Publications by authors named "Christopher Pinto"

Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of cancer treatment, can cause serious side effects, including immune-related myocarditis (irMyocarditis), which can be fatal.
  • Researchers studied immune responses in the heart, tumor, and blood of 28 patients with irMyocarditis using advanced techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing and T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing.
  • Their findings showed an increase in certain immune cells in the heart tissue of irMyocarditis patients and identified specific TCR clones associated with severe cases, shedding light on the disease's biology and potential biomarkers.
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  • - Spina bifida is a birth defect affecting the development of neural structures, often leading to physical and neurological challenges that surgical interventions may not completely resolve.
  • - The report discusses an adult male in his 40s who had surgery for meningocele as a baby and now suffers from severe complications, including ulcers, fractures, and a large tumor affecting multiple body areas.
  • - Due to factors like immobility and inadequate social support, the case was managed conservatively, as the carcinoma was not surgically removable.
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  • * A 64-year-old female patient exhibited weakness, fatigue, and toe/finger discoloration, which, along with lab tests, led to her diagnosis of mixed cryoglobulinemia due to cryoglobulins and rheumatoid factors.
  • * The patient was treated with several therapies but suffered complications, including the need for a below-knee amputation; this case highlights the importance for doctors to recognize this condition, particularly in older patients experiencing gangrene or peripheral neuropathy.
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  • Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy has significantly advanced cancer treatment but is often complicated by immune-related adverse events like checkpoint inhibitor colitis (irColitis).
  • A study profiling around 300,000 cells from patients with irColitis uncovered key immune cell expansions and molecular changes in the colon mucosa and blood, highlighting the complexity of the condition.
  • Findings indicate that specific T cells and epithelial interactions are crucial for understanding irColitis and may lead to new therapeutic approaches for managing this side effect of ICI therapy.
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Paget's disease of bone is a disorder of osteoclasts which hampers the physiological process of bone remodeling. It is the most common metabolic orthopedic disease in the Caucasian populace; we report the diagnosis of Paget's disease of bone in a South-Asian male in his early 50s with a history of gastrointestinal symptoms, weight loss and back pain. An alkaline phosphatase level of 1104 IU/L was noted.

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Fahr's disease is a rare condition characterised by the presence of idiopathic familial bilateral basal ganglia calcifications, transmitted in an autosomal-dominant fashion. Diagnosis is based on clinical features of neuropsychiatric and somatic symptoms in conjunction with radiological findings. Our patient, a man in his early 50s, presented with pneumonia.

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Unilateral pulmonary artery atresia (UPAA) is a rare embryonic vascular malformation, leading to general presentations of exertional dyspnoea, pneumonia and haemoptysis. Our patient, a man in his early 30s, presented with a history of progressive breathlessness over a period of 2 years. History showed multiple admissions for pneumonia over his childhood and adolescence.

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Schimmelpenning-Feuerstein-Mims syndrome is a rare disorder generally characterised by a craniofacial nevus with multisystemic presentations. Our patient, an infant, was brought to the emergency department in a postictal state following a first seizure episode. A physical examination showed a solitary dark brown, well-demarcated verrucous plaque extending from the patient's left temporal region to the left mandible without crossing the midline.

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Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can lead to serious immune-related adverse events (irAEs), with ICI-related myocarditis (irMyocarditis) being particularly dangerous and the most lethal among these events.
  • Researchers explored immune responses in the heart, tumors, and blood of 28 patients with irMyocarditis compared to 23 controls, using advanced techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing and proteomics.
  • Key findings revealed a unique presence of specific immune cells in irMyocarditis heart tissue, distinct T cell responses in heart vs. tumor, and identified novel biomarkers related to fatality that could inform future therapies.
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Congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia (CDA) type II is a rare disease characterised by inefficient erythropoiesis and mononuclear cytopenia. Patients generally present with extravascular haemolytic anaemia, jaundice and splenomegaly. A female patient in her mid-teens presented with severe anaemia and abdominal distention.

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Homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HoFH) is a disorder affecting low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor genes. Patients typically have a triad of elevated LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), xanthomatosis and premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Our patient, a preteen boy, presented with signs of hypertensive encephalopathy.

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Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria is a rare form of intravascular hemolysis caused by an acquired deficiency of complement regulatory glycoproteins. In our case, a 53-year-old male presented with fatigue, discoloration of urine, and reduced urine output. Preliminary investigations showed severe anemia (3.

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Spontaneous transvaginal small bowel evisceration is an extremely rare condition with a few more than 100 documented cases to date. The complications of such a rare entity revolve around its preoperative presentation as well as its operative and postoperative complications. The complications seen are intestinal incarcerations and perforations with an increased risk of post-surgical ileus and peritonitis in a time-dependent fashion.

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Rickettsiae are a group of eukaryotic obligatory intracellular parasites with ticks and mites as vectors. is the Indian counterpart of Rocky Mountain spotted fever causing the endemic variant - Indian tick typhus. This disease can cause severe illness in adults and children and can be missed despite the availability of serological tests.

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Kimura's disease is a rare, benign entity that causes subcutaneous angioblastic lymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia. It usually presents with subcutaneous lymphoid swellings with regional lymphadenopathy and salivary gland masses. Kimura's disease is frequently associated with renal involvement, which includes proteinuria and nephrotic syndrome as the most common presentations.

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Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive pathology affecting nucleotide excision repair against ultraviolet radiation. This leads to an increased predisposition to developing ophthalmological, neurological, and cutaneous conditions with an increased cell turnover. This case reports a late presentation of XP presenting with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and septic shock in an eight-year-old Indian male.

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Background: Trastuzumab is a targeted therapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer. However, trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity (TIC) has been reported when trastuzumab is administered to patients as a single agent or combined with anthracycline. Currently no means for detecting the early onset of TIC such as a protein biomarker is available.

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Unlabelled: FGFR inhibitors are approved for the treatment of advanced cholangiocarcinoma harboring FGFR2 fusions. However, the response rate is moderate, and resistance emerges rapidly due to acquired secondary FGFR2 mutations or due to other less-defined mechanisms. Here, we conducted high-throughput combination drug screens, biochemical analysis, and therapeutic studies using patient-derived models of FGFR2 fusion-positive cholangiocarcinoma to gain insight into these clinical profiles and uncover improved treatment strategies.

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In patients with metastatic cancer, spatial heterogeneity of somatic alterations may lead to incomplete assessment of a cancer's mutational profile when analyzing a single tumor biopsy. In this study, we perform sequencing of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and distinct metastatic tissue samples from ten rapid autopsy cases with pre-treated metastatic cancer. We show that levels of heterogeneity in genetic biomarkers vary between patients but that gene expression signatures representative of the tumor microenvironment are more consistent.

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The diagnosis of biliary strictures in clinical practice can be challenging. Discriminating between benign and malignant biliary strictures is important to prevent the morbidity and mortality associated with incorrect diagnoses. Missing a malignant biliary stricture may delay surgery, resulting in poor prognostic outcomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study examines the pathophysiology of COVID-19 by analyzing single-cell and spatial atlases from various organ autopsy samples of individuals who died from the virus.
  • Findings revealed significant changes in lung tissue, including impaired tissue regeneration and inflammation, indicating how SARS-CoV-2 affects different cell types.
  • The research provides crucial insights into the biological impact of severe COVID-19, aiding in the development of potential new treatments.
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  • The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to over 1 million deaths worldwide, primarily due to severe lung injuries and multiple organ failures, but there is limited understanding of the immune responses involved in COVID-19.
  • Researchers collected and analyzed over 420 tissue samples from various organs of 17 COVID-19 victims, utilizing advanced techniques like RNA sequencing to map out cellular changes related to their illness.
  • Significant findings include alterations in lung tissue cell types, such as the increase of specific progenitor cells and myofibroblasts, indicating impaired tissue repair and failed regenerative processes in severely damaged lungs.
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  • The study investigates how SARS-CoV-2 affects the lungs at different severity levels by analyzing autopsy samples from 24 patients who died from the virus.
  • It identifies two categories of patients: those with high viral loads showing strong immune responses and specific macrophage types, and those with low viral loads exhibiting varied responses and signs of lung recovery.
  • The research also highlights that the spatial distribution of the virus and immune responses within the lungs is heterogeneous, with different patterns of interferon response genes linked to virus presence.
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The relationship of SARS-CoV-2 lung infection and severity of pulmonary disease is not fully understood. We analyzed autopsy specimens from 24 patients who succumbed to SARS-CoV-2 infection using a combination of different RNA and protein analytical platforms to characterize inter- and intra- patient heterogeneity of pulmonary virus infection. There was a spectrum of high and low virus cases that was associated with duration of disease and activation of interferon pathway genes.

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