Introduction
Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome is a dyskeratosis congenita-related telomere biology disorder that presents in infancy with intrauterine growth retardation immunodeficiency, and cerebellar hypoplasia in addition to the triad of nail dysplasia, skin pigmentation, and oral leukoplakia. Patients with Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome often develop bone marrow failure in early childhood. Germline mutations in DKC1, TERT, TINF2, RTEL1, ACD, and PARN cause about 60% of Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome cases.
Case Report
We report 14 years of follow-up for a patient with Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome who initially presented as an infant with intrauterine growth retardation, microcephaly, and central nervous system calcifications. He was diagnosed with Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome at age six and had a complicated medical history including severe developmental delay, cerebellar hypoplasia, esophageal and urethral stenosis, hip avascular necrosis, immunodeficiency, and bone marrow failure evolving to myelodysplastic syndrome requiring hematopoietic cell transplantation at age 14. He had progressive skin pigmentation changes, oral leukoplakia, and nail dysplasia leading to anonychia. Whole exome sequencing identified novel biallelic variants in PARN.
Conclusions
This case illustrates that the constellation of IUGR, central nervous system calcifications, and cerebellar hypoplasia, esophageal or urethral stenosis, and cytopenias, in the absence of congenital infection, may be due to Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome. Early diagnosis of Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome is important to optimize medical management and provide genetic counseling.
Asteatotic eczema developing on skin with altered sensation is an underreported condition. Prompt recognition and treatment may lead to a more efficient patient encounter and alleviate unnecessary patient stress.
Secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in adults is a rare, often fatal syndrome characterized by widespread immune dysregulation. It is seen as a complication of infections, autoimmune diseases, and malignancies. Among the malignancy-related causes, aggressive T-cell or NK-cell neoplasms are most notable, while B-cell lymphomas are less commonly implicated. We present the case of a 32-year-old male transferred to our facility with concern for HLH. During the first week of his hospitalization, his diagnosis was confirmed and the patient demonstrated spontaneous improvement in his symptoms prompting us to delay therapy while searching for a primary cause. In the second week, the patient deteriorated, leading us to initiate steroid monotherapy in the absence of a cause for his HLH. Meanwhile, pathology results from an excisional lymph node biopsy confirmed a diagnosis of T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma (TCHRLBCL). Subsequently, we initiated therapy with dose-adjusted R-EPOCH. The patient achieved a complete remission of both HLH and TCHRLBCL as well as a complete return to his prior functional status. In our review of the literature, this represents only the second documented case of HLH associated with TCHRLBCL and the only documented case of an adult experiencing significant spontaneous recovery in this context.
A woman in her sixth decade presented with several months of abdominal cramping, decreased appetite, bloating, and increased constipation. Radiologic imaging revealed a 28 cm, multilocular, heterogeneous cystic neoplasm involving the right adnexa. An intraoperative frozen section showed mucinous glandular epithelium, with and without foci of goblet cells, embedded in apparent ovarian stroma. The findings were concerning at least borderline mucinous cystadenoma with possible invasion. Subsequent surgical management and staging were performed. Permanent sections showed a moderately to poorly differentiated Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor (SLCT) with retiform foci and heterologous elements. The discrepancy between frozen and permanent sections was attributable to solely sampling a focus of heterologous elements during intraoperative consultation. The rarity of SLCT and even rarer presence of both heterologous and retiform elements make this concerning frozen section diagnostic pitfall.
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