Publications by authors named "Carlos Barranco"

The objective of the study was to assess the pathogenic and treatment relevance of Platelet Activating factor (PAF) in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). The expression and cellular location of PAF receptor (PAFR) and serum levels of PAF and PAF acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) in patients with moderate/severe CSU (n = 45) and healthy controls (HCs, n = 17) were studied. Skin samples from the active wheal (LS-CSU, 13 samples for qPCR and 33 for immunohistochemistry) and non-lesional skin (NLS-CSU, 13 samples) of CSU patients and HCs (13 samples and 5 for immunohistochemistry) were analyzed.

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Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a malignant skin cancer with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 50%. Knowledge of MCC has increased in recent years mostly due to improved diagnosis techniques. In Spain there is lack of information regarding the incidence and tumour characteristics, and the treatment approaches are not standardised.

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Background: Different immunohistochemical markers to detect amastigotes in cutaneous leishmaniasis have been proposed with variable diagnostic usefulness.

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of immunohistochemical amastigotes identification by specific polyclonal anti-Leishmania antibodies and CD1a expression (clone EP3622) in a series of PCR confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-three skin samples corresponding to PCR confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis were included in the study.

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Colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) inhibitors represent a new class of immune-modulatory drugs, mostly investigated in clinical trials in different malignant neoplasms. Four patients, diagnosed with recurrent or advanced malignant neoplasm and treated with a combination of anti-programmed death ligand 1 and anti-CSF1R monoclonal antibodies, developed an asymptomatic cutaneous eruption characterized by an ill-defined pseudoedematous to waxy diffuse infiltration with a reticular cobblestone-like pattern. Histopathological examination revealed diffuse mucin deposition involving the superficial and mid-dermis with fragmented and scattered elastic fibers.

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Background: Pigmented labial macules (PLMs) are clinical, dermoscopic, and histopathologic challenges.

Objective: To describe and evaluate the utility of reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) in PLMs and to establish a correlation between dermoscopy, RCM, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry.

Methods: Prospective study of PLMs from 4 tertiary referral dermatology centers.

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Background And Objective: Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are essential for understanding most molecular processes. In this context, the so-called model-free approaches have an advantage modeling the complex topologies behind these dynamic molecular networks, since most GRNs are difficult to map correctly by any other mathematical model. Abstract model-free approaches, also known as rule-based extraction methods, offer valuable benefits when performing data-driven analysis; such as requiring the least amount of data and simplifying the inference of large models at a faster analysis speed.

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Background: Cutaneous lesions of sarcoidosis can allow physicians to establish the diagnosis of a systemic disease, but the need of monitoring patients presenting skin limited sarcoidosis in order to detect further extracutaneous involvement has rarely been evaluated.

Objectives: To review clinical and histological features of patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis and the risk of progression to systemic disease. To characterize the phenotype of patients with isolated cutaneous sarcoidosis and to assess the temporal relationship between cutaneous and systemic disease.

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Self-healing cutaneous mucinosis (SHCM) is an idiopathic localized cutaneous mucinosis mainly described in children and characterized clinically by an acute onset of papules and nodules that exhibit a spontaneous resolution in a period ranging from weeks to few months. Histologically, a diffuse mucin deposition in the dermis and/or hypodermis associated with a proliferation of spindle-shaped cells and some large epithelioid gangliocyte-like mononuclear cells is usually observed. An uncommon adult variant of SHCM has also been reported; however, the clinicopathological features described in these patients are extremely heterogeneous and differ significantly from the juvenile variant of the disease, often showing exclusively dermal involvement.

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The presence of acquired generalized keratotic follicular papules and comedones developing in adulthood constitute an uncommon clinical situation. Although this clinical presentation has been described in several noninflammatory, inflammatory, and neoplastic skin disorders, its association with an exclusive perifollicular epitheliod or granulomatous inflammatory reaction represents an exceedingly rare phenomenon. We report a case of a 57-year-old male patient presenting clinically numerous acquired disseminated follicular papules and comedones, showing isolated perifollicular sarcoid-like granulomatous inflammatory infiltrates at the histological examination.

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Importance: Pigmented facial macules on photodamaged skin are a clinical, dermoscopic, and histopathologic challenge.

Objectives: To clinically and dermoscopically characterize, by means of reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), ambiguous pigmented facial macules and establish a correlation between RCM, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical findings.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A prospective study of ambiguous pigmented facial macules on photodamaged skin was conducted in a tertiary referral center for dermatology between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2015.

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Background: Diffuse dermal angiomatosis (DDA) is a rare, acquired, reactive vascular proliferation, clinically characterized by livedoid erythematous-violaceous plaques, which frequently evolve to ulceration and necrosis. Histopathologically, it is manifested by a diffuse proliferation of endothelial cells within the full thickness of the dermis. DDA has been mainly associated with severe peripheral atherosclerosis.

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Bone marrow histology is included in the diagnostic criteria of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). However, some concerns have emerged about its reproducibility. To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of histology and to assess its correlation with presence of mutations and clinical outcomes, two pathologists reviewed the bone marrow biopsies corresponding to 211 patients with MPN.

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A 23-year-old male affected of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa presented with a 2-month history of a growing verrucous plaque on the right flank. The clinical features and evolution suggested the diagnosis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Histopathological examination showed hyperkeratosis, parakeratossis, and verrucous acanthosis and numerous large xanthoma cells in the papillary dermis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tumor thickness, specifically Breslow thickness, is a key factor in predicting outcomes for primary melanoma, and this study evaluates how two staining techniques (H&E and Melan-A) measure this thickness differently.
  • Among the 99 biopsy samples examined, Melan-A staining showed greater tumor thickness in about 60% of cases compared to H&E, with some differences being clinically significant (≥0.2 mm).
  • The study found that Melan-A reclassified a significant number of in situ melanoma cases as invasive, highlighting its importance over H&E in detecting small clusters of melanocytic cells that can be missed, especially in complex tissue environments.
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Background: Approximately 4% of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCCs) develop lymphatic metastases. The value of lymphatic endothelial markers to enhance the detection of lymphatic tumor invasion in cSCC has not been assessed previously.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the use of the antibody D2-40, a podoplanin immunohistochemical marker, to identify tumor lymph vessel invasion in cSCC and to assess its expression in tumor cells.

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Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is characterized by the presence of the t(17;22)(q22;q13) that leads to the fusion of the COL1A1 and PDGFB genes. This translocation can be detected by multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques. We have evaluated the usefulness of a dual color dual fusion FISH probe strategy for COL1A1/PDGFB detection in a series of 103 archival DFSPs and compared the obtained results with RT-PCR analyses.

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FOXP1 protein is expressed in normal activated B cells and overexpressed in a subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, including primary cutaneous large B-cell lymphomas (PCLBCL), leg type. High expression of FOXP1 has been associated to an unfavourable prognosis with independent survival significance. However, little is known regarding the mechanisms underlying the overexpression of FOXP1 in PCLBCL, leg type.

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Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans is genetically characterized by the translocation t(17;22)(q22;q13) resulting in the PDGFB/COL1A1 fusion gene. Fluorescence in situ hybridization with specific probes enables a rapid detection of this gene. In this study, the presence of the translocation t(17;22)(q22;q13) by fluorescence in situ hybridization in paraffin-embedded tissue microarrays was analyzed.

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Mycosis fungoide (MF) patients who develop tumors or extracutaneous involvement usually have a poor prognosis with no curative therapy available so far. In the present European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) multicenter study, the genomic profile of 41 skin biopsies from tumor stage MF (MFt) was analyzed using a high-resolution oligo-array comparative genomic hybridization platform. Seventy-six percent of cases showed genomic aberrations.

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Malignant lymphomatous involvement of the glans penis is a rare phenomenon that can be observed in either primary or secondary cutaneous lymphoma. Multiple papules, solitary nodules of variable size, ulcers, or painless masses have rarely been reported as specific and early manifestations of systemic lymphoma. Other unusual manifestations include priapism (manifested as a painless persistent erection with a flaccid glans penis) and progressive diffuse penile swelling.

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Indeterminate cell histiocytosis is an exceptional and controversial entity with variable clinical, histopathologic or immunohistochemical findings, sharing morphologic and immunophenotypic features from both Langerhans and non-Langerhans cell histiocytoses. Neoplastic cells express S-100 and CD1a antigens, but lack Birbeck granules. It has been reported in both adults and children, as solitary or multiple cutaneous lesions with rare extracutaneous involvement.

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Two patients developed a pruritic maculopapular rash following treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Histopathological examination disclosed a superficial dermal inflammatory infiltrate composed of interstitially arranged large histiocytic CD68+ cells and perivascularly disposed lymphocytes. Large histiocytes were interspersed among the collagen bundles with associated slight deposits of mucin.

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