Volumen 54 (2016): Heft 2 (June 2016)

Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is the main complication of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation and is more frequent after peripheral stem cell transplants. Graft versus leukemia or lymphoma component of them is beneficial to eradicate residual tumor mass after previous treatment and conditioning regimen. A severe GVHD may endanger the patient's life. The most important liver manifestations of GVHD are increased serum alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin values. The last allows to estimate the GVHD severity. Sometimes, an increase of aminotransferases can mimic an acute hepatitis. Donor-derived hematopoietic cells appeared to turn in mesenchymal liver cells. Activated CD4(+) T cells, humoral and complement activation, a large number of cytokines and cytokine receptors are involved in GVHD development. Correct and early recognition of GVHD and its differentiation from the other liver diseases are essential for the medical practice.

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a pulmonary complication of liver disease characterized by arterial hypoxemia. Mechanisms related to this event are diffusion-perfusion flaw, ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) mismatch, and direct arteriovenous shunts. Diagnosis of HPS is based on the presence of liver disease or portal hypertension, increased alveolar-arterial (A-a) PO₂, and intrapulmonary vascular dilatations (IPVD). Lung transplantation (LT) remains the most effective therapy for HPS. In spite of its poor prognosis, we could improve the quality of life and survival rate of patients.

From an oncological perspective, the second most common malignancies in children are brain tumors. Despite the recent therapeutic breakthroughs in this field, concerning surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy alike, some cases still have poor outcomes in curability. This is especially the case in patients with high-risk histological types of tumors, and those suffering from residual, remitting and disseminated diseases. Due to the unique neuroanatomical emplacement of brain tumors and their aggressive infiltrative behavior, their total removal remains a demanding task. This can be perceived in the high rates of failure treatment and disease recurrence. Furthermore, the adjacent healthy brain tissue is inevitably damaged in the surgical process of effectively removing these tumors. Thus, stem cell transplantation may be a viable solution for the clinical management of these malignancies, as proven by various recent breakthroughs. In the current concise review, we present the role of next generation sequencing in HLA typing for stem cell transplantation in primary CNS pediatric malignancies.

Introduction. In forensic pathology the autolytic process has been observed and documented in order to determine the postmortem interval as accurately as possible. The observation and experiments have been carried out on cadavers exposed to environmental conditions – heat, humidity, air currents, soil, water.

Methods. For this study hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stained sections of organ samples from 30 autopsied bodies were examined under the microscope. Modifications of tissue and cell structures were noted in correlation with the bodies’ time spent in the Morgue’s mortuary refrigerator until the autopsy was performed, which varied between 24 hours and 22 days.

Results. All the organs sampled (lung, heart, liver and pancreas) showed severe autolytic alterations after 5 to 8 days. The most heavily affected was the pancreas, cells within Langherhans islets becoming complete autolyzed at the 36 hours mark. Inside organs, autolytic processes occur at different rates depending on the locations within that organ –deeply or superficial; in the heart after 4 or more days subendocardic myocardium shows less severe autolytic changes than the subepicardial one.

Conclusion. Autolytic processes have a delayed onset and a much lower progression rate in a cold controlled environment. Different organs suffer different rates of autolysis in correlation to their structure and enzymatic content.

Mast cells proteases, tryptase and chymase are directly involved in the growth and progression of solid tumors due to their important role in tumor angiogenesis. We examined the density of tryptase positive mast cells and the mean density of new blood vessels in gastric malignant tumors of patients with and without Helicobacter pylori infection, using immunohistochemical staining for tryptase (for mast cells) and CD 105 (for new vessels). Tryptase and CD 105 expression was detected in gastrectomy specimens. In this study, mast cell density correlates with angiogenesis and the growth and progression of gastric cancer. It also shows that the participation of Helicobacter pylori infection in the growth and progress of gastric neoplasia is due to an increase of peritumoral angiogenesis, with subsequent local and distant tumor spread and perivascular growth, but without perineural and nodal involvement.

Introduction. In patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), failure rate to implant the left ventricular (LV) lead by the traditional trans-venous approach is 4-8%. Surgical epicardial implantation is considered as an alternative, but this technique is not without morbidity. Evidence from case documentation and from small trial batches demonstrated the viability of endocardial LV lead implantation where surgical epicardial lead placement is not applicable.

Material and Methods. Four patients were implanted with endocardial LV lead using the transseptal atrial approach after unsuccessful transvenous implantation. Implantation of an endocardial active fixation LV leads was successful in all patients with stable electrical parameters immediately after implantation and over the follow-up period. All patients received anticoagulation therapy in order to target the international normalized ratio of 2.5-3.5 and have not experienced any thromboembolic, hemorrhagic events, or infection.

Results. Follow-up echocardiography indicated significant improvement of LV systolic function (24 + 4.9 to 32 + 5.1 %, P = 0.023) with a notable improvement of the functional status.

Conclusions. Endocardial left ventricular lead implantation can be a valuable and safe alternative technique to enable LV stimulation in high surgical risk patients where standard coronary sinus implant is unsuccessful.

We present the case of a 76 year old female patient admitted in the Department of Cardiology for physical asthenia, profuse sweating and dyspnea with orthopnea for about one month. Clinical and paraclinical assessments performed at admission confirmed the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade. Surgical intervention was performed and 400 mL of clear effusion were drained. Post-operative evolution was marked by recurrence of symptoms, requiring after 3 weeks a new drainage of 600 mL of clear effusion, and biopsy of the pericardium was performed. Pathological exam described serous pericarditis with chronic inflammatory infiltrate, xanthogranulomatous reaction intricated in the pericardium and mesothelial hyperplasia. The patient was subsequently transferred to the Department of Internal Medicine for further investigations. Physical examination showed a patient with altered general status, pallor, vesicular murmur absent in both bases, presenting cutaneous hyperpigmentation at the level of the right hemi-abdomen and hip with posterior extension, and a peripheral indurated erythematous plaque. The patient presented nodular masses of 3 cm in the right latero-cervical and bilateral axillary regions, non-adherent to the superficial structures, as well as adenopathic blocks in both inguinal regions. CT scan of the thorax and abdomen showed moderate bilateral pleuresia, minimal pericardial effusion (15 mm) and multiple adenopathies on both sides of the diaphragm. Skin biopsy was performed, as well as bone marrow aspirate and excision of a right axillary lymph node. Pathological exams and immunohistochemistry tests confirmed the diagnosis of Plasma Cells Castleman disease.

The role of Serratia marcescens changed from a harmless saprophytic microorganism to an important opportunistic human pathogen. It often causes nosocomial device-associated outbreaks and rarely serious invasive community acquired infections. We present a case of a community-acquired Serratia marcescens bacteremia leading to Respiratory Distress Syndrome in a previously healthy 51-year-old man without identifiable risk factors. Full recovery was achieved with solely medical treatment and observation in ICU during three days. To our knowledge it is an extremely uncommon presentation and just few cases have been previously reported in the literature.

Desmoplastic medulloblastoma is a rare subtype of medulloblastoma in childhood and more rare in adults. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurrence is frequent and important for treatment and prognosis. We report the CSF cytologic features of recurrent desmoplastic/nodular medulloblastoma in a 30-aged male.