Orofacial manifestations in outpatients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa focusing on the vomiting behavior

Objective: This case-control study aims to evaluate the oral health status and orofacial problems in a group of outpatients with eating disorders (ED)—either anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN)—further focusing on the influence of vomit. Materials and methods: Fifty-five women outpatients with AN or BN diagnosis were invited to participate, of which 33 agreed. ED outpatients and matched controls were submitted to a questionnaire and clinical oral examination. Results: Multivariate analysis identified a significantly higher incidence of teeth-related complications (i.e., tooth decay, dental erosion, and self-reported dentin hypersensitivity), periodontal disease, salivary alterations (i.e., hyposalivation and xerostomia), and oral mucosa-related complications in ED outpatients. Dental erosion, self-reported dentin hypersensitivity, hyposalivation, xerostomia, and angular cheilitis were found to be highly correlated with the vomiting behavior. Conclusions: ED outpatients were found to present a higher incidence of oral-related complications and an inferior oral health status, compared to gender- and age-matched controls. Alterations verified within outpatients were acknowledged to be quite similar to those previously reported within inpatients, in both of nature and severity, thus sustaining that the cranio-maxillofacial region is significantly affected by ED, even in the early/milder forms of the condition, as expectedly verified within outpatients.The work was supported by the Faculty of Dental Medicine, U. Porto

Sensitivity and specificity of T-cell receptor PCR BIOMED-2 clonality analysis for the diagnosis of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Early and precise diagnosis of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) is challenging. Currently, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based clonality assessment of the T-cell receptor (TCR) is a helpful tool for this diagnosis. In this retrospective study, we aimed to assess the sensitivity and specificity of this method for the diagnosis of CTCL. Monoclonal rearrangement of the TCR was investigated retrospectively by PCR-based clonality assessment based on 292 DNA samples from skin biopsies of patients with a suspicion of CTCL. Algorithms were based on different ratios (three or five-fold difference) between the dominant PCR peak and the third highest PCR peak. A PCR peak five-fold higher than the third highest PCR peak demonstrated significantly greater specificity (83.7% versus 76.4%) but lower sensitivity (59.8% versus 68.6%) compared to a cut-off of three-fold higher. Our results confirm the diagnostic value of TCR clonality analysis which may be used to define the ideal cut-off in order to optimize sensitivity and specificity