A rare variant of extraskeletal osteosarcoma presenting as a clinically benign subcutaneous neoplasm.

Extraskeletal osteosarcoma (ESOS) is a rare variant of osteosarcoma that arises without attachment to the underlying skeleton. These cancers are typically found embedded in deeper tissues, most commonly the muscle or fascia, and are rarely found within the skin or subcutis. Most tumors are large in size upon initial presentation, and carry a poor prognosis. We discuss the case of a 48-year-old Caucasian woman who presented to a dermatology clinic with an asymptomatic, small, mobile, subcutaneous mass that appeared clinically benign. After elective removal and histopathologic examination, the patient was diagnosed with ESOS. ESOS presenting in this manner is exceedingly rare, and this case highlights the importance of sending all excised specimens, even those with a benign presentation, for pathologic examination.

Steroid-responsive atypical marginal zone hyperplasia of the lip in a child.

Atypical marginal zone hyperplasia (AMZH) is a recently described disease entity seen mainly in children. AMZH most commonly affects tonsils and appendices. Cutaneous AMZH is rare. The authors report here a recurrent AMZH in the lip of a 9-year-old child who presented originally with a lip swelling for approximately 3 months. The lip lesion recurred after each incomplete excision for 4 times. Pathologically, the lesion demonstrated marginal zone B-cell hyperplasia with kappa monoclonality by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry studies. Lymphoepithelial lesions were noted with involvement of minor salivary glands. Polymerase chain reaction for immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangement has been repeatedly negative. Polymerase chain reaction for Borrelia species DNA was negative on both paraffin-embedded tissue and plasma. Serum antibodies IgG and IgM for Helicobacter Pylori were positive. A diagnosis of AMZH was made. Two courses of anti H. Pylori therapy did not improve the lip lesion, which completely regressed after a course of prednisone therapy. With differential diagnosis of cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma, the case illustrated diagnostic challenges, especially with recurrent lesions. This is the first case of recurrent cutaneous AMZH that has uncharacteristic kappa light-chain restriction. AMZH should be considered in children with mucocutaneous lesions with features of marginal zone lymphoma.

Single-incision laparoscopic surgery through an ostomy site: a natural approach by an unnatural orifice.

Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) is gaining popularity for a wide variety of surgical operations and capitalizes on the benefits of traditional laparoscopic surgery without incurring multiple incision sites. Traditionally, SILS is performed by a midline periumbilical approach. However, such a minimally invasive approach may be utilized in patients who already have an abdominal incision. Our series retrospectively reviews 7 cases in which we utilized the fascial defect at the time of after ostomy reversal as our SILS incision site. In turn, we performed a variety of concurrent intra-abdominal procedures with excellent technical success and outcomes. Our study is the largest single-institution case series of this novel approach and suggests that utilizing an existing ostomy-site abdominal incision is a safe and effective location for SILS port placement and should be considered in patients undergoing concurrent procedures.

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma with nuclear pleomorphism arising in the subcutis of a child.

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) represents a rare soft tissue tumor that was first characterized in 1987. LGFMS usually presents as a large, deeply situated mass in adults and is characterized by deceptively bland histopathologic features. LFGMS is less common in superficial soft tissue and in children. It is distinctly uncommon for LGFMS to exhibit nuclear pleomorphism. Herein, we present a case of a 10-year-old male who presented with a subcutaneous back mass that displayed features typical for LGFMS as well as scattered large, hyperchromatic and pleomorphic nuclei. The constellation of clinicopathologic features, including the young age of the patient, the small size and superficial location of the tumor and the presence of scattered nuclear pleomorphism are all unusual features for LGFMS. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with a break-apart probe for FUS revealed the presence of a FUS gene rearrangement confirming the diagnosis of LGFMS. This case highlights the importance of maintaining a high index of suspicion for LGFMS even in the context of small, superficially-located tumors, pediatric patients or tumors with scattered nuclear pleomorphism.

Screening pre-bariatric surgery patients for esophageal disease with esophageal capsule endoscopy.

AIM: To determine if esophageal capsule endoscopy (ECE) is an adequate diagnostic alternative to esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in pre-bariatric surgery patients. METHODS: We conducted a prospective pilot study to assess the diagnostic accuracy of ECE (PillCam ESO2, Given Imaging) vs conventional EGD in pre-bariatric surgery patients. Patients who were scheduled for bariatric surgery and referred for pre-operative EGD were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent ECE followed by standard EGD. Two experienced gastroenterologists blinded to the patient's history and the findings of the EGD reviewed the ECE and documented their findings. The gold standard was the findings on EGD. RESULTS: Ten patients with an average body mass index of 50 kg/m(2) were enrolled and completed the study. ECE identified 11 of 14 (79%) positive esophageal/gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) findings and 14 of 17 (82%) combined esophageal and gastric findings identified on EGD. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the findings and no significant difference was found between ECE and EGD (P = 0.64 for esophageal/GEJ and P = 0.66 for combined esophageal and gastric findings respectively). Of the positive esophageal/GEJ findings, ECE failed to identify the following: hiatal hernia in two patients, mild esophagitis in two patients, and mild Schatzki ring in two patients. ECE was able to identify the entire esophagus in 100%, gastric cardia in 0%, gastric body in 100%, gastric antrum in 70%, pylorus in 60%, and duodenum in 0%. CONCLUSION: There were no significant differences in the likelihood of identifying a positive finding using ECE compared with EGD in preoperative evaluation of bariatric patients.

Lymph node involvement in immunohistochemistry-based molecular classifications of breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Prognosis and treatment options differ for each molecular subtype of breast cancer, but risk of regional lymph node (LN) metastasis for each subtype has not been well studied. Since LN status is the most important predictor for prognosis, the aim of this study is to investigate the propensity for LN metastasis in each of the five breast cancer molecular subtypes. METHODS: Under an institutional review board-approved protocol, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of all pathologically confirmed breast cancer cases from January 2004 to June 2012. Five subtypes were defined as luminal A (hormone receptor positive, Ki-67 low), luminal B (hormone receptor positive, Ki-67 high), luminal human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), HER2-enriched (hormone receptor negative), and triple negative (TN). RESULTS: A total of 375 patients with complete data were classified by subtype: 95 (25.3%) luminal A, 120 (32%) luminal B, 69 (18.4%) luminal HER2, 26 (6.9%) HER2-enriched, and 65 (17.3%) TN. On univariate analysis, age (<50), higher tumor grade, HER2+ status, tumor size, and molecular subtype were significant for LN positivity. Molecular subtype correlated strongly with tumor size (χ(2); P = 0.0004); therefore, multivariable logistic regression did not identify molecular subtype as an independent variable to predict LN positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Luminal A tumors have the lowest risk of LN metastasis, whereas luminal HER2 subtype has the highest risk of LN metastasis. Immunohistochemical-based molecular classification can be readily performed and knowledge of the factors that affect LN status may help with treatment decisions.

Transesophageal endoscopic myotomy (TEEM) for the treatment of achalasia: the United States human experience.

BACKGROUND: From our early experience with NOTES, our group has acquired familiarity with transesophageal submucosal dissection and myotomy in swine model, which allowed us to perfect a model to perform purely endoscopic transesophageal myotomy (TEEM) for the treatment of achalasia and apply it into clinical practice. This study was designed to assess the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of TEEM in a series of patients with achalasia. METHODS: Under institutional review board approval, patients were enrolled on our study, where TEEM was offered as an alternative to laparoscopic or robotic Heller myotomy. The inclusion criteria were patients with achalasia confirmed by esophageal manometry, between age 18 and 50 years, and ASA class 2 or lower. The exclusion criteria were pregnancy, prior esophageal surgery, immunosuppression, coagulopathies, and severe medical comorbidities. The procedures were performed under general anesthesia, with the patient in supine position on positive pressure ventilation. With a GIF-180 (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) positioned at 10 cm above the GEJ, a mucosotomy was performed at the 2 o'clock position, and a submucosal space was developed caudally creating a controlled submucosal tunnel extending 2 cm distal to the GEJ. Upon completion of this tunnel the gastroesophageal lumen was inspected for mucosal integrity. The scope was then reinserted into the submucosal tunnel and using a triangle-tip knife, myotomy was performed starting at 5 cm above the GEJ and ending at 2 cm below the GEJ. During this process the circular muscle layer of the esophagus was carefully divided with preservation of the longitudinal layer. At the end of the procedure, the mucosal incision was closed longitudinally with endoscopic clips and surgical glue. RESULTS: Five patients underwent TEEM, with no perioperative complication. All patients reported significant improvement of their dysphagia immediately after the procedure. On the first postoperative day, all barium swallows showed disappearance of the classical bird beak taper, rapid emptying of contrast into the stomach, and absence of leaks. All patients were discharged on the second postoperative day on liquid diet. Two patients reported transient heartburn, which were well controlled with medications. The average preoperative GERD-HRQL was 20, which improved to 11.3 at 7 days postoperative and 2 at 30 days postoperative. To date, three patients have already returned for their 6-month follow-up, reporting adequate swallowing and low LES pressures on esophageal manometry (their mean preoperative LES resting pressure was 36.46 mmHg and residual pressure was 43.16 mmHg, whereas the 6-month follow-up mean LES resting pressure was 10.06 mmHg and residual pressure was 0.43 mmHg). CONCLUSIONS: TEEM seems to be safe, feasible, and effective for the treatment of patients with achalasia. Long-term data are still necessary for wide-spread utilization of this novel technique.

Broad clinical utilization of NOTES: is it safe?

BACKGROUND: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has been the focus of several studies as a less invasive alternative to conventional laparoscopy to access and treat intracavitary organs. For the last 5 years, much has been accomplished with animal studies, yet the clinical utilization of this novel technique is still modest. After 2 years of experience in the laboratory, we started our clinical experience. We report our experience with clinical utilization of NOTES procedures from 2007 to 2010. METHODS: Under UCSD institutional review board-approved trials, 104 patients were enrolled under seven different NOTES protocols from 2007 to 2010, where a NOTES procedure was offered as an alternative to conventional treatments. The treated pathologies were cholelithiasis, biliary dyskinesia, acute and chronic appendicitis, ventral hernias, morbid obesity, and achalasia. The access routes included transgastric (TG), transvaginal (TV), transesophageal (TE), and perirectal (PR). RESULTS: Among the 104 patients enrolled, 103 underwent a surgical procedure starting with diagnostic laparoscopy, and 94 cases were deemed appropriate to proceed via a NOTES approach. There were 9 aborted NOTES procedures at the time of the initial peritoneoscopy before creating a NOTES access route. The reasons to not proceed with a NOTES procedure in the TV cholecystectomy group (n = 5) were a large amount of pelvic adhesions in 4 patients and a severe inflammation of the gallbladder in 1 patient. In the TG cholecystectomy group (n = 1), it was severe inflammation of the gallbladder. In the TG appendectomy group (n = 1), it was the presence of localized peritonitis. In the TE endoscopic myotomy group (n = 2), it was the presence of megaesophagus with an inability to clean the esophagus of food debris. The NOTES procedures performed were 48 TV cholecystectomies, 4 TV appendectomies, 8 TG cholecystectomies, 2 PR peritoneoscopies, 3 TG appendectomies, 3 TV ventral hernia repairs, 5 TE endoscopic myotomies, 3 TV sleeve gastrectomies, and 18 TG sleeve gastrectomies. The average body mass indexes for those in the sleeve gastrectomy group was 42.1 kg/m(2) (TG route) and 40.6 kg/m(2) (TV route). There were no intraoperative complication and no conversions to standard laparoscopy during these procedures. The average hospital stay was 1-2 days. One patient who underwent TV cholecystectomy required an emergency department visit for nausea and vomiting. To date, 3 patients who underwent TV cholecystectomy have become pregnant and delivered normally. CONCLUSIONS: NOTES is safe, feasible, and reproducible with previous training in the laboratory and a consistent team at a high-volume center. Prospective randomized studies of a large patient population are necessary to assess long-term results.

NOTES transvaginal hybrid cholecystectomy: the United States human experience.

BACKGROUND: "Pure" NOTES and "hybrid" NOTES procedures have gained popularity during the past few years. However, most of these published series have been documented outside the United States. METHODS: This is a prospective, nonrandomized series of patients. Female subjects who presented to the University of California at San Diego surgery clinic for elective cholecystectomy were offered participation in this study. Patients met the following criteria: aged 18-75 years; diagnosis of gallbladder disease that required cholecystectomy and American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) class 1. Hybrid NOTES transvaginal technique was used for cholecystectomy. RESULTS: A total of 27 women underwent hybrid transvaginal NOTES cholecystectomy during a 43-month period. The median age was 40.1 (range 23-63) years. The mean body mass index was 25.2 (range 16.4-34.1). All patients had an ASA I-II classification. The mean operative time was 92 (range 38-165) min. There was no conversion to an open operation. The mean hospital stay was 1.07 (range 1-2) days. Patients were followed for a mean of 3.32 (range 0.06-12.2) months. There were no postoperative complications. No scars were visible on the abdominal wall. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the largest series of hybrid transvaginal cholecystectomy published in the United States. With our experience, we demonstrate that this technique is safe and clinically viable.

Syringitis: a clue to herpes infection.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a member of the herpes virus family that commonly affects the skin. Typical histopathologic findings are usually limited to the epidermis and include intraepidermal vesicles or ulceration and epidermal necrosis. More specific findings in herpes virus infection include enlarged and pale keratinocytes, with steel-gray nuclei and margination of chromatin at the edge of the nucleus and ballooning degeneration. Although histopathologic changes may occasionally involve the hair follicles or sebaceous glands, it is very rare to find HSV involving the eccrine glands. We present a case of a 13-month-old child with a large body burn diagnosed with HSV (in the absence of the epidermis) by the presence of syringitis with herpetic features in the absence of the epidermis to aid in diagnosis.

"Stuffy nose" rhinoplasty: diced cartilage grafts for correction of cleft nasal tip deformities.

BACKGROUND: Numerous techniques exist to address poor nasal tip projection in the cleft nose deformity. The authors describe a secondary closed rhinoplasty technique using diced cartilage nasal tip grafting. METHODS: Cleft patients who previously underwent lower lateral cartilage repositioning with residual poor nasal tip projection underwent the "stuffy nose" rhinoplasty technique in which diced septal cartilage grafts were placed in a pocket made from a unilateral marginal incision over the lower lateral cartilages. Preoperative and follow-up (1 year) comparative measurements included (1) columellar length, (2) alar base-nasal tip-columellar base angle, and (3) lateral tip projection. RESULTS: Twenty cleft patients had improvement in nasal form and tip projection from the stuffy nose rhinoplasty. Mean change from preoperatively to follow-up was as follows: columellar length, 11.3 mm to 13.3 mm (17.7 percent); alar base-nasal tip-columellar base angle, 42.0 to 33.5 degrees (8.5 degrees, or 20.2 percent decrease); and lateral tip projection, 7.7 mm preoperatively to 9.0 mm postoperatively (16.9 percent increase). Two patients developed complications (one graft exposure and one infection) but healed with conservative treatment. Two different patients underwent revisionary nasal surgery but for other concerns (alar base asymmetry and internal nasal valve collapse). CONCLUSIONS: The stuffy nose rhinoplasty was shown to objectively improve nasal tip projection in cleft patients with secondary nasal deformities, with minimal complications and decreased need for revisions.

Formation of in vitro murine cleft palate by abrogation of fibroblast growth factor signaling.

BACKGROUND: A strong association between fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and palatal anatomy suggest their role in proper palatal development. The purpose of this study was to establish whether fibroblast growth factor signaling is essential for normal palate development, improve the understanding of the biology of palatal fusion, and create a new in vitro cleft palate model. METHODS: Palatal pairs excised from embryonic day 13.5 mouse palatal shelves were divided into three equal groups (n = 18 pairs) and cultured with the nasal side down and their medial edge epithelia in close apposition. Controls received vehicle only (n = 6 pairs) or LacZ recombinant virus (n = 6 pairs). The experimental group (n = 6 pairs) received truncated FGF-R1 recombinant virus with hemagglutinin epitope tag (1 x 10(9) plaque-forming units), which abrogated signal transduction by FGF-R1, FGF-R2, and FGF-R3. Tissue sectioning and staining was used to assess palatal continuity at 96 hours and immunohistochemistry was used to localize expression of the truncated receptors. RESULTS: Both groups 1 (control, vehicle only) and 2 (LacZ) showed complete fusion of palatal shelves after 96 hours in five of six specimens and near fusion in the remaining specimen. Beta-galactosidase staining indicated effective delivery of the LacZ virus to targeted epithelial cells. None of the group 3 specimens (FGF-R1) showed histologic resolution of the medial edge epithelia seam. Immunohistochemistry for the hemagglutinin epitope tag indicated infection by the truncated FGF-R1 virus throughout the epithelium and mesenchyme of the epithelium. CONCLUSION: By abrogating signal transduction by FGF-R1, FGF-R2, and FGF-R3, the authors have demonstrated that such signaling is essential for normal mammalian palate development.