Coronary periarteritis in a patient with multi-organ IgG4-related disease.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease is a recently described systemic clinicopathological entity characterized by immunoglobulin G4-producing plasmacytic infiltration of tissue and frequently by elevated serum immunoglobulin G4 concentration. Manifestations of this disease have been documented in nearly all organs and locations, but coronary artery involvement is not widely recognized. We report the coronary findings of a patient with multi-organ immunoglobulin G4-related disease.

Risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is low in patients with chronic liver disease exposed to gadolinium-based contrast agents.

Purpose: To determine the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in a cohort of patients with chronic liver disease.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective, Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant study was performed at a single tertiary liver center. The study cohort comprised 1167 patients with chronic liver disease followed in a liver clinic and exposed to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) between February 2004 and October 2007.

Outbreak of nontuberculous mycobacterial disease in the central Pacific.

Approximately 10% of the island population of Satowan (population, 650 persons), a small, remote coral island in the central Pacific, suffers from an acquired, chronic, disfiguring skin condition known locally as "spam." This skin disease has affected the island population since shortly after World War II. An investigation in 2007 revealed that this skin disease is caused by a nontuberculous mycobacterial infection closely related to Mycobacterium marinum.

Sequelae of World War II: an outbreak of chronic cutaneous nontuberculous mycobacterial infection among Satowanese islanders.

Background: After World War II, residents of Satowan (population, 650 persons), an outer island in the state of Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia, noted a high prevalence of a chronic, progressive skin disease known locally as "spam."

Methods: Island residents who had chronic, progressive verrucous or keloidal plaques for >3 months were considered case patients. Tissue specimens were obtained for culture, histopathological analysis, mycobacterial polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and comparison with the hsp65 gene of Mycobacterium marinum.