Systemic amyloidosis with bilateral conjunctival involvement: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Conjunctival amyloidosis is a very rare condition, generally unilateral, and presents mostly as an isolated condition without systemic compromise. Our purpose is to present a new case of systemic amyloidosis with a bilateral conjunctival involvement. CASE PRESENTATION: A 66-years-old caucasian female complaining of conjunctival hemorrhage and chemosis in both eyes for the last five years had been discontinuously treated with topical antibiotics and corticosteroids without any evident improvement. She presented with a pink-yellow infiltration in the inferior conjunctiva of both eyes. Conjunctival biopsy under optical microscopy revealed amyloid deposit, confirmed by Congo red staining. Mucosal biopsy from esophagus and rectus confirmed amyloidosis by Congo red stain. Immunohistochemistry of bone marrow biopsy showed an increased number of plasma cells and an over-expression of light chain kappa subunit. She was treated with corticosteroids and lubrication with an improvement of symptoms. Ocular lesions remained stable after a follow-up of 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: Conjunctival amyloidosis is a rare entity that may be overlooked, and should be differentiated from chronic conjunctivitis and conjunctival malignancies. Although it presents most frequently as a local process, a systemic involvement should always be ruled out.

Neonatal sensitization to ethanol-induced breathing disruptions as a function of late prenatal exposure to the drug in the rat: modulatory effects of ethanol's chemosensory cues.

Preclinical and clinical studies have systematically demonstrated abrupt changes in fetal respiratory patterns when the unborn organism is exposed to the effects of maternal ethanol intoxication. In subprimates, chronic exposure to this drug during gestation and infancy results in marked alterations of the plasticity of the respiratory network. These alterations are manifested in terms of an early incapability to overcome deleterious effects of hypoxic events as well as in terms of sensitization to ethanol's depressant effects upon breathing patterns. It has also been demonstrated that near term rat fetuses process ethanol's chemosensory cues when the drug contaminates the amniotic fluid and that associative learning processes occur due to the temporal contiguity existing between these cues and different ethanol-related physiological effects. In the present study during the course of late gestation (gestational days 17-20), pregnant rats were intragastrically administered with either 0.0 or 2.0 g/kg ethanol. Seven-day-old pups derived of these dams were evaluated in terms of respiration rates (breaths/min) and apneas when subjected to different experimental conditions. These conditions were defined by postnatal exposure to the drug (intragastric administrations of either 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg ethanol), postadministration time of evaluation (5-10 or 30-35 min) and olfactory context at test (no explicit ambient odor or ethanol ambient odor). The results, obtained via whole body plethysmography, indicated that brief prenatal experience with the drug sensitized the organisms to ethanol's depressant effects particularly when employing the higher ethanol doses. In turn, presence of ethanol odor at test potentiated the above mentioned respiratory alterations. Prenatal treatment with ethanol was not found to alter pharmacokinetic profiles resulting from postnatal exposure to the drug or to affect different morphometric parameters related with lung development. These results indicate that even brief exposure to the drug during late gestation is sufficient to sensitize the organism to later disruptive effects of the drug upon breathing responsiveness. These deficits are potentiated through the re-exposure to the olfactory context perceived in utero which is known to be associated with ethanol's unconditioned effects. As a function of these observations it is possible to suggest a critical role of fetal sensory and learning capabilities in terms of modulating later ethanol-related breathing disruptions.

Tumor mioepitelial mixto (paracordoma) / Myoepithelial mixed tumor (parachordoma)

Estudio de caso: Paciente de sexo masculino, de 38 años de edad,con tumor ación indolor a en muslo izquierdo de 3 años de evolución. Esta neoplasia corresponde típicamente a nódulos compuestos por células epiteloides poligonales, claras, que recuerdan a las de la notocorda y una segunda población de células e osinofílicas organizadas en cordones y nidos separados por estroma mixoide, con fenómenos de vacuolización citoplasmática similar a las del cordoma (células tipo fisalíferas).

Case Study: Male patient, 38 years old, with painless swelling in left thigh 3 years evolution. This neoplasm typicall y corresponds tonodules composed of polygonal epithelioid cells, clear, reminiscent of the notochord and a second population of eosinophilic cells arranged incords and nests separated by myxoid stroma with phenomena similar to cytoplasmic vacuolization the chordoma (physaliphorous type cells).

Programa nacional de diagnóstico de la sobreexposición de HER2 en pacientes con cáncer de mama / National program for the diagnosis of HER2 overexpression in breast cancer patients

Introducción: Por medio de la realización del testeo de la sobreexpresión y/o amplificación de HER2 los médicos pueden seleccionar adecuadamente a las pacientes que se beneficiarán de la terapia anti HER2. En Argentina, antes de 2003 sólo pocos patólogos realizaban la prueba de HER2 utilizando métodos no estandarizados de inmunohistoquímica (IHQ) con resultados dudosos y no reproducibles y además existiendo algunas partes del país sin posibilidades de diagnóstico. Objetivo: Generar un Programa Nacional de Detección de la sobreexpresión de HER2 que permita el acceso al diagnóstico en todo el país, mediante una técnica estandarizada y validada. Integrar un equipo de patólogos entrenados en IHC, que pudieran satisfacer las demandas realizando en forma rápida y fidedigna la detección de la sobreexpresión de HER2. Materiales y método: En agosto de 2003 se formó una red de trece patólogos; dentro del grupo se designó un coordinador, responsable del entrenamiento y la evaluación de los centros participantes, y dos consultores técnicos a cargo del control de calidad (interno y externo) y la estandarización de la técnica. Desde febrero de 2004 hasta diciembre de 2010 se realizaron las determinaciones de la sobreexpresión de HER2 mediante la técnica de IHC, con un anticuerpo policlonal anti HER2 (Dako), recuperación antigénica en microondas, sistema de detección EnVision (Dako) y revelado con diaminobenzidina. Para interpretar los resultados se usó el score de 0 a 3+, considerándose positivos tumores que muestren intensidad moderada (2+) o intensa (3+) en toda la membrana celular, en más del 30% de las células evaluadas. Resultados: Se realizaron 34.640 casos (Figura 5). Conclusiones: La formación del Programa Nacional de HER2 permitió el acceso al test de HER2 en todo el país con una técnica estandarizada y reproducible en todos los centros participantes. La prevalencia de HER2 en nuestra muestra fue del 13,2% (4.573) y similar a las publicadas en otras poblaciones.

Revisión casuística de la patología adrenal durante los últimos 23 años / Casuistic revision of adrenal pathology during last 23 years

Se presenta una revisión casuística de patología adrenal estudiada durante el período comprendido entre Enero de 1977 y Julio del 2000. Se revisaron 59.069 biopsias y 2.674 autopsias y se encontraron 84 casos con los siguientes hallazgos: Tumores primarios 25 por ciento, Tumores secundarios 51 por ciento, Patología infecciosa 11 por ciento, Misceláneas 12 por ciento, No apto para diagnóstico 1 por ciento. Los tumores primarios comprendieron hiperplasias, adenomas, feocromocitomas, neuroblastomas y adenocarcinomas. Los tumores metastásicos correspondieron a carcinomas de pulmón, páncreas, glándula mamaria, riñón, adenocarcinomas de endometrio, linfomas, melanomas, hepatocarcinoma, carcinoma de estómago, teratocarcinoma de testículo, carcinoma epidermoide de piel, coriocarcinoma uterino, y germinoma primitivo de timo. La patología infecciosa hallada fue: Tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, criptococcosis, e hidatidosis. Dentro del grupo "Misceláneas" Se incluyeron: hematomas, hemorragias, pseudoquiste, Coagulación Intravascular Diseminada (CID), atrofia suprarrenal, granulomatosis de Wegener, mielolipoma, necrosis hemorrágica. Hubo un caso no apto para diagnóstico debido a material insuficiente.