Background: Preterm birth remains a leading obstetrical complication because of the incomplete understanding of its multifaceted etiology. It is known that immune alterations toward a proinflammatory profile are observed in women with preterm birth, but therapeutic interventions are still lacking because of scarcity of evidence in the integration of maternal and placental interrelated compartments.
Objective: This study aimed to obtain an integrated view of the maternal and placental contribution to preterm birth compared with normal term pregnancies for an in-depth understanding of the immune/inflammatory involvement, intending to identify novel strategies to mitigate the negative impact of inflammation.
Our objectives were to describe fetal cases of vertebral defects (VD), assess the diagnostic yield of fetal chromosomal analysis for VD and determine which investigations should be performed when evaluating fetal VD. We performed a retrospective chart review for fetuses with VD seen between 2006 and 2015. Cases were identified from CHU Sainte-Justine's prenatal clinic visits, postmortem fetal skeletal surveys, and medical records.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPreeclampsia (PE) is a poorly understood pregnancy complication. It has been suggested that changes in the maternal immune system may contribute to PE, but evidence of this remains scarce. Whilst PE is commonly experienced prepartum, it can also occur in the postpartum period (postpartum PE-PPPE), and the mechanisms involved are unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOssifying renal tumor of infancy (ORTI) is a rare, benign pediatric tumor of the kidney. Since first reported by Chatten in 1980, 23 cases have been published. Previous authors have argued that ORTI might originate from nephrogenic rests, thereby sharing a pathogenic relationship with Wilms' tumor (WT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The differential diagnosis for primary lung masses in neonates includes a variety of developmental abnormalities; it also consists of the much rarer congenital primary lung tumors: cystic pleuropulmonary blastoma (cystic PPB), fetal lung interstitial tumor (FLIT), congenital peribronchial myofibroblastic tumor (CPMT), and congenital fibrosarcoma. Radiologic differentiation between malformations and tumors is often very challenging.
Objective: The objective was to establish distinctive features between developmental pulmonary abnormalities and primary lung tumors.
Context: Carriers of germline DICER1 mutations are predisposed to a rare cancer syndrome, the DICER1 syndrome. Thyroid abnormalities are a common finding in DICER1 syndrome with multinodular goiter frequently present in many families in which a germline DICER1 mutation is segregating. Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) is infrequently seen in such pedigrees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn 8-month-old girl underwent surgical resection of a cervical mass with histologic diagnosis of a primitive myxoid mesenchymal tumor of infancy (PMMTI). More than 5 years after the initial surgical intervention, the tumor recurred locally, with numerous distant metastases. The histologic morphology of this tumor was compatible with a diagnosis of an undifferentiated high-grade sarcoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Calretinin, a calcium-binding protein, has been reported to be an important new marker in Hirschsprung's disease (HD). The aim is to study the diagnostic value of Calretinin in total colonic aganglionosis (TA), prematurity, and superficial biopsy when nerve hyperplasia may not be accessed by ACE activity.
Methods: Records of patients diagnosed with HD at our institution from 1985 to 2010 were studied and patients with TA identified.
Females with 46,XY complete gonadal dysgenesis are at significant risk of developing germ cell tumors, mostly gonadoblastomas. We present here the case of 2 half-sisters, sharing the same father, diagnosed with 46,XY complete gonadal dysgenesis. The 1st sister developed a gonadoblastoma and an invasive dysgerminoma, whereas the 2nd sister developed a gonadoblastoma and an invasive choriocarcinoma within the same gonad.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic graft dysfunction, manifesting with elevated liver enzymes and histological features of interface hepatitis (IH), is being increasingly recognized as a long-term problem after liver transplantation. The aim of this study was to characterize our group of post-orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) patients with respect to clinical, laboratory, and histological signs of IH. A retrospective study of charts and liver biopsy specimens from patients transplanted between 1986 and 1999 was used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To characterize the association of pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) with cystic nephroma (CN) and other renal tumors.
Study Design: Complete clinicopathologic review of cases from the International PPB Registry and literature.
Results: We identified 18 patients with PPB associated with 20 renal tumors (15 CN), either in themselves or family members.