Rare case of subcutaneous mycosis with intrathoracic extension due to Chaetomium strumarium.

A 47-year-old man presented with a 10-year history of multiple lumps over his left upper arm and shoulder and the adjoining left side of his chest and upper back. His medical history included diabetes mellitus type 2. The patient was a farmer and used to lift sacks of grains and fertilizers onto his shoulders as part of his work, although he did not recollect any history of specific trauma. Skin biopsy revealed granulomatous reaction with Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon, while periodic-acid-Schiff and Grocott-Gomori stains confirmed fungal elements. Sabouraud agar grew Chaetomium species, and lactophenol blue mount confirmed the fungus as Chaetomium strumarium. Radiography and computed tomography of the chest revealed intrathoracic extension of the mycetoma. The patient responded well to treatment with oral Itraconazole. Subcutaneous mycosis due to C. strumarium is rarely reported in the literature, and the intrathoracic extension makes it an even rarer entity.

Renal outcome in biopsy proven cases of graft pyelonephritis.

The incidence, risk factors and outcome of graft pyelonephritis are variably described in literature. All patients who had been transplanted at our center between January 2002 and November 2006 and had presented with acute graft dysfunction were subjected to biopsy. Those patients who had neutrophilic casts and interstitial inflammation with predominant neutrophils were included in the study. Out of the 265 patients, 110 were transplanted in the period and underwent biopsy for graft dysfunction. Out of the 110 patients, 26 had biopsy proven acute graft pyelonephritis (AGPN). Nine patients had early AGPN (within 6 months) and the other 17 had late AGPN. Nearly 19% of patients were culture negative and five patients had no clinical features of urinary tract infection; AGPN being a surprise finding on biopsy. Among the risk factors, only hepatitis C virus infection was significantly associated with AGPN. All patients received 4-6 weeks of antibiotics with at least 3 weeks of parenteral antibiotics. Majority (75%) of our patients experienced relapse of AGPN. Graft function was significantly lower 6 months after onset when compared to baseline, portending a poor outcome for these patients. Out of 26, 7 (27%) of our patients had biopsy features of concomitant acute cellular rejection. The treatment of acute rejection, however, did not improve the outcome.

Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Children with Unexplained Failure to Thrive.

BACKGROUND: Gluten sensitive enteropathy or celiac disease (CD) is a disorder of small bowel that occurs upon exposure to gluten. A total of 67 children of either sex in the age group of 1-12 years with unexplained failure to thrive were studied for the prevalence of CD. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. It included detailed history, clinical assessment, estimation of anti gliadin (AGA), tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTGA) and duodenal biopsy. Treatment with gluten free diet and follow-up of diagnosed cases was done for one year. RESULT: Sixteen cases (23.88%) had villous atrophy and positive serology, essential criteria for the diagnosis of CD. Forty six (69%) children were between 4-12 years of age. Male to female ratio was 2.3:1. Main symptoms were irritability (63%), diarrhea (56%) and weight loss (56%). Thirty seven (56%) children had weight less than 3(rd) percentile. tTGA was 100% sensitive and 90.2% specific. Duodenal biopsy showed decreased villious-crypt ratio in 81.25% and intra epithelial lymphocytosis in 81% children (p<0.000001). All the confirmed cases were advised strict gluten free diet for one year. On follow-up at six months, all children showed improvement in their symptoms and weight gain. CONCLUSION: CD is an important cause of unexplained failure to thrive in children.

Renal thrombotic microangiopathy and cerebral venous thrombosis in a young man.

We report a patient of primary catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome who presented with rapidly progressive renal failure and seizures. He was detected to have thrombotic microangiopathy on kidney biopsy and deep cerebral venous thrombosis. The patient was successfully managed with anticoagulants, steroids, plasmapheresis and cyclophosphamide.

Renal Transplantation - An Experience of 500 Patients.

BACKGROUND: Renal transplantation is the treatment modality of choice for patients with end stage kidney failure. We present our experience of graft and patient survival of initial 500 renal transplants performed between May 1991 and July 2006, at Army Hospital (R&R). MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients received triple drug immunosuppression with cyclosporine/tacrolimus, azathioprine/ mycophenolate mofetil and steroids. Patients in high risk group received induction therapy with IL-2 receptor blockers/anti-thymocyte globulin. RESULTS: Majority of the recipients (79%) were males, whereas majority of the donors (59.4%) were females. In the donor profile, 385 (77%) transplants were live related, 108 (21.6 %) were spousal and 7 (1.4%) were cadaveric transplants. Mean age of the donors and recipients was 42.11 ± 11.53 years (range 19-72 years) and 33 ± 9.39 years (range 5-60 years) respectively. Eighty two patients (16.4%) were lost to follow up and the present data on rejections, patients and graft survival pertains to 418 patients. These patients have been followed up for a mean period of 2.63 years (SE, 0.122; median 1.8 years; range 0-13.36 years). Acute rejection episodes occurred in 115 (27.3%) patients and 95% of these could be reversed with steroids/ATG. Sixty eight patients (16%) have died on follow-up. Our one-year, 5 year and 10 year estimated graft survival is 95.4% (SE, 0.01), 80.5% (SE, 0.03) and 53.1% (SE, 0.09) respectively and patient survival at one year is 93.2% (SE, 0.01). The estimated graft and patient survival in our series is 9.83 (95% CI, 8.92-10.73) and 9.80 (8.93-10.67) years respectively. CONCLUSION: This centre's short-term graft survival of 95.4% is comparable to the best centres of the world.

Multiple synchronous spinal extra-osseous intradural chordomas: is it a distinct entity?

Chordomas are most commonly of extradural origin and are associated with bone destruction. Extra-osseous intradural chordomas are extremely rare and most of the cases described are located near the clivus. We report an extremely rare case of multiple extra-osseous intraspinal chordomas in a 36-year-old male patient with autopsy findings. This case highlights that behaviour of spinal intradural chordomas is not universally low grade, but is variable and aggressive.