Pulmonary metastasis: very late relapse of testicular embryonal carcinoma

Testicular carcinoma recurrences represent a rare finding (1-6% in non-seminomatous germ cell tumours). However, cases of recurrence have been described many years later. We report a case of late recurrence of embryonic testicular carcinoma, after 26 years, with pulmonary metastases. Following evidence of increase of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), the patient underwent a total body computed tomography scan that exhibited two pulmonary nodules, one in upper left lobe and other in left hilar region with multiple mediastinal and retrocrural lymph node enlargements All consolidations showed increased sugar uptake value at PET CT. Biopsies of lung consolidations confirmed diagnosis of recurrence of testicular carcinoma

Diagnostic yield of rapid on-site evaluation transbronchial needle aspiration versus conventional transbronchial needle aspiration: a single center experience

Trans-bronchial needle aspiration allows lymph node sampling in several thoracic conditions; the ability of Rapid On-Site Evaluation (ROSE) to predict the final diagnosis in this setting has not been well characterized. We performed a retrospective study to establish the utility of ROSE in the diagnosis of thoracic diseases with mediastinal lymph node involvement. We retrospectively reviewed 297 patients with hilar-mediastinal lymph node enlargement detected at CT scan from January 2013 to April 2016. 201 patients underwent conventional TBNA; in 96 patients, TBNA procedure was performed by on-site presence of a team of pathologists and research morphologists. Lung neoplasms, sarcoidosis, infections and lymphoma were the most common diseases diagnosed with TBNA samples. TBNA simultaneously performed in combination with ROSE produced an increase in percentage of appropriate samples compared to single cTBNA (adequate samples cTBNA vs ROSE-TBNA: 73% vs 81%; p<0.05). Our observations indicate an increase in adequacy of fine needle aspirations and increased diagnostic yield in the ROSE group. In conclusions, ROSE may serve to reduce procedure time and enhance sample triaging therefore limiting the need for further invasive diagnostic testing

Incidental diagnosis and therapeutic approach of an iatrogenic intra-parenchymal pulmonary intercostal artery pseudoaneurysm: a case report

Intercostal artery pseudoaneurysms (IAP) are extremely rare but its sudden rupture represents a life-threatening complication. We report an unusual case of a late intercostal artery pseudoaneurysm, after a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, presenting as a large intra-parenchymal lung mass. Diagnosis was made by biphasic computed tomography angiography and contrast-enhanced pulsed-wave doppler ultrasound. To minimize the risk of aneurysm bleeding immediate angiographic embolization was planned and successfully performed.IAP should be considered in presence of lung mass in patients who have previously undergone an intervention with intercostal approach to prevent life-threatening complications

SARS-CoV-2: One Year in the Pandemic. What Have We Learned, the New Vaccine Era and the Threat of SARS-CoV-2 Variants

Since the beginning of 2020, the new pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 and named coronavirus disease 19 (COVID 19) has changed our socio-economic life. In just a few months, SARS-CoV-2 was able to spread worldwide at an unprecedented speed, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, especially among the weakest part of the population. Indeed, especially at the beginning of this pandemic, many reports highlighted how people, suffering from other pathologies, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes, are more at risk of severe outcomes if infected. Although this pandemic has put the entire academic world to the test, it has also been a year of intense research and many important contributions have advanced our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 origin, its molecular structure and its mechanism of infection. Unfortunately, despite this great effort, we are still a long way from fully understanding how SARS-CoV-2 dysregulates organismal physiology and whether the current vaccines will be able to protect us from possible future pandemics. Here, we discuss the knowledge we have gained during this year and which questions future research should address