A hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis case with newly defined UNC13D (C.175G>C; p.Ala59Pro) mutation and a rare complication

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) represents a severe hyperinflammatory condition with cardinal symptoms of prolonged fever, cytopenias, hepatosplenomegaly, and hemophagocytosis by activated, morphologically benign macrophages with impaired function of natural killer cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes. A 2-month-old girl, who was admitted with fever, was diagnosed with HLH and her genetic examination revealed a newly defined mutation in the UNC13D (c.175G>C; p.Ala59Pro) gene. She was treated with dexamethasone, etoposide, and intrathecal methotrexate. During the second week of treatment, after three doses of etoposide, it was noticed that there was a necrotic plaque lesion on the soft palate. Pathologic examination of debrided material in PAS and Grocott staining revealed lots of septated hyphae, which was consistent with aspergillosis infection. Etoposide was stopped and amphotericin B treatment was given for six weeks. HLH 2004 protocol was completed to eight weeks with cyclosporine A orally. There was no patient with invasive aspergillosis infection as severe as causing palate and nasal septum perforation during HLH therapy. In immuncompromised patients, fungal infections may cause nasal septum perforation and treatment could be achieved by antifungal therapy and debridement of necrotic tissue. © 2015 Turkish Society of Hematology. All rights reserved

Effeciency of extracorporeal shock wave therapy in patients with plantar fasciitis and the relationship with subcalcaneal spur length

Objective: ESWT is widely used in the treatment of plantar fascitis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of ESWT on heel pain and symptoms in the short and medium term. We also compared the subcalcaneal spur length and the heel pain severity and examined the effect of the subcalcaneal spur length on the efficiency of ESWT therapy. Methods: The efficiency of ESWT applied to 59 heel of 48 patients compared retrospectively . We used Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Wolgin scale to evaluate the treatment outcomes. We measure the subcalcaneal spurs length of the patients with foot x-ray . Correlation between the VAS scores and the length of subcalcaneal spur were also evaluated. Results: Improvement in VAS in the first week and 3 months after ESWT treatment was statistically significant. There was no correlation between subcalcaneal spur length and the severity of pain. The number of patients in the'' medium, bad'' group decreased while the number of patients in the '' good'' group incresed according to WDS after ESWT treatment. Conclusion: As a result of this study we concluded that ESWT is effective in the treatment of plantar fasciitis in the short and medium term

The Recurrence and Cosmetic Results After Topical Photodynamic Therapy

Background and Design: Photodynamic therapy (FDT) is a photochemotherapy modality which is used frequently and effectively in the treatment of actinic keratosis, Bowen disease and basal cell carcinomas. This study was performed to determine cure rates, cosmetic outcome and recurrence rates after aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-based photodynamic therapy for skin lesions showing complete response to treatment procedure. Material and Method: Sixty-eight patients (27 females and 41 males) with 78 lesions were included in the study. Among them, 25 were actinic keratosis (AK), 8 were actinic cheilitis (AC), 30 were basal cell carcinomas (BCC), 3 were Bowen disease, 10 were intraepidermal epithelioma (IEE), one lesion was parapsoriasis and one lesion was verruca plantaris. Six to 8 hours after topical administration of ALA (20%), the lesions were exposed to light from a broad-band light source. Skin biopsy specimens were obtained from 74 lesions for histopathological control. Results: At the end of the second month of treatment, fifty-six (72%) of seventy-eight lesions showed complete clinical response, whereas fourty-seven of 74 lesions (63.5%) exhibited complete histopathological clearance. A total of 9 recurrences (16%) was observed during a median follow-up of 36 months. Recurrence rates were 3 (14%) in AK, 1 (17%) in AC, 1 (8%) in superficial BCC, 3 (75%) nodular BCC and 1 (12.5%) in IEE. Cosmetic outcome was excellent and good in 42 lesions (89%), fair in 3 lesions (6%) and poor in 2 lesions (5%). Conclusion: Topical photodynamic therapy is a noninvasive, effective and cosmetic modality of treatment in the selected skin lesions, as an alternative to the conventional procedures

Comparison of botox and lateral internal sphincterotomy treatment outcomes in chronic anal fissures

Objective: Both botox and lateral internal sfinkterotomi are treatment technics used in chronic anal fissure; provide the relaxation of anal sphincter and as a result of this, healing occurs. Aim of this study is to compare efficacy of botox and LIS treatment in chronic anal fissure and discussing with the literature. Methods: 60 of 66 patients who has chronic anal fissure, that we reached, treated but not healed with medical therapy, appealed to the Dr. Sami Ulus Hospital included the study. Gender, age, fissure localization, complaints (pain, bleeding, itching, constipation), complaint length, recurrences after treatment, continence conditions and complications of patients were registered. Results: Sixty patients were enrolled the study. Of the 60 patients; 38(63.3%) were male and 22 (27.7%) were female. Mean age of all patients was 35.93 ± 11.45 (21 -60). Pain was the common complaint of the all patients. 10 (32.3%) recurrence were detected in botox treatment group (Group-I), only 1 (3.4%) recurrence was in LIS group (Group-II). There was no complication as an incontinence in group-I but 3 cases with incontinence (10.39%) were obtained in group-II. In the evaluation of these 3 cases by Cleveland Clinic Continence Scoring System, 2 cases classified as gas incontinence and 1 case as moderate fecal incontinence. Conclusion: Although botulinum toxin injection seen as an alternative treatment method with low complication rates such as incontinence, high recurrence is an important shortcoming of this technic. LIS performed by experienced surgeons remained the most popular treatment modality with low complication rates and great deal of healing success