Three cases of synovial sarcoma of gastric wall: A case report and review of the literature.

Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a malignant soft tissue neoplasm that occurs in various parts of the human body, but most commonly affects the extremities. Its diagnosis of synovial sarcoma often requires adjunctive techniques such as immunohistochemical staining and molecular studies, especially for synovial sarcoma at unusual locations. SS at a gastrointestinal location is exceedingly rare. We report here three cases of primary gastric synovial sarcoma. Malignant gastric mesenchymal tumor has many differential diagnoses other than synovial sarcoma, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), leiomyosarcoma, schwannoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) and so on. In our three cases, using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and direct sequencing, we detected an SS18-SSX1 fusion gene, which is specific to synovial sarcoma. In addition, we found the reduced expression of SMARCB1/INI1 in the tumor cells in two of the three cases. Through histopathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular analyses, we confirmed the diagnosis of primary gastric synovial sarcoma.

Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in an Immunocompetent Japanese Man: A Case Report and Literature Review.

We herein report the case of a 37-year-old immunocompetent man who died from Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP). He was initially treated for an acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia; however, the elevation of the patient's serum (1-3) ß-D glucan (BG) level suggested the possibility of PCP and sulfamethoxazole trimethoprim was added. A postmortem pathological examination and retrospective Grocott's methenamine silver (GMS) staining of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), which was obtained on the day of admission, revealed PCP. The present case suggests that it is essential to perform a BG assay and GMS staining of BALF specimens when patients show diffuse ground-glass opacity on chest computed tomography, regardless of their immune status.

Malignant Meningioma Mimicking Chronic Subdural Hematoma.

BACKGROUND: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is the most common disease encountered in neurosurgery. Diagnoses of CSDH are usually made on the basis of computed tomography (CT) images. In this report, we discuss the case of a patient with meningioma whose findings instead suggested CSDH. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 91-year-old woman complained of dizziness. Brain CT imaging revealed a low-density subdural space, following which we diagnosed her with CSDH. On the same day, we performed burr hole surgery. However, when opening the burr hole and cutting the dura, a light yellowish tumor was observed under the dura. After the operation, her condition deteriorated and she died 2 days later. After 10 days, pathologic examination of the tumor specimen led to a diagnosis of atypical meningioma. CONCLUSIONS: In almost all cases, CSDH can be diagnosed using CT images only. However, our patient's true diagnosis was meningioma, rather than CSDH. We rouse attention not to take it for CSDH with a CT image easily.

Leiomyosarcoma of the stomach treated by endoscopic submucosal dissection.

There have been no reports of primary leiomyosarcoma of the stomach treated by endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). We report an extremely rare case of gastric leiomyosarcoma that was successfully treated by ESD. An asymptomatic 74-year-old female underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy for screening in December 2013. A centrally depressed submucosal tumor 10 mm in diameter was detected at the posterior wall of the upper gastric body. Follow-up esophagogastroduodenoscopy conducted 5 months later showed that the tumor diameter had increased to 15 mm. Endoscopic ultrasound revealed a hypoechoic mass located in the second to the middle of the third layer. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration demonstrated a myogenic tumor. The tumor was completely resected by ESD without complications. Immunohistopathological diagnosis of the resected specimen was gastric leiomyosarcoma derived from the muscularis mucosae, with negative lateral and vertical margins. No local recurrence or metastasis has been detected at 36 months after ESD. This is the first report of gastric leiomyosarcoma treated by ESD in the English language literature.

Insulin-like growth factor II messenger RNA-binding protein-3 is an independent prognostic factor in uterine leiomyosarcoma.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to identify the prognostic factors of uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS). METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed 60 cases of surgically resected ULMSs and investigated conventional clinicopathological factors, together with the expression of insulin-like growth factor II messenger RNA-binding protein-3 (IMP3), hormone receptors and cell cycle regulatory markers by immunohistochemistry. Mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) mutation analysis was also performed. Univariate analyses revealed that advanced stage (P < 0.0001), older age (P = 0.0244) and IMP3 expression (P = 0.0011) were significant predictors of a poor outcome. Multivariate analysis revealed advanced stage (P < 0.0001) and IMP3 (P = 0.0373) as independent predictors of a poor prognosis. Expressions of cell cycle markers and hormone receptors, and MED12 mutations (12% in ULMSs) were not identified as prognostic markers in this study. CONCLUSIONS: IMP3 expression in ULMS could be a marker of a poor prognosis.