Phlebosclerotic colitis in a non-Asian patient: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Phlebosclerotic colitis is a rare condition with a high mortality. It has been seen almost exclusively in Asian patients who are ≥ 60 years old, with a slight male predominance. Although it predominantly affects the right colon and seems to be related in some cases to using natural herbal medicines, neither its etiology nor its pathogenesis are known. CASE PRESENTATION: We present an extremely rare case of a 62-year-old Spanish white man patient of non-Asian ethnicity with no history of using natural medications, who was diagnosed with phlebosclerotic colitis of submucosal veins. CONCLUSION: To date, this is the only case reported in Spain, and only the second reported for Europe, in the literature. Due to the nonspecific symptoms and insidious radiological findings of this disease (both in early and mild stages) as well as exclusive submucosal involvement presented here, it is necessary that the treating physician has a high level of suspicion for its diagnosis.

The rabbit as an animal model for proctology research: anatomical and histological description.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to describe the surgical anatomy and histology of the rabbit anorectum comparing it to that of humans, in order to decide whether it can be a good experimental model for research in proctology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study of the anorectal region was performed on six female New Zealand white rabbits, weighting between 2.5-2.9 kg. An autopsy was performed immediately after sacrificing the animal and an anatomical and histological description was performed. RESULTS: The mean rectum and anal canal lengths were of 7.2 cm and 0.9 cm, respectively. The macroscopic study showed that the musculature of the anal canal is formed by the coccygeus muscle, which serves as puborectalis in humans. It also defined an external anal sphincter with a deep and superficial portion. The histological evaluation showed similarity to that of humans, with mucosa of simple columnar type, muscularis mucosae, a small submucosa, with a muscular wall divided into internal and external layers, separated by the myenteric plexus. CONCLUSION: The great similarity to both the anatomy and the histology of humans, appropriate size and easy-handling and care, make the rabbit an attractive animal for the use as experimental and research model in proctology.

Hereditary internal anal sphincter myopathy: the first Caribbean family.

Hereditary proctalgia is an extremely rare condition characterized by endosonographic evidence of internal anal sphincter (IAS) thickening and specific ultrastructural changes seen at light and electron microscopy (EM). We report the case of a 54-year-old Caribbean woman with severe proctalgia and IAS thickening, treated with IAS myectomy. Transmission EM showed PAS-positive inclusions and granulofibrillary smooth muscle inclusion bodies. Anal endosonography of 5 family members from 3 generations showed IAS thickening in all cases with reported proctalgia. The condition represents an isolated IAS myopathy which is a probable polysaccharide storage disease variant. This condition may require specific surgical therapy with specimen preservation and ultrastructural examination for optimal characterization and treatment.

Tipificación del papilomavirus como método de cribado de la patología cervical en mujeres con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana / Human papilloma virus typing as a screening method for cervical lesions in women with HIV infection

Objetivo: Estudio transversal que compara la técnica de tipificación del papilomavirus humano (VPH) con la citología, en el diagnóstico precoz de la neoplasia de cérvix en mujeres con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH), así como la relación entre el nivel de inmunosupresión y la infección por el VPH. Material y métodos: Se seleccionó a 67 pacientes VIH-positivas que cumplían los criterios de inclusión. Se realizaron 3 pruebas: citología, tipificación del VPH y colposcopia-biopsia. Se valoraron los factores de riesgo para la patología cervical dependiente del VPH, subtipo de VPH, tipo de lesión citológica y lesión biopsiada, cifra de CD4/mm3 y carga viral. Resultados: El 35,8 por ciento de la muestra fue positiva para el VPH, el subtipo más frecuente fue el VPH 18 (9 casos). Los factores de riesgo más fuertemente asociados a la infección por el VPH fueron los antecedentes de drogadicción, prostitución y uso infrecuente del preservativo. Hubo 22 biopsias positivas. El test de tipificación resultó más sensible que la citología (63,6 frente a 45,5 por ciento) pero menos específico. La cifra media de CD4/mm3 en pacientes VPH-positivas fue de 255,75 frente a 529,58 en VPH-negativas (p = 0,000). Conclusiones: La prueba de tipificación, asociada a la citología, aumenta la sensibilidad en el diagnóstico precoz de la neoplasia de cérvix en mujeres infectadas por el VIH. Las bajas cifras de CD4 se asociaron significativamente con presencia de lesión cervical e infección por el VPH (AU)

Masa pélvica hipervascularizada: una causa poco frecuente de hemorragia digestiva

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[Diagnosis of centronuclear myopathy in adults]. / Diagnóstico de la miopatía centronuclear en el adulto.

INTRODUCTION: Centro-nuclear myopathy is a congenital myopathy characterized by the presence of central nuclei on muscle biopsy. Three clinical forms have been distinguished. Classification depends on the type inherited, age of onset and degree of muscle involvement. CLINICAL CASE: We describe the case of a female patient in whom the diagnosis of centro-nuclear myopathy was made at the age of 53. The patient had not been studied previously, but was sent to us by the Department of Anaesthesia. The clinical features had first appeared in infancy. There was no family history of this disorder. Apparently this was a sporadic case. CONCLUSIONS: In the differential diagnosis of adult patients with girdle paresthesias centro-nuclear myopathy should be included. This unusual muscle disorder may be need to be considered if anaesthesia is required.

[T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma. Presentation of 3 cases]. / Linfoma B rico en células T. Presentación de tres casos.

T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma (TBL) is a rare entity not included in the classical classifications of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), presenting usually at diagnosis in advanced stages and with extranodal involvement. Its differential diagnosis, based on immunophenotyping technics, include other entities with different treatment and prognosis, mainly lymphocytic-predominance Hodgkin disease and peripheral T-cell lymphoma; this differential diagnosis has importance in patient's survival. We present 3 patients, two males (one of them with HIV infection) and one female, aged 38, 60 and 64 respectively, diagnosed as having TBL. The two former patients presented advanced stages at diagnosis. None of them was initially diagnosed as having TBL, the diagnosis were immunoblastic NHL in the first patient, peripheral T-cell lymphoma in the second and mixed cellularity Hodgkin's disease in the third one. The first patient was not treated due to rapid worsening and early death of septic shock; the other two cases were treated with COP-BLAM/IMVP-16 protocol achieving partial and complete remission respectively after 6 cycles of treatment. Comments about clinical, pathological and differential diagnostic aspects are made.