The Persistence of COVID-19-Related Pancytopenia as A Possible Sign of Hairy Cell Leukemia: A Case Report

COVID-19 is known to cause many hematological abnormalities, such as thrombocytopenia, leucopenia, and lymphopenia. Pancytopenia, a decrease in all peripheral blood cell lines, is a rare complication not commonly seen in patients with COVID-19. We report a case of a patient who experienced COVID-19 infection with mild clinical symptoms like fever, fatigue, and muscle and bone aches. The laboratory examinations revealed pancytopenia, mainly neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, mild anemia, and relative lymphocytosis, which persisted after infection resolution. The splenomegaly in abdominal echography and the characteristics of lymphocyte elements in peripheral blood smear examination raised suspicion of the presence of hairy cell leukemia (HCL); therefore, the patient was further examined with a bone marrow biopsy, which confirmed the diagnosis. The persistence of pancytopenia after recovery from COVID-19 infection, especially in patients with splenomegaly, should raise suspicion of another hematological coexistence diagnosis like HCL

Association between Nephrolithiasis, Hypertension and Obesity in Polycystic Kidney Disease

AIM: We aim to define the correlations between nephrolithiasis, hypertension, age and obesity in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) in Albania. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We included 100 patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney from 2011 to 2014. The patients underwent X-ray and renal ultrasonography. We performed the metabolic evaluation of blood and urine.RESULTS: The patients with renal stones had a higher level of mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with patients without stones (155 ± 12 mmHg vs. 145 ± 8 mmHg, and 105 ± 0.9 mmHg vs. 92 ± 1.28 mmHg, respectively). Patients with renal stones were older (47 ± 15 vs. 38 ± 5 years), had a higher prevalence of obesity [body mass index (BMI): 28 ± 2.4 vs. 25.7 ± 0.6], had higher levels of total cholesterol level (220 ± 5 mg/dl vs. 203 ± 4 mg/dl) as well as triglyceride levels (160 ± 9 mg/dl vs. 126 ± 4 mg/dl), compared with no renal stone individuals. CONCLUSION: ADPKD patients with renal stones in our study had a higher mean level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, BMI and cholesterol and triglycerides levels compared with individuals without renal stones

Renal Transplant in an Adult with Ellis Van Creveld Syndrome: A Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract Ellis van Creveld syndrome (EVC) is a rare chrondro-ectodermal dysplasia. Renal abnormalities are found in few EVC cases with agenesis, dysplasia, megaureter and nephrocalcinosis. Rarely EVC syndrome is complicated with kidney failure and only one child required renal transplantation. We report a patient who was diagnosed with EVC syndrome at birth. He developed hypertension at age 15 and gradually progressed to chronic kidney disease stage 5 requiring hemodialysis and renal transplantation

The Diagnostic Value of Flow Cytometry Imunophenotyping in an Albanian Patient Population with a Preliminary Clinical Diagnosis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Objective: Based on the flow cytometry multiparametric immunophenotyping methodology we studied some useful cell marker criteria needed for the practical differentiation of the chronic lymphocytic leukemia from other chronic limphoproliferative diseases with a leukemic component.Materials and Methods: The applied methodology is a four color flow cytometry multiparametric immunophenotyping technique using EDTA blood samples taken from 84 consecutive patients diagnosed with CLL through a preliminary clinical and white blood cell examination. The following fluorescent stained monoclonal antibodies were used: CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8, CD11c, CD19, CD20, CD23, CD25, FMC7 and kappa/lambda light chains.Results: From the 84 individuals tested, 2 out of them (2.4%) resulted with a abnormal T-cell population while 82 (97.6%) showed a pathological B cell line. 58 (69.1%) patients resulted with typical CLL markers (CD19+CD5+CD23+) while 5 (5.9%) of them presented a non typical chronic lymphocytic leukemia profile (CD19+CD5+CD23-). 19 (22.6%) out of patients displayed an abnormal CD19+CD5- B cell population. A statistically significant correlation was found between the clinical stage of CLL and the positivity for the CD38 marker (p=0.04).Conclusion: Flow cytometry immunophenotyping is a fundamental examination for the final diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The expression of CD38+ in CLL patients stands for a more advanced clinical stage

Familial hemolytic uremic syndrome with occurrence in the postpartum period

The hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a heterogeneous group of similar entities characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute renal failure (ARF) and is an important cause of ARF in childhood. Mutations have been reported in the complement regulatory protein factor H in both sporadic and familial HUS and have been identified in 10–20% of cases. Inherited HUS is unusual. We report the occurrence of HUS in two siblings after delivery, complicated with ARF and with a good outcome

Therapeutic monitoring of mycophenolic acid in renal transplanted patients by a validated HPLC method

Introduction: Mycophenolate mofetil and its active metabolite mycophenolic acid are routinely used as immunosuppressant drugs in solid organ transplantation in a fixed daily dose regimen in association with cyclosporine, tacrolimus and steroids. Therapeutic drug monitoring for mycophenolic acid concentration has been suggested to optimize outcomes by reducing rejection and drug related toxicities in clinical renal transplantation.Aim: To determine the predose concentration of mycophenolic acid in renal transplanted patients by a validated proposed high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method and to estimate the interindividual variability based on the therapeutic target.Materials and methods: An HPLC method combined with protein precipitation has been validated for mycophenolic acid determination in the human plasma obtained from 21 renal transplant recipients. HPLC analysis was carried out using the chromatographic system Agilent Technologies 1200 DAD. Samples were injected manually, and the compounds were separated on a LiChrosphere® select B C18 analytical column. The mobile phase was 45:55 (v/v) acetonitrile-buffer phosphate, pH 2.5, flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and column temperature of 30°C. Detection was performed at 215 nm. Whole blood samples were collected into vacutainers containing EDTA and separated at 6000 g for 10 minutes. A 200-μL aliquot of patient plasma was transferred to a tube, followed by addition of 10 μL of naproxen as internal standard and 400 μL of acetonitrile (v/v) as a protein precipitating agent. Each tube was vortex-mixed for 30 sec and then centrifuged for 10 min at 10000 rpm. 20 μL of the supernatant was injected into the HPLC system for analysis.Results: The method showed appropriate linearity for MPA with correlation coefficient greater than 0.999. High inter-patient variability is observed with 18% of patients within the target trough concentration range, 27% of patients below the target trough concentration range and 54% over the range with risk of toxicity.Conclusions: Therapeutic monitoring of MPA might contribute to a better management of renal transplant recipient with the goal of optimizing therapeutic regimens in order to reduce the risk of rejection and MPA‐related toxicity