Haemolytic uraemic syndrome - a rare case report of bloody diarrhoea in adults.

Background: Haemolytic uraemic syndrome is a rarely seen in adults often leading to critical illness. This case highlights how difficult it can be to establish a diagnosis and treat when a patient presents with bloody diarrhoea.

Case Presentation: A 17-year-old Iraqi man presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain and bloody diarrhoea.

Pneumocystis pneumonia complicating immunosuppressive therapy in Crohns disease: A preventable problem?

We report the case of a 76-year-old man who presented with moderate active Crohn's colitis that was refractory to high-dose corticosteroids, mesalazine and 6-mercaptopurine. He subsequently received a trial of infliximab with poor response and was diagnosed with cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis, improving on antiviral therapy. Three weeks into treatment he developed acute respiratory distress with hypoxaemia and diffuse pulmonary interstitial infiltrates.

Distribution of the c-MYC gene product in colorectal neoplasia.

Aims: Recent attempts to study MYC distribution in human samples have been confounded by a lack of agreement in immunohistochemical staining between antibodies targeting the N-terminus and those targeting the C-terminus of the MYC protein. The aim of this study was to use a novel in-situ hybridization (ISH) approach to detect MYC mRNA in clinically relevant samples, and thereby determine the reliability of MYC-targeting antibodies.

Methods And Results: We performed immunohistochemistry on human formalin-fixed paraffin embedded normal colon (n = 15), hyperplastic polyp (n = 4) and neoplastic colon samples (n = 55), using the N-terminally directed antibody Y69, and the C-terminally directed antibody 9E10.

Glucagon receptor gene mutations with hyperglucagonemia but without the glucagonoma syndrome.

Pancreatic neoplasms producing exclusively glucagon associated with glucagon cell hyperplasia of the islets and not related to hereditary endocrine syndromes have been recently described. They represent a novel entity within the panel of non-syndromic disorders associated with hyperglucagonemia. This case report describes a 36-year-old female with a 10 years history of non-specific abdominal pain.

Divergent effects of liraglutide, exendin-4, and sitagliptin on beta-cell mass and indicators of pancreatitis in a mouse model of hyperglycaemia.

Aims: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors improve glucose tolerance by still incompletely understood mechanisms. Each class of antihyperglycemic drugs has also been proposed to increase pancreatitis risk. Here, we compare systematically the effects of two widely-used GLP-1 analogues, liraglutide and exendin-4, and the DPP4 inhibitor, sitagliptin, in the mouse.

Growth arrest-specific transcript 5 associated snoRNA levels are related to p53 expression and DNA damage in colorectal cancer.

Background: The growth arrest-specific transcript 5 gene (GAS5) encodes a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and hosts a number of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) that have recently been implicated in multiple cellular processes and cancer. Here, we investigate the relationship between DNA damage, p53, and the GAS5 snoRNAs to gain further insight into the potential role of this locus in cell survival and oncogenesis both in vivo and in vitro.

Methods: We used quantitative techniques to analyse the effect of DNA damage on GAS5 snoRNA expression and to assess the relationship between p53 and the GAS5 snoRNAs in cancer cell lines and in normal, pre-malignant, and malignant human colorectal tissue and used biological techniques to suggest potential roles for these snoRNAs in the DNA damage response.

Reactive lymphoid hyperplasia of the pancreas: a clinical conundrum.

Context: Localized reactive lymphoid hyperplasia is a rare condition characterized by the presence of lymphoid follicles.

Case Report: We describe a case of a 60-year-old woman who presented with right upper quadrant pain and was found to have a reactive nodular hyperplasia of the pancreas involving the uncinate process, body and tail of the gland. Due to the multifocal distribution of these hypoechoic vascular lesions, a total pancreatectomy was performed since malignancy could not be safely excluded.

Poorly-differentiated signet-ring cell carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater: report of a rare malignancy.

Context: Signet-ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) of the ampulla of Vater is a very rare clinical entity, which is infrequently reported in medical literature.

Case Report: A 78-year-old woman was admitted with jaundice, pruritus and postprandial vomiting. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography scanning demonstrated gross dilatation of the common bile and pancreatic ducts with gallbladder calculi.

Tumor infiltration in the medial resection margin predicts survival after pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Background: Microscopic tumor involvement (R1) in different surgical resection margins after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been debated.

Methods: Clinico-pathological data for 258 patients who underwent PD between 2001 and 2010 were retrieved from a prospective database. The rates of R1 resection in the circumferential resection margin (pancreatic transection, medial, posterior, and anterior surfaces) and their prognostic influence on survival were assessed.

MicroRNAs targeting oncogenes are down-regulated in pancreatic malignant transformation from benign tumors.

Background: MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profiles have been described in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but these have not been compared with pre-malignant pancreatic tumors. We wished to compare the miRNA expression signatures in pancreatic benign cystic tumors (BCT) of low and high malignant potential with PDAC, in order to identify miRNAs deregulated during PDAC development. The mechanistic consequences of miRNA dysregulation were further evaluated.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours treated before and after the advent of c-kit immunostaining.

Background: Recently developed immunohistochemical markers have revolutionised the classification of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) whilst tyrosine kinase inhibitors (imatinib) have had a significant impact on the treatment of advanced tumours. We review the clinicopathological features of previously resected mesenchymal tumours of the gastrointestinal tract in our institution to 1) reclassify the histological diagnosis of those stained prior to c-kit availability; 2) perform survival analysis to identify prognostic factors, and 3) to consider the implications for patients.

Methods: Clinicopathological records of patients with a diagnosis of mesenchymal tumours treated between May 1992 and April 2007 were reviewed.

Wide-field fluorescence lifetime imaging of cancer.

Optical imaging of tissue autofluorescence has the potential to provide rapid label-free screening and detection of surface tumors for clinical applications, including when combined with endoscopy. Quantitative imaging of intensity-based contrast is notoriously difficult and spectrally resolved imaging does not always provide sufficient contrast. We demonstrate that fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) applied to intrinsic tissue autofluorescence can directly contrast a range of surface tissue tumors, including in gastrointestinal tissues, using compact, clinically deployable instrumentation achieving wide-field fluorescence lifetime images of unprecedented clarity.

Differential expression of p53 and p504s in hyperplastic polyp, sessile serrated adenoma and traditional serrated adenoma.

Aims: Known collectively as serrated polyps, hyperplastic polyps (HP), sessile serrated adenomas (SSA/SSP) and traditional serrated adenoma (TSA) may represent a spectrum of increasing malignant potential with characteristic immunological markers. There is increasing evidence that HP, SSA/SSP and TSA are biologically different and are likely to represent a spectrum along the serrated polyp pathway. Although there is general consensus about the diagnostic features of serrated polyps, the morphological differences between the categories are often subtle.

En bloc resection of the pancreatic head and second part of duodenum for a duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumor: a multi-media report.

Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors are rare tumors. When these tumors arise from the second part of the duodenum they can easily be misdiagnosed as a pancreatic head cancer. A case of a 37-year-old female presenting with a one-year history of right upper quadrant pain is described here, who was subsequently found to have a mass in the head of the pancreas.

The McKittrick-Wheelock syndrome: a case of acute renal failure due to neoplastic cholera.

The McKittrick-Wheelock syndrome is characterized by severe electrolyte and fluid depletion as a result of rectal tumor hypersecretion. Typically, a metabolic acidosis ensues. We report the case of a 58-year-old man who presented with a mixed metabolic acidosis and alkalosis.

Role of Helicobacter pylori infection in complications from Meckel's diverticulum.

Our purpose was to evaluate the role of Helicobacter pylori in complications arising from Meckel's diverticulum in the Jewish and Arab populations of Jerusalem. Diverticular tissues were studied by hematoxylin-eosin, Giemsa, and two immunohistochemical stainings. Three groups of patients were identified: (1) 20 patients in whom Meckel's diverticulum was an incidental finding during laparotomy for other causes; (2) 7 patients with heterotopic gastric mucosa who underwent laparotomy because of bleeding from Meckel's diverticulum--3 were infected with Helicobacter pylori; and (3) 15 patients who underwent operations because of complicated Meckel's diverticulum except for bleeding--7 patients had heterotopic gastric mucosa; only 1 patient had Helicobacter pylori.

Experimental colitis in rats with portal hypertension and liver disease.

Within the colonic mucosa of rats with portal hypertension and liver cirrhosis, there is an increased generation of inflammatory mediators, such as leukotriene B4 and endothelin-1, and increased generation of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide overproduction may induce tissue injury. This study was undertaken to assess whether the colonic mucosa of rats with portal hypertension and liver disease have increased susceptibility to damage by noxious agents.

Nitrofurantoin-induced chronic active hepatitis.

Background: Nitrofurantoin is a commonly prescribed urinary antiseptic. Hepatic injury has been associated with its use.

Objectives: To present three patients in whom long-term exposure to the drug resulted in chronic active hepatitis; and to review the epidemiology, clinical immunology, histopathology, pathogenetic features and treatment of previously reported cases.