Primary intratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma: a rare aggressive childhood neoplasm

Testicular tumors are relatively uncommon in children. The tumors of germ cell origin are still frequently encountered. The pure embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas of testis, not associated with sarcomatous component of the germ cell tumor, is a very rare entity. It is a highly aggressive tumor of childhood and young adolescents. In testes, it arises commonly from paratesticular tissue; primary intratesticular being extremely rare. To the best of authors knowledge, only fifteen cases of primary pure intratesticular tumor have been reported in the literature so far. We report a case of eight-year-old child who presented with a progressive painless right testicular enlargement over two months. Ultrasonography showed a heterogenous intratesticular mass. High orchidectomy was performed. Histopathological examination of the specimen assisted with immunohistochemistry revealed embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.

Autoimmune Hypophysitis: A Case Report

Autoimmune hypophysitis is an autoimmune inflammation of the pituitary gland. It may result in hypopituitarism depending upon the part of pituitary affected. Here, we report the case of autoimmune hypophysitis in a 30-year-old male who was admitted with complaints of generalised swelling for one month and fever and cough for one week. The patient’s Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was more than 139, anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti-TPO) was more than 1000 and serum sodium was 107 and a tiny streak of tissue along the periphery with an empty sella as seen on MRI. The patient was given tablet Levothyroxine 100 microgram, Telmisartan 40 mg and Hydrocortisone 10mg twice daily. With medications, the patient improved and was discharged

Significance of AgNOR in Salivary Gland Tumours.

Diagnosis of Salivary gland tumours is challenging, because of wide variation in differentiation and overlapping morphological features. Sometimes, the difficulty encountered in distinguishing between pleomorphic adenoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The objective is to study the application of AgNOR pattern in differentiating benign and malignant tumours of the salivary glands on Fine needle aspirates and their correlation with histopathology. Material and method: Cytological material was obtained by FNAC from forty three patients of salivary gland tumours. MGG and Pap stained smears were prepared for cytological interpretation. Histopathological study was done on routine formalin fixed and Haematoxylin & Eosin stained sections. Smears and sections were stained with Silver colloid stain for study of AgNOR counting. Results: AgNOR in benign tumours were small, round, uniform and less in number (1.02-1.97) while in malignant tumours they were very large, irregular, haphazardly distributed with high counts (1.23-16). Conclusion: Present study shows that count as well as morphology of AgNOR dots was helpful in differentiating between benign and malignant tumours and their grading of malignancy .

Myelomatous Effusion in Multiple Myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a systemic disease characterized by monoclonal proliferation of plasma cells. The clinical manifestations of the disease are due to tumour cell infiltration and monoclonal immunoglobulins and / or light chains secreted by the neoplastic cells. Effusions may develop in cases of multiple myeloma due to various causes but myelomatous effusion is uncommon. Moreover, multiple myeloma presenting as bilateral pleural effusion is exceptional and a case of multiple myeloma presenting with bilateral pleural effusion and anaemia is reported.

Weak D antigen - Revisited.

D antigen is the most immunogenic antigen in the complex Rh blood group system discovered in the year 1939. There is a lot of polymorphism in its phenotype due to genetic heterogeneity. Certain mutations and /or deletions lead to a weak phenotype defined by decreased density of antigen sites which require the use of anti human globulin for detection. The need for detection of the weak D antigen was to prevent alloimmunization by this blood if transfused to a D negative patient especially to women in child bearing age group. This contention is however, controversial and not proven beyond doubt. Moreover, the use of potent monoclonal D typing antisera detects low density of weak D antigens thus obviating the use of anti human globulin. We have assessed the incidence of Rh negative and weak D blood groups in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and reviewed the literature regarding the controversies in the clinical significance of weak D antigen.

Wound healing activity of ethanolic extract of Plantago Ovata (Ispaghula) seeds.

Present work was done to explore the wound healing activity of ethanolic extract of Plantago ovata seeds in albino wistar rats. The extract was tested for wound healing activity by excision and incison wound model. The extract was used as ointment (10% w/w) in petroleum jelly base. The extract showed significant response (p< 0.01) in both the wound types tested when compared with the control group. Aloe vera ointment (10%w/w) was used as standard drug and the activity of the extract was in close proximity to standard. On the basis of the results it can be said that the extract of Plantago ovata seeds possess wound healing activity.

Bacteriological & epidemiological characteristics of diphtheria cases in & around Delhi -a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Diphtheria infections caused by the different toxigenic biotypes of Corynebacterium diphtheriae are endemic in Delhi. Information on biochemical identification, toxigenicity and antimicrobial susceptibility to this bacterium is scanty. This retrospective study was carried out to identify isolated Corynebacteria biochemically, determine their toxigenicity, drug sensitivity and some epidemiological characteristics of diphtheria cases from Delhi and adjoining States for the period 1998-2004. METHODS: A total of 1118 throat and 585 nasal swabs were used to detect human pathogenic corynebacteria. WHO recommended methods were used for the detection, screening, toxigenicity and antibiogram pattern of the isolates. RESULTS: Among 493 (44.1%) cases detected positive for corynebacteria 71.8 per cent were pharyngeal, 20.9 per cent nasopharyngeal and rest 7.3 per cent nasal diphtheria cases. Biochemical identification revealed two species i.e., C. diphtheriae and C. pseudodiphtheriticum. In C. diphtheriae three biotypes were detected viz., intermedius (95.5%), gravis (3.4%) and mitis (1.1%). Toxin was expressed by 96 per cent isolates of C. diphtheriae. Cases were recorded from Delhi and four adjoining States. Sex ratio among male to female was 1.6:1. Prime victims were less than 9 yr old children (93.3%). Unvaccinated children (70.2%) were the main sufferers. Fatality rate was highest in Delhi cases (16.8%) followed by UP (14.6%) and Haryana (5.9%). INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Standard methods revealed the replacement of C. diphtheriae var mitis with var intermedius and occurrence of diphtheria infections due to other human pathogenic corynebacteria. It is imperative to have good bacteriological facilities to have better surveillance with regular monitoring in the endemic areas to keep the disease under control.