Serum CA 19.9 Levels in Patients With Benign and Malignant Disease: Correlation With the Serum Protein Electrophoretic Pattern.

Aim: To confirm that the carbohydrate antigen 19.9 (CA 19.9) protein can be evaluated by determining changes in the β2 zone in protein electrophoresis.

Relationship Between CA 19.9 and the Lewis Phenotype: Options to Improve Diagnostic Efficiency.

Background/aim: Approximately 10% of patients are unable to synthesize CA 19.9 (Lewis-negative), and these results are erroneously considered false-negatives. The aim of this study was to confirm that CA 19.

Acquired acute myelogenous leukemia after therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia with t(15;17): a case report and review of the literature.

Therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS) and therapy-related acute myelogenous leukemia (t-AML) in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) are rare events. The cumulative exposure to chemotherapy with alkylating agents and topoisomerase II inhibitors is associated with t-AML that may develop any time after the completion of the treatment. We report the case of an acquired AML who previously received therapy for APL, after two years of being diagnosed.

Aleukemic leukemia cutis preceding acute monocytic leukemia: a case report.

Aleukemic leukemia cutis is an extremely rare clinical presentation in patients who eventually develop acute leukemia, usually of monocytic lineage. This condition is associated with a very poor prognosis and is often difficult to diagnose. We report a case of a 33 years old female with leukemia cutis preceding the onset of acute monocytic leukemia by four months.

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.

Carcinocythemia in a patient with rhabdomyosarcoma.

Solid tumor cells are rarely seen in peripheral blood smears. When this occurs the term carcinocythemia is used. This report describes an 18-year-old female who presented with a painless lump in the labia majora associated with pancytopenia.

Severe hemolysis and red cell fragmentation caused by the combination of a spectrin mutation with a thrombotic microangiopathy.

Two patients are described who presented with severe hemolysis and erythrocyte fragmentation. One patient had renal allograft rejection and disseminated intravascular coagulation, and the other had thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura. The severity of hemolysis and the red cell abnormalities were considerably more profound than usually seen in patients with thrombotic microangiopathies.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia with unusual cytoplasmic granulation: a morphologic, cytochemical, and ultrastructural study.

The classification of the acute leukemias depends mainly on the morphologic and cytochemical evaluation of the blast forms. One of the main accepted morphologic criteria in the differentiation between acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) is the absence of granules in the blast cells of ALL. We evaluated a patient with ALL in whom granules were present in the cytoplasm of 35% of the blast cells, as seen in AML.

Megakaryoblastic transformation of Ph positive chronic granulocytic leukemia.

A case of well-documented and illustrated megakaryoblastic transformation in a patient with chronic granulocytic leukemia is presented. The salient features of this case were the presence of megakaryoblasts in the peripheral blood and bone marrow and characteristic cytochemical and electron microscopic findings. In addition, the authors observed an unusual, previously unreported, similarity of the abnormal platelets with those described in the Gray platelet syndrome.

Transfusion induced acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) with Kaposi's sarcoma in a patient with congenital factor V deficiency.

The first instance ever reported of transfusion induced AIDS with Kaposi's sarcoma in a non-homosexual patient is presented in detail. Our experience in this case supports the theory that a transfusion induced viral agent or agents which may affect the immunoregulatory mechanism could be the underlying cause. The rarity of patients such as ours suggests that other, so far undescribed, factors must be playing an essential role in the development of this rare form of cancer in high risk groups represented by patients with AIDS.