Febrile ulceronecrotic Mucha-Habermann disease - a case and treatment review.

Febrile ulceronecrotic Mucha-Habermann disease is a rare and severe variant of pityriasis lichenoides, characterized by sudden onset of generalized ulceronecrotic papules that rapidly coalesce into ulcers associated with high fever. Systemic manifestations such as intravascular disseminated coagulation and pulmonary, cardiac, gastrointestinal, and central nervous system involvement are common. Treatment is based on oral corticosteroids, immunosuppressive drugs such as methotrexate, and general supportive treatment. The present case describes a stepwise approach to a patient with Mucha-Habermann disease with insufficient response to methotrexate.

HCC risk stratification after cure of hepatitis C in patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) caused by chronic hepatitis C who have achieved sustained virologic response (SVR). We developed risk stratification algorithms for de novo HCC development after SVR and validated them in an independent cohort. METHODS: We evaluated the occurrence of de novo HCC in a derivation cohort of 527 patients with pre-treatment ACLD and SVR to interferon-free therapy, in whom alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and non-invasive surrogates of portal hypertension including liver stiffness measurement (LSM) were assessed pre-/post-treatment. We validated our results in 1,500 patients with compensated ACLD (cACLD) from other European centers. RESULTS: During a median follow-up (FU) of 41 months, 22/475 patients with cACLD (4.6%, 1.45/100 patient-years) vs. 12/52 decompensated patients (23.1%, 7.00/100 patient-years, p <0.001) developed de novo HCC. Since decompensated patients were at substantial HCC risk, we focused on cACLD for all further analyses. In cACLD, post-treatment-values showed a higher discriminative ability for patients with/without de novo HCC development during FU than pre-treatment values or absolute/relative changes. Models based on post-treatment AFP, alcohol consumption (optional), age, LSM, and albumin, accurately predicted de novo HCC development (bootstrapped Harrel's C with/without considering alcohol: 0.893/0.836). Importantly, these parameters also provided independent prognostic information in competing risk analysis and accurately stratified patients into low- (~2/3 of patients) and high-risk (~1/3 of patients) groups in the derivation (algorithm with alcohol consumption; 4-year HCC-risk: 0% vs. 16.5%) and validation (3.3% vs. 17.5%) cohorts. An alternative approach based on alcohol consumption (optional), age, LSM, and albumin (i.e., without AFP) also showed a robust performance. CONCLUSIONS: Simple algorithms based on post-treatment age/albumin/LSM, and optionally, AFP and alcohol consumption, accurately stratified patients with cACLD based on their risk of de novo HCC after SVR. Approximately two-thirds were identified as having an HCC risk <1%/year in both the derivation and validation cohort, thereby clearly falling below the cost-effectiveness threshold for HCC surveillance. LAY SUMMARY: Simple algorithms based on age, alcohol consumption, results of blood tests (albumin and α-fetoprotein), as well as liver stiffness measurement after the end of hepatitis C treatment identify a large proportion (approximately two-thirds) of patients with advanced but still asymptomatic liver disease who are at very low risk (<1%/year) of liver cancer development, and thus, might not need to undergo 6-monthly liver ultrasound.

Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis after COVID-19 Pneumonia.

COVID-19 emerged in China in late 2019 and quickly spread worldwide. The severe immunomodulation and depletion of lymphocytes caused by the virus and its therapy led to an increase in the incidence of superinfections. COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is a new entity with increasing incidence and high associated mortality. We present the case of a 68-year-old patient admitted to our ward after recovering from severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Due to worsening of her clinical condition, chest computed tomography was performed and a lung abscess was documented with the identification of Aspergillus niger. Despite therapy with voriconazole, the patient's condition deteriorated, culminating in her death. LEARNING POINTS: COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is a new entity with an increasing incidence.It is a serious and life-threatening complication in patients with severe COVID-19 even in the absence of the classic risk factors for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis.Clinical suspicion is crucial since a timely diagnosis and treatment have a major impact on prognosis.

Systemic sclerosis in a patient with muscle dystrophy.

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that can result in lung fibrosis, and is strongly associated with the presence of serum anti-topoisomerase-I autoantibodies. A young man with genetic muscular dystrophy caused by titin-cap/telethonin (TCAP) gene mutation, developed a severe restrictive lung disease due to a fibrosing interstitial pneumonia secondary to systemic sclerosis with positive anti-topoisomerase-I antibodies. Using amino acid sequence alignment and protein structure modelling, we found that mutant telethonin exposes an amino acid sequence with significant homology to an immunodominant site of topoisomerase-I. Abnormal telethonin results in a loss of integrity of the sarcomere structure, which might result in rhabdomyolysis and abnormal protein exposure to the immune system. Our preliminary analysis suggests a possible role for mutant sarcomere protein telethonin as an immunogenic target recognised by anti-topoisomerase-I antibodies, which could explain the development of systemic sclerosis in this particular patient.

Berardinelli-Seip Congenital Lipodystrophy Discovered Following a STEMI Event.

A 60-year-old man, with a history of familial lipodystrophy, hypertriglyceridaemia, hepatic steatosis and bone cysts, was admitted due an acute coronary event. Coronary angiography showed significant stenosis in the left anterior descending artery, which was treated. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a slightly dilated left ventricle with diffuse and heterogeneous thickening of its walls, slightly decreased left ventricular function and reduced global longitudinal strain. Due to these echocardiographic findings, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was requested, which identified intramyocardial diffuse fibrosis of the basal septum and points of insertion of the left and right ventricles, without oedema, microvascular obstruction or myocardial infarction. Owing to the constellation of symptoms and distinctive features on cardiac imaging, a diagnosis of Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy (BSCL) was suspected, which was confirmed through genetic testing of the pathogenic variants in BSCL2 and AGPAT2. BSCL is a rare autosomal recessive syndrome characterized by the congenital absence of adipose tissue and triglyceride deposition in other tissues, such as muscle, liver and heart. LEARNING POINTS: Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy (BSCL) is a rare congenital lipodystrophy, with an incidence of 1-9 per million population, which is usually diagnosed at birth and is associated with pathogenic variants of the BSCL2 and AGPAT2 genes.Due to the absence of functional adipocytes, lipid storage occurs in other tissues, including skeletal muscle and liver.Diagnosis is based on the presence of three major or two major and two minor characteristics.

A Rare Case of Renal AA Amyloidosis Secondary to Sjogren's Syndrome.

AA amyloidosis is a rare complication of chronic inflammatory disorders and has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. We present a case of AA amyloidosis secondary to Sjogren's syndrome (SS). A 79-year-old woman presented with rapidly progressive renal failure and complaints of asthenia, anorexia and generalized oedema. She had severe renal failure (creatinine 6.0 mg/dl), with microscopic haematuria, nephrotic proteinuria and low serum albumin levels, and an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Serum protein electrophoresis revealed a peak in the gamma globulin zone. The patient was started on haemodialysis and corticosteroids. Clinical results showed the patient met the diagnostic criteria for primary SS, and neoplastic haematological disease was excluded. Renal biopsy revealed a diagnosis of AA amyloidosis. Renal AA amyloidosis is a rare condition in patients with primary SS. However, in patients with proteinuria and/or renal failure, it should be included in the differential diagnosis and a renal biopsy should be performed. LEARNING POINTS: Sjogren's syndrome should be regarded as a predisposing condition for the development of renal AA amyloidosis.Sjogren's syndrome and renal AA amyloidosis have been diagnosed simultaneously in some patients.A renal biopsy should be performed in patients with Sjogren's syndrome and proteinuria and/or renal failure.