Penile and scrotal lymphedema as an unusual presentation of Crohn's disease: case report and review of the literature.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory intestinal disease that primarily causes abdominal pain and diarrhea. We report a male patient who presented with penile and scrotal lymphedema and inguinal fistulas as the first manifestations of Crohn's disease. Extraintestinal or metastatic Crohn's disease initially presenting as genital lymphedema with fistula formation is rare. Skin lesions in extraintestinal Crohn's disease typically show non-caseating, sarcoidal granulomas with numerous foreign body- and Langhans-type multinucleated giant cells, which are separated from intestinal involvement by normal skin. Treatment options are limited and include multi-immunosuppressant medications.

Long-term cerebral imaging after pre-eclampsia.

OBJECTIVE: Formerly eclamptic women demonstrate cerebral white matter lesions (WMLs) several years following the index pregnancy. The pathophysiology is unclear and may be related to the predisposition for cerebrovascular/cardiovascular disease in such women and/or the occurrence of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome whilst pregnant. The aim of this study was to assess the presence and severity of WMLs and their relationship with the severity of the neurological symptoms during the index pregnancy and several current cardiovascular risk factors in formerly pre-eclamptic women. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study. SETTING: The Neuroimaging Centre at the School for Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, Groningen, the Netherlands. POPULATION: Seventy-three formerly pre-eclamptic women were matched for age (37 ± 6 years) and elapsed time since index pregnancy (5.1 ± 3.7 years) with parous control women. METHODS: Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed on cases and controls. Scans were rated by a neuroradiologist blind to the patient category. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The presence and severity of cerebral WMLs. RESULTS: Formerly pre-eclamptic women had WMLs significantly more often (37%) and more severely (mean, 0.11; median, 0.00; range, 0-2.34 ml) than controls (21%, P = 0.04; mean, 0.015; median, 0.00; range, 0-0.13 ml; P = 0.02). Current hypertension and a history of early-onset pre-eclampsia (<37 weeks) were independently associated with the presence of WMLs (ß = 1.34, P = 0.02 and ß = 1.73, P = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that pre-eclampsia might be a risk marker for early cerebrovascular damage. The predisposition of formerly pre-eclamptic women to later cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease may be an important factor for the development of cerebral WMLs. Whether a history of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome may be an additive risk factor for the development of these lesions remains unknown.

S100B brain expression and plasma concentrations in a preeclampsia rat model.

OBJECTIVE: To assess brain damage using the neuroinflammation marker S100B in a preeclampsia rat model. METHODS: Non-pregnant and pregnant rats were infused with saline or low-dose-endotoxin on day 14 of pregnancy. S100B expression in the brain (immunohistochemistry) and S100B plasma concentrations (ELISA) were studied. RESULTS: No differences in S100B expression in brain tissue were observed between the four groups. Pregnant endotoxin treated animals did not show increased levels of plasma S100B levels as compared with control pregnant rats, while significantly higher plasma S100B levels were found in non-pregnant endotoxin versus pregnant endotoxin infused rats. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy nor experimental preeclampsia, alter S100B in rat brain, or in plasma. Increased plasma S100B in non-pregnant endotoxin-treated rats may indicate brain injury in these rats, whereas pregnancy might be protective.