Leprosy classification methods: a comparative study in a referral center in Brazil.

Objectives: Different methods for the classification of leprosy have been proposed since the 1930s. The aim of this study was to compare the current methods at a referral center in Brazil.

Methods: The World Health Organization (WHO) operational classification was compared to the Ridley and Jopling classification, the Madrid classification, and a classification based on the number of body areas affected by skin and/or neural lesions (NBAA).

Bazex syndrome.

Acrokeratosis Paraneoplastica or Bazex syndrome is a dermatologic manifestation usually associated with the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. We report a case with exuberant clinical manifestations, exemplifying the typical cutaneous lesions in this rare syndrome, in a patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Assessment of vascular invasion in gastric cancer: a comparative study.

Aim: To evaluate and compare detection of lymphatic and blood vessel invasion (LVI and BVI) by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in gastric cancer specimens, and to correlate with lymph node status.

Methods: IHC using D2-40 (a lymphatic endothelial marker) and CD34 (a pan-endothelial marker) was performed to study LVI and BVI in surgical specimens from a consecutive series of 95 primary gastric cancer cases. The results of the IHC study were compared with the detection by HE using McNemar test and kappa index.

Degree of skin denervation and its correlation to objective thermal sensory test in leprosy patients.

Background: Leprosy is an infectious disease affecting skin and peripheral nerves resulting in increased morbidity and physical deformities. Early diagnosis provides opportune treatment and reduces its complications, relying fundamentally on the demonstration of impaired sensation in suggestive cutaneous lesions. The loss of tactile sensitivity in the lesions is preceded by the loss of thermal sensitivity, stressing the importance of the thermal test in the suspicious lesions approach.

Piercing-related endocarditis presenting with multiple large masses in the right-side chamber of the heart.

We present a case report of a 15-year-old girl with right-side endocarditis, which presented with multiple large masses located on both right chambers mimicking the appearance of a tumor. There were no predisposing factors other than an infected navel piercing. Piercing-associated infective endocarditis has occasionally been reported, and usually occurs in patients with an underlying cardiac condition.