Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation and Malignancy: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) is a disorder of coagulation which is commonly seen as a complication of infections, traumas, obstetric diseases, and cancers especially hematological and rarely solid cancers. DIC may rarely be the presenting feature of an undiagnosed malignancy. It may present in the form of different phenotypes which makes its diagnosis difficult and leads to high mortality. The treatment comprises supportive, symptomatic treatment and removal of the underlying source. Here, we present a patient with history of being on warfarin for atrial fibrillation and other comorbidities who presented with elevated INR of 6.3 and increasing dyspnea on exertion. Over the course of her stay, her platelet counts started dropping with a concurrent decrease in fibrinogen levels. She eventually developed pulmonary embolism, followed by stroke and limb ischemia, which was indicative of the thrombotic phenotype of DIC. Her pleural fluid analysis showed huge burden of malignant cells in glandular pattern suggestive of adenocarcinoma and was started on heparin drip. However, the patient had cardiac arrest and expired on the same day of diagnosis.

Pylephlebitis: A Case of Inferior Mesenteric Vein Thrombophlebitis in a Patient with Acute Sigmoid Diverticulitis-A Case Report and Clinical Management Review.

Pylephlebitis is a rare complication of intra-abdominal infections and describes thrombosis and infection as two different pathophysiological phenomena in the cause of this disease. The nonspecific presentation of disease makes its diagnosis difficult and thus leads to high mortality. The treatment comprises antibiotics and also includes controversial use of anticoagulation in these patients. Here, we present a patient with past medical history of human immunodeficiency virus and past diverticulitis who presented with fever, chills, diarrhea, neck pain, and photophobia. He was diagnosed with acute sigmoid diverticulitis with associated inferior mesenteric vein thrombophlebitis. He improved after intravenous antibiotics and anticoagulation and was discharged. He underwent sigmoid colectomy 3 months after his initial presentation and was advised to take anticoagulation for a total of 6 months.

Ovarian sex cord stromal tumours in children and young girls - a more than two decade clinicopathological experience in a developing country, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian sex-cord stromal tumours (SCST) are rare, and relatively infrequent in children. These have to be distinguished from more common germ cell tumors in children and also from benign epithelial neoplasms. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of our study was to report the clinical and pathological findings in young patients with these tumours in our population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present observational cross-sectional study included all subjects <21 years of age diagnosed with ovarian SCST, in Aga Khan University Hospital Histopathology Laboratory, Karachi, Pakistan, from January 1992 till July 2013. RESULTS: Of the total of 513 SCSTs presented during the study period, 39 fulfilled inclusion criteria and were assessed. The age range was 4-250 months. Most of the tumours presented at stage-1 and an abdominal mass was the most common presenting symptom, along with menstrual disturbance. The left side ovary was slightly more affected (53.5%). Of the total, 15 were juvenile granulosa cell tumours (JGCT), 11 sclerosing stromal tumours (SST), 10 of the fibrothecomas spectrum, 2 Sertoli leydig cell tumours (SLCT) and one a sex cord tumour with annular tubules (SCTAT). Detailed immunohistochemical analyses were performed in 33 cases. Recurrence/metastasis was noted in 4/21 cases with follow-up data. CONCLUSIONS: Ovarian sex cord stromal tumours are very rare in young age in our population, and usually present at an early stage. Most common among these are juvenile granulosa cell tumours, although surprisingly sclerosing stromal tumours were also common. Clinical symptoms due to hormone secretion in premenstrual girls and menstrual disturbance in menstruating girls are common presenting features.

Clinicopathological spectrum of ovarian sex cord-stromal tumors; 20 years' retrospective study in a developing country.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian sex cord stromal tumors are rare neoplasms as compared to epithelial tumors. No large study has been done in Pakistan to find out the frequencies of various sex cord stromal tumors and their clinicopathological behavior in our region. The purpose of our study was to determine the various histological patterns and clinical features of ovarian sex cord stromal tumors along with follow-up in our set-up. METHODS: It is a retrospective observational study. The study was conducted in section of Histopathology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. All reported cases of sex cord stromal tumors of ovary during 1992 to 2012 were retrieved. The retrieved slides were reviewed and patient demographics, clinical and pathological features were noted on proforma. SPSS Statistics Version 19 was used for all analyses. Data is expressed as absolute values and percentage or as mean ± standard deviation (SD). RESULTS: A total of 480 cases of sex cord stromal tumors were retrieved. The median age was 45 years. Bilaterality was observed in 4 cases. Of the different subtypes of sex-cord stromal tumors, most common was adult granulosa cell tumor 211(43.9%). 24 Juvenile granulosa cell tumors were retrieved (5%). Other types were fibromas 98 (20.4%) fibrothecomas 47(9.8%), thecomas 26(5.4%), sertoli-leydig cell tumors 34(7%), sclerosing stromal tumors 26 (5.4%), steroid cell tumors (10) and 4 cases of sex cord tumor with annular tubules. Of various immunohistochemical stains applied, Inhibin was frequently positive in all subtypes and focal cytokeratins were also seen commonly. Follow up information was available in 305 cases and out of these only 16 (5%) developed recurrence or metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Sex cord stromal tumors are uncommon ovarian tumors in Pakistani population, with wide age range and diverse histological types having good prognosis. Immunohistochemical markers overlap with epithelial tumors so there is need to distinguish these two.