Association of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease with Metabolic Syndrome: A Single Center Study

Background: NAFLD is a condition defined by excessive fat accumulation in the form of triglycerides (steatosis) in the liver (> 5% of hepatocytes histologically). Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is increasingly being recognized as a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality among 15-40% of the general population. Aim of the study: To evaluate the clinical profile of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and its association with metabolic syndrome.Methods:The present cross-sectional, retro-spective study was conducted as outdoor patient basis in the Department of Medicine, Jashore medical college hospital & a private diagnostic centre, Jashore.. A total of 74 cases were included for the study. All patients in the study underwent routine investigations including complete blood counts, blood sugar, liver function tests, HBsAg, anti-HCV, lipid profile andUSG of whole abdomen. The data was collected during OPD treatment and was recorded in predesigned and pretested proforma and analyzed.Results:Mean age of the patient was 53.70±7.22 years. On physical examination findings showed the mean BMI was 27.6±4.39 kg/m2, mean waist circumference was 74.22±7.44 cm. Mean diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) was 92.87±6.25 and mean systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) 132.0±18.17. Maximum 52% patients had triglycerides >150 mg/dl while low serum HDL level was seen in 37% patients and increased waist circumference was found in 32% patients. Altered ALT ≥41 IU was observed in 10 (62.50%) of Grade II of patients with NAFLD with metabolic syndrome. Central obesity was observed in 12 (75.00%) of Grade II patients with NAFLD with metabolic syndrome. While 14 (87.50%) Grade II of patients with NAFLD with metabolic syndrome showed impaired fasting glucose (>110 mg/dl). Hypertriglyceridemia (>150 mg/dl) in 12 (70.58%) seen in Grade I of patients with NAFLD without metabolic syndrome.Conclusion:Higher prevalence of all the components of metabolic syndrome in cases of NAFLD was observed. It can be concluded that symptoms and signs of NAFLD are non-specific and occur later in the course of the disease hence the physician should have a high index of suspicion in order to detect NAFLD early in the course of the disease.

THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF ALIMENTARY OBESITY ON THE STATE OF LOCAL IMMUNITY OF THE VAGINAL MUCOSA AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE THERAPY OF BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS

Проведен анализ результатов стандартного лечения бактериального вагиноза у 143 больных с учетом наличия у них алиментарного ожирения. Все женщины, принимавшие участие в нашем исследовании, дали письменное информированное согласие на участие в нем. Лечение БВ проводилось по общепринятой методике метронидазолом и клиндамицином. В зависимости от наличия алиментарного ожирения больных бактериальным вагинозом разделили на 2 группы. В I группу вошли 97 без алиментарного ожирения. Во II группе у 46 больных отмечалось увеличение массы тела, соответствующее алиментарному ожирению II степени. Исследования проводили до начала лечения и через 14 суток после его завершения. Сравнительный анализ результатов лечения БВ в исследуемых группах показал, что на фоне АО II степени отмечались достоверно более выраженные увеличение количества «ключевых клеток» (P<0,05) и смещение pH в щелочную сторону (P<0,05) во II группе. При этом эффективность лечения у больных II группы, где отмечалось алиментарное ожирение II степени была достоверно меньше, чем в I (P<0,05), что свидетельствовало о негативном влиянии алиментарного ожирения на состояние локального иммунитета слизистой оболочки влагалища и результативность проводимой терапии бактериального вагиноза. The results of standard treatment of bacterial vaginosis in 143 patients were analyzed, taking into account the presence of alimentary obesity in them. All the women who took part in our study gave written informed consent to participate in it.BV was treated according to the generally accepted method with metronidazole and clindamycin. Depending on the presence of alimentary obesity, patients with bacterial vaginosis were divided into 2 groups. Group I included 97 people without alimentary obesity. In group II, 46 patients had an increase in body weight corresponding to alimentary obesity of the II degree. Studies were conducted before the start of treatment and 14 days after its completion. A comparative analysis of the results of BV treatment in the study groups showed that against the background of grade II AO, there was a significantly more pronounced increase in the number of "key cells" (P<0.05) and a pH shift to the alkaline side (P<0.05) in group II. At the same time, the effectiveness of treatment in group II patients with grade II alimentary obesity was significantly less than in group I (P<0.05), which indicated a negative effect of alimentary obesity on the state of local immunity of the vaginal mucosa and the effectiveness of the therapy of bacterial vaginosis.

Maximum 11C-methionine PET uptake as a prognostic imaging biomarker for newly diagnosed and untreated astrocytic glioma

This study aimed whether the uptake of amino tracer positron emission tomography (PET) can be used as an additional imaging biomarker to estimate the prognosis of glioma. Participants comprised 56 adult patients with newly diagnosed and untreated World Health Organization (WHO) grade II–IV astrocytic glioma who underwent surgical excision and were evaluated by 11C-methionine PET prior to the surgical excision at Osaka City University Hospital from July 2011 to March 2018. Clinical and imaging studies were retrospectively reviewed based on medical records at our institution. Preoperative Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) only influenced progression-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] 0.20; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10–0.41, p < 0.0001), whereas histology (anaplastic astrocytoma: HR 5.30, 95% CI 1.23–22.8, p = 0.025; glioblastoma: HR 11.52, 95% CI 2.27–58.47, p = 0.0032), preoperative KPS ≥ 80 (HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.09–0.62, p = 0.004), maximum lesion-to-contralateral normal brain tissue (LN max) ≥ 4.03 (HR 0.24, 95% CI 0.08–0.71, p = 0.01), and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status (HR 14.06, 95% CI 1.81–109.2, p = 0.011) were factors influencing overall survival (OS) in multivariate Cox regression. OS was shorter in patients with LN max ≥ 4.03 (29.3 months) than in patients with LN max < 4.03 (not reached; p = 0.03). OS differed significantly between patients with IDH mutant/LN max < 4.03 and patients with IDH mutant/LN max ≥ 4.03. LN max using 11C-methionine PET may be used in prognostic markers for newly identified and untreated WHO grade II–IV astrocytic glioma.

A patient with two gliomas with independent oligodendroglioma and glioblastoma biology proved by DNA-methylation profiling: a case report and review of the literature

Here, we report on a patient presenting with two histopathologically distinct gliomas. At the age of 42, the patient underwent initial resection of a right temporal oligodendroglioma IDH mutated 1p/19q co-deleted WHO Grade II followed by adjuvant radiochemotherapy with temozolomide. 15 months after initial diagnosis, the patient showed right hemispheric tumor progression and an additional new left frontal contrast enhancement in the subsequent imaging. A re-resection of the right-sided tumor and resection of the left frontal tumor were conducted. Neuropathological work-up showed recurrence of the right-sided oligodendroglioma with features of an anaplastic oligodendroglioma WHO Grade III, but a glioblastoma WHO grade IV for the left frontal lesion. In depth molecular profiling revealed two independent brain tumors with distinct molecular profiles of anaplastic oligodendroglioma IDH mutated 1p/19q co-deleted WHO Grade III and glioblastoma IDH wildtype WHO grade IV. This unique and rare case of a patient with two independent brain tumors revealed by in-depth molecular work-up and epigenomic profiling emphasizes the importance of integrated work-up of brain tumors including methylome profiling for advanced patient care.

CYFRA21-1 is a more sensitive biomarker to assess the severity of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis

Background Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CYFRA21-1 are the commonly used biomarkers to identify patients with autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (APAP). However, it is not clear which of the biomarkers is more sensitive to the severity of the patient’s condition. Methods APAP patients numbering 151 were enrolled in this study. All patients’ severity was assessed through the severity and prognosis score of PAP (SPSP). According to the respective laboratory upper limits of serum levels of LDH, CEA and CYFRA21-1, APAP patients were divided into higher and lower-level groups. Patients were divided into five groups based on SPSP. 88 patients had completed six months of follow-up. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, and critical point of LDH, CEA and CYFRA21-1 between APAP patients and normal control group, and between grade 1–2 and 3–5 through receiving operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Results Serum LDH, CEA and CYFRA21-1 levels of patients with PAP were higher and distinctly related to PaO2, FVC, FEV1, DLCO, HRCT scores and SPSP. The SPSP of patients in higher-level LDH, CEA and CYFRA21-1 groups were higher than those of corresponding lower-level groups. Based on SPSP results, the patients were divided into five groups (grade I, 20; grade II, 37; grade III, 40; grade IV, 38; grade V, 16). The serum level of CYFRA21-1 of patients with APAP in grade II was higher than that of patients in grade I and lower than that of patients in grade III. Serum CYFRA21-1 of patients with APAP after six months were higher than the baseline among the aggravated group. Serum LDH, CEA and CYFRA21-1 levels after six months among patients in the relieved group of patients with APAP were lower than the baseline. ROC correlating LDH, CEA and CYFRA21-1 values with APAP severity (between grade 1–2 and 3–5) showed an optimal cutoff of LDH of over 203 U/L (< 246 U/L), CEA of over 2.56 ug/L (< 10 ug/L), and CYFRA21-1 of over 5.57 ng/ml (> 3.3 ng/ml) (AUC: 0.815, 95% CI [0.748–0.882], sensitivity: 0.606, specificity: 0.877). Conclusion Serum CYFRA21-1 level was more sensitive in revealing the severity of APAP than LDH and CEA levels among mild to moderate forms of disease.

Efficacy of Complete Laparoscopic Ileal Augmentation Cystoplasty for the Treatment of Low Bladder Capacity and Compliance: a Case Series

Objectives: To investigate the safety and efficacy of complete laparoscopic ileal augmentation cystoplasty for the treatment of low bladder capacity and compliance.Methods: The clinical data of 13 patients with low bladder capacity and compliance were retrospectively analyzed. Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated at follow-up. The Clavien system was used to evaluate the severity of postoperative complications.Results: All 13 operations were successfully completed laparoscopically. The operation duration was 140-248 min (average: 189.9 ± 29.6 min), the time to postoperative recovery of bowel function was 1-10 days (average: 2.9 ± 2.3 days). There were 4 cases of grade I complications and 1 case of grade II complications (i.e., paralytic ileus caused by urinary leakage from the anastomosis of the augmented bladder). Cystography showed that the morphology of the bladder was close to normal, and the maximum safe capacity and compliance of the bladder were significantly increased [103.8 ± 16.6 mL and 332.3 ± 20.5 mL, p < 0.01; 7.0 ± 1.3 mL/cm H2O and 32.4 ± 2.1 mL/cm H2O, p < 0.01]. All patients were able to urinate spontaneously after catheter removal.Conclusions: Complete laparoscopic ileal augmentation cystoplasty is a safe and feasible treatment for low bladder capacity and compliance, and has the advantages of less trauma, less bleeding, faster recovery of intestinal function, and fewer postoperative complications. This treatment effectively increases bladder capacity, protects upper urinary tract function, and improves patient quality of life, and thus warrants clinical application.

Intraventricular Meningiomas: Clinical-Pathological and Genetic Features of a Monocentric Series

Intraventricular meningiomas (IVMs) are rare (0.5–5%) and usually low-grade (90% grade I) brain neoplasms. Their recurrence rate is lower than that of extra-axial meningiomas, but their surgical resection can be burdened with life-threatening complications, which represent the major cause of the reported 4% mortality. The aim of this study is to characterize the molecular portrait of IVMs to identify potential therapeutic targets. For this, we explored mutations and copy number variations (CNV) of 409 cancer-related genes and tumor mutational burden (TMB) of six cases, using next-generation sequencing. Five IVMs were grade I and one was grade II; none recurred, in spite of partial surgical resection in one case. NF2 mutation was the only recurring alteration and was present in three of the six IVMs, in association with SMARCB1 mutation in one case. None of the cases was hypermutated (TMB > 10 mutations/Mb). NF2-mutant progressing or recurring IVMs could potentially be treated with targeted therapies applied to other NF2-mutant tumors, as an alternative to surgery or radiosurgery, while in view of their low TMB they are unlikely candidates to immune check-point inhibition.

5-ALA fluorescence in indeterminate grade gliomas

5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a useful and well-established adjunct for glioblastoma surgery. A growing body of evidence has revealed the potential utility of 5-ALA in grade II and grade III glioma patients as well. However, reliable means of identifying in whom fluorescence will occur have not been established. The authors report the case of such an indeterminate-grade glioma highlighting two pearls of 5-ALA fluorescence in this subgroup of patients. Firstly, 5-ALA–guided tissue sampling helps to ensure that the true grade of the lesion is not underestimated. Secondly, intraoperative fluorescence can serve as a prognostic marker. The video can be found here: https://stream.cadmore.media/r10.3171/2021.10.FOCVID21196