Cryptococcal osteomyelitis of the skull in a liver transplant patient.

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen and an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of osteomyelitis caused by C. neoformans in a liver transplant recipient who presented with a headache and scalp lump after sustaining mild head trauma.

The association of clinical outcome with right atrial and ventricular remodelling in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: study with real-time three-dimensional echocardiography.

Aims: Right atrial (RA) dilatation may be important for patients' outcome in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal RA and right ventricular (RV) remodelling in PAH patients using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) and their relation to clinical outcome.

Methods And Results: Sixty-two consecutive PAH patients were studied and compared with a control group of 30 healthy volunteers.

Synchronous and metachronous malignancies in patients with melanoma: a clinicopathologic study highlighting the role of fine-needle biopsy cytology and potential diagnostic pitfalls.

Fine-needle biopsy (FNB) is commonly used in the investigation of patients with a history of melanoma who present with possible metastatic disease. Non-melanoma malignancies (NMM) are common in the general population and not infrequent in patients with melanoma. Such tumors may be difficult to distinguish from metastatic melanoma on FNB.

Cytological features of transitional cell metaplasia of the lower female genital tract.

Aims: Transitional cell metaplasia (TCM) of the cervix and vaginal vault is rarely reported. We sought to describe the clinical and cytological features and cytological differential diagnosis of TCM.

Methods: Cervical and vaginal vault smears reported as TCM or smears from patients with histologically confirmed TCM were examined for the following features: cellularity, architecture, background cell population, cell group thickness, cell shape, nuclear features (shape, chromatin, nucleoli, outline), perinuclear haloes, the presence in cell groups of a surface layer of cuboidal cells, and associated pathology.

Cytologic features of metastatic and recurrent melanoma in patients with primary cutaneous desmoplastic melanoma.

Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) is a rare subtype of melanoma characterized by malignant spindle cells associated with prominent fibrocollagenous stroma. Primary melanomas may be entirely desmoplastic ("pure" DM) or exhibit a desmoplastic component admixed with a nondesmoplastic component ("combined" DM). The cytologic features of only 5 cases of DM have been reported previously.

Diagnostic accuracy of fine needle biopsy for metastatic melanoma and its implications for patient management.

Background: The use of fine needle biopsy (FNB) for the diagnosis of metastatic melanoma can lead to the early removal and treatment of metastases, reduce the frequency of unnecessary surgery, and facilitate the staging of patients enrolled in clinical trials of adjuvant therapies. In this study, the accuracy of FNB for the diagnosis of metastatic melanoma was investigated.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed with 2204 consecutive FNBs performed on 1416 patients known or suspected to have metastatic melanoma.

Diagnosis of metastatic melanoma by fine-needle biopsy: analysis of 2,204 cases.

Fine-needle biopsy (FNB) has been reported as a rapid, minimally invasive technique for the diagnosis of metastatic melanoma. The diagnostic accuracy of FNB was assessed in a consecutive series of 2,204 FNBs of clinically suspicious lesions from patients with previous primary melanomas treated at the Sydney Melanoma Unit, Sydney, Australia, between January 1992 and December 2002. The sensitivity and specificity of FNB were 96.

Tumor mitotic rate is a more powerful prognostic indicator than ulceration in patients with primary cutaneous melanoma: an analysis of 3661 patients from a single center.

Background: The current study was performed to determine whether tumor mitotic rate (TMR) is a useful, independent prognostic factor in patients with localized cutaneous melanoma.

Methods: From the Sydney Melanoma Unit database, 3661 patients with complete clinical information and details of primary tumor thickness, ulcerative state, and TMR were studied. TMR was expressed as mitoses per mm(2) in the dermal part of the tumor in which most mitoses were seen, as recommended in the 1982 revision of the 1972 Sydney classification of malignant melanoma.