Gingival lipoma: a case report / Lipoma gingival: reporte de un caso

ABSTRACT. The lipoma is a benign neoplasm of slow growth composed of mature fatty cells, usually surrounded by a thin fibrous capsule. It does not commonly appear in the oral cavity, corresponding to 0.1 to 5% of benign tumors of the mouth. This article presents the case of a 76-year old female patient with a lesion on papilla and vestibular area between molars 46 and 47, measuring approximately 1.3 x 1.0 cm. The lesion was nucleated and subjected to histological examination, being compatible with a lipoma. This article describes its clinical features, differential diagnosis with other diseases of the oral cavity, and its respective management.

RESUMEN. El lipoma se define como una neoplasia benigna de crecimiento lento, compuesta de células grasas maduras, por lo general rodeadas por una delgada cápsula fibrosa. Su presentación en la boca se considera infrecuente, y corresponden al 0,1 a 5% de los tumores benignos de la boca. Se presenta el caso de una paciente de 76 años con una lesión en papila y zona vestibular entre molares 46 y 47, de aproximadamente 1,3 x 1,0 cm. Se enuclea la lesión y se realiza el examen histológico, el cual fue compatible con un lipoma. En este artículo se describen sus características clínicas, su diagnóstico diferencial con otras patologías de la cavidad oral y su respectivo manejo.

Validation and clinical application of a molecular method for the identification of Cryptococcus neoformans/Cryptococcus gattii complex DNA in human clinical specimens

ABSTRACT The diagnosis of cryptococcosis is usually performed based on cultures of tissue or body fluids and isolation of the fungus, but this method may require several days. Direct microscopic examination, although rapid, is relatively insensitive. Biochemical and immunodiagnostic rapid tests are also used. However, all of these methods have limitations that may hinder final diagnosis. The increasing incidence of fungal infections has focused attention on tools for rapid and accurate diagnosis using molecular biological techniques. Currently, PCR-based methods, particularly nested, multiplex and real-time PCR, provide both high sensitivity and specificity. In the present study, we evaluated a nested PCR targeting the gene encoding the ITS-1 and ITS-2 regions of rDNA in samples from a cohort of patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis. The results showed that in our hands, this Cryptococcus nested PCR assay has 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity and was able to detect until 2 femtograms of Cryptococcus DNA.

Validation and clinical application of a nested PCR for paracoccidioidomycosis diagnosis in clinical samples from Colombian patients

Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic and endemic mycosis, restricted to tropical and subtropical areas of Latin America. The infection is caused by the thermal dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensisand Paracoccidioides lutzii. The diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis is usually performed by microscopic examination, culture and immunodiagnostic tests to respiratory specimens, body fluids and/or biopsies; however these methods require laboratory personnel with experience and several days to produce a result. In the present study, we have validated and evaluated a nested PCR assay targeting the gene encoding the Paracoccidioides gp43membrane protein in 191 clinical samples: 115 samples from patients with proven infections other than paracoccidioidomycosis, 51 samples as negative controls, and 25 samples from patients diagnosed with paracoccidioidomycosis. Additionally, the specificity of the nested PCR assay was also evaluated using purified DNA isolated from cultures of different microorganisms (n= 35) previously identified by culture and/or sequencing. The results showed that in our hands, this nested PCR assay for gp43 protein showed specificity and sensitivity rates of 100%. The optimized nested PCR conditions in our laboratory allowed detection down to 1 fg of P. brasiliensisDNA.