A Rare Case of Acquired Segmental Megacolon with Unknown Cause in a Young Woman

Abstract: Acquired Megacolon is a rare disease that usually presents in elderly people and there have been only few reported cases in literature. In this article we report a 24-year-old woman who had referred with chronic intermittent epigastric pain from 4-5 years ago and also chronic constipation and distension of upper abdominal part. Clinical examinations and imaging studies (chest x-ray, barium enema) showed dilatation of colon with unknown border. She underwent laparatomy surgery with primary diagnosis of partial colon obstruction. Several biopsies were taken from dilated and collapsed parts. Microscopic findings showed destruction of ganglion cells in dilated areas and normal ganglion cells in collapsed parts. At the second operation dilated parts were resected and end to end anastomosis of collapsed parts were done. The patient was discharged in good general condition. About 77 days after operation, the patient was examined again in order to following up. She was in a very good physical condition and had a weight gain about 20 pounds. Keywords: Megacolon, Intestinal obstructio

Carotid body paraganglioma with prominent lymphocytic infiltration mimicking metastatic lymph node: A case report

Carotid body paraganglioma is a neuroendocrine neoplasm of the mandibular region. Due to its prominent stromal alternations, carotid body paraganglioma is a great emulator of other neoplasms in the head and neck region especially in metastatic tumors and its definite diagnosis is a great challenge. To the best of our knowledge, the most frequently reported variant is sclerosing and paraganglioma with a prominent lymphoplasmacytic infiltration is extremely rare. We report a rare case of a carotid body lymphoplasmacytic paraganglioma presented as a single asymptomatic mass of the right mandibular region in a 45-year-old woman. In order to exclude other possibilities, the use of immunohistochemistry is essential which shows a strong positive immunoreaction for chromogranin and synaptophysin. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice which is replaced with radiotherapy in contraindications. Overall, the tumor has a favorable clinical outcome. © 2020, Iranian Society of Pathology. All rights reserved

Evaluation of Injuries Caused by Penetrating Chest Traumas in Patients Referred to the Emergency Room

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of different injuries caused by penetrating chest traumas, and also the cause and type of trauma and its accompanying injuries. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, carried out on all patients referred to the emergency room of Shahid Bahonar Hospital, Kerman, from March 2000 to September 2008, due to penetrating chest trauma. The required information including age, sex, cause of trauma, type and site of injury, and accompanying injury was obtained and used to fill out a questionnaire and then was analyzed. 828 patients were included in the study; most of them were in the age range of 20-29. Of the patients, 97.6 % were males. The most frequent cause of trauma was stabbing, and the most frequent injuries following the trauma were pneumothorax and hemothorax. Orthopedic trauma was the most frequent accompanying injury. The most commonly used diagnostic method was plain chest radiography. In 93 % of the patients, the chest tube was placed and thoracotomy was performed for 97 % of the patients. Shahid Bahonar Hospital is a referral Trauma Centre and treats large number of chest trauma patients. Most patients need only chest tube placement as a definitive treatment

A rare case of benign granular cell tumor of the breast

Granular cell tumor is a rare benign non-encapsulated tumor that mostly presents in oral cavity. Breast localization is uncommon and occurs in about one per 1000 cases of breast cancers. It mainly affects premenopausal women showing the possible role of estrogen and progesterone levels in the progression of this tumor. Granular cell tumor is a great emulator of the invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast clinically and radiologically, and the definite diagnosis especially in fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a great challenge. Granular cell tumor almost always has a benign clinical behavior and malignant transformation is seen in less than 1 of cases, which requires additional therapy other than local surgical resection. Here, we report a rare case of benign granular cell tumor of breast that should be differentiated from other breast neoplasms especially invasive carcinomas. © 2020, Kerman University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Copper and zinc levels in myelodysplastic syndrome patients versus healthy subjects

Background: Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a heterogeneous hematological disease and certain serum factors are assumed to be involved in its pathogenesis and progression. Given this, our aim was to comparatively investigate the copper, zinc, and iron levels in MDS patients and healthy individuals. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 31 patients with MDS (according to the WHO criteria after investigating laboratory tests such as peripheral blood smear and bone marrow aspiration) attending Bahonar Hospital, Kerman, Iran, and 31 healthy subjects from 2016 to 2018. The levels of copper, ceruloplasmin, zinc, ferritin, and iron were compared between the two groups. Results: Among the MDS patients, fie individuals (16.13) had low serum copper level (mean: 67.8 ± 4.35 μg/dl). Serum copper level was 111.3 ± 27.7 and 138.3 ± 26.6 in case and control groups, respectively (P = 0.0001). The serum zinc level and bone marrow iron level were also signifiantly different between the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Overall, it can be concluded that because only a small proportion of the MDS patients enrolled in this study were found to have lower copper levels compared with the MDS patients population, further studies with a larger sample size and also clinical trials in MDS patients with serum zinc, and copper defiiency are recommended, and post-treatment hematological reassessment would also be benefiial to achieving more defiitive results. © 2020 Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Psychodynamic Group Intervention (CR-PGI): an explorative study

Objective: An explorative study focusing on the process of a Cardiac Rehabilitation Psychodynamic Group Intervention (CR-PGI) addressed to myocardial infarction (MI) patients is discussed. The study aimed at analyzing whether the treatment based on CR-PGI serves as a communicational context within which MI patients are enabled to explore new interpretations of their post-infarction condition. Methods: The intervention, divided into 12 weekly one-hour group sessions, was addressed to MI patients recruited within a Public Hospital of southern Italy. Each session was audio-recorded and lexical correspondence analysis (LCA) was applied to the verbatim transcripts, in order to provide a map of the evolution of the communication exchange occurring over the 12 sessions. Results: The findings showed that the discourses associated to the first eight sessions differed from the discourses of the last four sessions. Two main transitions occurred. The first concerns the response to the infarction, first interpreted as a process of affective elaboration and afterwards as practical management of the functional aspects associated with the condition of MI patients. The second concerns the nature of the change and contrasts a lifestyle-oriented model with a social role approach, which refers to social, legal, and medical practices related to the acknowledgment of being an MI patient. Conclusion: The findings offer preliminary support to the capacity of CR-PGI to work as a context where new meanings for the biographical rupture of the MI can be explored. Consistently with the rationale of the model, the intervention seems to have promoted the emergence of new ways of feeling and understanding one’s condition