Extraosseous Ewing sarcomas (EESs) are rare tumours originating from soft tissues. Their clinical picture depends mainly on the primary site of the sarcoma. Patient characteristics and outcomes seem to be different in EES compared to patients with skeletal Ewing sarcoma, with implications for patient care and prognosis. However, multimodality therapeutic strategies are recommended for all types of the Ewing tumour family. The available diagnostic tools include ultrasonographic evaluation and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging as well as histopathologic and immunohistochemical tissue examination. Several histologic and genetic biomarkers have been established, although their utilization needs to be further tested by larger prospective studies. Regarding localized disease, the recommended treatment remains surgery. However, chemotherapy can be added to achieve improved survival, with neoadjuvant regimens showing more promising results than adjuvant regimens. Radiotherapy is an option to obtain local control, although its complications have reduced its utilization. In metastatic or recurrent disease, systematic chemotherapy improves survival.
Spontaneous rectus sheath hematoma (SRSH) is an uncommon medical emergency in the elderly. We present a case of SRSH with an atypical clinical presentation and discuss literature regarding diagnosis and proper management. A 75-year-old female patient was transferred to the emergency department due to acute dyspnoea and confusion. Her medical history revealed a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract, and no coughing or use of anticoagulants. The clinical examination showed tenderness of the left lower abdomen, although palpation was misleading due to patient's obesity. Laboratory investigations showed light anaemia. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a large rectus sheath hematoma of the left abdominal wall. Despite further deterioration of the patient, conservative management including bed rest, fluid replacement, blood products transfusion, and proper analgesia was successful. No surgical intervention was needed. Prompt diagnosis and management of SRSH plays significant role in the prognosis, especially in elder patients. Independently of size and severity, conservative management remains the first therapeutic choice. Only by failure of supportive management, progressive and large hematoma or uncontrollable hemodynamic patients, interventional management including surgery or less invasive newer techniques is indicated.
Several risk factors including short or highly angulated proximal aortic neck have been associated with long-term outcomes after endovascular or open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. However, research data have emerged recently concerning the behavior of proximal aortic neck, and several authors have tried to evaluate this behavior after endovascular or open repair. Additionally, computed tomography angiography (CTA) remains the golden standard for detecting and observing the morphology of an AAA, both before and after treatment. Moreover, the question of whether the proximal neck’s progression independently affects postoperative morbidity and reintervention risks still remains. Therefore, this focused review aims to present all relevant data on the behavior of an AAAs neck, based on CTA imaging before and after repair, in order to produce useful conclusions for future clinical practice.
Metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) to the breast is a very rare entity with a few cases reported in the literature, while the hand as an extra-mammary origin site for this type of malignancy has not been reported before. We describe a unique case of a woman with a SCC lesion excised from the right index finger that metastasized to her ipsilateral breast. A 68-year-old female patient presented with a small palpable lesion of the right breast and without any skin ulceration or malformation. Ultrasonography and computed tomography studies revealed a solitary metastatic lesion of the breast, without any multiple disease or lymphadenopathy diagnosed. Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) cytology confirmed the correlation of the lesion with the primary site. The patient underwent further surgical and oncological management. The use of FNA cytology is important to distinguish a metastasis from primary breast cancer in order to avoid unnecessary conflicting treatments, even when the medical history is not typical or revealing. SCCs of the hand can give metastases to unusual sites such as the breast and must always be closely followed-up, even if they are successfully excised in healthy margins originally.
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