Serum vitamin D and colonic vitamin D receptor in inflammatory bowel disease.

Aim: To determine serum vitamin D levels and colonic vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and non-IBD patients and correlate these with histopathology.

Methods: Puerto Rican IBD (n = 10) and non-IBD (n = 10) patients ≥ 21 years old scheduled for colonoscopy were recruited. Each patient completed a questionnaire and provided a serum sample and a colonic biopsy of normal-appearing mucosa.

Rejection, Recurrence, or Something Else?

Since the introduction of liver transplant as treatment for end-stage liver disease, thousands of lives have been saved. To prevent organ rejection, immunosuppression is given chronically and hence, patients are at increased risk for opportunistic infections related to immunosuppression, especially within the first year after the transplant. However, opportunistic infections can occur years after the transplantation.

Immunohistochemical expression of SP-NK-1R-EGFR pathway and VDR in colonic inflammation and neoplasia.

Aim: To determine the expression of neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R), phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptor (pEGFR), cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2), and vitamin D receptor (VDR) in normal, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and colorectal neoplasia tissues from Puerto Ricans.

Methods: Tissues from patients with IBD, colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC), sporadic dysplasia, and sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC), as well as normal controls, were identified at several centers in Puerto Rico. Archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were de-identified and processed by immunohistochemistry for NK-1R, pEGFR, Cox-2, and VDR.

Retinal hemorrhages and intermediate uveitis in a patient with drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms syndrome: a case report.

Purpose: To report a case of drug reaction (or rash) with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms syndrome in association with intraretinal hemorrhages and intermediate uveitis.

Methods: Single case report.

Results: A 22-year-old Hispanic woman developed a facial rash and blurry vision after the use of oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for a urinary tract infection.

Granulomatous enterocolitis secondary to Yersinia in an 11-year-old boy from Puerto Rico, confirmed by PCR: a case report.

We report the case of an 11-year-old boy without any history of systemic illness and who developed fever and chills and experienced a 10 lbs. weight loss 3 weeks prior to admission. Two days before admission, he experienced abdominal pain that became localized to the right lower quadrant within 24 hours.

Breast cancer molecular subtypes and survival in a hospital-based sample in Puerto Rico.

Information on the impact of hormone receptor status subtypes in breast cancer (BC) prognosis is still limited for Hispanics. We aimed to evaluate the association of BC molecular subtypes and other clinical factors with survival in a hospital-based female population of BC cases in Puerto Rico. We analyzed 663 cases of invasive BC diagnosed between 2002 and 2005.

Increase in the number of IBD surgical resections at the Puerto Rico Medical Center: A brief report.

Objective: There is limited data describing Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) among Hispanics. In Puerto Rico, three studies have been conducted that estimate the prevalence of this disease. Although still rare, these studies coincide that IBD has increased during the last decades.

Clinicopathological factors associated to HER-2 status in a hospital-based sample of breast cancer patients in Puerto Rico.

Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy in Puerto Rico. Cases with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) oncoprotein overamplification are associated with aggressive clinical behavior. Given the limited availability of information for Puerto Rico, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence and clinical correlates of HER-2 gene overexpression among a hospital-based female population of breast cancer cases.

Mismatch repair protein expression and colorectal cancer in Hispanics from Puerto Rico.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and alterations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes, leading to absent protein (negative) expression, are responsible for approximately 20% of CRC cases. Immunohistochemistry is a tool for prescreening of MMR protein expression in CRC but the literature on its use on Hispanics is scarce. However, Hispanics represent the second leading ethnicity in the United States (US) and CRC is a public health burden in this group.

Surveillance for dysplasia in patients with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis: an interim analysis.

Background: The risk of developing cancer in the ileal pouch of patients with surgery for ulcerative colitis has not been defined. Dysplasia in the pouch is quite rare. Although some suggest pouch surveillance based on previous histological assessments, there are no guidelines for surveillance of these patients.

Serrated adenomas.

Serrated adenomas are categorized as sessile serrated adenomas (SSAs) and traditional serrated adenomas (TSAs). SSAs are more prevalent in the proximal colon and lack classic dysplasia, whereas TSAs are more prevalent in the rectosigmoid and have cytologic dysplasia. Serrated adenomas may progress to colorectal adenocarcinoma through diverse molecular alterations.

Ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy.

Non-compaction of the left ventricle is an extremely rare cardiomyopathy resulting from a defective morphogenesis of the endomyocardium. It results in an architecturally aberrant ventricular wall consisting of two layers: a compacted layer and a loose interwoven meshwork with prominent trabeculae and deep intertrabecular recesses that communicate with the left ventricular cavity. This report describes the case of a 25-year-old man with dilated cardiomyopathy, due to non-compaction of the left ventricle, presenting with a transient ischemic attack.

MSH-2 and MLH-1 protein expression in Muir Torre syndrome-related and sporadic sebaceous neoplasms.

Background: Muir-Torre Syndrome (MTS) is a rare autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by the predisposition to both sebaceous neoplasm and internal malignancies. MTS-associated sebaceous neoplasms reveal mutations in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes and microsatellite instability. A significant part of MTS patients represents a phenotypic variant, the hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC).

Ileal perforation and reactive hemophagocytic syndrome in a patient with disseminated histoplasmosis: the role of the real-time polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis and successful treatment with amphotericin B lipid complex.

The following case illustrates an ileal perforation and reactive hemophagocytic syndrome (RHS) resulting from disseminated histoplasmosis in a patient with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) from Puerto Rico. Although the diagnosis was established by histopathologic findings and a positive bone marrow culture, Histoplasma capsulatum-specific real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) allowed to confirm the diagnosis from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue. Interestingly, the Histoplasma antigens in both serum and urine samples were falsely negative.

The liver biopsy in viral hepatitis C.

The World Health Organization estimates the world prevalence of viral hepatitis C at 3%. The advent of therapeutic regimens for viral hepatitis has made the liver biopsy a routine specimen in the surgical pathology laboratory. The clinician will need to know the degree and type of necroinflammatory activity and the presence and level of fibrosis, before making the decision to start therapy.

Crohn's disease associated to chordoma: a case report.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by remissions and exacerbations. Immunosuppressants are frequently used to induce and maintain remission in these patients. The use of the immunomodulator azathioprine has been associated to malignancies.

Epstein-Barr virus in biopsies from patients with Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the University of Puerto Rico immunohistochemistry laboratory.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) presence rate in our laboratory's lymphoma tissue biopsies for comparison with that reported in literature.

Background: The presence of EBV has been established in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), endemic Burkitt Lymphoma and some non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). It has been linked to geographic, ethnic and socioeconomic factors, with a lower rate in developed countries.

Prevalence of steroid receptors and HER 2/neu in breast cancer biopsies of women living in Puerto Rico.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence rate of estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER 2/neu in the breast cancer biopsies analyzed in the Laboratory of Immunohistochemistry of the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in the year 2000. This data may serve as a reference point for future studies of the epidemiological aspects of breast cancer among women living in Puerto Rico.

Background: Determination of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) on biopsy specimens of breast carcinoma prior to treatment is standard practice in the management of breast carcinoma.

Macromastia: how much of it is fat?

A total of 25 patients who underwent bilateral breast reduction were included in this study. Each patient's age, weight, height, and amount of breast tissue removed from each breast were recorded. The body mass index was calculated for each patient.