Cytomegalovirus-Associated Non-Necrotizing Retinopathy, Occlusive Retinal Vasculitis, and Neovascularization.

PURPOSE: To report a rare case of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-associated non-necrotizing viral retinopathy, occlusive retinal vasculitis, papillitis, and retinal neovascularization in a young 41-year-old woman. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: The patient presented with features of papillitis, peripapillary cotton-wool spots, pre-retinal hemorrhages, and occlusive vasculitis. Her visual acuity was 20/100 in the left eye. She developed a worsening of the disease upon initiation of systemic corticosteroids. Her serum immunoglobulins (Ig) (both IgG and IgM) were highly positive for CMV. Anterior chamber paracentesis was positive for CMV DNA using real-time polymerase chain reaction. After stopping systemic corticosteroids, she was initiated on oral valganciclovir, with rapid resolution of the vasculitis and cotton-wool spots. After three months, the patient developed retinal neovascularization and underwent pan-retinal photocoagulation. However, her uveitis was inactive, and her visual acuity improved to 20/25. CONCLUSIONS: Non-necrotizing viral retinopathy has been associated with either varicella zoster virus (VZV) or herpes simplex virus (HSV). Our case highlights that CMV can also lead to non-necrotizing retinopathy and must be suspected in patients who may be negative for VZV and HSV. Appropriate anti-viral treatment can prevent severe vision loss in these patients.

Unexplained anemia: A case report of metachronous adenocarcinoma arising in the transverse colon following right hemicolectomy for a primary cecal carcinoma.

Metachronous colonic carcinomas arise from months to years after the resection of the first or index primary colorectal cancer. They are not a result of tumor recurrence or metastasis and likely arise as a result of the field cancerization effect. This report presents the case of a 63-year-old male patient without family history of a colorectal cancer but had an index primary adenocarcinoma of the cecum (stage IIIC) five years ago that was treated with surgical resection and adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy. He presented with fatigue and anemia of 6-month duration secondary to recurrent melena, and the specific cause of which remained obscure despite intensive diagnostic workup. Recurrence of a malignancy at the previous anastomosis site was ruled out. The patient continued to have recurrent and intermittent gastrointestinal bleeding until a nuclear red blood cell scan detected a bleeding spot in the epigastric region, which actually turned out to be a second primary carcinoma (stage I) arising from an adenoma in the transverse colon. The patient underwent a left colectomy with ileosigmoid anastomosis formation. During a two-month postoperative follow-up, the patient did not experience any episode of melena or anemia. Even though metachronous colon cancers rarely present with a recurrent and intermittent gastrointestinal bleeding with melena, an aggressive workup must be aimed at ruling out a second independent malignancy in patients who are in remission after an index primary colorectal cancer resection through hemicolectomy. Any neoteric lesion found on colonoscopy in such cases should be dealt with a higher degree of suspicion. Therefore, the need for surveillance colonoscopy as recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines is imperative and should be practiced in resource-limited countries.

Hydroxychloroquine is associated with slower viral clearance in clinical COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate disease.

ABSTRACT: There are conflicting data regarding the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of HCQ in increasing SARS-CoV-2 viral clearance.Hospitalized adult patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were retrospectively included in the study. The primary outcome was the time from a confirmed positive nasopharyngeal swab to turn negative. A negative nasopharyngeal swab conversion was defined as a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 case followed by 2 negative results using RT-PCR assay with samples obtained 24 hours apart. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to adjust for potential confounders.Thirty-four confirmed COVID-19 patients completed the study. Nineteen (55.9%) patients presented with symptoms, and 14 (41.2%) had pneumonia. Only 21 (61.8%) patients received HCQ. The time to SARS-CoV-2 negativity nasopharyngeal test was significantly longer in patients who received HCQ than those who did not receive HCQ [17 (13-21) vs 10 (4-13) days, P = .023]. HCQ was independently associated with time to negativity test after adjustment for potential confounders (symptoms, comorbidities, antiviral drugs, pneumonia, or oxygen therapy) in multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis (hazard ratio = 0.33, 95% confidence interval: 0.13-0.9, P = .024). On day 14, 47.8% (14/23) patients tested negative in the HCQ group compared with 90.9% (10/11) patients who did not receive HCQ (P = .016).HCQ was associated with a slower viral clearance in COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate disease. Data from ongoing randomized clinical trials with HCQ should provide a definitive answer regarding the efficacy and safety of this treatment.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus during Pregnancy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2013.

As of June 19, 2015, the World Health Organization had received 1,338 notifications of laboratory-confirmed infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Little is known about the course of or treatment for MERS-CoV in pregnant women. We report a fatal case of MERS-CoV in a pregnant woman administered combination ribavirin-peginterferon-α therapy.

Presentation of parathyroid adenoma with genu valgum and thoracic deformities.

Parathyroid adenoma is the main cause of primary hyperparathyroidism. It is usually asymptomatic and occurs more commonly in adults. It presents with raised parathormone (PTH) and Ca+ levels in serum. Its presentation in adolescence is rare. We report one such incidence of a 14 years old girl who presented with bone pains short stature, and generalized muscle wasting. She was found to have genu valgum at the knee joint, pectus carniatum, scoliosis and cystic changes in pelvis and calvarium. Biochemical investigations and parathyroid Tc-99mMIBI scan confirmed the diagnosis of a parathyroid adenoma. The gland was removed by parathyroidectomy. Till date 12 such cases are reported and none had thoracic, vertebral or calvarium involvement.

Umbilical pilonidal sinus.

A pilonidal sinus is a blind-end tract lined with granulation tissue, which leads to a cystic cavity lined with epithelial tissue. As the name suggests, these hair containing abscesses are usually found in the sacro-coccygeal region. However, they may also occasionally occur in the axilla, groin, inter-digital web, umbilicus, nose, inter-mammary areas, supra-pubic area, clitoris, prepuce, penis, occiput, and on the feet. Sinus is caused by the friction of the skin at the base of the spine, leading to the embedding of the hair beneath the surface. The hair forms small cavities or pits, which are in truth, enlarged hair follicles, which go on to become sinuses. Bacteria and debris enter this sterile area, producing local inflammation and formation of pus-filled abscesses. In chronic condition, the sinus becomes an open cavity, constantly draining small amounts of fluid. In this case report we present a case of umbilical pilonidal sinus in a young boy.

To fuse or not to fuse: what is your purpose?

Since the dawn of time, or at least the dawn of recombinant DNA technology (which for many of today's scientists is the same thing), investigators have been cloning and expressing heterologous proteins in a variety of different cells for a variety of different reasons. These range from cell biological studies looking at protein-protein interactions, post-translational modifications, and regulation, to laboratory-scale production in support of biochemical, biophysical, and structural studies, to large scale production of potential biotherapeutics. In parallel, fusion-tag technology has grown-up to facilitate microscale purification (pull-downs), protein visualization (epitope tags), enhanced expression and solubility (protein partners, e.g., GST, MBP, TRX, and SUMO), and generic purification (e.g., His-tags, streptag, and FLAG™-tag). Frequently, these latter two goals are combined in a single fusion partner. In this review, we examine the most commonly used fusion methodologies from the perspective of the ultimate use of the tagged protein. That is, what are the most commonly used fusion partners for pull-downs, for structural studies, for production of active proteins, or for large-scale purification? What are the advantages and limitations of each? This review is not meant to be exhaustive and the approach undoubtedly reflects the experiences and interests of the authors. For the sake of brevity, we have largely ignored epitope tags although they receive wide use in cell biology for immunopreciptation.

Postoperative bleeding in a patient with normal screening coagulation tests.

A 54-year-old man was brought to the emergency room after a head-on collision. He had multiple fractures in his lower extremities and required immediate surgery. After surgery, the patient had a persistent drop in hemoglobin, hematocrit and platelets despite red blood cell transfusions. Laboratory studies included normal prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, normal plasminogen functional activity, negative antiplatelet antibodies, normal platelet functional analysis and negative disseminated intravascular coagulation screen. Factor XIII antigen levels were 25% of predicted, and the diagnosis of factor XIII deficiency was made. The patient was treated with cryoprecipitate, and the bleeding stopped. Patients with factor XIII deficiency have either a rare congenital or acquired coagulation disorder. Both presentations have normal standard laboratory clotting tests, and the diagnosis requires an assay measuring factor XIII activity or antigen levels. The usual treatment includes cryoprecipitate, fresh-frozen plasma or recombinant factor XIII. This deficiency should be considered in patients with unexplained spontaneous, traumatic or postoperative bleeding.

Enhanced epithelial gap closure and increased angiogenesis in wounds of diabetic mice treated with adult murine bone marrow stromal progenitor cells.

The direct application of bone marrow (BM) can accelerate the healing of chronic wounds. We hypothesized that this effect is due to the presence of stromal progenitor cells (SPCs) found within whole BM preparations. To test this hypothesis, we isolated adult murine SPCs from whole BM and examined their ability to enhance impaired wound healing compared with ficoll separated BM cells in the diabetic (db/db) mouse model. SPCs significantly enhanced reepithelialization, granulation tissue formation, and neovascularization compared with control wounds treated with BM or PBS alone. Higher frequencies of donor SPC cells compared with donor BM cells were observed in treated wounds at 7 days. Transdifferentiation into GFP-positive mature endothelial cells was not observed. These observations suggest that SPCs improve wound healing through indirect mechanisms which lead to enhanced vascularization rather than through direct participation and incorporation into tissue. We conclude that topical application of BM-derived SPCs may represent an effective strategy for the treatment of chronic diabetic wounds.