Social Media Engagement at Academic Conferences: Report of the Association of Pathology Chairs 2018 and 2019 Annual Meeting Social Media Committee.

The use of social media at academic conferences is expanding, and platforms such as Twitter are used to share meeting content with the world. Pathology conferences are no exception, and recently, pathology organizations have promoted social media as a way to enhance meeting exposure. A social media committee was formed ad hoc to implement strategies to enhance social media involvement and coverage at the 2018 and 2019 annual meetings of the Association of Pathology Chairs.

Increased RHAMM expression relates to ovarian cancer progression.

Background: Elevated hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (RHAMM) has been reported to contribute to disease progression, aggressive phenotype and poor prognosis in multiple cancer types, however, RHAMM's role in ovarian cancer (OC) has not been elucidated. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the role for RHAMM in epithelial OC.

Results: Despite little to no expression in normal ovarian surface epithelium, western immunoblotting, immunohistochemical staining and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay showed elevated RHAMM levels in clinical tissue sections, omental metastasis and urine specimens of serous OC patients, as well as in cell lysates.

Esophageal Eosinophilia Treated With Long-Duration Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy.

We present a case of proton pump inhibitor-responsive eosinophilic esophagitis (PPI-REE) in a patient with severe dysphagia and markedly elevated baseline esophageal eosinophilia that was previously deemed unresponsive to PPI. Upon reintroduction to PPI therapy with monthly endoscopy and dilation over the course of 4 months, the patient improved clinically and resolved her mucosal eosinophilia. Our case suggests that a longer duration of PPI therapy may be required for histologic improvement, especially in patients with very high mucosal eosinophil count.

Caustic Injury and Stricture of the Esophagus After Long-Term Phenytoin Use.

A 50-year-old man with a history of epilepsy controlled with phenytoin presented for evaluation of dysphagia. History revealed the patient was taking his phenytoin daily without water. Barium esophagram showed severe stricturing of the mid-esophagus.

Multinucleated histiocytes in esophageal squamous mucosa secondary to gastroesophageal reflux disease in a patient with esophageal stricture.

We present a novel finding of multinucleated histiocytes associated with acute and chronic inflammation secondary to gastroesophageal reflux in a patient with a history of esophageal stricture, representing the first documented case after a review of the literature. Multinucleated squamous cells, while rare, are a more common finding in association with reactive and inflammatory conditions and have been reported in other areas of the body, such as the vulva, skin, and colon. Esophageal involvement with multinucleated epithelial giant cells appears to be a much less frequently encountered occurrence with only one previous report in the literature.

Case report of proton pump inhibitor responsive esophageal eosinophilia: why 2 months of proton pump inhibitors is required.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic inflammatory disease defined by the 2nd EoE consensus panel as: 'symptoms related to esophageal dysfunction, ≥15 eosinophils per high-power field, eosinophilia that persists after a trial of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy, and exclusion of other secondary causes of esophageal eosinophilia'. After Ngo et al. first reported a case series of 3 patients initially diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis responding endoscopically and histologically to PPI therapy, the term PPI-responsive esophageal eosinophilia has evolved.

Transfusion medicine knowledge in Postgraduate Year 1 residents.

Background: Transfusion medicine is a complex important subspecialty of pathology. A transfusion carries measurable risks and benefits. Although fellowship training exists in transfusion medicine, the majority of transfusion decisions are made by clinicians without formal training.

Progressive bevacizumab-associated renal thrombotic microangiopathy.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is integral to the integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier. Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against VEGF with expanding clinical applications for metastatic solid tumours. We describe a case of a 61-year-old female with ovarian cancer and baseline chronic kidney disease who received three doses of bevacizumab and subsequently developed progressive renal clearance dysfunction and nephrotic range proteinuria.

Incidental pathologic findings in open resectional gastric bypass specimens with routine cholecystectomy and appendectomy.

Background: Morbid obesity has become a public health epidemic in the United States. With this epidemic, the demand for surgical intervention has led to rapid growth in the field of bariatric surgery. Although various procedures exist, one of the procedures offered at our institution is resectional Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with incidental cholecystectomy and appendectomy.

Prognostic significance of reactivation of telomerase in breast core biopsy specimens.

Background: Telomerase is not expressed in most somatic tissues, but activity has been shown in breast carcinoma and up to 90% of solid tumors. We sought to determine whether activation of telomerase, as shown by immunohistochemical staining for human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), held prognostic significance in core breast biopsy specimens.

Methods: We identified women with atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) on core biopsy who either had underlying cancer or ADH.

Mesenchymal dysplasia of the placenta.

Placental mesenchymal dysplasia is a rare human placental disorder in which the placenta is enlarged and contains cystic villi and dilated vasculature. It is important to recognize this disorder because it may mimic a partial hydatidiform mole. In contrast to a partial mole, mesenchymal dysplasia may coexist with a normal fetus.

AlloDerm tympanoplasty of tympanic membrane perforations.

Purpose: To study the effectiveness of AlloDerm (LifeCell Corporation, Branchburg, NJ) as a graft material in underlay tympanoplasty by comparison to autologous fascia in a chronic tympanic membrane perforation animal model.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen chinchillas underwent creation of bilateral chronic tympanic membrane perforations over a 6-week period. Twenty-two stable perforations were divided equally between the experimental AlloDerm and control fascia graft groups.

Multiple myeloma involving the myocardium and coronary vessels.

We report a case of metastatic plasmacytoma to the myocardium and coronary vessels in a 57-year-old man with multiple myeloma. Originally, the patient had a large plasmacytoma in his left chest wall and lung. He received local radiation and chemotherapy.