Nonoperative management for disseminated spinal blastomycosis with extensive lytic destruction in a 35-year-old male: illustrative case.

Background: The authors describe the case of a 35-year-old male who presented with back pain and painful masses on his upper extremities. He had a known sacral lesion identified 1 year prior at an outside facility, suspected to be coccidioidomycosis on biopsy, but the workup was not completed because the patient left against medical advice and was lost to follow-up. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging revealed lytic destructive lesions involving the calvaria, thoracolumbar spine, and sacrum, concerning for an active and disseminated infection.

Anatomic Study of Nutrient Foramina of Posterior Axis with Application to C2 Pedicle Screw Placement.

Objective: Pedicle screws placed into C2 necessitate a thorough understanding of this bone's unique anatomy. Although multiple landmarks and measurements have been used by surgeons, these are often varied in the literature with no consensus. Herein, we studied one recently proposed landmark using the nutrient foramina of the posterior aspect of C2 for pedicle screw placement.

Desmin-related myopathy with Mallory body-like inclusions is caused by mutations of the selenoprotein N gene.

Desmin-related myopathies (DRMs) are a heterogeneous group of muscle disorders, morphologically defined by intrasarcoplasmic aggregates of desmin. Mutations in the desmin and the alpha-B crystallin genes account for approximately one third of the DRM cases. The genetic basis of the other forms remain unknown, including the early-onset, recessive form with Mallory body-like inclusions (MB-DRMs), first described in five related German patients.