Angiomyofibroblastoma of the spermatic cord: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Angiomyofibroblastoma is a benign soft tissue tumor with tendency to arise in the vulva.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a 36-year-old Greek Caucasian man presenting with a left inguinal painless mass. This is the second case of angiomyofibroblastoma of the spermatic cord. At operation, a 4.5 cm well-circumscribed solid tumor was found adherent to the spermatic cord. The tumor consisted of spindle-shaped cells proliferating in short fascicles between numerous medium-sized blood vessels with thin and hyalinized walls. Neoplastic cells had eosinophilic cytoplasm with neither mitotic figures nor nuclear atypia. The stroma included abundant mast cells and few mature lypocytes. Immunostaining showed positivity for vimentin, CD34, desmin and smooth muscle actin. Our patient was treated by simple excision and was followed up for five years with clinical examination and ultrasonography, revealing no evidence of local recurrence or metastasis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This unusual neoplasm should be distinguished from aggressive angiomyxoma and other myxoid malignant tumors with widespread metastatic potential.</p

Prognostic significance of plasma resistin levels in patients with atherothrombotic ischemic stroke

Background: Resistin (RSN) is an adipocytokine involved in insulin resistance, obesity and atherosclerosis. This study aimed to investigate the association between plasma RSN and outcome after ischemic stroke. Methods: RSN measured within 24 h after the event was related to functional outcome and 5-year survival in 211 subjects with first-ever atherothrombotic ischemic stroke. Prognosis was assessed by the Kaplan Meier and the Cox techniques. Results: The probabilities of death were 80.4%, 46.2% and 15.7% (p &lt; 0.001) for patients stratified according to tertiles of RSN (&gt; 30 ng/mL, 2030 ng/mL and &lt; 20 ng/mL, respectively). The proportion of dependency (modified Rankin Scale score ! 3) was greater in 5-year survivors with RSN in the upper tertile (6/11 [54.5%]) compared to the middle (20/56 [35.7%]) and the lowest tertile (8/43 [18.6%]; p &lt; 0.01). C-reactive protein levels (hazard ratio [HR] 3.96 [95% CI 2.06, 8.91]; p &lt; 0.001), coronary heart disease (2.69 [1.62, 6.23]; p &lt; 0.001), RSN levels (2.12 [1.31, 5.08] p &lt; 0.001), National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score (2.02 [1.23, 4.49]; p &lt; 0.01) and age (1.84 [1.19, 3.93]; p &lt; 0.01) were independent predictors of death. Conclusions: High plasma RSN appears to be associated with increased risk of 5-year mortality or disability after atherothrombotic ischemic stroke, independently of other adverse predictors. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved