Concordance and prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in different vascular territories.

BACKGROUND: Subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) in the carotid, femoral, and coronary territories is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular (CV) events. Whether it is sufficient to assess SA in a single vascular territory in early-stage disease is uncertain. We aimed to determine the prevalence and concordance of SA in these vascular beds in asymptomatic patients without known CV disease. METHODS: We enrolled patients aged 35 to 75 years who were asymptomatic, without known CV disease, and had undergone carotid and femoral Doppler ultrasonography and calcium scoring. Those receiving statins were excluded. SA was defined as the presence of plaques in the carotid and/or femoral arteries or the presence of calcium in the coronary arteries (Agatston score >0). RESULTS: A total of 212 patients were identified with a mean age of 53 ± 7 years, of which 60% (128 patients) were men. The prevalence of SA was 62%. The distribution of SA between the three territories was similar, involving the carotid territory in 38% of cases, the femoral in 31%, and the coronaries in 37%. The concordance between the different vascular territories was weak, with a k index of 0.21 between the coronary and carotid territories, 0.27 between the coronary and femoral territories, and 0.34 between the carotid and femoral territories. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of SA in asymptomatic patients without known CV disease is high. The concordance in the presence of SA between the three vascular territories is weak. Therefore, all three vascular beds need to be investigated.

[Comparison of risk scores to predict subclinical atherosclerosis]. / Comparación de puntajes de riesgo para predecir aterosclerosis subclínica.

Subclinical atherosclerosis is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular events, although it is unknown which of the risk scores is more useful to predict its presence in a Latin American population. The objective was to compare the performance of the risk scores: Framingham, Regicor and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator to predict the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic persons without known cardiovascular disease; as well as determining its prevalence and distribution in the different vascular beds. From 2014 to 2017, patients from 35 to 75 years, asymptomatic and without known cardiovascular disease who underwent a carotid and femoral Doppler echo and calcium score were evaluated. Subclinical atherosclerosis was defined as the presence of plaques in the carotid and/or femoral arteries or the presence of calcium in the coronary arteries (Agatston score > 0). A total of 212 patients were included. The mean age was 53 ± 7 years, of which 60% (128) were male. The prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis was 62% (131 cases). Of these 131 subjects with a plaque in any of the territories, the Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator was the one that identified the highest number of cases with high cardiovascular risk (39%), Framingham detected 20%, and Regicor 0% (p < 0.01). The net reclassification was 41%, 50% and 60% respectively (< 0.01). The prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic persons without a history of cardiovascular disease was 62%. The Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator was the most effective predictor of subclinical atherosclerosis in this population.

La aterosclerosis subclínica es un potente predictor de eventos cardiovasculares, aunque se desconoce cuál de los puntajes de riesgo es más eficaz para predecir su presencia en una población latinoamericana. El objetivo fué comparar la performance de los puntajes de riesgo: Framingham, Regicor y Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator para predecir la existencia de aterosclerosis subclínica en pacientes asintomáticos sin enfermedad cardiovascular conocida; así como determinar la prevalencia y distribución en los distintos lechos vasculares. Desde 2014 a 2017 se evaluaron pacientes de 35 a 75 años asintomáticos y sin enfermedad cardiovascular conocida, a quienes se les realizó una eco Doppler carotídea y femoral, y score de calcio. Se definió como aterosclerosis subclínica a la presencia de placas en las arterias carótidas y/o femorales o a la presencia de calcio en las coronarias (score de Agatston > 0). Se estudiaron así 212 pacientes, edad media 53 ± 7 años, de los cuales el 60% (128) eran varones. La prevalencia de aterosclerosis subclínica fue 62% (131 casos). De esos 131 con placa en alguno de los territorios, el Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator fue el que identificó el mayor número de casos con riesgo cardiovascular elevado (39%), Framingham detectó 20%, y Regicor 0% (p < 0.01). La reclasificación neta fue del 41%, 50% y 60% respectivamente (< 0.01). La prevalencia de aterosclerosis subclínica en sujetos asintomáticos sin antecedentes de enfermedad cardiovascular fue 62%. El calculador Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator fue el más efectivo para predecir aterosclerosis subclínica en esta población.

Comparación de puntajes de riesgo para predecir aterosclerosis subclínica / Comparison of risk scores to predict subclinical atherosclerosis

La aterosclerosis subclínica es un potente predictor de eventos cardiovasculares, aunque se desconoce cuál de los puntajes de riesgo es más eficaz para predecir su presencia en una población latinoamericana. El objetivo fué comparar la performance de los puntajes de riesgo: Framingham, Regicor y Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator para predecir la existencia de aterosclerosis subclínica en pacientes asintomáticos sin enfermedad cardiovascular conocida; así como determinar la prevalencia y distribución en los distintos lechos vasculares. Desde 2014 a 2017 se evaluaron pacientes de 35 a 75 años asintomáticos y sin enfermedad cardiovascular conocida, a quienes se les realizó una eco Doppler carotídea y femoral, y score de calcio. Se definió como aterosclerosis subclínica a la presencia de placas en las arterias carótidas y/o femorales o a la presencia de calcio en las coronarias (score de Agatston > 0). Se estudiaron así 212 pacientes, edad media 53 ± 7 años, de los cuales el 60% (128) eran varones. La prevalencia de aterosclerosis subclínica fue 62% (131 casos). De esos 131 con placa en alguno de los territorios, el Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator fue el que identificó el mayor número de casos con riesgo cardiovascular elevado (39%), Framingham detectó 20%, y Regicor 0% (p < 0.01). La reclasificación neta fue del 41%, 50% y 60% respectivamente (< 0.01). La prevalencia de aterosclerosis subclínica en sujetos asintomáticos sin antecedentes de enfermedad cardiovascular fue 62%. El calculador Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator fue el más efectivo para predecir aterosclerosis subclínica en esta población.

Subclinical atherosclerosis is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular events, although it is unknown which of the risk scores is more useful to predict its presence in a Latin American population. The objective was to compare the performance of the risk scores: Framingham, Regicor and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator to predict the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic persons without known cardiovascular disease; as well as determining its prevalence and distribution in the different vascular beds. From 2014 to 2017, patients from 35 to 75 years, asymptomatic and without known cardiovascular disease who underwent a carotid and femoral Doppler echo and calcium score were evaluated. Subclinical atherosclerosis was defined as the presence of plaques in the carotid and/or femoral arteries or the presence of calcium in the coronary arteries (Agatston score > 0). A total of 212 patients were included. The mean age was 53 ± 7 years, of which 60% (128) were male. The prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis was 62% (131 cases). Of these 131 subjects with a plaque in any of the territories, the Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator was the one that identified the highest number of cases with high cardiovascular risk (39%), Framingham detected 20%, and Regicor 0% (p < 0.01). The net reclassification was 41%, 50% and 60% respectively (< 0.01). The prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic persons without a history of cardiovascular disease was 62%. The Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Estimator was the most effective predictor of subclinical atherosclerosis in this population.

Giant cells lepromatous leprosy. Diffuse dermatitis with exuberant foreign body giant cells in treated lepromatous leprosy / Células gigantes en lepra lepromatosa. Dermatitis difusa con células gigantes tipo cuerpo extraño exuberantes en lepra lepromatosa tratada

Patients with lepromatous leprosy that have received treatment for many years usually get follow up biopsies for persistent skin lesions or positive bacilloscopy even if the values are lower than in the initial bacilloscopy. We report the case of a 48-year old woman with long-standing lepromatous leprosy of 15 years of evolution, with a bacterial index of 4 in the direct smear and the initial skin biopsy. The patient was treated with multidrug therapy for 32 months although the treatment recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) is only for 12 months. A skin biopsy was taken to determine if there was an active disease. We observed a diffuse dermal inflammation with numerous foreign body giant cells and vacuolated macrophages (Virchow´s cells). These cells contained granular acid-fast material that was also positive with immunohistochemistry for BCG. There were fragmented bacilli and the BI was 2. These cells were also strongly positive for CD68. The biopsy was interpreted as a residual form of lepromatous leprosy that did not require further multidrug therapy. We have observed similar histological profiles in several cases. The lack of clinical data makes it a histological challenge. The accumulation of lipids in these giant cells is due to bacillary destruction and fusion of vacuolated macrophages. We discuss here the role of bacillary and host lipids in the pathogenesis of lepromatous leprosy. We concluded that there was no need to extend the 12-month multidrug therapy recommended by WHO.

Los pacientes con lepra lepromatosa (LL) que han recibido tratamiento durante años, usualmente tienen seguimiento con biopsias de piel para lesiones persistentes o con baciloscopia positiva, con valores menores a los iniciales. Presentamos una mujer de 48 años con LL de 15 años de evolución, con índice bacilar (IB) 4 en el extendido directo y en la biopsia, que recibió terapia multidroga durante 32 meses, aunque el tratamiento recomendado por la Organización mundial de la salud (OMS) es de 12 meses. Se tomó una biopsia de piel para determinar si la enfermedad estaba activa. Se observó inflamación dérmica difusa con numerosas células gigantes tipo cuerpo extraño y macrófagos vacuolados (células de Virchow). Estas células, CD68 positivas, contenían material granular ácido-alcohol resistente, positivo con inmunohistoquímica para BCG. Se encontraron bacilos fragmentados y el IB fue de 2. Se interpretó como una forma residual de LL y que la paciente no requería MDT adicional. Este perfil histológico lo hemos observado en casos similares. Sin datos clínicos estas biopsias son un reto diagnóstico. La acumulación de lípidos en estas células gigantes se debe a la destrucción bacilar y a la fusión de macrófagos vacuolados. Revisamos el papel de los lípidos del bacilo y del huésped en la patogénesis de la LL. En estos casos no es necesario extender los 12 meses de MDT recomendados por la OMS. En el seguimiento de los pacientes se recomienda contar con los hallazgos clínicos, la baciloscopia, la biopsia anual de piel y los títulos IgM anti-glicolípido fenólico.

Efecto de la cafeína sobre la presión arterial y parámetros de la rigidez vascular / Efeito da cafeína na pressão arterial e parâmetros de rigidez vascular / Effect of caffeine on blood pressure and parameters of vascular stiffness

Introducción. La cafeína es una de las sustancias más consumidas mundialmente. Sus efectos fisiológicos han generado preocupación sobre sus potenciales efectos perjudiciales a nivel cardiovascular. Objetivos. Determinar el efecto de dosis habituales de cafeína (50 mg) sobre variables hemodinámicas valoradas con el Mobil-O-GRAPH PWA en sujetos sanos. Evaluar si el tabaquismo exacerba el efecto del café sobre estos parámetros. Materiales y métodos. Estudio prospectivo. Se incluyeron sujetos sanos entre 18 y 55 años, de ambos sexos que debían estar 12 horas libres de cigarrillos o de sustancias con cafeína. Se obtuvieron medidas de parámetros hemodinámicos con el Mobil-O-GRAPH PWA antes y a los 0, 30 y 60 minutos del consumo de 140 mL de café con 50 mg de cafeína. Se evaluó si el tabaquismo exacerba el efecto de la cafeína sobre estos parámetros vasculares. Resultados. Se incluyeron 27 pacientes de los cuales el 45% fue de sexo masculino, con una edad media de 33 ± 9 años. El 29% de los pacientes era tabaquista. A los 60 minutos de la ingesta de café se observó un incremento de 3 mm Hg de la presión arterial media (PAM) que fue significativa (p=0,03). Comparado a los no fumadores, los tabaquistas mostraron un incremento más marcado de la PAM (9 mm Hg vs 2 mm Hg; p=0,05). Los otros parámetros fueron similares en ambos grupos. Conclusión. En sujetos sanos la ingesta de 50 mg de café incrementa la PAM en 3 mm Hg a los 60 minutos y este efecto es más marcado en tabaquistas.

Introduction. Caffeine is one of the most consumed substances worldwide. Its physiological effects have been generated concerns about its potential harmful effects at the cardiovascular level. Objectives. To determine the effect of usual doses of caffeine (50mg) on hemodynamic variables assessed with the Mobil-O-GRAPH PWA in healthy subjects. To assess if smoking exacerbates the effect of coffee on these parameters. Materials and methods. Prospective study. We included healthy subjects between 18 and 55 years of age, of both sexes who had to be 12 hours free of cigarettes or substances with caffeine. Measurements of hemodynamic parameters were obtained with the Mobil-O-GRAPH PWA before and at 0, 30 and 60 minutes of the consumption of 140 mL of coffee with 50 mg of caffeine. It was evaluated if smoking exacerbates the effect of caffeine on these vascular parameters. Results. We included 27 patients of which 45% were male, with a mean age of 33 ± 9 years. The 29% of the patients were smokers. At 60 minutes of coffee intake, an increase of 3 mm Hg in mean arterial pressure (MAP) was observed, which was significant (p = 0.03). Compared to non smokers, smokers showed a more marked increase in MAP (9 mm Hg vs 2 mm Hg, p = 0.05). The other parameters were similar in both groups. Conclusion. In healthy subjects the intake of 50 mg of coffee increases the MAP by 3mmHg at 60 minutes and this effect is more marked in smokers.

Introdução. A cafeína é uma das substâncias mais consumidas no mundo. Seus efeitos fisiológicos geraram preocupação sobre os seus efeitos nocivos potenciais ao nível cardiovascular. Objetivos. Determinar o efeito de doses usuais de cafeína (50mg) nas variáveis hemodinâmicas avaliadas com o Mobil-O-GRAPH PWA em indivíduos saudáveis. Avaliar se o ato de fumar exacerba o efeito do café nesses parâmetros. Materiais e métodos. Estudo prospectivo. Foram incluídos indivíduos saudáveis entre 18 e 55 anos de idade, de ambos os sexos, que deveriam ter 12 horas livres de cigarros ou substâncias com cafeína. As medidas dos parâmetros hemodinâmicos foram obtidas com o Mobil-O-GRAPH PWA antes e aos 0, 30 e 60 minutos do consumo de 140 mL de café com 50 mg de cafeína. Foi avaliado se fumar exacerba o efeito da cafeína sobre esses parâmetros vasculares. Resultados. Foram incluídos 27 pacientes, dos quais 45% eram do sexo masculino, com média de idade de 33 ± 9 anos. O 29% dos pacientes eram fumantes. Aos 60 minutos de ingestão de café, observou-se um aumento de 3 mm Hg na pressão arterial média (PAM), que foi significativo (p=0,03). Em comparação com os não-fumantes, os fumantes apresentaram um aumento mais acentuado da PAM (9 mm Hg vs 2 mm Hg, p=0,05). Os outros parâmetros foram semelhantes nos dois grupos. Conclusão. Em indivíduos saudáveis, a ingestão de 50 mg de café aumenta a PAM em 3 mm Hg aos 60 minutos e esse efeito é mais acentuado nos fumantes.

Training a cell-level classifier for detecting basal-cell carcinoma by combining human visual attention maps with low-level handcrafted features.

Computational histomorphometric approaches typically use low-level image features for building machine learning classifiers. However, these approaches usually ignore high-level expert knowledge. A computational model (M_im) combines low-, mid-, and high-level image information to predict the likelihood of cancer in whole slide images. Handcrafted low- and mid-level features are computed from area, color, and spatial nuclei distributions. High-level information is implicitly captured from the recorded navigations of pathologists while exploring whole slide images during diagnostic tasks. This model was validated by predicting the presence of cancer in a set of unseen fields of view. The available database was composed of 24 cases of basal-cell carcinoma, from which 17 served to estimate the model parameters and the remaining 7 comprised the evaluation set. A total of 274 fields of view of size [Formula: see text] were extracted from the evaluation set. Then 176 patches from this set were used to train a support vector machine classifier to predict the presence of cancer on a patch-by-patch basis while the remaining 98 image patches were used for independent testing, ensuring that the training and test sets do not comprise patches from the same patient. A baseline model (M_ex) estimated the cancer likelihood for each of the image patches. M_ex uses the same visual features as M_im, but its weights are estimated from nuclei manually labeled as cancerous or noncancerous by a pathologist. M_im achieved an accuracy of 74.49% and an [Formula: see text]-measure of 80.31%, while M_ex yielded corresponding accuracy and F-measures of 73.47% and 77.97%, respectively.

Clinical practice of ambulatory versus home blood pressure monitoring in hypertensive patients.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze whether blood pressure (BP) measurement is concordant between ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM), and determine whether the decision on treatment changes is similar on the basis of information provided by both methods. METHODS: Treated hypertensive patients were studied with ABPM and HBPM to evaluate therapeutic efficacy and/or diagnose resistant hypertension (HTN). Modification of pharmacological treatment was decided on the basis of pre-established criteria; therefore, the number of therapeutic changes between both techniques was compared. RESULTS: A total of 200 patients were included. The average daytime ABPM systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 136±16 compared with 136±15 (P=1) with HBPM; the average diurnal diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was 83±12 and 81±9, respectively (P=0.06). The concordance between both methods was very good for SBP [r=0.85; Bland-Altman 0.2 (95% confidence interval 0.9-1.4 mmHg)], and good for the DBP [r=0.77; Bland-Altman 1.8 (95% confidence interval 0.8-2.8 mmHg)]. Both methods were in agreement that HTN was controlled in 68 patients and that it was not controlled in 90 patients, that is, they were concordant in 158 patients (79%, κ=0.6). More patients required changes with ABPM than HBPM (149 vs. 99 patients, P<0.0001) CONCLUSION: There were no significant differences in the measurement of diurnal SBP and DBP between both methods. The concordance to determine proper control of HTN was 79%. There was a significant difference in the decision to modify the treatment in favor of the ABPM.

An unsupervised feature learning framework for basal cell carcinoma image analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The paper addresses the problem of automatic detection of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in histopathology images. In particular, it proposes a framework to both, learn the image representation in an unsupervised way and visualize discriminative features supported by the learned model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This paper presents an integrated unsupervised feature learning (UFL) framework for histopathology image analysis that comprises three main stages: (1) local (patch) representation learning using different strategies (sparse autoencoders, reconstruct independent component analysis and topographic independent component analysis (TICA), (2) global (image) representation learning using a bag-of-features representation or a convolutional neural network, and (3) a visual interpretation layer to highlight the most discriminant regions detected by the model. The integrated unsupervised feature learning framework was exhaustively evaluated in a histopathology image dataset for BCC diagnosis. RESULTS: The experimental evaluation produced a classification performance of 98.1%, in terms of the area under receiver-operating-characteristic curve, for the proposed framework outperforming by 7% the state-of-the-art discrete cosine transform patch-based representation. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed UFL-representation-based approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods for BCC detection. Thanks to its visual interpretation layer, the method is able to highlight discriminative tissue regions providing a better diagnosis support. Among the different UFL strategies tested, TICA-learned features exhibited the best performance thanks to its ability to capture low-level invariances, which are inherent to the nature of the problem.

Xantoma verruciforme: características histopatológicas y patogénesis, análisis de casos de vulva y región perianal / Verruciform xanthoma: histopathologic findings and pathogenesis: analysis of vulvar and perianal cases

El xantoma verruciforme es una lesión inflamatoria, reactiva, no tumoral, que afecta principalmente la mucosa oral, las semimucosas y la piel de las extremidades. Clínicamente se presenta como lesión única, elevada, de superficie irregular o verrucosa. La histopatología se caracteriza por hiperplasia epidérmica, paraqueratosis extensa con exocitosis de neutrófilos y acúmulos de histiocitos xantomatosos en la dermis papilar. Las hipótesis propuestas para explicar la patogénesis de la enfermedad incluyen origen metabólico, infeccioso, irritantes locales, inflamación crónica y trauma. Las diferentes teorías indican que el evento inicial es el daño de los queratocitos con liberación de productos que inducen respuesta inflamatoria, proliferación celular y liberación de lípidos, que originarían los macrófagos espumosos. El diagnóstico diferencial debe hacerse con condiloma acuminado, carcinoma escamocelular y con el tumor de células granulares. Revisamos la patogénesis del xantoma verruciforme y presentamos dos casos de lesiones en el área perineal, que ilustran sus características histopatológicas.

Tiña vulvar: análisis histopatológico de un caso / Tinea of the vulva: a histopathological case analysis

Introducción: la tiña vulvar es una entidad de difícil diagnóstico clínico que puede también pasar desapercibida en la biopsia. Objetivo: presentar el caso de una mujer con esta entidad, diagnosticado por la biopsia, y hacer comentarios relevantes sobre el tema con énfasis en el diagnóstico histopatológico. Metodología: se trata de una paciente sometida a biopsia por prurito vulvar persistente. No se anotan otros datos de historia clínica, incluida la edad. En la biopsia se observó una dermatitis psoriasiforme liquenificada, con paraqueratosis y grupos de neutrófilos en la capa córnea y con tapones córneos infundibulares; en la dermis superficial se apreciaban papilas profundas con algunos linfocitos y fibrosis vertical. Se sospechó el diagnóstico de psoriasis pero la coloración de PAS (coloración de ácido peryódico de Schiff), solicitada por la presencia de neutrófilos intracórneos, demostró abundantes hifas en un infundíbulo confirmándose el diagnóstico de tiña vulvar. Conclusiones: la entidad demostrada es rara y tiene como uno de sus patrones histopatológicos la presencia de una dermatitis psoriasiforme y liquenificada. El hallazgo de neutrófilos intracórneos siempre debe hacer sospechar la presencia de una tiña. La coloración de PAS es una manera fácil de confirmar el diagnóstico. En la literatura revisada se constata que la tiña vulvar es una extensión de la tiña cruris, producida con mayor frecuencia por Trichophyton rubrum. Los diagnósticos diferenciales incluyen candidiasis, psoriasis y dermatitis de contacto.

Introduction: tinea of the vulva is a difficult clinical entity which may well go unnoticed in a biopsy. Objective: presenting the case of a woman suffering this disease, diagnosed by biopsy, and making some comments emphasising the value of histopathological diagnosis. Methodology: a vulvar biopsy was taken as the patient had complained of persistent pruritis. No clinical history was obtained. The biopsy revealed lichenified psoriasiform dermatitis, parakeratosis and groups of neutrophils in the horny layer and infundibulum; deep dermal papillae, lymphocytes and vertical fibrosis were visible in the dermis. Although such findings are also seen in psoriasis, PAS staining was done due to the presence of neutrophils, showing abundant infundibular hyphae, thereby confirming the diagnosis of tinea of the vulva. Conclusions: this rare entity has a lichenified psoriasiform histological pattern. The finding of neutrophils in the horny layer must always lead to suspecting the presence of tinea. PAS staining is an easy way to confirm such diagnosis. Reviewing the literature revealed that tinea of the vulva is an extension of tinea cruris, most frequently caused by Trichophyton rubrum. Differential diagnosis includes candidiasis, psoriasis, and contact dermatitis.

Adenoma del oído medio / Middle ear adenoma

Las neoplasias del oído medio son lesiones raras que, generalmente, plantean retos diagnósticos por la escasa información existente sobre su biología y la carencia de uniformidad de criterios para su análisis. Se presenta el caso de un tumor de oído observado clínicamente en el canal auditivo externo, el cual protruía del oído medio a través del tímpano, y en cuyo espécimen de resección se encontró un tumor epitelial benigno con una de sus superficies revestida por epitelio escamoso. La escasa información clínica inicial incrementó la dificultad diagnóstica y para su diagnóstico se requirió apoyo en técnicas de histoquímica e inmunohistoquímica. El diagnóstico definitivo fue adenoma del oído medio. Además, se hace una revisión del tema y se plantean algunas claves diagnósticas sobre este tipo de lesiones.

Middle ear neoplasms are rare lesions and difficult to diagnose due to limited information about their biology and the lack of standard criteria for their analysis. Herein, a middle ear neoplasm is described that became apparent because of its appearance in the external ear duct as it protruded from the middle ear through the eardrum. Following resection, the specimen was determined to be a benign epithelial tumor. Absence of adequate clinical information complicated the diagnosis; therefore, histochemistry and immunohistochemistry analyses were necessary to reach the final diagnosis of middle ear adenoma. Diagnostic criteria are proposed to properly diagnose these types of lesions.

Granuloma anular o nódulo pseudoreumatoideo / Annular granuloma or pseudorheumatoid nodule

Una mujer de 45 años de edad consultó por presentar placas anulares y nódulos confluentes en los codos. Se tomaron dos biopsias, una mostró un granuloma anular típico y la otra un pseudonódulo reumatoideo, el cual es una variedad de granuloma anular localizado sobre superficies óseas. La asociación aquí descrita apoya esta interpretación.

[Middle ear adenoma]. / Adenoma del oído medio.

Middle ear neoplasms are rare lesions and difficult to diagnose due to limited information about their biology and the lack of standard criteria for their analysis. Herein, a middle ear neoplasm is described that became apparent because of its appearance in the external ear duct as it protruded from the middle ear through the eardrum. Following resection, the specimen was determined to be a benign epithelial tumor. Absence of adequate clinical information complicated the diagnosis; therefore,histochemistry and immunohistochemistry analyses were necessary to reach the final diagnosis of middle ear adenoma. Diagnostic criteria are proposed to properly diagnose these types of lesions.

Tumores gástricos malignos en el Hospital San Juan de Dios y la Clínica Carlos Lleras Restrepo de Bogotá / Malignant gastric tumors in Hospital San Juan de Dios and Clinica Carlos Lleras Restrepo

Se revisaron 9.349 informes de estudios de especímenes quirúrgicos del archivo del Departamento de Patología del Hospital San Juan de Dios y la Clínica Carlos Lleras Restrepo de Bogotá en el tiempo comprendido entre enero 1 de 1999 y mayo 31 de 2000. Se seleccionaron los especímenes con diagnóstico de tumores gástricos que correspondieron al 8,61 por ciento de los casos; 2,41 por ciento fueron tumores benignos y 6,2 por ciento malignos De éstos 91,67 por ciento fueron adenocarcinomas, 2,78 por ciento linfomas, 1,85 por ciento tumores carcinoides y 1,85 por ciento leiomiosarcomas. Hubo predominio de los adenocarcinomas, los cuales se subclasificaron como de tipo intestinal diruso. Los adenocarcinomas se presentaron más frecuentemente en la sexta y séptima décadas, predominando en el género masculino. El adenocarcinoma de tipo intestinal prevaleció sobre el difuso, presentándose más frecuentemente en hombres, en la sexta y séptima década, encontrándose una estrecha relación de éste con la gastritis crónica atrófica multifocal