BK virus associated pronounced hemorrhagic cystoureteritis after bone marrow transplantation.

Ureteral stenosis due to reactivation of the BK virus (BKV) in a state of immunodeficiency is very rare. More common is the appearance of a hemorrhagic cystitis. This report not only shows bilateral ureteral stenosis after bone marrow transplantation, but also presents severe complications as chronic pelvic pain and impaired kidney function as well as irreparable damage to the whole urinary tract leading to nephroureterectomy, subtrigonal cystectomy and orthotopic ileal neobladder. Finally renal transplantation was required. To our knowledge this is the first case in the literature where such a severe course of BKV associated hemorrhagic cystoureteritis is described.

Herpes zoster sciatica mimicking lumbar canal stenosis: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Symptom of herpes zoster is sometimes difficult to distinguish from sciatica induced by spinal diseases, including lumbar disc herniation and spinal canal stenosis. Here we report a case of sciatica mimicking lumbar canal stenosis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 74-year-old Chinese male patient visited our hospital for left-sided sciatic pain upon standing or walking for 5 min of approximately 1 month's duration. At the first visit to our hospital, there were no skin lesions. A magnetic resonance imaging showed spinal canal stenosis between the 4th and 5th lumbar spine. Thus, we diagnosed the patient with sciatica induced by spinal canal stenosis. We considered decompression surgery for the stenosis of 4th and 5th lumbar spine because conservative therapy failed to relieve the patient's symptom. At that time, the patient complained of a skin rash involving his left foot for several days. A vesicular rash and erythema were observed on the dorsal and plantar surfaces of the great toe and lateral malleolus. The patient was diagnosed with herpes zoster in the left 5th lumbar spinal nerve area based on clinical findings, including the characteristics of the pain and vesicular rash and erythema in the 5th lumbar spinal dermatome. The patient was treated with famciclovir (1,500 mg/day) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. After 1 week of medication, the skin rash resolved and pain relief was obtained. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, spinal surgeons should keep in mind herpes zoster infection as one of the possible differential diagnoses of sciatica, even if there is no typical skin rash.

New imaging findings in a patient with central nervous system dysfunction after bone marrow transplantation.

Central nervous system disorders are an important complication of bone marrow transplantation (BMT). We have recently performed cerebral angiography to examine central nervous system dysfunction in a 22-year-old woman with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who had undergone BMT. Angiography demonstrated multiple stenoses and occlusions in the peripheral branches of the anterior and middle cerebral arteries, a pattern similar to that seen in vasculitis. She was thought to most likely have cytomegalovirus (CMV) vasculitis, but other forms of vasculitis, such as angiitis-like-syndrome-associated graft-versus-host disease could not be excluded. This case suggests that CMV vasculitis may cause central nervous system dysfunction after BMT and that imaging studies may provide useful information about central nervous system disorders in these patients.