Primary hyperparathyroidism caused by enormous unilateral water-clear cell parathyroid hyperplasia.

BACKGROUND: Parathyroid water-clear cell hyperplasia (WCCH) and water-clear cell adenoma (WCCA) are rare causes of primary hyperparathyroidism. The frequency of WCCH seems to be less than 1% of all primary hyperplasia. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 53-year-old woman with a large unilateral water clear cell parathyroid hyperplasia associated with primary hyperparathyroidism and severe osteoporosis. Ultrasonography showed a 5.4 cm multilobulated hypoechoic well defined mass localized in the lower half of the left thyroid lobe. Technetium sestamibi scanning showed a persistent very large area of increased activity possibly corresponding to a left inferior double parathyroid adenoma. At surgery, two large merged lobulated parathyroid glands were removed from the left superior and inferior aspects of the adjacent thyroid extending to the sub-clavicular area. Histopathology showed polygonal hyperplastic vacuolated cells with abundant water clear cytoplasm. The lesion had lack of capsule or rim of parathyroid tissue and immunohistochemistry was positive for PTH staining. These findings were consistent with diffused water clear cell hyperplasia. After parathyroidectomy, iPTH and calcium levels dropped immediately. CONCLUSION: The clinical presentation of the patients with water clear cells parathyroid content and hyperparathyroidism is indistinguishable from that of the more common causes of primary hyperparathyroidism of adenoma or hyperplasia and the diagnosis is made only on pathological examination. In conclusion, the distinction of water clear cell hyperplasia from water clear cell adenoma can be challenging in many cases, although clinically significant as far as treatment and follow-up.

Rapid development of an axillary mass in an adult: a case of cystic hygroma.

Cystic hygroma is a congenital anomaly of lymphatic origin, which mainly develops during childhood. Its development in adulthood, however, has been proposed to be related to several predisposing factors such as trauma, infection, tumor growth or iatrogenic stimuli. The development of cystic hygroma in the extremities of adults is extremely rare and moreover, its development in the axillary region has, to our knowledge, been reported only once in the literature. We describe an unusual case of a cystic hygroma which developed rapidly in the axillary region of a female patient in the absence of any predisposing factor. The diagnostic workup and the need for surgical excision of the mass to obtain an accurate, histologic diagnosis is presented.

Brain perfusion SPECT in impulsivity-related personality disorders.

BACKGROUND: Impulsive behaviours in patients with cluster B personality disorders are associated with low glucose metabolism and regional cerebral blood flow in the frontal cortex and subcortical structures. The aim of this study is to confirm the presence of a particular pattern of brain perfusion in a sample of borderline (BPD) and anti-social personality disorder (ASPD) patients using brain perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). METHODS: A brain perfusion SPECT study was performed in 37 patients with BPD or ASPD (and no Axis I diagnosis) and 34 healthy control participants. Data were acquired on a triple head Toshiba gamma camera. Scatter and attenuation correction was done. Reconstructed SPECT images were analyzed by Statistical Parametrical Mapping (SPM99). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age and gender distributions between the patients and the healthy controls. With regard to the functional imaging results, patients were characterized by a reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in right temporal and prefrontal brain areas, including the right lateral temporal cortex (BA 21), the right frontopolar cortex (BA 10) and the right ventrolateral prefontal cortex (BA 47). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BPD and ASPD who showed impulsive behaviour have diminished rCBF in areas of the right prefrontal and temporal cortex.

Nuclear medicine imaging for prediction or early assessment of response to chemotherapy in patients suffering from breast carcinoma.

Reliable assays that could assess treatment response more rapidly or even predict responsiveness of breast tumours to chemotherapy would be very valuable as they would allow for adjustment of ineffective treatment and discontinuation of ineffective treatment in an early phase. As with effective cancer therapy, changes in tumour physiology, metabolism and proliferation do often precede volumetric changes routinely measured by morphological imaging modalities, for example, radiography and computerized tomography, assessment of these parameters by means of single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography may provide more sensitive and earlier markers of tumour cell death or growth inhibition. This paper reviews the available literature on the role of SPECT and PET in the measurement and visualisation of breast tumour metabolism (glucose utilization and protein synthesis rate), apoptosis induction and chemotherapy resistance mechanisms as predictors or early markers of tumour response or non-response to chemotherapeutic options in patients suffering from breast carcinoma.