Histoplasma capsulatum causing sinusitis: a case report in French Guiana and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: American histoplasmosis is a mycosis caused by Histoplasma capsulatum. A variety of clinical features of histoplasmosis have been commonly described ranging from asymptomatic infections to severe pulmonary infections. In immunocompromised individuals, progressive disseminated forms are frequent, leading to fatal outcome if untreated. However, H. capsulatum sinusitis is unusual with a few cases documented over the last three decades and may be underdiagnosed or confused with other fungal aetiologies, especially outside endemic regions. CASE PRESENTATION: In this study, we report an atypical case of Histoplasma capsulatum sinus fungus ball-like in a patient with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome due to Human Immunodeficiency Virus complicated by a disseminated histoplasmosis with a death ending. Diagnosis relied on CT-Scan imaging and on both direct examination of H. capsulatum yeast forms (Gomory methenamine Grocott) in the sinus specimen (aspirate, biopsy) and on positivity of the culture further confirmed by qPCR. CONCLUSIONS: Since last few decades, among the eight reviewed patients, H. capsulatum sinusitis occurred mostly in HIV-immunocompromised patients and for three cases as a sinusitis with disseminated histoplasmosis. Even if this is a rare clinical presentation, its diagnosis is crucial as it could represent an early expression of an Histoplasma capsulatum exposure that can evolve into a disseminated fatal infection when immunity decreases.

[Prospective evaluation of our protocol for screening gestational diabetes by O'Sullivan's test]. / Evaluation prospective de notre protocole de dépistage du diabète gestationnel avec le test de O'Sullivan.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated prospectively our protocol for screening diabetes during pregnancy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We applied recommendations of the French National College for Obstetricians and Gynecologists with screening by O'Sullivan's test and HGPO with 100g when the result was greater than 1.40 g/l. This protocol was discussed and approved by our team including a neonatalogist. RESULTS: We included 780 patients delivered between the 1(st) January and the 1(st) October 2005. Between them, 628 were screened (80.5%) and 39 presented gestational diabetes (39/628=6.2%). Fetal ultrasound at 38 weeks of amenorrhea was included in our protocol but applied only for 25.8% of our patients. In the subgroup with gestational diabetes, the rate of induction of labor was 38.4% (15/39), with a cesarean delivery for 23% (9/39) and macrosomia for 20.5% (8/39) of the newborn. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed us that we have to improve the application of our protocol and to try to obtain a shorter time between the two test, O'Sullivan and HGPO, when performed.

[Troponin dosage in a patient with asymptomatic myocarditis due to trichinellosis]. / Myocardite asymptomatique au cours d''un cas de trichinellose: intérêt du dosage de la troponine.

Human trichinellosis is a potentially severe parasitic disease occurring after ingestion of undercooked meat infected with Trichinella sp. larvae. We report the case of a patient who ate an undercooked bear meat hunted in Canada; he presented with the usual symptoms of trichinellosis (i.e, facial oedema, myalgias and fever) complicated with an asymptomatic myocarditis. Myocarditis is a rare, but potentially lethal complication of trichinellosis. Myocarditis should be screened systematically even when specific symptoms are missing; dosage of troponin serum is a simple and reliable mean for such screening.

Comparison of liquid based cytology and histology for the evaluation of HER-2 status using immunostaining and CISH in breast carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: HER-2 amplification is an important prognostic biomarker and treatment determinant in breast carcinoma. AIMS: To correlate immunocytochemical (ICC) expression of HER-2 and gene amplification determined by chromogenic in situ hybridisation (CISH) using liquid based cytology (LBC) with immunohistochemistry (IHC) and CISH using histological samples of the same breast carcinomas. METHODS: Frozen sections and cytobrushings of 103 breast carcinomas were analysed. Four techniques were performed on each tumour: two on LBC samples (ICC, and CISH, both graded as positive, indeterminate, or negative) and two on histological samples (IHC and CISH). Two cell lines (MCF-7, negative; BT 474, positive) were used as controls for cytological analysis. A complementary fluorescence in situ hybridisation technique was carried out in histological samples with low amplification (4-10 dots/nucleus). RESULTS: Interobserver agreement for the four techniques calculated by the kappa coefficient indicated a substantial agreement. Nine cases failed in cytology because of poor cellularity. Among 94 cases, 19 were amplified; 73, 12, and 9 tumours were scored 0 or 1+, 2+, and 3+, respectively by IHC and 75, 13, and 6, respectively, by ICC. CISH found no amplification in 72 tumours. Correlations between the IHC and CISH results in the histological and cytological samples were always significant. CONCLUSIONS: Her-2 status could be determined in LBC samples and correlated well with reference histological methods using in situ hybridisation. ICC was less reliable because of the presence of the cytoplasmic membrane. However, these results should be confirmed by a large multicentre study.

[Gestational trophoblastic diseases: a retrospective study from 1997 to 2003]. / Maladies trophoblastiques gestationnelles: étude rétrospective de 1997 a 2003.

BACKGROUND: Trophoblastic diseases correspond to a very heterogeneous group of rare pathology in young women which fertility should be preserved. PATIENT AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study from 1997 to 2003, including all patients with molar pregnancy or trophoblatic tumor in our department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were identified with 9 molar pregnancies, 5 trophoblastic tumors and 1 placental tumor of implantation site. The outcome was favorable for 14, and one patient died from her metastatic disease. For 4 patients we asked our university colleague for the optimal approach. DISCUSSION: Management of molar pregnancies is well established. Persistent gestational disease is more rare and problematic with potential metastatic dissemination. Multidisciplinary care is often needed. CONCLUSION: Persistent gestational disease should be managed in a highly specialized centre, as developed in the Lyon University Hospital.

[Group B streptococcus screening: a retrospective study in 1,674 pregnancies]. / Dépistage du streptocoque de groupe B pendant la grossesse: a propos de 1 674 prélèvements.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate our clinical practice for Group B streptococcus (GBS) screening during pregnancy and antibiotic therapy during delivery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective evaluation of our SBS screening protocol, by vaginal swab, for a period of two years, including 1,674 asymptotic patients. Intra partum antibiotic prophylaxis was administrated for GBS-positive women. RESULTS: The rate of GBS carriage was 6.9%. Antibiotics were administrated for 79.3% patients with GBS-positive culture. Of these women only 39% had an interval greater than four hours between antibiotic injection and delivery. In the group of patients with positive GBS culture, no newborn was infected and only 5% were colonised. In the GBS-negative group with 1.3% of the newborns were GBS positive. CONCLUSION: We were surprised by our low rate of GBS carriage and the non optimal application of antibiotics during labor. We reviewed our results with all our team and a prospective evaluation has been initiated.

[Prevention of seroma post-mastectomy by surgical padding technique]. / Prévention du sérome post-mastectomie par capitonnage.

INTRODUCTION: Every year, 20,000 mastectomy are realized. The most common complication of these surgical procedure is seroma, occurring in a range of 10 to 85% of the cases, which may be responsible for an increased morbidity by complications: disunity of surgical flap, infection, and delay in administrating adjuvant therapies. OBJECTIVE: We focused on a post-mastectomy padding technique, aiming at decreasing incidence of postoperative seromas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of patients treated with mastectomy from January 2012 to March 2014 in Amiens University Hospital. Forty-two patients were included: 20 to the "padding's" group and 22 to the "control's" group. RESULTS: Drainage flow was significantly decreased at Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and throughout hospitalization after padding (358.5mL versus 685mL; P=0.02). Hospital stays were significantly shortened by 2 days (5.3 versus 7.3 days; P<0.05) for patients receiving padding surgery. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our results show a benefit in the mastectomy padding flap. However, the retrospective character of our study and its strength character imply bias and data not available such as complications in type of wound dehiscence, pain, necrosis, the period from the establishment of the adjuvant therapies and aesthetic evaluation of technique. As such, we initiated a prospective randomized multicenter study late 2013, named PRELYMCA, which should be able to answer the pending questions.

Proliferation assessment in breast cancer: a double-staining technique for AgNOR quantification in MIB-1 positive cells especially adapted for image cytometry.

There are two ways of measuring the cell proliferation. The first one consists of quantifying the number of cycling cells with the help of antibodies directed against cells either in G1, S, G2 or M phase. The second way is to assess the cell cycle duration by the quantification of AgNOR proteins. Measuring both the features on the same slide represents an attractive way to tackle the proliferating activity of a cell culture or a tumor. Here, we propose a MIB-1 and AgNOR double staining method especially adapted to image cytometry measurement using MIB-1 antibody coupled to FITC in order to avoid the thresholding problems encountered with such a multilabeling technique. We have applied this new method on a series of 39 breast cancer cases, with at least 4 years follow-up, in order to determine the prognosis significance of this measurement. MIB-1 alone is not linked to prognosis, while the global mean AgNOR area is significantly linked to prognosis in terms of development of visceral metastasis or death. However, the global mean AgNOR area is insufficient to determine the time limit of appearance of metastasis or relapse. Our results clearly demonstrate that a high mean AgNOR area within a cell population having a high MIB-1 index can discern tumors with a high metastatic potential. By multiplying AgNOR area by the percentage of MIB-1 positive cells we calculate the proliferative activity, P, which brings very important information concerning the time limit of relapse.

Intentional delayed delivery in twin pregnancy. Two additional cases and literature review.

We report two cases of retention of the second twin after delivery of the first one. Both pregnancies were bichorionic, biamniotic. In both cases the first twin was delivered during the second trimester. Tocolysis and antibiotics were used. The two pregnancies had a different outcome. For the first patient with a cerclage, the interval delivery was 67 days, allowing a gestational age of 28 weeks and a weight of 1070 g. The child is now 4 years old and has a normal development. In the second case, the second twin was delivered at 20 1/2 weeks, 8 days after the first, and died shortly after birth. Reviewing the literature, 34 twin pregnancies are reported with intentional delay delivery and 27 infants survived out of 68 fetuses. Cerclage does not seem to be essential for success. Prophylactic antibiotics and tocolysis are admitted. The main problem is infection which defines the prognosis.

Acardiac fetus in a triplet pregnancy: ultrasound pitfalls. A case report.

This communication aims at illustrating ultrasound diagnostic difficulties in early pregnancy with acardiac fetus. Our case concerns a spontaneously conceived triplet pregnancy. It was diagnosed as a twin pregnancy at 11 weeks of amenorrhea. One and a half months later the patient was referred to our center for spontaneous premature rupture of membranes with the diagnosis of a fetal demise in a triplet pregnancy. The definite diagnosis of acardia was assessed sonographically by the presence of a reverse blood flow through the umbilical cord, reflex movements, limbs anomalies and discordance between femoral and crown-rump length. Two days after admission, the patient developed chorioamnionitis and the three fetuses were expelled.

[Ritualistic female genital mutilation. The sentiment of the women]. / Mutilations génitales rituelles féminines. La parole aux femmes.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is considered as the most dangerous custom still ritually practiced and 2 million girls undergo the ordeal each year. This practice is anchored and fixed firmly in numerous African people's culture and Western countries are confronted to it through African immigrants. In order to understand the justifications and the consequences of FGM we interviewed 14 genitally mutilated African women living in France. Unfortunately and despite the conscious knowledge of consequences and absurd side of such practice, yet it seems to be perpetuated over the descendants. Educational approach is the best solution to fight female genital mutilation fixed firmly in numerous African people's culture.

[Pregnancy in a rudimentary uterine horn]. / Grossesse dans une corne utérine rudimentaire.

The authors report a case of pregnancy in a rudimentary horn diagnosed by laparotomy. The location could not be suspected by any clinical sign. This pregnancy stopped at 19 weeks of amenorrhoea. Any attempts of induction of labour failed. Laparotomy was necessary to assess the diagnosis and to allow the resection of the uterine horn. The authors present a review of literature.

[Tuberculosis and pregnancy]. / Tuberculose et grossesse.

The authors report a case of pulmonary tuberculosis during pregnancy. They point out that the pregnancy does not change the natural course of the disease, congenital tuberculosis is rare but with a high rate of mortality, and the three most important antituberculosis (isoniazid, ethambutol and rifampicin) are safety during pregnancy.

[Amniotic fluid leakage and premature rupture of membranes after amniocentesis. A review of the literature]. / Perte de liquide amniotique et rupture des membranes après amniocentèse. Revue de la littérature.

BACKGROUND: Amniotic fluid leakage and premature rupture of membranes following amniocentesis is uncommon. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed the literature. Thirteen recent studies including 17 186 amniocenteses and 280 cases of amniotic fluid leakage were analyzed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Risk increases when early amniocentesis is performed prior to 15 weeks gestation and when the needle is inserted far from the placenta. Significant loss of amniotic fluid compromises pregnancy. Conservative management with bed rest seems to give good results. When amniotic leakage persists for more than two weeks, there is little spontaneous resolution. The risk of pursuing the pregnancy should be discussed with the couple in this case. Risks include respiratory disorders, skeletal malformations and premature birth. CONCLUSION: New techniques such as 'amniopatch' may play an important role in the near future.

[Acute carbon monoxide poisoning during pregnancy: 2 cases with different neonatal outcome]. / Intoxication aiguë au monoxyde de carbone pendant la grossesse: deux cas d'évolution néonatale différente.

We report two cases of moderate maternal poisoning during the third trimester. They underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy at 2.5 atmospheres for 90 minutes and were delivered at term. In one case the newborn presented an antenatal ischemic cerebral lesion probably due to monoxide poisoning. Pathophysiology and treatment of such accidents are discussed.

[Crohn's disease and pregnancy. Two case reports]. / Maladie de Crohn et grossesse. A propos de deux observations.

We report two cases of pregnancy in patients with Crohn's disease. For the first woman, non-exclusive ambulatory parenteral nutrition was given during the entire duration of gestation in a patient with short bowel syndrome, maintaining good nutritional status and normal delivery at term of an eutrophic infant; Crohn's disease relapsed one month post partum. In the second patient, Crohn's disease was less severe and remission occurred without treatment. Prophylactic cesarean was required due to multiple perineal scars resulting from surgical treatment of Crohn-related fistulae. The main problems with pregnancy in patients with Crohn's disease are discussed.

[Breast tuberculosis. A case of a diffuse inflammatory form]. / Tuberculose mammaire. A propos d'un cas à forme inflammatoire diffuse.

We report a case of inflammatory tuberculosis of the breast in a 83-year-old French Caucasian woman. She presented with a diffuse inflammatory tuberculosis of the breast and an axillary enlarged lymph node but no tumor was palpable in the breast. A carcinoma was firstly suspected. The diagnosis was accessed after repeat punction of a lymph node, as a Mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified after culture. A medical treatment was sufficient in our case.

[Ultrasonic signs of fetal toxoplasmosis. Review of the literature]. / Signes échographiques de la foetopathie toxoplasmique. Revue de la littérature.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the frequency and discuss the mechanisms and the prognostic value of sonographic anomalies observed during the surveillance of seroconversion for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy. METHODS: Cases of seroconversion during pregnancy were collected from 6 teams working with similar protocols. There were 2,168 seroconversions. We focused on ultrasound anomalies reported. RESULTS: Ultrasound anomalies were reported in 48 cases including the 168 fetuses with proven contamination (fetal blood or amniotic fluid sample), i.e. 2.2% (48 cases out of 2,168) of the seroconversions and 28% (48 cases out of 168) of the contaminated fetuses. There were multiple lesions in 44% of the cases. Brain calcifications had been found in utero in 44% of the newborns with such anomalies. No case of microcephalia was reported. Isolated hepatomegalia (4 cases) was not an indication for medical abortion. Isolated ascitis can regress after antiparasite treatment (2 cases). Medical abortions were performed in 51% of the cases (34 cases out of 66) on the basis of ultrasound findings. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound examination is reliable but can only detect late, constituted and often irreversible lesions. Nevertheless, this examination can help in deciding on medical abortion.

[Screening for congenital toxoplasmosis: pregnancy outcome after prenatal diagnosis in 211 cases]. / Dépistage de la toxoplasmose congénitale: devenir des grossesses après le diagnostic anténatal. A propos de 211 cas.

OBJECTIVE: To emphasize the importance of follow-up after birth of infants with an antenatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis. METHODS: Retrospective study from July 1987 through January 31 1995 on 211 women (214 fetuses) who had undergone ovular biopsy for toxoplasmosis seroconversion during pregnancy. RESULTS: Antenatal diagnosis was positive in 13 patients (6.2%). Four pregnancies were terminated during the second trimester. Delivery was triggered at 37 weeks gestation in one woman and in 8 others pregnancy was continued with Fansidar. All infants were born live with infraclinic disease. Two fetal deaths related to biopsy technique occurred (0.95%) and one pregnancy was terminated before the results had been obtained. Only 21.3% of the patients were delivered in our unit. A total of 197 infants were delivered with a negative antenatal diagnosis: 93 were healthy, 5 had congenital toxoplasmosis, 1 died at 3 months and 98 had no or incomplete follow-up. CONCLUSION: Incomplete post-natal follow-up is in contradiction with the excellent performance of antenatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis. Greater care is needed, especially since now only an amniocentisis is required to detect the parasite genome with polymerase chain reaction.

[Splenic cyst during pregnancy: a rare disease with difficult management]. / Kyste splénique et grossesse : une pathologie rare de prise en charge difficile.

Maternal splenic cyst during pregnancy seems to be a rare disease whose treatment is not codified. The most feared complication of these cysts is the rupture. In case of rupture, 60% of cases occur during the third trimester of pregnancy and result in a significant maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. We examine the two main modes of treatment used nowadays: surgical splenectomy or radiological drainage.