Reclassifying Pseudopolyps in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Histologic and Endoscopic Description in the New Era of Mucosal Healing.

INTRODUCTION: In this study, we identify the frequency of pseudopolyps (PPs) with normal histology and their association to surrounding tissue. METHODS: Patients were enrolled in a study identifying endoscopic characteristics of PPs (n = 29) or were collected as part of our IBD biobank (n = 16). Statistical analysis included Stata v.15.0. chi-square and Student t-test. RESULTS: A total of 45 patients with 117 PP biopsies were identified. More patients with healed PP were in endoscopic remission compared with those with inflammatory PP (82.6% vs 17.4%, respectively). CONCLUSION: This is the first study to find mucosal healing of PPs and its association with deep remission.

Development of Advanced Imaging Criteria for the Endoscopic Identification of Inflammatory Polyps.

OBJECTIVES: Inflammatory polyps (IPs) are frequently encountered at colonoscopy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer. The aim of this prospective endoscopic image review and analysis was to describe endoscopic features of IPs in IBD patients at surveillance colonoscopy and determine the ability to endoscopically discern IPs from other colon polyps using high-definition white light (WL), narrow band imaging with magnification (NBI), and chromoendoscopy (CE). METHODS: Digital images of IPs using WL, NBI, and CE were reviewed by four attending gastroenterologists using a two-round modified Delphi method. The ability to endoscopically discern IPs from other colon polyps was determined among groups of gastroenterology fellows and attendings. IPs were classified by gross appearance, contour, surface pattern, pit pattern, and appearance of surrounding mucosa in IPs, as well as accuracy of diagnosis. RESULTS: Features characteristic of IPs included a fibrinous cap, surface friability and ulceration, an appendage-like appearance, the halo sign with CE, and a clustering of a multiplicity of IPs. The overall diagnostic accuracy for IP identification was 63% for WL, 42% for NBI, and 64% for CE. High degrees of histologic inflammation significantly improved the accuracy of diagnosis of IP with WL and CE, whereas the use of NBI significantly impaired IP accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: The overall diagnostic accuracy when applying these criteria to clinical images was modest, with incremental benefit with addition of CE to WL. CE showed promise predicting IP histology in actively inflamed tissue. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01557387.

Primary cardiac synovial sarcoma.

Primary cardiac synovial sarcoma is an uncommon malignant neoplasm, with only a handful of cases reported in the English literature to date. Synovial sarcomas have also been described at other unusual sites, such as the heart, pleuropulmonary region, kidney, prostate, liver, mediastinum, retroperitoneum, gastrointestinal tract, and peripheral nerve. For synovial sarcomas that arise at these unusual locations, definitive diagnosis is challenging and requires use of ancillary diagnostic procedures, such as immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, and molecular genetic techniques, for confirmation of diagnosis. The nonrandom occurrence of t(X;18) has been found consistently in synovial sarcomas. It has also been found as a sole cytogenetic abnormality in some cases, suggesting it as a key molecular event in tumor development. This review highlights salient features of primary cardiac synovial sarcoma and the associated diagnostic challenges.