Pilot Study of Early Monitoring Using Urinary Screening for BK Polyomavirus as a Strategy for Prevention of BKV Nephropathy in Kidney Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Urine monitoring programs represent an important strategy for early diagnosis of reactivation of BK polyomavirus (BKV) in kidney transplant recipients. This study analyzes a BKV urine screening model in kidney transplant patients. METHODS: Urinary screening for BKV reactivation was performed by urinary decoy cell and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in samples from 32 consecutive kidney transplant patients, collected in a 6-month follow-up period. PCR in plasma samples and BKV immunohistochemical studies to assess BKV renal disease, if a kidney biopsy was indicated, were performed. RESULTS: The urinary screening for BKV among 32 renal receptors was positive in 18 patients (56%) by the concomitant use of the decoy cells and/or qualitative PCR at some time during the study period. Transfusion before transplantation was significantly associated with urinary decoy cell positive screening (odds ratio = 11; 95% confidence interval = 1.47 to 82.4; P < .05); and so was male sex (odds ratio = 2.02; 95% confidence interval = 1.07 to 3.83; P < .05). The clinical management of screening positive cases consisted of decreasing or changing the immunosuppression regimen. Sixteen renal biopsies were performed. Immunohistochemistry for SV40 T antigen was negative in all biopsies. After 1 year of follow-up, no patient developed BKV-associated nephropathy, and there was no difference in renal function between patients positive and negative for BKV urinary screening. CONCLUSIONS: Early urinary monitoring is effective in detection of BKV replication and represents a good strategy to minimize the deleterious effects caused by the presence of the virus on preservation of graft function.

Neurogenic sarcomas in patients with neurofibromatosis (von Recklinghausen's disease). Light, electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry study.

Thirteen soft tissue neurogenic sarcomas from twelve patients with neurofibromatosis (Von Recklinghausen's disease) were ultrastructurally examined. Electron microscopic studies revealed a wide spectrum of morphological manifestations varying from schwannian to fibroblastic, histiocytic, fibrohistiocytic and relatively undifferentiated cellular proliferations. A similar variation on light microscopic appearances has been previously reported in these neurogenic sarcomas. Neurogenic sarcomas occurring in patients with neurofibromatosis (Von Recklinghausen's disease), represent a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with various patterns of differentiation identified ultrastructurally. The morphologic expressions of these neurogenic neoplasms can be conceptualized as a disorderly growth of the various peripheral nerve cellular components, or, as has been previously suggested, as a result of the multipotential nature and metaplastic ability of Schwann cells. S-100 protein immunohistochemistry was only positive in those neoplasms ultrastructurally proven to represent schwannian cellular proliferations. This study serves to document the range of fine structure that may be found in neurogenic sarcomas, to correlate the ultrastructural findings with the light microscopic appearance of these tumors, to determine the specificity of the electron microscopic findings, and immunohistochemistry for S-100 protein and assess their possible value in differential diagnosis.