Histoplasma-associated inflammatory pseudotumour of the kidney mimicking renal carcinoma

A 56-year-old female, originally from Suriname, with an otherwise unremarkable previous medical history was found to have a renal mass highly suspicious for renal cancer for which a nephrectomy was performed. Within the kidney, a tumourous mass was found which, on histological examination, showed an inflammatory pseudotumour caused by Histoplasma capsulatum. Further investigations revealed an idiopathic CD4(+) lymphopenia. Mass lesions mimicking a malignant tumour caused by infection with Histoplasma have rarely been described. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a Histoplasma-associated inflammatory pseudotumour mimicking cancer occurring in the kidney

The Use of Comparative Genomic Hybridization and Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization in Postmortem Pathology Investigation of Congenital Malformations

Chromosomal abnormalities are an important cause of multiple congenital anomalies (MCA). However, conventional cytogenetic analysis using culture is unsuccessful in 10% to 40% of the cases. The purpose of this study was to examine if retrospective chromosomal analysis was possible on paraffin-embedded autopsy material with new techniques, including comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). We investigated 92 patients, including 71 patients with MCA, 17 patients with an isolated congenital anomaly, and 4 normal controls, by conventional CGH analysis and/or FISH. The karyotype was known in 52 cases, of which 26 patients were normal and 26 had chromosomal anomalies. Comparative genomic hybridization or FISH confirmed all but 2 cases, which were not interpretable. In 40 patients the karyotype was unknown but could be analyzed successfully in 36 cases (90%) by CGH. In this series, we found 1 additional chromosomal aberration, 45,X (Turner syndrome). Furthermore, we examined the postmortem material of 12 patients by FISH, confirming a known abnormal karyotype in 9 patients, an abnormal karyotype found by CGH in 1 case, and confirming DiGeorge syndrome (22q11 deletion) in twins. Comparative genomic hybridization and FISH are reliable techniques with which to perform retrospective genetic analysis on paraffin-embedded autopsy material