Histoplasma capsulatum is endemic to Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and within the US, to the Ohio and Mississippi River Valley. Disseminated histoplasmosis is less commonly seen in immunocompetent individuals, who usually present with asymptomatic self-limited acute pneumonitis. Time to involvement of the adrenals is unknown. Adrenal insufficiency occurs in 45% of cases involving the adrenals, and is thought to be irreversible even in patients in remission. A 76-year-old man with no significant past medical history was incidentally found to have large bilateral adrenal masses during routine surveillance of a 7 mm pulmonary nodule on annual Chest CT, which showed normal adrenal glands the year prior. He was asymptomatic. A lifetime non-smoker native to California, whose only significant travel history was in his 20s to Ecuador and Puerto Rico, areas endemic to Histoplasma. Abdominal CT showed large bilateral adrenal masses with intermediate density and low washout values (right: 4.9 cm, HU 45, absolute washout 30%; left: 4.8 cm, HU 30, absolute washout 25%). On exam, vital signs were stable with normal orthostatics. Labs revealed normocytic anemia, normal chemistry panel, normal cortisol after 1-mg dexamethasone overnight test 2.6 mcg/dL (n<5 mcg/dL), plasma metanephrine <0.10 nmol/L (n <0.50 nmol/L), plasma normetanephrine 0.89 nmol/L (n <0.90 nmol/L), aldosterone 4.0 ng/dL (n <31 ng/dL), PRA 2.0 ng/ml/hr (n 0.5-4 ng/ml/hr) and random free cortisol 0.38 ug/dL (n 0.022-0.254ug/dL). HIV antigen and antibody, and Histoplasma urinary antigen were negative. Left adrenal mass biopsy revealed necrotizing granulomatous inflammation with fungal culture revealing budding yeast morphologically consistent with Histoplasmosis, with DNA probe confirming Histoplasma capsulatum. Treatment with itraconazole was initiated and the patient is tolerating the treatment well. To our knowledge, this is the first case demonstrating rapid development of large bilateral adrenal masses within a year due to latent disseminated histoplasmosis in an asymptomatic individual, which highlights the need for appropriate testing in patients with known exposure or travel history to endemic areas, regardless of time since exposure. 1.Singh M, Chandy DD, Bharani T, Marak RSK, Yadav S, Dabadghao P, et al. Clinical outcomes and cortical reserve in adrenal histoplasmosis- a retrospective follow-up study of 40 patients. Clin Endocrinol 2019 Jan 17
The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology stratifies thyroid nodules by risk associations. Approximately 15-30% of fine needle aspirations (FNA) fall into an indeterminate criteria, and two thirds are found to be surgically benign leading to unnecessary surgeries (1). Veracyte Inc. developed the Afirma gene expression classifier (GEC) to identify whether an indeterminate nodule had benign expression, with a NPV of 95% for AUS/FLUS (Atypia of undetermined significance/ follicular lesion of undetermined significance) nodules making it an excellent way to rule out malignancy (2). The goal of testing for thyroid cytology includes avoiding unnecessary surgery in benign nodules and identifying high risk from low risk lesions. The Afirma validation landmark study aided in the commercial approval for use in clinical practice after showing a 95.1% sample sufficiency when 2 dedicated samples were obtained in addition to the 3-5 FNA samples for cytology, but our institutional practice habits may suggest other techniques may be valid as well (2). We aimed to assess the rate of sufficient sample for GEC based on FNA washings at our institution, without using dedicated FNA for GEC. Data was gathered from all indeterminate nodule FNA washings referred for Afirma GEC from January 2015 through December 2017. Samples were determined on Afirma report as benign, suspicious, or insufficient and rate of insufficiency was determined. 95 indeterminate nodule FNA washings were sent for Afirma GEC. 93 (97.9%) samples were sufficient for RNA, with 47 (49.5%) reported as suspicious and 46 (48.4%) reported as benign, 2 (2.1%) samples were insufficient for RNA. 97.9% of our samples were sufficient when using FNA washings alone. Our experience suggests that the technique used at our clinical practice is an acceptable alternative to using an additional 2 passes for dedicated samples in collecting RNA for Afirma GEC. This method decreases need for call back for a second biopsy, is less time consuming, and potentially more cost effective. Limitations in our study are a small sample size limited to a single institution, differing number of FNA washings per total passes among practitioners, and variability of experience between providers. In conclusion thyroid nodule FNA washings are an acceptable alternative to dedicated FNA when obtaining tissue samples for genetic expression classifier analysis. Further studies with a larger sample size across different institutions are necessary. 1.Prathima S, Thyroid Research and Practice, January-April 2016; Vol 13: Issue 1; p 9-14 Yang SE et al, Cancer Cytopathology, February 2016, p 100-109 2. Alexander EK. Kennedy GC. Baloch ZW.et al. Preoperative diagnosis of benign thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(8):705–715.
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