Primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma during pregnancy.

Primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (PRMC) is an extremely rare tumour. This case report describes the treatment and prognosis of a patient with PRMC during pregnancy. This is the third case of PRMC in a pregnant woman, worldwide. The patient was a 37-year-old woman presenting with a left mid-abdominal and pelvic semisolid, cystic mass at 29 weeks' gestation. At 30 weeks' gestation, she underwent an exploratory laparotomy, which revealed a solid tumour (22 × 13 × 11 cm) with an intact capsule extending from the inferior pole of the left kidney to the pelvic inlet in the left retroperitoneal area. The tumour had adhesions with the surrounding connective tissue and could be excised with its capsule intact. In conclusion, based on the limited information available, a PRMC with no visible dissemination excised with an intact capsule appears to have a good prognosis. Tumour excision may be adequate for treatment of PRMCs in the extragenital space and with no dissemination.

Go east: phylogeographies of Mauremys caspica and M. rivulata- discordance of morphology, mitochondrial and nuclear genomic markers and rare hybridization.

In recent years many cases of hybridization and introgression became known for chelonians, requiring a better understanding of their speciation mechanisms. Phylogeographic investigations offer basic data for this challenge. We use the sister species Mauremys caspica and M. rivulata, the most abundant terrapins in the Near and Middle East and South-east Europe, as model. Their phylogeographies provide evidence that speciation of chelonians fits the allopatric speciation model, with both species being in the parapatric phase of speciation, and that intrinsic isolation mechanisms are developed during speciation. Hybridization between M. caspica and M. rivulata is very rare, suggesting that the increasing numbers of hybrids in other species are caused by human impact on environment (breakdown of ecological isolation). Genetic differentiation within M. caspica and M. rivulata resembles the paradigm of southern genetic richness and northern purity of European biota. However, in west Asia this pattern is likely to reflect dispersal and vicariance events older than the Holocene. For M. caspica three distinct Pleistocene refuges are postulated (Central Anatolia, south coast of Caspian Sea, Gulf of Persia). Morphologically defined subspecies within M. caspica are not supported by genetic data. This is one of the few studies available about the phylogeography of west and central Asian species.