Diagnosis of Human Visceral Pentastomiasis

Visceral pentastomiasis in humans is caused by the larval stages (nymphs) of the arthropod-related tongue worms Linguatula serrata, Armillifer armillatus, A. moniliformis, A. grandis, and Porocephalus crotali. The majority of cases has been reported from Africa, Malaysia, and the Middle East, where visceral pentastomiasis may be an incidental finding in autopsies, and less often from China and Latin America. In Europe and North America, the disease is only rarely encountered in immigrants and long-term travelers, and the parasitic lesions may be confused with malignancies, leading to a delay in the correct diagnosis. Since clinical symptoms are variable and serological tests are not readily available, the diagnosis often relies on histopathological examinations. This laboratory symposium focuses on the diagnosis of this unusual parasitic disease and presents its risk factors and epidemiology

Acromegaly and gigantism in the medical literature. Case descriptions in the era before and the early years after the initial publication of Pierre Marie (1886)

In 1886 Pierre Marie used the term “acromegaly” for the first time and gave a full description of the characteristic clinical picture. However several others had already given clear clinical descriptions before him and sometimes had given the disease other names. After 1886, it gradually became clear that pituitary enlargement (caused by a pituitary adenoma) was the cause and not the consequence of acromegaly, as initially thought. Pituitary adenomas could be found in the great majority of cases. It also became clear that acromegaly and gigantism were the same disease but occurring at different stages of life and not different diseases as initially thought. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century most information was derived from case descriptions and post-mortem examinations of patients with acromegaly or (famous) patients with gigantism. The stage was set for further research into the pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy of acromegaly and gigantism