Hodgkin Lymphoma Involving the Brain: Report of a Rare Case.

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a systemic neoplastic process that mostly affects the lymph nodes of the cervical, supraclavicular, and mediastinal regions. The involvement of the central nervous system by HL is rare, and the diagnosis is typically determined based on distinct morphological and immunohistochemical analyses performed on tissue biopsy specimens. Intracranial HL is so scarce that any of the intracranial space-occupying pathology in a patient with established HL must be meticulously investigated to rule out a secondary disease process. Here, we report a unique case of intracranial HL in a 31-year-old African American male who was previously treated with anti-CD30 antibodies.

Peculiar Case of Brain Abscess Caused by Propionibacterium acnes in an Immunocompetent Individual Without Prior Neurosurgical Intervention: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) is a slow-growing, anaerobic, gram-positive bacillus that commonly colonizes the skin and is a rare cause of CNS infections. It was previously viewed as a culture contaminant but is now recognized to infrequently cause indolent cases of CNS infections. It is even more rarely associated with abscesses in patients without a prior history of neurosurgical intervention. Due to being a slow-growing bacteria, P. acnes is frequently discovered to be the causative organism after 16S rRNA sequencing. In this case, the culture was positive. There are only five other reported cases of patients with a P. acnes abscess without prior neurosurgical intervention. Here we present the sixth case of an immunocompetent young male who was found to have a P. acnes brain abscess.

Cranial Juvenile Psammomatoid Ossifying Fibroma: A Rare Entity.

Juvenile ossifying fibroma (JOF) is an unusual fibro-osseous lesion primarily occurring in children and young adolescents. Anatomically, this lesion could predominantly arise from the bilateral orbits, paranasal sinuses, maxilla, or mandible. Although it is a benign lesion of osseous origin, it is an aggressive variant of ossifying fibroma of the jaw. Due to the aggressive nature of this lesion and its high tendency for recurrence, early radiological detection and prompt surgical treatment are required. The histologic diagnosis of this entity is purely based on hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), but immunohistochemistry and molecular diagnostic studies can also be performed in challenging cases. A thorough histopathological examination of this lesion is recommended because it can easily be mistaken for another benign fibrosis lesion arising at the same anatomical location. Here, we report the case of a juvenile psammomatoid ossifying fibroma (JPOF) occurring in a 12-year-old boy. The tumor is arising at an extracranial location behind the left anterior cranial fossa.

A Rare Case of Emphysematous Endocarditis Caused by Escherichia coli.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infection of the heart endocardium with significant morbidity and mortality. Gram negative infection, particularly emphysematous IE, is an extremely rare and life-threatening disease. We report a 59-year-old diabetic female patient who was admitted to a secondary care hospital in Rustaq, Oman, in 2017 with the diagnosis of pneumonia for which she was started on antibiotics. Shortly afterwards, she developed facial and mouth deviation and became more tachypneic. Computed tomography of the brain demonstrated bilateral multiple small infarcts. Pulmonary angiography computed tomography was performed which ruled out pulmonary embolism. Nonetheless, it revealed an air-containing lesion around the mitral valve. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated a hyperechoic mobile lesion related to the mitral valve. Blood culture grew Escherichia coli and the diagnosis of E. coli emphysematous IE was made based on modified Duke criteria. The patient's clinical condition deteriorated and she suffered cardiac arrest leading to her death. The recommended treatment for non-HACEK IE includes an extended antibiotic course and surgery for selected patients.

Pityriasis Lichenoides Chronica of Esophagus: A Rare Case Report.

Pityriasis lichenoides chronica (PLC) is an uncommon inflammatory skin condition of unknown cause that ranges from a mild chronic form to a more severe acute eruption. Both forms usually involve the skin of the trunk and proximal extremities, and visceral involvement is not a well-described phenomenon. Here, we report a case of PLC that presented with esophageal involvement that occurred after a period of discontinuation of PLC treatment. The histological pattern of involvement is in the form of lymphocytic esophagitis, a non-specific pattern with a broad differential diagnosis. Awareness of the potential involvement of the esophagus and attention to certain endoscopic and morphological details may better help classify esophagitis biopsies and the diagnosis of this rare non-neoplastic chronic inflammatory disease. To our knowledge, this is the first-ever case of PLC with esophageal involvement, and nothing has been reported in the English literature earlier.

Growing teratoma syndrome with porta hepatis involvement - a case report.

Growing teratoma syndrome is a rare entity of tumors, it arises seldomly from ovarian and testicular carcinoma. It presents with disseminating masses of mature teratoma during or following chemotherapy of malignant germ cell tumors. We are reporting a 19-year old presented with recurrent left ovarian mass and supra renal large mass close to the porta hepatis was seen on magnetic resonance imaging. This patient was treated 3 years ago for stage I immature teratoma with left ovarian cystectomy and chemotherapy. Surgical excision of the left ovary and the abdominal mass required meticulous dissection, and the mass was shaved off the porta hepatis with no intraoperative or postoperative complications. Pathology showed mature teratoma. She has no recurrent 5 years after treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report describing close relation of growing teratoma syndrome to the porta hepatis, no such case report like this has been reported in our region.

Demographics, Clinical Characteristics, Management, and Outcomes of Acute Heart Failure Patients: Observations from the Oman Acute Heart Failure Registry.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to describe the demographics, clinical characteristics, management and outcomes of patients in Oman with acute heart failure (AHF) as part of the Gulf aCute heArt failuRe rEgistry (CARE) project. METHODS: Data were analyzed from 988 consecutive patients admitted with AHF to 12 hospitals in Oman between 14 February and 14 November 2012. RESULTS: The mean age of our patients was 63±12 years. Over half (57%) were male and 95% were Omani citizens. Fifty-seven percent of patients presented with acute decompensated chronic heart failure (ADCHF) while 43% had new-onset AHF. The primary comorbid conditions were hypertension (72%), coronary artery disease (55%), and diabetes mellitus (53%). Ischemic heart disease (IHD), hypertensive heart disease, and idiopathic cardiomyopathy were the most common etiologies of AHF in Oman. The median left ventricular ejection fraction of the cohort was 36% (27-45%) with 56% of the patients having heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (< 40%). Atrial fibrillation was seen in 15% of patients. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and non-compliance with medications were the most common precipitating factors. At discharge, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers were prescribed adequately, but aldosterone antagonists were under prescribed. Within 12-months follow-up, one in two patients were rehospitalized for AHF. In-hospital mortality was 7.1%, which doubled to 15.7% at three months and reached 26.4% at one-year post discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Oman CARE was the first prospective multicenter registry of AHF in Oman and showed that heart failure (HF) patients present at a younger age with recurrent ADCHF and HF with reduced ejection fraction. IHD was the most common etiology of HF with a low prevalence of AHF, but a high prevalence of acute coronary syndrome and non-compliance with medications precipitating HF. A quarter of patients died at one-year follow-up even though at discharge medical therapy was nearly optimal. Our study indicates an urgent need for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of AHF in Oman.

Tumor seeding of percutaneous nephrostomy tract from urothelial carcinoma of the kidney.

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the renal pelvis has been rarely shown to metastasize to the skin. Tumor seeding from iatrogenic procedures is a source of spreading of UC to the skin. We herein present a case of primary UC of the renal pelvis with spreading to the skin from a percutaneous nephrostomy tract.