Picture Story A case of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a dominantly inherited connective tissue disorder in which defects in skeletal patterning are associated with progressive endochondral ossification of large striate

Glenard's disease

Through this teaching image of gastroptosis in a 21 year old girl, we reiterate that Glenard's disease should be revisited since there are only very few reports in the existing literature

Autoimmune pancreatitis with pancytopenia: A rare occurrence

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is considered a distinct type of pancreatitis with an autoimmune pathogenesis. Patients with AIP often develop extrapancreatic lesions such as biliary lesions, sialadenitis, retroperitoneal fibrosis, swelling of lymph nodes, chronic thyroiditis, and interstitial nephritis, suggesting that AIP may be a systemic disease. Moreover, several cases of immune thrombocytopenia and few with neutropenia complicated with AIP have been described. The pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia associated with AIP is still unclear; however, autoimmune processes are suggested. On the other hand, cases of pancytopenia complicated by AIP have not yet been reported. We herein report a very rare case of pancytopenia associated with AIP

Noninvasive Prediction of Large Esophageal Varices in Chronic Liver Disease Patients

<b>Background/Aim:</b> Esophageal varices (EVs) are a serious consequence of portal hypertension in patients with liver diseases. Several studies have evaluated possible noninvasive markers of EVs to reduce the number of unnecessary endoscopies in patients with cirrhosis but without varices. This prospective study was conducted to evaluate noninvasive predictors of large varices (LV). <b> Patients and Methods: </b> The study analyzed 106 patients with liver diseases from January 2007 to March 2008. Relevant clinical parameters assessed included Child-Pugh class, ascites and splenomegaly. Laboratory parameters like hemoglobin level, platelet count, prothrombin time, serum bilirubin, albumin and ultrasonographic characteristics like splenic size, splenic vein size, portal vein diameter were assessed. Univariate and multivariate analysis was done on the data for predictors of large EVs.<b> Results:</b> Incidence of large varices was seen in 41&#x0025;. On multivariate analysis, independent predictors for the presence of LV were palpable spleen, low platelet count, spleen size&#62; 13.8 mm, portal vein&#62; 13 mm, splenic vein&#62; 11.5 mm. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed 0.883 area under curve. Platelet spleen diameter ratio 909 had a sensitivity and specificity of 88.5&#x0025;, 83&#x0025; respectively.<b> Conclusion: </b> Thrombocytopenia, large spleen size, portal vein size and platelet spleen diameter ratio strongly predicts large number of EVs