Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis- a morphological curio or a pitfall for surgeons: report of two cases and literature review

Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis (PCI) is an uncommon but well recognised clinical entity in which gas-filled cysts appear in the intestinal wall.PCI can be an incidental finding or it may be detected during radiography or laparotomy. We came across two cases of PCI with characteristic morphological features associated with perforation peritonitis in and sigmoid volvulus respectively. In both cases PCI was not suspected pre-operatively.Both patients underwent urgent surgical exploration for the abdominal emergencies and were discharged in good general condition. It is imperative that the imaging finding of PCI is carefully correlated with the findings of physical examination, clinical history, and laboratory test results to determine which patients can be managed medically by treating the underlying disease and which will require emergency surgery. This decision can be difficult because the origin of the gas is often unclear and the patient's symptoms can be volatile, presenting a major dilemma for the surgeon

Myofibromatosis: Utility of fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of an underreported entity

Myofibromatosis (MFS) was recognized as a distinct form of childhood fibromatosis. Infantile myofibromatosis (IMF) is now identified as a solitary or multicentric tumor that predominantly occurs in neonates and infants. The adult counterpart of IMF, though of rare occurrence, is identified and is known as MFS. Morphological diagnosis of MFS is made by histopathological examination of the biopsy or surgically excised mass and confirmed on the basis of specific immunoprofile. We report a case of multicentric MFS occurring in an adolescent in whom diagnosis was suggested on the basis of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) that avoided surgical excision of multiple nodules. The diagnosis was later confirmed on histopathological study and contributory immunohistochemical markers. Details of the clinical features and cytological diagnosis of the case are provided to diminish the paucity of available literature on FNAC diagnosis of the rare disease

Leishmaniasis in a patient with HIV co-infection: Diagnosis on fine needle aspiration cytology

Leishmaniasis is a vector borne parasitic disease caused by obligate intracellular protozoa Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of sand fly. The disease typically presents in visceral, cutaneous and mucocutaneous forms and is endemic in some states of India. Cases with atypical presentation are seen when patient has co- infection with HIV. We report a case of Leishmaniasis occurring in a HIV seropositive expectant mother diagnosed initially on fine needle aspiration cytology. The patient was resident of non endemic area and had presented with isolated cervical lymphadenopathy and fever without spleenomegaly. Characteristic morphological features of Leishmania seen in the fine needle aspiration smears from the neck nodes were identified and definitive diagnosis of Leishmaniasis could be given. Cytological features were not suggestive of any other disease. Timely diagnosis of the disease facilitated proper management in our patient

Search for intermediate-mass black hole binaries in the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo

International audienceIntermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) span the approximate mass range 100−105 M⊙, between black holes (BHs) that formed by stellar collapse and the supermassive BHs at the centers of galaxies. Mergers of IMBH binaries are the most energetic gravitational-wave sources accessible by the terrestrial detector network. Searches of the first two observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo did not yield any significant IMBH binary signals. In the third observing run (O3), the increased network sensitivity enabled the detection of GW190521, a signal consistent with a binary merger of mass ∼150 M⊙ providing direct evidence of IMBH formation. Here, we report on a dedicated search of O3 data for further IMBH binary mergers, combining both modeled (matched filter) and model-independent search methods. We find some marginal candidates, but none are sufficiently significant to indicate detection of further IMBH mergers. We quantify the sensitivity of the individual search methods and of the combined search using a suite of IMBH binary signals obtained via numerical relativity, including the effects of spins misaligned with the binary orbital axis, and present the resulting upper limits on astrophysical merger rates. Our most stringent limit is for equal mass and aligned spin BH binary of total mass 200 M⊙ and effective aligned spin 0.8 at 0.056 Gpc−3 yr−1 (90% confidence), a factor of 3.5 more constraining than previous LIGO-Virgo limits. We also update the estimated rate of mergers similar to GW190521 to 0.08 Gpc−3 yr−1.Key words: gravitational waves / stars: black holes / black hole physicsCorresponding author: W. Del Pozzo, e-mail: [email protected]† Deceased, August 2020