A Case of Cervical Ectopic Pregnancy: Management and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Cervical ectopic pregnancy is a rare type of ectopic pregnancy. It can be diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasonography at an early stage and confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging.Presentation of case:  In such cases, early diagnosis and management can avert life-threatening consequences like uterine rupture and abundant hemorrhage, while sparing fertility. We herein discussed diagnostic process, follow-up, and management of a cervical ectopic pregnancy case.Conclusion: Cervical ectopic pregnancy has been shown that the conservative methods are safe and reliable treatment techniques in early detected cervical ectopic pregnancy cases; they also have the advantage to spare future fertility of patients

Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy may affect fetal thymus development

Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate the association of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) during pregnancy with thymus size in full-term fetuses. Material and methods: In this prospective study, we evaluated mid-pregnancy serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) concentrations. The fetal thymus size was measured by ultrasound in the third trimester. Neonatal 25(OH)D3 levels were evaluated by umbilical cord blood sampling. Correlation of maternal and neonatal vitamin D levels and association between thymus size and both, maternal and neonatal vitamin D concentrations were investigated. Results: Serum 25(OH) D3 concentrations were within the normal range in 48 (29.8%) mothers and 10 (13.1%) new­borns. A strong correlation between mid-pregnancy maternal and neonatal 25(OH)D3 concentration (r = 0.8, p < 0.001) was found. A significant linear correlation was observed between both, maternal and neonatal 25(OH)D3 concentrations and thymus perimeter length (r = 0.45, p = 0.04 and r = 0.43, p < 0.01, respectively). Both, maternal and fetal VDDs were associated with decreased thymus perimeter (p = 0.04, p = 0.03). Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may be associated with smaller fetal thymus. Our data suggest that VDD in pregnancy may lead to systemic inflammatory response in the fetus

Ovarian Fibrothecoma: A Rare Cause of Ovarian Torsion in Postmenopausal Woman

Ovarian torsion is a common gynecological surgical emergency. It is usually associated with a cyst or a tumor, which is typically benign. The most common cause of ovarian torsion is mature cystic teratoma. We herein present an unusual case of torsion in the ovarian fibrothecoma. We report a case of ovarian torsion in a 47-year-old postmenopausal woman who came to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain. In this case report, we highlight Doppler ultrasonography and the magnetic resonance imaging features of ovarian torsion. She underwent an urgent surgery due to a torsion indicated. Total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy was performed. The final pathologic diagnosis revealed torsion of left ovarian fibrothecoma. Ovarian fibrothecoma are usually asymptomatic. They can become symptomatic when they are torsed.Key Words: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ovarian Fibrothecoma, Ovarian Torsio

Ablation of Retbindin, the Riboflavin Binding Protein, Exacerbates Retinal Degenerative Phenotypes in Mouse Models of Human Retinal Diseases

Retbindin (Rtbdn) is a retina-specific, riboflavin binding protein, expressed only by the rod photoreceptor cells. Riboflavin is the precursor of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) which are essential co-factors for enzymes involved in wide-range of metabolic processes. Since flavins are directly linked to the metabolism and metabolic dysregulation is a hallmark of degeneration, we hypothesized that Rtbdn, as a riboflavin binding protein, plays a role in modulating the degenerative process. In support of our hypothesis, we found that Rtbdn is significantly upregulated in the retinas of mouse models of late-onset cone rod dystrophy (Prph2R172W), retinitis pigmentosa (RhoP23H/+) and pattern dystrophy (Prph2Y141C/+). We investigated the effect of Rtbdn ablation in these retinal degenerative models in order to elucidate the function of this novel protein in retinal health and disease. Although, the ablation of Rtbdn alone (Rtbdn-/-) had no deleterious effects on retinal function up to postnatal day (P) 120, eliminating Rtbdn in the models led to significant reductions in both scotopic and photopic electroretinographic amplitudes, compared to the single mutants. Histologic assessments revealed severe thinning of diseased retinas upon elimination of Rtbdn. While the outer nuclear layer (ONL) cell counts in wild type (WT) and Rtbdn-/- were not significantly different from each other, we observed significant loss of ONL cells in the Prph2R172W/Rtbdn-/-, RhoP23H/+/Rtbdn-/-, and Prph2Y141C/+/Rtbdn-/- in comparison to the single mutants. Ultrastructural analyses revealed shorter, malformed and disorganized photoreceptor outer segments, swollen inner segments and dilated Bruch’s membrane in the retinas of degenerative models in absence of Rtbdn. In addition, elimination of Rtbdn in the diseased retina led to vascular pathologies and appearance of neovascular tufts secondary to cell loss. We observed model-dependent alterations in the riboflavin, FAD, and FMN levels. Our data demonstrate the potential protective role of Rtbdn, making it a strong candidate as a therapeutic target in retinal degenerative diseases. Our future work will focus on investigating that potential by studying the effects of overexpression of Rtbdn in slowing the retinal degenerative process in models of human retinal degeneration.Biomedical Engineering, Department o

Typical and Atypical Imaging Findings of Abdominal Teratomas

WOS: 000356886100008Teratomas are most commonly observed as lesions of ovarian origin. They can also be detected in extragonadal regions such as brain, face, neck, mediastinum, retroperitoneum, and sacrococcygeal region. Ovarian teratomas are usually in mature cystic form as benign, well-differentiated, and cystic lesions. Immature teratomas and monodermal teratomas (struma ovarii, carcinoid tumors and neural tumors) are rare forms. Mature cystic teratomas are usually diagnosed by ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. On US, a variety of appearances including echogenic sebaceous material and calcification are observed. MR imaging can specifically demonstrate fat component by fat-saturation sequences. On the other hand, teratomas are usually incidentally detected on computed tomography (CT) and fat attenuation within a cyst is diagnostic. It may be difficult to characterize immature teratomas due to nonspesicific findings on US. However, CT and MR can provide diagnosis by identifying small foci of fat within a mass with irregular solid component containing coarse calcifications. A small proportion of mature cystic teratomas can undergo malignant transformation (carcinomas or sarcomas). The purpose of this paper is to review the imaging features of various types of abdominally located teratomas for differentiation and diagnosis