Purpose We investigated the mammographic, sonographic, and pathologic findings in metaplastic carcinoma of the breast. Methods The mammographic (n = 16) and sonographic (n = 11) findings in 16 patients with metaplastic carcinoma of the breast were analyzed retrospectively along with pathologic findings. Whenever possible, results of preoperative fine‐needle aspiration biopsy and immunohistochemical studies were obtained. Results All patients presented with a palpable breast mass. The mean size of the lesions at pathologic examination was 4.2 cm. On mammography, 15 patients had a mass (1 patient had 2 masses), and 1 patient had only clustered microcalcifications without an associated mass. The mean longest diameter of the 16 masses on mammography was 4.6 cm. Eleven lesions (69%) were round to ovoid in shape, 13 lesions (81%) showed ill‐defined or obscured margins, and 10 lesions (63%) showed associated architectural distortion. On sonography, 6 (55%) of 11 lesions were round to ovoid, 9 lesions (82%) had well‐defined margins, and 6 lesions (55%) showed complex echogenicity with solid and cystic components. At pathologic examination, 4 of these 6 lesions showed hemorrhagic or cystic necrosis. Axillary lymph nodes were positive in 6 (40%) of 15 patients in whom axillary node dissection was performed. Conclusions Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast manifests as a rapidly growing, mammographically ill‐defined round mass with associated architectural distortion on mammograms. Complex echogenicity with solid and cystic components may be seen sonographically and is related to hemorrhagic or cystic necrosis seen pathologically. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 28:179–186, 2000.

Using a low radiation dose and nongated MDCT, we can detect coronary artery calcium and obtain results comparable to those obtained with dedicated calcium-scoring CT that uses a higher dose and ECG gating.

Immune dysregulation, Polyendocrinopathy, Enteropathy X-linked (IPEX) syndrome is a unique example of primary immunodeficiency characterized by autoimmune manifestations due to defective regulatory T (Treg) cells, in the presence of FOXP3 mutations. However, autoimmune symptoms phenotypically resembling IPEX often occur in the absence of detectable FOXP3 mutations. The cause of this “IPEX-like” syndrome presently remains unclear.To investigate whether a defect in Treg cells sustains the immunological dysregulation in IPEX-like patients, we measured the amount of peripheral Treg cells within the CD3+ T cells by analysing demethylation of the Treg cell-Specific-Demethylated-Region (TSDR) in the FOXP3 locus and demethylation of the T cell-Specific-Demethylated-Region (TLSDR) in the CD3 locus, highly specific markers for stable Treg cells and overall T cells, respectively.TSDR demethylation analysis, alone or normalized for the total T cells, showed that the amount of peripheral Treg cells in a cohort of IPEX-like patients was significantly reduced, as compared to both healthy subjects and unrelated disease controls. This reduction could not be displayed by flow cytometric analysis, showing highly variable percentages of FOXP3+ and CD25+FOXP3+ T cells. These data provide evidence that a quantitative defect of Treg cells could be considered a common biological hallmark of IPEX-like syndrome. Since Treg cell suppressive function was not impaired, we propose that this reduction per se could sustain autoimmunity.