Pica in Pregnancy: An Unusual Presentation.

Background: Pica is common in pregnancy and is often felt to be benign. The following case of severe pica presenting without anemia is unusual in its presentation, laboratory findings, and treatment.

Case: A 31-year-old multiparous woman at 37 0/7 weeks of gestation presented with esophagitis and gastritis secondary to laundry detergent consumption.

Pathology consultation on drug-induced hemolytic anemia.

Drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia is considered to be rare but is likely underrecognized. The consulting pathologist plays a critical role in integrating serologic findings with the clinical history, as drug-induced antibodies should be distinguished as either drug-dependent or drug-independent for appropriate clinical management. Drug-dependent antibodies (DDABs) are most commonly associated with cefotetan, ceftriaxone, and piperacillin, whereas fludarabine, methyldopa, β-lactamase inhibitors, and platinum-based chemotherapeutics are frequent causes of drug-independent antibodies (DIABs).

Why is intelligence correlated with semen quality?: Biochemical pathways common to sperm and neuron function and their vulnerability to pleiotropic mutations.

We recently found positive correlations between human general intelligence and three key indices of semen quality, and hypothesized that these correlations arise through a phenotype-wide 'general fitness factor' reflecting overall mutation load. In this addendum we consider some of the biochemical pathways that may act as targets for pleiotropic mutations that disrupt both neuron function and sperm function in parallel. We focus especially on the inter-related roles of polyunsaturated fatty acids, exocytosis and receptor signaling.