Needle tract implantation of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid following aspiration biopsy.

A case is reported of a slow-growing papillary carcinoma of the thyroid that caused clinically apparent implantation along the tract of a fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. This appears to be the first report of a cutaneous needle tract metastasis from a papillary thyroid carcinoma. It represents a highly unusual complication of an FNA biopsy of an indolent, slow-growing tumor.

Refractory ascites due to POEMS syndrome.

A 52-yr-old woman developed exudative ascites 2 yr after the onset of peripheral neuropathy. Extensive evaluation revealed that the patient had no underlying liver disease, malignancy, infection, or cardiac or renal disease. The ascites initially responded to high-dose corticosteroid therapy.