and peritoneal fluid, respectively. The fourth report is about a patient with a wrist subcutaneous nodule whose synovial aspiration and cytology revealed the presence of brown septate hyphae. The early identification of the infectious agent in the cytological examination was essential for the introduction and/or re-adaptation of therapy in the four cases described. Patients in this report were immunocompromised with severe comorbidities, conditions often associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes.
Subject(s)
Humans , Animals , Male , Female , Middle Aged , Communicable Diseases/diagnosis , Cytodiagnosis/methods , Pleural Effusion/parasitology , Aspergillus/isolation & purification , Strongyloides/isolation & purification , Strongyloidiasis/diagnosis , Trichomonas/isolation & purification , Trichomonas Infections/diagnosis , Ascitic Fluid/parasitology , Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid/microbiology , Fatal Outcome , Pneumocystis carinii/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
Cofilin-1 (CFL1), a small protein of 18 kDa, has been studied as a biomarker due to its involvement in tumor cell migration and invasion. Our aim was to evaluate CFL1 as an indicator of malignancy and aggressiveness in sputum samples. CFL1 was analyzed by ELISA immunoassay in the sputum of 73 lung cancer patients, 13 cancer-free patients, and 6 healthy volunteers. Statistical analyses included ANOVA, ROC curves, Spearman correlation, and logistic regression. Sputum CFL1 levels were increased in cancer patients compared to cancer-free patients and volunteers (P<0.05). High expression of sputum CFL1 was correlated to T4 stage (P=0.01) and N stage (P=0.03), tobacco history (P=0.01), and squamous cell carcinoma histologic type (P=0.04). The accuracy of sputum CFL1 in discriminating cancer patients from cancer-free patients and healthy volunteers were 0.78 and 0.69, respectively. CFL1 at a cut-off value of 415.25 pg/mL showed sensitivity/specificity of 0.80/0.70 in differentiating between healthy volunteers and cancer patients. Sputum CFL1 was also able to identify cancer-free patients from patients with lung cancer. The AUC was 0.70 and, at a cut-off point ≥662.63 pg/mL, we obtained 60% sensitivity and 54% specificity. Logistic regression analysis controlled for tobacco history, histologic types, and N stage showed that cancer cell-associated CFL1 was an independent predictor of death. Smoker patients with squamous cell carcinoma, lymph node metastasis and sputum CFL1>1.475 pg/mL showed augmented chance of death, suggesting lung cancer aggressiveness. CFL1 presented diagnostic value in detecting lung cancer and was associated to tumor aggressiveness.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Sputum/chemistry , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/chemistry , Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Cofilin 1/analysis , Lung Neoplasms/chemistry , Prognosis , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/mortality , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Case-Control Studies , ROC Curve , Sensitivity and Specificity , Cell Proliferation , Lung Neoplasms/mortality , Lung Neoplasms/pathology , Neoplasm Invasiveness , Neoplasm StagingABSTRACT
Os autores apresentan os casos de três irmäos com diagnóstico de aneurisma sacular intracraniano, fazendo breve revisäo da literatura enfocando possíveis aspectos etiopatogênicos implicados