Orbital Richter Transformation With Subsequent Orbital MALT-type Lymphoma in a Patient With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

A 74-year-old man with a history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) presented with large salmon-colored patch lesions along the inferior fornix and superotemporal conjunctiva of the OS. The patient underwent an incisional biopsy of the lesions, which showed a CLL with areas of large B-cell lymphoma, consistent with Richter transformation. Following medical and radiation-based therapy of these lesions, the patient returned 3 months later with inferomedial preseptal swelling in the contralateral eye, which biopsy proved to be recurrent/resistant low-grade CLL with a posttreatment extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma pattern.

Pathology Trainee Redeployment and Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Institutional Experience.

Pathology training programs throughout the United States have endured unprecedented challenges dealing with the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. At Houston Methodist Hospital, the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine planned and executed a trainee-oriented, stepwise emergency response. The focus was on optimizing workflows among areas of both clinical and anatomic pathology, maintaining an excellent educational experience, and minimizing trainee exposure to coronavirus disease 2019.

The Prevalence and Role of Hemoglobin Variants in Biometric Screening of a Multiethnic Population: One Large Health System's Experience.

Objectives: To characterize and quantitate hemoglobin (Hb) variants discovered during biometric hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) analyses in a large multiethnic population with a focus on the effect of variants on testing method and results.

Methods: In total, 13,913 individuals had their HbA1c measured via ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography. Samples that had a variant Hb detected or HbF fraction more than 25% underwent variant Hb characterization and confirmation by gel electrophoresis.

Investigating the Abscopal Effects of Radioablation on Shielded Bone Marrow in Rodent Models Using Multimodality Imaging.

The abscopal effect is the response to radiation at sites that are distant from the irradiated site of an organism, and it is thought to play a role in bone marrow (BM) recovery by initiating responses in the unirradiated bone marrow. Understanding the mechanism of this effect has applications in treating BM failure (BMF) and BM transplantation (BMT), and improving survival of nuclear disaster victims. Here, we investigated the use of multimodality imaging as a translational tool to longitudinally assess bone marrow recovery.

Complete morphologic and molecular remission after introduction of dasatinib in the treatment of a pediatric patient with t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and ABL1 amplification.

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for 15% of ALL cases in children and has been associated with a worse prognosis. Cytogenetic studies show an abnormal karyotype in 50-60% of the T-cell ALL patients; ABL1 fusions are present in approximately 8% of the cases. Dasatinib, a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, directly targets the BCR-ABL gene.

IL-7Rα deficiency in p53null mice exacerbates thymocyte telomere erosion and lymphomagenesis.

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is an essential T-cell survival cytokine. IL-7 receptor (IL-7Rα) deficiency severely impairs T-cell development due to substantial apoptosis. We hypothesized that IL-7Rα(null)-induced apoptosis is partially contributed by an elevated p53 activity.

Clinical case of the month. A rare case of Budd Chiari syndrome.

Budd Chiari syndrome is a rare disorder resulting from hepatic venous outflow tract obstruction anywhere from the small hepatic veins to the suprahepatic inferior vena cava. This patient has a hypercoagulable state secondary to heterozygous mutation of factor V and the JAK2 mutation and is being anticoagulated. We hypothesize that the low protein C and low antithrombin III levels seen in this patient resulted from decreased synthetic function of the liver and were not indicative of actual deficiencies.

Histological changes and risk factor associations in type 2 atherosclerotic lesions (fatty streaks) in young adults.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate which histological changes associated with risk factors could contribute to the progression from the initial atherosclerotic lesions including fatty streaks to the advanced lesions.

Methods: We examined the associations of histomorphometric findings in the determined anatomical sites of mid-thoracic aortas (TAs) and left anterior descending coronary arteries (LADs) with major risk factors for atherosclerosis, using a young autopsied series from the the Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PDAY) study. The histological classification by the American Heart Association was graded for 1013 TAs and 1009 LADs.

Harmonic scalpel versus flexible CO2 laser for tongue resection: a histopathological analysis of thermal damage in human cadavers.

Background: Monopolar cautery is the most commonly used surgical cutting and hemostatic tool for head and neck surgery. There are newer technologies that are being utilized with the goal of precise cutting, decreasing blood loss, reducing thermal damage, and allowing faster wound healing. Our study compares thermal damage caused by Harmonic scalpel and CO2 laser to cadaveric tongue.

CD5-positive, cyclinD1-negative mantle cell lymphoma with a translocation involving the CCND2 gene and the IGL locus.

Distinguishing mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), from low-grade B-cell lymphoma is important because MCL is clinically more aggressive and is treated differently. Though most MCL overexpress cyclinD1 (CCND1) and have a t(11;14)(q13;q32), MCL that are negative for CCND1 exist. Some have translocations involving cyclinD2 (CCND2) and either the immunoglobulin heavy chain or kappa light chain locus.

Trp53 negatively regulates autoimmunity via the STAT3-Th17 axis.

Emerging evidence suggests that the tumor suppressor p53 is also a crucial regulator for many physiological processes. Previous observations indicate that p53 suppresses inflammation by inhibiting inflammatory antigen-presenting cells. To investigate the potential role of p53 in autoimmune effector T cells, we generated p53(null)CD45.

Heparin cofactor II in atherosclerotic lesions from the Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PDAY) study.

Heparin cofactor II (HCII) is a serine protease inhibitor (serpin) that has been shown to be a predictor of decreased atherosclerosis in the elderly and protective against atherosclerosis in mice. HCII inhibits thrombin in vitro and HCII-thrombin complexes have been detected in human plasma. Moreover, the mechanism of protection against atherosclerosis in mice was determined to be the inhibition of thrombin.

The effect of age and other atherosclerotic risk factors on carotid artery blood velocity in individuals ranging from young adults to centenarians.

To evaluate the effect of age and other risk factors for atherosclerosis on arterial blood velocity, carotid arteries in 179 healthy individuals ranging from 21 to 102 years old were examined using color Doppler ultrasonography. Velocity in common and internal carotid arteries decreased consecutively from young adults to very elderly people except for peak internal carotid artery velocity. Peak common carotid artery velocity in the elderly (> or = 65 years old) people was inversely associated with age and diastolic blood pressure and directly associated with pulse pressure.

DNA ploidy analysis as an adjunct for the detection of relapse in B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Detection of relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is essential for proper management. However, immunophenotypic detection of relapse by flow cytometry in B-lineage ALL can be confounded by several factors, including lack of a unique immunophenotype and modulation of aberrant phenotypes after treatment. We hypothesized that flow cytometric DNA ploidy analysis may detect relapse in aneuploid ALL cases that might be missed by flow immunophenotyping.

Bilateral infiltrating renal inflammatory pseudotumor responsive to corticosteroid therapy.

Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) is a quasi-neoplastic lesion that most commonly involves the lung, but has been shown to occur in nearly every tissue type. Renal involvement is very uncommon. We report the second case of IPT ever published presenting as bilateral infiltrating renal masses.

Histological topographical comparisons of atherosclerosis progression in juveniles and young adults.

Background: The histologically topographic comparisons on atherosclerosis progression among three anatomical sites, mid-thoracic and lower abdominal aorta and left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) were performed using a young population (age 15-34 years) from the Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PDAY) study.

Methods And Results: The histological classification based on the American Heart Association grading scheme showed that in the thoracic aorta type 2 lesions (numerous macrophage foam cells with fine particles but no pools of extracellular lipid) appeared in the first 10-year age group, with no significant change in prevalence in the next 10 years. Lesions greater than type 2 were rarely seen in the thoracic aorta.