Prevalence of Cryptosporidium, Blastocystis, and other opportunistic infections in patients with primary and acquired immunodeficiency.

Intestinal opportunistic infections are often caused by unicellular parasites. Individuals with decreased immunity are particularly susceptible to infection by said microorganisms, and when they are infected, diarrhea can be the main clinical manifestation. However, intestinal parasites have rarely been taken into account in intestinal disorders. In our study, an investigation was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal micro-pathogens, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Blastocystis, and microsporidia, in hospitalized patients with different immunological statuses. The study at hand indicates that protozoan parasitic infections are rare among immunodeficient patients in Poland. The overall prevalence of micro-pathogens among participants was 4.6%; it was three times higher in adults (12.5%) than in children (2.3%). Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora species (Apicomplexa) were diagnosed as the main cause of heavy diarrhea. Accordingly, adult patients were positive mainly for Blastocystis and microsporidia, while children were more often infected with the Cryptosporidium species.

Ultrasound imaging of the liver and bile ducts - expectations of a clinician.

Since diseases of the liver and bile ducts are common, a clinician is faced by the need to implement an appropriate diagnostic process. It is necessary to apply diagnostic methods that enable appropriate assessment of the most common pathologies of the liver, i.e. fibrosis, steatosis and focal lesions, as well as initial assessment of the bile ducts. These goals can be achieved using ultrasound methods based on conventional sonography, contrast-enhanced sonography and elastography. The assessment of fatty liver and bile duct dilatation using ultrasound reaches satisfactory levels of sensitivity and specificity. The usage of contrast agents enables unambiguous differentiation between benign and malignant focal lesions, frequently allowing them to be identified accurately without the assistance of other imaging modalities. Elastography has enabled reliable assessment of liver fibrosis. Its results are comparable to those of the standard method, i.e. liver biopsy.

Cyclospora cayetanensis infection in transplant traveller: a case report of outbreak.

BACKGROUND: Cyclospora cayetanensis is a protozoan parasite causing intestinal infections. A prolonged course of infection is often observed in immunocompromised individuals. In Europe, less than 100 cases of C. cayetanensis infection have been reported to date, almost all of which being diagnosed in individuals after travelling abroad. FINDINGS: We described cases of three businessmen who developed acute traveller's diarrhoea after they returned to Poland from Indonesia. One of the travellers was a renal transplant recipient having ongoing immunosuppressive treatment. In each case, acute and prolonged diarrhoea and other intestinal disorders occurred. Oocysts of C. cayetanensis were identified in faecal smears of two of the travellers (one immunosuppressed and one immunocompetent). Diagnosis was confirmed by the successful amplification of parasite DNA (18S rDNA). A co-infection with Blastocystis hominis was identified in the immunocompetent man. CONCLUSIONS: Infection of C. cayetanensis shall be considered as the cause of prolonged acute diarrhoea in immunocompromised patients returning from endemic regions.

Primary biliary cirrhosis in the era of liver transplantation.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease of the liver, characterized by the presence of antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) and progressive immune-mediated destruction of biliary ductules, which lead to cirrhosis. Theories of the PBC etiopathogenesis assume that the disease develops secondarily as an improper immunological reaction to undefined environmental and/or infectious factors in genetically predisposed individuals. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is the only drug recommended to treat PBC; it delays the progression of liver disease, but remains only a symptomatic treatment. In the advanced stage of PBC, the treatment of choice is liver transplantation (LTx). Nowadays, PBC is the third indication for LTx, after viral-related and alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Unfortunately, PBC recurs in 21-37% of patients at 10 years after LTx, and in 43% at 15 years after LTx, with the median time to recurrence of 3-5.5 years. Diagnosis of recurrent PBC (rPBC) is based on the liver histopathology. Although various risk factors of rPBC have been investigated, the cause of the recurrence is not clear. There is no specific treatment of rPBC. Together with immunosuppression after LTx, UDCA remains the treatment of choice. New diagnostic technologies (e.g., genomics, proteomics, cell-based therapy, and clinical study of the rPBC patients) may be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis of PBC and the development of new treatment modalities.

Oncogenic osteomalacia associated with phosphaturic mesenchymal tumour, mixed connective tissue type of the knee.

One of the most unusual and uncommon types of osteomalacia is the oncogenic osteomalacia that is predominantly caused by a soft tissue or bone tumour, mostly by a phosphaturic mesenchymal tumour, mixed connective tissue type (PMTMCT). We report a case of a 27-year-old male presented with complaints of progressive and generalized muscle weakness, bone pains and multiple fractures. Intra-articular PMTMCT of the knee was diagnosed and surgically removed. We describe histopathological features of PMTMCT and review the most recent studies concerning this diagnostic problem.