Xanthogranulomatous Endometritis with calculus formation in setting of prolapsed uterus

ABSTRACT Xanthogranulomatous inflammation is a rare benign inflammatory lesion characterized by sheets of lipid-laden foamy histiocytes. It has been reported in various organs, mainly the kidney and gall bladder. Xanthogranulomatous endometritis (XGE) is sporadic, with only a few cases reported in the English medical literature. Herein, we report a case of xanthogranulomatous endometritis with the formation of stones in a 50-year-old female patient with a prolapsed uterus. Grossly the endometrium was irregular, and the uterine cavity was filled with a yellow friable material, a polypoid growth, and yellowish stones. The microscopy showed sheets of histiocytes with few preserved endometrial glands. In this case, the xanthogranulomatous inflammation may mimic a clear cell carcinoma involving the endometrium and myometrium. One of the important differential diagnoses is malakoplakia. Immunohistochemistry and special stains are helpful in diagnosis.

Fatal outcome of congenital aortopulmonary window with patent ductus arteriosus complicating pregnancy

Aortopulmonary window (APW) is a rare congenital heart defect with abnormal communication between the ascending aorta and the pulmonary trunk with two separate semilunar valves. We present an autopsy case report wherein a young primigravida woman presented with progressive breathlessness and central cyanosis at 21 weeks of gestation. Echocardiography performed in the emergency room revealed elevated right-sided cardiac pressures suggestive of severe pulmonary hypertension; however, no structural cardiac defect was discernible. The patient succumbed to congestive cardiac failure and progressive hypoxia within 5 days of hospitalization. The autopsy revealed a Type I aortopulmonary window (2 cm) with patent ductus arteriosus. The lungs showed changes of severe pulmonary hypertension with superadded bronchopneumonia. This report underscores a rare presentation of APW, undiagnosed until pregnancy, leading to the Eisenmenger syndrome and death.

Characteristic differences in metabolite profile in male and female plants of dioecious Piper betle L.

Piper betle is a dioecious pan-Asiatic plant having cultural and medicinal uses. It belongs to the family Piperaceae and is a native of the tropics although it is also cultivated in subtropical areas. Flowering in P. betle occurs only in tropical regions. Due to lack of inductive floral cycles the plant remains in its vegetative state in the subtropics. Therefore, due to lack of flowering, gender distinction cannot be made the in the subtropics. Gender distinction in P. betle in vegetative state can be made using Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectroscopy (DARTMS), a robust highthroughput method. DARTMS analysis of leaf samples of two male and six female plants showed characteristic differences in the spectra between male and female plants. Semi-quantitative differences in some of the identified peaks in male and female landraces showed gender-based differences in metabolites. Cluster analysis using the peaks at m/z 151, 193, 235 and 252 showed two distinct clusters of male and female landraces. It appears that male and female plants besides having flowers of different sexes also have characteristic differences in the metabolites representing two metabolic types.

Genetic diversity amongst landraces of a dioecious vegetatively propagated plant, betelvine (Piper betle L.).

Betelvine (Piper betle L., family Piperaceae) is an important, traditional and widely cultivated crop of India. The cultivators and consumers recognize more than 100 cultivars (landraces) based on regional and organoleptic considerations, while in terms of phytochemical constituents only five groups have been identified for all the landraces. Since betelvine is an obligate vegetatively propagated species, genomic changes, if any, may have become 'fixed' in the landraces. We carried out random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis in several landraces considered in four groups, namely, 'Kapoori', 'Bangla', 'Sanchi' and 'Others' in order to ascertain their genetic diversity. On the basis of the data from eleven RAPD primers, we distinguished genetic variation within and among the four groups of landraces. The results indicate the 'Kapoori' group is the most diverse. The neighbour joining (NJ) tree after a bootstrap (500 replicate) test of robustness clearly shows the four groups to be well separated. Interestingly, all known male or female betelvine landraces have separated in the NJ tree indicating an apparent gender-based distinction among the betelvines.