Cardiac sarcoidosis is a disease of young adults. In most cases it presents with sudden death, arrhythmias, conduction disorders, heart failure or cardiomyopathy. The authors describe two cases of myocardial involvement by sarcoidosis that lead to death of the patients. Case one was a 26-year-old Indian man who was previously well and presented with sudden death. Autopsy showed nodules of sarcoid granuloma involving the heart, lungs and lymph nodes. Case two was a 47-year-old Indian lady who complained of reduced effort tolerance. Echocardiography showed that she had restrictive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with heart failure. Seven months after initial presentation, she developed worsening of heart failure and died. Autopsy revealed involvement of the heart, lungs and liver by sarcoidosis.
Historically a calibre persistent submucosal artery was most often described in the stomach. However in later years it was also discovered in the duodenum and jejunum. It is an uncommon and important cause of massive gastrointestinal bleeding in which failure of detection and early intervention would lead to death. In this paper we report a 27-year-old man with no significant medical history who presented at the emergency unit for recurrent melaena, haematochezia and hypotension. Initial investigations failed to localize the source of bleeding. Emergency exploratory laporatomy revealed a small jejunal mucosal nodule that was actively spurting blood. Histopathological evaluation identified a calibre persistent submucosal artery.
Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by Histoplasma capsulatum. Although uncommon, it should be considered among the list of important opportunistic infections in severely immunocompromised patients. Patients living with AIDS are at particular risk of disseminated histoplasmosis. Diagnosis requires a high level of clinical suspicion. The infection is best confirmed by demonstration of the organism in tissue specimens or by culture. Amphotericin B is the most effective drug for severe disseminated histoplasmosis. Response is good but life-long maintenance is required to prevent relapse.
This study was carried out to determine the role of p53 and p21 in the pathogenesis of prostatic adenocarcinoma and their association with tumour grade.
A rare case of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid is reported herein. A 64-year-old Malay lady presented with a gradually enlarging thyroid nodule for the past 6 months and underwent total thyroidectomy. Histopathology revealed a squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid with complete resection. Possible primary tumour elsewhere was excluded. Postoperative irradiation was given and patient is still alive after 2 years of follow-up.
A 14 year old girl presented in 1986 with a huge perineal swelling which was progressively increasing in size and associated with loss of weight and loss of appetite. Biopsy from the mass revealed rhabdomyosarcoma of the vulva. She was treated with chemotherapy and radium implant. She responded well to the regime. Fibrosis of the vulva and vagina caused difficulty in consummation. Once it was corrected, she conceived easily and proceeded to a normal pregnancy and delivery.
The cytological features of a rare case of undifferentiated (embryonal) sarcoma of the liver are presented. The cytology smears showed singly dispersed polygonal and spindle cells as well as loose clusters of cells held together in myxoid material. Neoplastic cells were generally large with round, oval or lobulated nuclei. The cytoplasm was variable in amount with ill-defined borders. Occasional multinucleated cells were also present. Hyaline globules were present on sections of the cell block. Immunohistochemical studies performed showed positivity for vimentin, cytokeratin and alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) in the tumour cells.
A 13-year-old boy who had epigastric pain and pallor for 2 months and found to have an ulcerative mass in the stomach and underwent partial gastrectomy. A diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) of the stomach was made on histological examination. Three years later, recurrence in the stomach, with invasion into the pancreas and hilum of the spleen was noted and was managed by wide wedge resection of the stomach, distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy. The patient has been recurrence-free for the past 2 years. Gastric IMT is an uncommon tumour in children with unpredictable prognosis.
Inverted papilloma is a rare, benign tumour representing only 0.5 to 4 per cent of all sinonasal neoplasms; its involvement of the middle ear is extremely rare. We present a case of multicentric inverted papilloma in the sinonasal region and middle ear in a 54-year-old man. The patient later developed neck metastasis secondary to malignant transformation of the inverted papilloma in the middle ear.
Heterotopic neuroglial tissue is a rare congenital lesion with predilection in head and neck region. We report a case of a newborn who presented with an oral cavity mass with intracranial extension and later respiratory distress that was successfully excised via transcranial and transcervical approach.