Cystic dysplasia of the rete testis associated with ipsilateral renal agenesis: A case report.

Cystic dysplasia of the rete testis is a rare benign abnormality seen in the pediatric population. Diagnosed by scrotal ultrasonography, this lesion is often associated with congenital renal tract anomalies, most commonly ipsilateral renal agenesis or multicystic dysplastic kidney. Treatment traditionally involves orchiectomy or testicular sparing surgery; however, conservative treatment with surveillance has been used as an appropriate alternative. We present the case of a 5-year-old boy with cystic dysplasia of the rete testis with associated unilateral renal agenesis.

Calcified encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis associated with peritoneal dialysis: A case report.

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare, but sometimes fatal, complication of peritoneal dialysis characterized by diffuse thickening and encapsulation of the bowel and peritoneum. In more advanced cases, the peritoneum will gradually calcify. EPS usually presents as partial small bowel obstruction and diagnosed on imaging studies. We present a case of a 19-year-old female on long-term peritoneal dialysis with EPS and diffuse peritoneal calcifications.

Fibrolipomatous hamartoma of the foot with associated macrosyndactyly: a case report.

Fibrolipomatous hamartoma is a rare benign congenital overgrowth of fibroadipose tissue in the nerve sheath. While usually affecting the median nerve, the digits of the hands and feet are sometimes affected and may result in macrodactyly, which is referred to as macrodystrophia lipomatosa. We present a rare case of fibrolipomatous hamartoma in a 6-week-old female's foot with macrodactyly and syndactyly and discuss its presentation and radiologic features.

HIV-associated dementia presenting predominantly with clinical motor deficits: A case report.

HIV-associated dementia is commonly seen in older individuals and presents as a subcortical dementia associated with concentration, attention, and memory impairments. Motor signs, such as difficulty with gait, and mood changes are less prominent findings but are considered during diagnosis. We present a case of HIV-associated dementia in a young 29-year-old man who presented with progressive lower extremity weakness and difficulty ambulating.

Petechiae, Purpura, and a Pandemic: A Recipe for Scurvy.

This case report presents the case of a 28-year-old man who developed scurvy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Scurvy is a disease resulting from a nutritional deficiency of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). It is a rare condition, whose signs and symptoms can vary from patient to patient. The treatment is vitamin C supplementation, which is often followed by a swift recovery. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of scurvy during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article highlights a rare acquired bleeding disorder, which may manifest more commonly during a pandemic due to food scarcity or stay-at-home mandates in those already at risk.

Capturing public interest toward new tools for controlling human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection exploiting data from Google Trends.

Human immunodeficiency virus vaccination and pre-exposure prophylaxis represent two different emerging preventive tools. Google Trends was used to assess the public interest toward these tools in terms of digital activities. Worldwide web searches concerning the human immunodeficiency virus vaccine represented 0.34 percent, 0.03 percent, and 46.97 percent of human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome treatment-related Google Trends queries, respectively. Concerning temporal trends, digital activities were shown to increase from 0 percent as of 1 January 2004 percent to 46 percent as of 8 October 2017 with two spikes observed in May and July 2012, coinciding with the US Food and Drug Administration approval. Bursts in search number and volume were recorded as human immunodeficiency virus vaccine trials emerged. This search topic has decreased in the past decade in parallel to the increase in Truvada-related topics. Concentrated searches were noticed among African countries with high human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome prevalence. Stakeholders should take advantage of public interest especially in preventive medicine in high disease burden countries.

Chronic hepatitis B viral infection among RA patients-a cross-sectional control study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory joint disorder presenting also with extra-articular manifestations. As many other autoimmune diseases, it has been suggested that infectious diseases might contribute to its emergence. Hepatitis viruses were suggested by several reports as a trigger of RA onset. We aimed to assess the association between RA and chronic hepatitis B viral infection (HBV). METHODS: Patients with RA were compared with age- and sex-matched controls regarding the proportion of chronic HBV infection in a case-control study. The chi-square and t tests were used for univariate analysis, whereas a logistic regression model was used for multivariate analysis. The study was performed utilizing the medical database of Clalit Health Services. RESULTS: There was a significantly higher proportion of chronic HBV infection in RA patients compared with controls (1.19% vs 0.63%, respectively; p < 0.001). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, RA was significantly associated with chronic HBV infection (OR = 1.89, 95%CI 1.55-2.29, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with RA have a greater proportion of chronic HBV infection than matched controls. Screening for HBV infection among RA patients may be warranted.

Correction: Public reaction to Chikungunya outbreaks in Italy-Insights from an extensive novel data streams-based structural equation modeling analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197337.].

Fingolimod-improved axonal and myelin integrity of white matter tracts associated with multiple sclerosis-related functional impairments.

AIMS: Fingolimod hydrochloride is an effective immunomodulatory drug in improving relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). However, data on the neuroradiologic effects on white matter (WM) have not been demonstrated. In this study, we aimed elucidating the impact of 1-year fingolimod treatment on WM integrity in patients with RRMS. METHODS: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was applied to assess axonal and myelin integrity in specific WM tracts of patients with RRMS prior to and 1 year postfingolimod treatment (n = 30). The fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), axial diffusivity, and mean diffusivity were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics on specific regions of interest associated with impaired Expanded Disability Status Scale functional scores before treatment. RESULTS: In patients with impaired pyramidal function at baseline (average score 2.3 ± 0.2, n = 25), fingolimod induced a significant increase in FA (P = 0.002) and decrease in RD (P = 0.03) in the corticospinal tract. In patients with impaired cerebellar function at baseline (average score 2.0 ± 0.1, n = 19), significant increases in FA and decreases in RD were observed in the superior (P = 0.02, P = 0.01, respectively) and inferior (P = 0.03, P = 0.05, respectively) cerebellar peduncles. CONCLUSION: The observed results suggest increased microstructural integrity and decreased demyelination of damaged WM tracts and support the possible direct mechanism of fingolimod action.

Public reaction to Chikungunya outbreaks in Italy-Insights from an extensive novel data streams-based structural equation modeling analysis.

The recent outbreak of Chikungunya virus in Italy represents a serious public health concern, which is attracting media coverage and generating public interest in terms of Internet searches and social media interactions. Here, we sought to assess the Chikungunya-related digital behavior and the interplay between epidemiological figures and novel data streams traffic. Reaction to the recent outbreak was analyzed in terms of Google Trends, Google News and Twitter traffic, Wikipedia visits and edits, and PubMed articles, exploiting structural modelling equations. A total of 233,678 page-views and 150 edits on the Italian Wikipedia page, 3,702 tweets, 149 scholarly articles, and 3,073 news articles were retrieved. The relationship between overall Chikungunya cases, as well as autochthonous cases, and tweets production was found to be fully mediated by Chikungunya-related web searches. However, in the allochthonous/imported cases model, tweet production was not found to be significantly mediated by epidemiological figures, with web searches still significantly mediating tweet production. Inconsistent relationships were detected in mediation models involving Wikipedia usage as a mediator variable. Similarly, the effect between news consumption and tweets production was suppressed by the Wikipedia usage. A further inconsistent mediation was found in the case of the effect between Wikipedia usage and tweets production, with web searches as a mediator variable. When adjusting for the Internet penetration index, similar findings could be obtained, with the important exception that in the adjusted model the relationship between GN and Twitter was found to be partially mediated by Wikipedia usage. Furthermore, the link between Wikipedia usage and PubMed/MEDLINE was fully mediated by GN, differently from what was found in the unadjusted model. In conclusion-a significant public reaction to the current Chikungunya outbreak was documented. Health authorities should be aware of this, recognizing the role of new technologies for collecting public concerns and replying to them, disseminating awareness and avoid misleading information.