Henoch Schönlein purpura associated with pulmonary adenocarcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Henoch-Schönlein purpura is a common immunoglobulin A-mediated vasculitis syndrome in children. Henoch-Schönlein purpura can also affect adults and is probably related to malignancy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 61-year-old Japanese man who presented for examination after an abnormal shadow was detected by chest radiography. He received a diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, stage IV. Purpura on the legs, abdominal pain, diarrhea, hematuria and proteinuria developed at this time. Henoch-Schönlein purpura was diagnosed, base on the clinical symptoms and histological findings of biopsy specimens of the skin, which showed vasculitis with immunoglobulin A deposits. Our patient received chemotherapy with gemcitabine after successful steroid therapy for the Henoch-Schönlein purpura.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although hematological malignancies are well-known causes of vasculitides, cases of Henoch-Schönlein purpura associated with lung adenocarcinoma are rare. Our patient was treated with corticosteroid therapy, which cleared the purpura and cytotoxic chemotherapy for the non-small cell lung cancer. However, he died from heart failure due to cardiac tamponade.</p

Mya arenaria - an ancient invader of the North Sea coast

Mya arenaria currently occupies a wide geographical range in the northern hemisphere, on both coasts of the Atlantic as well as on the Pacific east coast. Some authors claim it also occurs on the Pacific west coast. The species originated in the Pacific during the Miocene and was already present on both Atlantic coasts in the Pliocene. However, it died out on the east coasts of the Pacific and the Atlantic during glaciation of the Pleistocene. With the aid of man it was reintroduced to the North Sea some 400-700 years ago and to the East Pacific last century. In the 1960Žs it was also introduced to the Black Sea. Mya arenaria invaded new habitats by different modes: 1) natural range expansion 2) intentional as plantings 3) unintentional as a ballast species 4) unintentional as a byproduct of oyster transplants. Properties that may favor its wide range of distribution and invading success are: high fecundity; planktonic dispersal stages and life stages that lend itself to unintentional transport by humans; a broad spectrum of habitat and food preference; tolerance of a wide range of environmental conditions such as salinity and temperature; longevity and perhaps relatively large size