Myositis is a rare unknown inflammatory disorder of the skeletal muscle tissue. Generalized inflammatory myopathies, polymyositis, and dermatomyositis have been reported during pregnancy. Isolated orbital myositis in pregnancy has not been previously described in the literature. The authors report a case of left isolated orbital myositis in a primigravida at 38 weeks gestation affecting the patient's left lateral rectus muscle. MRI of the orbit was consistent with the diagnosis. She showed remarkable clinical improvement with oral corticosteroids therapy.
Melanomas on the foot are difficult to differentiate from diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). In particular, acral lentiginous and amelanotic melanomas have a high chance of being misdiagnosed. We present two patients with diabetes mellitus and malignant melanomas of the foot initially diagnosed as DFU. Both cases were treated with wide excision amputation and local dissection, without adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Both patients remain disease-free up to the last follow-up visit. It is important to maintain a high index of suspicion and a skin biopsy should be done in any DFU with atypical features.
To evaluate corneal thickness and volume in subclinical and clinical keratoconus in Asian population with the aim of discriminating between normal and ectatic cornea. Eyes were placed into one of the following three groups: normal, subclinical, and mild-moderate keratoconus. Pentacam Scheimpflug imaging (Oculus Inc., Wetzlar, Germany) was performed for each participant to record thinnest corneal thickness, central corneal thickness, corneal volume (CV), peripheral corneal thickness (PCT) and percentage thickness increase (PTI) at 2, 4, 6, and 8 mm. The data were exported to SPSS for statistical analysis. Subjects comprised 52 normal, 15 subclinical keratoconus, and 32 mild-moderate clinical keratoconus eyes. Our results indicated that corneal thickness (CT) distribution, PTI, and CV in normal eyes were significantly different compared with subclinical and clinical keratoconus (P < .05). Overall, subclinical group exhibited lower CT distribution and volume, and higher PTI in comparison with normal eyes. However, they showed higher CT distribution and volume, and lower PTI compared with keratoconus group. In addition, there was a smaller change in PCT and PTI from the thinnest point of the cornea to the periphery. The results of the present study indicate that CT parameters and CV were significantly different in normal versus subclinical group and in normal versus keratoconus group. These findings could help clinicians to better discriminate between normal and ectatic cornea.
Solid-pseudopapillary tumour (SPT) is a rare exocrine tumour of the pancreas and is considered to have low malignant potential. Few morphological criteria are used to predict malignant behaviour such as equivocal perineural invasion, angioinvasion and invasion to surrounding tissue, and should be designated as solid-pseudopapillary carcinoma (SPC). We report a case of SPC. Clinical and radiological findings are typical for SPT with no metastatic disease. There is no tumour recurrence after 4 months postresection. Clinical history and radiological findings were retrieved from the patient's record sheet and Viarad system. H&E staining and few immunoproxidase staining were reviewed by several pathologists. The histological findings are typical for SPT, with additional perineural invasion. There is no angioinvasion or capsular invasion identified. This is our first experience in diagnosing and managing SPC. We look forward to seeing the patient's disease status during her next routine follow-up. We expect good disease-free survival and very low risk of tumour recurrence, in view of only one risk factor (perineural invasion) and uninvolved surgical margins by the tumour.
We report a case of a healthy 78-year-old indonesian man who presented with chronic weight loss, poor appetite and lethargy. CT abdomen showed bilateral adrenal masses. EUS-guided FNA was performed on the left adrenal gland. Histopathology report was Histoplasma Capsulatum. He recovered well with antifungal treatment without any complication. In this case, we found that the role of EUS -guided FNA was not only limited to diagnosis but also helped in the prognosis of the disease since the method was able to assess the general anatomy of the adrenal gland better than other imaging modalities due to its close proximity and direct visualization.
A 10 year-old Iban girl presented with severe odynophagia for 4 days and subcutaneous emphysema. Clinically, her neck was tender with crepitus. Lateral neck radiograph showed multiple linear radiolucent shadows at retropharyngeal space. Flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscope revealed a tunnel behind upper oesophagus with slough and there was pooling of saliva at pyriform sinus. Feeding via nasogastric tube was started and empirical treatment for fungal and bacterial infection was commenced. Subsequent computed tomography of neck and thorax showed a 15-long blind tract at subglottic region posterior to oesophagus (prevertebral region), extending to superior mediastinum just before carina at T3/T4 level, represent abscess. Hourly suctioning of the remaining abscess in the blind tract with 10ml-syringe was done.
Branchial cleft anomalies result from abnormal persistence of branchial apparatus, which is located at the lateral part of the neck. These occur due to failure of obliteration of the branchial apparatus during embryonic development. Differential diagnoses of lateral neck mass are salivary gland or neurogenic neoplasms, paragangliomas, adenopathies, cystic hygroma or cystic metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma or thyroid papillary carcinoma. Clinically, a branchial cyst is smooth, round, fluctuant and non-tender, and usually occurs over the upper part of the neck, anterior to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Sometimes, it may present as infected cyst (or abscess), a sinus or fistula. Surgical excision is the definitive treatment for branchial anomalies. The objective of the work was to study the demographic data, clinical presentation, definite diagnostic workup and treatment of patients diagnosed with branchial anomalies. This is a retrospective study of 26 patients who were diagnosed with branchial anomalies (branchial cyst and fistula), of which only 12 patients had data available between July 1999 and June 2009 at the Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. Twelve cases of branchial anomalies were seen, in which 10 patients had second branchial cyst anomalies, 1 had third branchial fistula and 1 had bilateral branchial lesion. There were seven females and five males. The age of the patients varied over a wide range (4-44 years), but the majority of the patients were in their second and third decade of life. All branchial anomalies occurred at the classical site; eight patients had left-sided neck lesion. Correct clinical diagnosis was made only in five patients (41.6 %). All patients underwent surgical excision with no reported recurrence. Branchial anomalies are frequently forgotten in the differential diagnosis of lateral neck swelling. Diagnosis is usually delayed, leading to improper treatment. The diagnosis of patients who present with lateral neck cystic swelling with or without episodes of recurrent neck abscess should be considered with a high suspicion for branchial anomalies. FNA cytology is a good investigative tool in reaching toward a diagnosis of branchial lesion, with the concurrent assistance of radiological modalities. Surgical excision is the gold standard treatment of lesions of branchial anomalies.
Early detection of oral potentially malignant epithelial lesions (PMELs) is aimed at improving survival rates as carcinogenesis is a multistep process and prevention is possible if these lesions are detected at an early and reversible stage of the disease. A prospective clinical study aimed at determining the prevalence of bilateral 'mirror-image' oral PMELs was carried out. Sample consisted of 32 (53.3%) Indians, 23 (38.3%) Chinese, 4 (6.7%) Malays and one (1.7%) Nepalese. All had histopathological confirmation of their primary existing PMEL as inclusion criteria. A total of 70 primary lesions were detected. The most common PMEL found was oral lichen planus. Of these, 28 (46.7%) patients exhibited bilateral 'mirror-image' lesions (n = 42) either synchronously (n = 32/42) or metachronously (n = 10/42). The remaining 32 (53.3%) patients had normal-looking contralateral mucosa. Present findings suggest that patients presenting with oral PMELs are at greater risk of developing a second lesion, most probably in the contralateral 'mirror-image' site.
A 30-year-old, nulliparous woman presented with a history of subfertility. On examination she was found to have uterine fibroid of 28 weeks size of gravid uterus and subsequently laporatomy myomectomy was performed. Multilobulated masses, with diameters ranging from 22 mm to 160 mm were found. Cut sections of the lobulated masses showed whitish whorled cut surface. One of the multilobulated masses had a cystic cavity, measuring 60x50x35 mm(3). Light microscopic findings of the mass with the cystic cavity showed a well-circumscribed cellular tumour composed of cells exhibiting moderate nuclear atypia which were enlarged, nuclei with prominent chromatin clumping and were distributed in areas. Some tumour cells showed large nuclear pseudoinclusions, multinucleated or multilobated tumour giant cells, smudging and few enlarged nucleoli. Mitotic activity was 4 MFs per 10 HPFs. Occasional cells with intracytoplasmic inclusions resembling rhabdoid - like features were seen. There were no atypical mitoses or tumour necroses were noted. Diagnosis of atypical leiomyoma or symplastic leiomyoma was made. Atypical or symplastic leiomyomas are rare in the region of Malaysia and the present case discusses its incidence in younger age, its morphological features along with diagnosis and clinical outcome.
A retrospective study was undertaken to determine the clinical features of cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) seen in the Department of Dermatology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and to assess the rate of correct diagnosis made by the referring primary care doctors. Clinical records of all 31 patients with CLM seen between January 2006 and June 2010 were retrieved. The majority of patients were male. The mean age was 32.2 years. Pruritus was reported in 83.9% of cases and serpiginous tracts in 100%. The mean lesion count was 4.4 and the mean duration of disease before presentation was 3.1 weeks. The majority of skin lesions were on the buttock and lower extremities. Only 45.2% of patients had the correct diagnosis made by the referring primary care doctors. Older age of patients and lower number of lesions were associated with a higher rate of correct diagnosis. The low rate of correct diagnosis made by the referring primary care doctors to the dermatologists in this study warrants the need for education of not only primary care doctors but also future primary care providers, consisting of medical students, house officers and junior medical officers.
Study site: Department of Dermatology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur
We report a series of six immunocompetent patients who were believed initially to have primary bone sarcomas, but turned out to have subacute osteomyelitis.
Necrotizing enterocolitis has a wide clinical spectrum of manifestation. We report a novel method of managing focal isolated perforation in necrotizing enterocolitis by using diagnostic laparoscopy to localize the site of perforation and by making a microincision over the perforation to perform exteriorization or limited resection and primary anastomosis.
Breast hamartoma is an uncommon poorly recognised benign breast neoplasm. Hamartoma displaying marked smooth muscle components known as myoid hamartoma of the breast is a much rarer entity. We present a case of myoid hamartoma of breast with chondroid differentiation in a 46-year-old woman. The painless breast lump was circumscribed and mammography showed a well-encapsulated large, dense mass with no calcification. Core needle biopsy was reported as fibroadenoma. The lesion was excised. Microscopically, it composed of many groups of mammary glandular components with dense fibrous stroma, adipose tissue and marked groups of smooth muscle fibres. Foci of chondroid differentiation were noted in the lesion. The smooth muscle cells showed strong and diffuse immunoreactivity for vimentin, myogloblin, alpha-smooth muscle actin, desmin and CD34 and failed to express pan-cytokeratin or S100 protein. The ducts lined by epithelial cells were reactive to pan-cytokeratin while the myoepithelial cells were reactive to S100 protein. The various immuno-histochemical staining as well as the cyto-histological changes encountered in myoid hamartomas are discussed with clinical, radiological and pathological correlation to differentiate it from other benign and malignant breast lesions.
Pulmonary cryptococcosis can be clinically silent in non-HIV infected patients but can also present as nodules and masses on the chest radiograph, which can be mistaken for tuberculosis or lung cancer. Common symptoms include fever and cough, and uncommonly haemoptysis. This report illustrates a non-HIV infected patient whose main complaint was haemoptysis and headache. He was diagnosed with pulmonary cryptococcosis from biopsy of an endobronchial mass found on flexible bronchoscopy. Disseminated cryptoccoccal infection should be considered as a differential diagnosis in non-HIV infected patients presenting with haemoptysis and headache. Early recognition and administration of appropriate therapy will improve clinical outcome in these patients.
BACKGROUND: Extraskeletal (soft tissue) chondromas are rare neoplasms. They are seen most frequently in the soft tissues of hands and feet. A chondroma occurring in the breast is exceedingly uncommon. We present a case of pure chondroma of the breast in a young woman in whom fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytologic features suggested a cartilaginous neoplasm.
CASE: A 28-year-old woman presented with a mobile lump in the left breast. Mammography showed a high-density nodule without microcalcifications. A clinical diagnosis of fibroadenoma was made. A differential diagnosis was obtained on FNA. Excisional biopsy of the lump showed the histopathologic features of chondroma. There was no recurrence or appearance of new lesion during 13 months of follow-up.
CONCLUSION: Chondroma of the breast shows FNA cytologic features of cartilaginous tumor, but specific tumor typing may not be possible. This case highlights the difficulties that may arise in FNA diagnosis of cartilaginous tumor especially when it occurs at an unusual site. Awareness of the cytologic features combined with clinical and radiologic findings should guide the cytopathologist to make correct diagnosis of this neoplasm.
Spontaneous bladder perforation secondary to tuberculosis (TB) is very rare. Only three cases have been reported so far in the literature. Due to its rarity, the diagnosis of spontaneous bladder perforation is often missed. Confirmation of TB via culture takes a long time and starting empirical treatment for TB is necessary. We relate our experience with a young woman who presented with clinical features of a perforated appendix and was only diagnosed with bladder perforation during laparotomy. She also had distal right ureteral stricture and left infundibular stenosis. The provisional diagnosis of TB was attained via typical histopathological features and a positive Mantoux test. She was started empirically on anti-TB treatment and recovered without any complications. Urine culture after 6 weeks confirmed the diagnosis of TB.
An audit of 1122 cholecystectomies for a 6-year period from 2000 to 2005 was done to review cases of primary carcinoma of gallbladder. There were nine cases of primary carcinoma of gallbladder. Six were females and 3 males. Their ages ranged from 27 to 81 years. Pre-operatively, only 2 (11.1%) were clinically suspected of carcinoma while 3 were diagnosed as cholecystitis, two as cholelithiasis and one case each of ovarian cyst and intestinal obstruction. Intra-operatively, an additional four cases were suspected as gallbladder carcinoma with the remaining three cases diagnosed as only having gallstones. Altogether only 5 (55.6%) cases were associated with gallstones. Six (66.67%) cases of gallbladder carcinoma had abnormal macroscopical lesions noted; either papillary lesions or polypoid masses. The remaining 3 cases had thickening of the wall, consistent with chronic cholecystitis. Seven cases were found histologically to be adenocarcinoma. Of these, two were papillary carcinoma and one signet ring cell type adenocarcinoma. One case of squamous cell carcinoma and one case of adenosquamous carcinoma were noted. This study highlights the importance of careful macroscopical and microscopical evaluation of a routine pathological examination of gallbladder removed for cholecystitis or cholelithiasis. It provides the incidence of gallbladder carcinoma in patients who underwent cholecystectomies in a government hospital in Johor, Malaysia.
The endoscopic features of cholesterol atheroembolism affecting the colon have not been extensively described in the literature, owing to the rarity of this entity. We report a middle-aged man who presented with hematochezia after recent coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Colonoscopy revealed ulcerative skip lesions with overlying slough resembling pseudomembranes distal to the transverse colon, inconsistent with the initial clinical impression of ischemic colitis. As a consequence of continued bleeding with hemodynamic instability, the patient underwent an extended low anterior resection with end transverse colostomy. Histology revealed cholesterol atheroembolism resulting in patchy ischemic ulceration of the colon. Colonic cholesterol atheroembolism can mimic the endoscopic features of pseudomembranous colitis.