Background/aim: Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare, chronic inflammatory disease of the breast. Erythema nodosum (EN) is a rare extramammary manifestation of IGM. The purpose of this study is to determine the clinical and demographic characteristics of 11 IGM and EN patients and to evaluate the efficacy of methylprednisolone treatment. Materials and methods:In our series, ten patients had EN bilaterally, whereas one patient had a lesion of the right pretibial area. The mean age of the patients was 35.5 years (range: 29-45 years). IGM and EN were diagnosed by the necessary serological, microbiological, radiological, and histopathological examination. After diagnosis, methylprednisolone was started in the first week at 0.8 mg/kg daily for treatment. The weekly dose was tapered to 0.1 mg/kg daily over 8 weeks. Results:We started with the treatment of methylprednisolone, and in all our cases the initial response was excellent. In 2 weeks the IGM symptoms had markedly declined, while signs of EN disappeared completely. Patients were followed for an average of 60 months after treatment. None of the 11 patients had recurrence. Conclusion:We herein report a rare series considering IGM cases complicated by EN. Few such cases have been reported in the literature. We advocate for an initial trial of methylprednisolone treatment, which proved to be very successful in our patients.

Serum biglycan might be used as a non-invasive marker of liver fibrosis. Further studies are needed to evaluate the usefulness of this marker.

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Objective: As there is continuing disagreement among the observers on the differential diagnosis between the epithelial changes/lesions and neoplasms of the gallbladder, this multicentre study was planned in order to assess the rate of the epithelial gallbladder lesions in Turkey and to propose microscopy and macroscopy protocols. Material and Method:With the participation of 22 institutions around Turkey that were included in the Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Study Group, 89,324 cholecystectomy specimens sampled from 2003 to 2016 were retrospectively evaluated. The numbers of adenocarcinomas, dysplasias, intracholecystic neoplasms/adenomas, intestinal metaplasias and reactive atypia were identified with the review of pathology reports and the regional and countrywide incidence rates were presented in percentages.Results: epithelial changes/lesions were reported in 6% of cholecystectomy materials. Of these epithelial lesions, 7% were reported as adenocarcinoma, 0.9% as high-grade dysplasia, 4% as low-grade dysplasia, 7.8% as reactive/regenerative atypia, 1.7% as neoplastic polyp, and 15.6% as intestinal metaplasia. The remaining lesions (63%) primarily included non-neoplastic polypoids/hyperplastic lesions and antral/pyloric metaplasia. There were also differences between pathology laboratories. Conclusion:The major causes of the difference in reporting these epithelial changes/lesions and neoplasms include the differences related to the institute's oncological surgery frequency, sampling protocols, geographical dissimilarities, and differences in the diagnoses/interpretations of the pathologists. It seems that the diagnosis may change if new sections are taken from the specimen when any epithelial abnormality is seen during microscopic examination of the cholecystectomy materials.