Muhammad Khurram

Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma: A Rare Condition in an Uncommon Gender

Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma (BMPM) is a rare condition that arises from the abdominal peritoneum. Fewer than 200 cases have been reported worldwide. BMPM usually affects premenopausal women and is extremely rare in men. Many factors are suspected to contribute to its development, such as previous surgery, endometriosis, and familial Mediterranean fever. The main management is surgical resection; however, it is estimated that the recurrence rate is up to 50%. Malignant transformation is rare. We report a case series of three male patients who were diagnosed with BMPM and were treated with cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).

Pulmonary placental transmogrification associated with adenocarcinoma of the lung: a case report with a comprehensive review of the literature

Pulmonary placental transmogrification (PT) is a rare entity with less than 40 cases reported in the literature. Most reported cases are associated with either bullous emphysema or with pulmonary fibrochondromatous hamartomas. We present only the second case of PT associated with adenocarcinoma of the lung. A 67-year-old female with multiple chronic medical ailments presented with shortness of breath and was found to have a 6-cm mass in the upper lobe of her right lung. A computed tomography (CT) guided core biopsy was performed that showed a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. Interestingly the normal lung tissue showed placental villous architecture. A unique feature of our case is that the diagnosis was made on a needle core biopsy, unlike all the other cases in the literature. We also provide a comprehensive review of this rare entity.

Case of reversible diabetes mellitus in the setting of benign pheochromocytoma

Pheochromocytomas have been shown to impair glucose tolerance and, rarely, to precipitate overt diabetes mellitus. We report here a case of a large pheochromocytoma in a woman with a recent diagnosis of diabetes mellitus that proved difficult to control despite high-dose insulin therapy who had complete resolution of her hyperglycemia following adrenalectomy. Her dramatic presentation demonstrates the need to consider this etiology in patients with new-onset insulin resistance and hypertension.

Role of “Second Look” Lymph Node Search in Harvesting Optimal Number of Lymph Nodes for Staging of Colorectal Carcinoma

As with other malignancies, lymph node metastasis is an important staging element and prognostic factor in colorectal carcinomas. The number of involved lymph nodes is directly related to decreased 5-year overall survival for all pT stages according to United States Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry database. The National Quality Forum specifies that the presence of at least 12 lymph nodes in a surgical resection is one of the key quality measures for the evaluation of colorectal cancer. Therefore, the harvesting of a minimum of twelve lymph nodes is the most widely accepted standard for evaluating colorectal cancer. Since this is an accepted quality standard, a second attempt at lymph node dissection in the gross specimen is often performed when the initial lymph node count is less than 12, incurring a delay in reporting and additional expense. However, this is an arbitrary number and not based on any hard scientific evidence. We decided to investigate whether the additional effort and expense of submitting additional lymph nodes had any effect on pathologic lymph node staging (pN). We identified a total of 99 colectomies for colorectal cancer in which the prosector subsequently submitted additional lymph nodes following initial review. The mean lymph node count increased from 8.3 ± 7.5 on initial search to 14.6 ± 8.0 following submission of additional sections. The number of cases meeting the target of 12 lymph nodes increased from 14 to 69. Examination of the additional lymph nodes resulted in pathologic upstaging (pN) of five cases. Gross reexamination and submission of additional lymph nodes may provide more accurate staging in a limited number of cases. Whether exhaustive submission of mesenteric fat or fat-clearing methods is justified will need to be further investigated.

Metastatic prostatic stromal sarcoma: A challenging diagnosis on fine-needle aspiration with broad differential diagnosis

Prostatic stromal sarcomas (PSS) are rare solid organ mesenchymal sarcomas. PSS may pose difficult diagnostic challenges on fine needle aspiration biopsy. We report a 48-year-old man diagnosed with metastatic high grade prostatic stromal sarcoma by a CT-scan guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy of a right lower lung lobe nodule. We reviewed the literature on the epidemiologic, cyto-histological, and immunophenotypic findings and discussed the differential diagnosis for this rare entity.

Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity and HIV Associated Nephropathy: Mimickers of Myeloma-Like Cast Nephropathy

Myeloma cast nephropathy is an obstructing disorder of renal tubules, caused by precipitation of Bence Jones proteins. Myeloma-like cast nephropathy (MLCN) has been reported in the literature to occur in various primary renal and nonrenal diseases. We present a series of three rare cases of cast nephropathy, two of which are HIV patients, and the third patient is receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy. However, in all three patients plasma cell dyscrasia has been ruled out. A 30-year-old male was admitted to the hospital with facial cellulitis. The second patient is a 31-year-old male who presented with Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia. The third patient was treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy for carcinoma. First two cases revealed foci of diffuse tubular dilatation containing hyaline casts and interstitial inflammatory infiltrate, in addition to globally sclerotic glomeruli with ultrastructural foot process fusion and mesangium expansion. The third case showed acute tubular injury and cast formation of irregular casts composed of amorphous or granular material of low density admixed with scattered high electron-dense globules. Myeloma-like cast nephropathy and true myeloma cast nephropathy pose similar destructive effects on renal parenchyma. This new pattern of HIV-related nephropathy should be considered in HIV patients with MLCN, once monoclonal gammopathy is ruled out.

Undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas with osteoclast-like giant cells reported in an asymptomatic patient: a rare case and literature review

Undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas with osteoclast-like giant cells (UC-OGC) is a rare and poorly described pancreatic malignancy. It is comprised of mononuclear, pleomorphic, and undifferentiated cells as well as osteoclast-like giant cells (OGC’s). It constitutes less than 1% of pancreatic non-endocrine neoplasia and is twice as likely to occur in females as in males. Its histopathologic properties remain poorly understood. It is suspected that UC-OGC is of epithelial origin that can then transition to mesenchymal elements. As part of this study, we describe a case of a malignant pancreatic neoplasm that was discovered in a 69-year old patient as an incidental finding. We also provide an overview of previously published data to highlight UC-OGC’s clinical and pathologic features.

Schwannoma of the Adrenal Gland: A Rare Adrenal Incidentaloma: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Primary adrenal schwannoma is an extremely uncommon, usually incidental tumor. It originates from neural sheath Schwann cells of the adrenal gland. We report a case of adrenal schwannoma in a 64-year-old man who was presented …

A Penile Gangrene in 39-Year-Old Man With End Stage Renal Disease and a Histologic Picture Mimicking Wegener Granulomatosis. A Case Report and Literature Review

Penile gangrene in patients with chronic renal failure is a rare outcome on hemodialysis. Furthermore, it is unusual in patients younger than 40 years of age. Several risk factors were thought to be the leading cause of this …