Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease developed during chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Ocular manifestations are known for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but are rare for Hodgkin lymphoma. We report a case of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease presenting as serous retinal detachment and uveitis in both eyes in a child undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was a 7-year-old boy with stage IIB Hodgkin lymphoma (nodular lymphocyte predominant type) who was undergoing chemotherapy, including 2 cycles of the OEPA regimen and 1 cycle of the COPDAC regimen. Two days after the end of the COPDAC regimen, the patient complained of headache and of blurred and decreased vision in both eyes. On the basis of optic symptoms, such as uveitis and serous retinal detachment in both eyes, increased cell counts in cerebrospinal fluid, and positivity for human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4 in peripheral blood cells, incomplete VKH disease was diagnosed. Intravenous treatment with high-dose prednisolone (60mg/m2/day) for 7 days improved both visual acuity and serous retinal detachment and enabled the remains of the COPDAC chemotherapy cycle to be administered. With prednisolone treatment, visual acuity improved from 20/500 to 20/20 in the right eye and from 20/63 to 20/25 in the left eye. Because multiple vitiligo lesions later appeared in the abdomen, complete VKH disease was finally diagnosed. CONCLUSION: The onset of VKH disease occurred during chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma. The patient was HLA-DR4-positive and might have had a predisposition to develop autoimmune diseases, including VKH disease. However, the anticancer drugs administered to this patient have not been reported to cause uveitis. Whether Hodgkin lymphoma triggered the development of VKH remains unclear. Early diagnosis of VKH disease and prompt treatment with high-dose prednisone enabled the patient to maintain good visual function despite chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma.

Clinical significance of ultrasonographic imaging of the common hepatic arterial lymph node (No. 8 LN) in chronic liver diseases.

In chronic liver diseases, the size of the portal lymph node and the common hepatic arterial lymph node (No. 8a LN) is often altered. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the pathology of chronic liver diseases and the common hepatic arterial lymph nodes using an ultrasonographic diagnostic system. The subjects included 115 patients with hepatitis C (chronic hepatitis C, 75; liver cirrhosis C, 40), 31 patients with hepatitis B (chronic hepatitis B, 17; liver cirrhosis B, 14), 16 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), 11 patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), 29 patients with alcoholic hepatitis (Alc.LD) and 190 healthy adults with no abnormalities in liver function or inflammatory reactions (100 males and 90 females, age range 26-71 years, mean 49.2). The long and short axes of No. 8 LN were measured, and the value calculated by multiplying the two diameters was designated as the LN index (Fig. 1). The No. 8 LN appearance rate and LN index were significantly higher in the patients with hepatitis C, PBC and AIH than in the healthy subjects. When the LN index cut-off value was set to 50, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were significantly higher in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients than in the healthy subjects. In addition, the LN and splenic indexes were significantly correlated in CHC patients, suggesting that the LX index is related to portal pressure increase with an elevation of sinusoidal pressure. The LN index after interferon therapy was significantly lower in complete responders than in non-responders. The No. 8 LN index may be closely related to the pathology of chronic liver diseases.

Basket pattern blood flow signals discovered in a case of splenic hamartoma by power Doppler ultrasonography.

We present the gray-scale ultrasonography (GSUS), power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS), abdominal computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings for a case of splenic hamartoma in a 27-year-old man, showing a phi 50 mm homogeneous, iso- and hypo-echoic splenic mass with evidence of a small plural cystic lesion. This splenic hamartoma showed increased vascularity on power Doppler sonograms. PDUS showed multiple circular blood flow signals inside the mass (i.e. a basket pattern), which was consistent with the small plural cystic lesion shown by GSUS. Spectral analysis also confirmed arterial and venous flow. CT scans showed that the mass had low-density relative to the normal spleen and MRI showed that the mass was isodense, relative to the normal spleen. Therefore, CT and MRI are not useful for the diagnosis of splenic hamartoma. Ultrasonography can be used to diagnose splenic hamartoma without administration of a contrast material and therefore is an indispensable method for the diagnosis of splenic hamartoma.

Macrocytic anemia during low-dose cisplatin and 5-Fluorouracil through implanted infusion port for unresectable hepatobilliary malignancies.

UNLABELLED: The efficacy of continuous arterial infusion chemotherapy through a subcutaneously implanted port has been reported with less adverse effects than systemic chemotherapy in hepatobilliary malignancies. However, macrocytic anemia is sometimes seen during this therapy. In 25 patients (22 with hepatocellular carcinoma, 3 with cholangiocellular carcinoma) treated with cisplatinum (10mg/day) and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) (250 mg/day), the frequency of anemia and its etiologies were evaluated. Moreover, the two groups ("anemia" and "no anemia" group) were compared with their backgrounds. Nine cases (36%) showed macrocytic anemia without any evident etiologies during therapy. The cumulative appearance rate of anemia was 19% at 12 weeks and 51% at 18 weeks. The Child-Pugh score or Japanese integrated staging (JIS) score were significantly higher in the "anemia" group than that in the "no anemia" group. CONCLUSION: Attention should be paid to slow progressive macrocytic anemia during low-dose cisplatinum and 5-FU, especially in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis.

An anomaly in persistent right umbilical vein of portal vein diagnosed by ultrasonography.

AIM: To detect the anomaly in the persistent right umbilical vein (PRUV) of portal vein (PV) with deviation of the ligamentum tere and left-sided gallbladder. METHODS: A total of 5783 candidates for routine analysis were evaluated for hepatic vascular abnormalities by ultrasonography. RESULTS: Ten candidates (0.17%) had a portal vein anomaly with a rightward-deviated ligamentum tere. The blood-flow velocity in the PRUV of the portal vein (17.7+/-3.0 cm/s) of the 10 cases was similar to that of the right anterior portal trunk (17.6+/-4.1 cm/s). However, the vessel diameter of the PRUV (eta12.4+/-4.4 mm) was larger than the right anterior portal trunk (eta6.1+/-0.9 mm). Therefore, flow volume in the anomalous portion (0.97+/-0.30 L/min) was more than that in the right anterior portal trunk (0.18+/-0.05 L/min). CONCLUSION: The anomaly plays an important role in intra-hepatic PV flow.

Hemodynamics in the portal vein evaluated by pulse wave Doppler ultrasonography in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon.

AIM: To employ pulse wave Doppler ultrasonography to evaluate the changes in portal blood flow velocity in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) receiving interferon (IFN) treatment. METHODS: The subjects in this study were 14 patients (13 men and 1 woman) with CHC who received IFN treatment. Portal blood flow velocity was measured in the vessels at the porta hepatis at four time points: before IFN administration (pre-IFN), 2 wk after the start of administration (wk 2), 24 wk after the start of administration (wk 24, i.e., the end of IFN administration), and 24 wk after the end of administration (wk 48). RESULTS: The patients with CHC in whom IFN treatment resulted in complete elimination or effective elimination of viruses showed a significant increase in portal blood flow velocity at the end of IFN treatment compared with that before IFN treatment. In contrast, when IFN was ineffective, no significant increase in portal blood flow velocity was observed at wk 24 or 48 compared with the pre-IFN value. In addition, the patients with CHC in whom IFN was ineffective showed significantly lower portal blood flow velocity values than control subjects at all measurement time points. CONCLUSION: Pulse wave Doppler ultrasonography is a noninvasive and easily performed method for evaluating the effects of IFN treatment in patients with CHC. This technique is useful for measuring portal blood flow velocity before and 24 wk after IFN administration in order to evaluate the changes over time, thus assessing the effectiveness of IFN treatment.