1/112. Identification of a D579G homozygote cystic fibrosis patient with pancreatic sufficiency and minor lung involvement. Mutations in brief no. 221. Online. Here we describe the identification of an italian patient homozygote for the D579G mutation affected by a mild form of cystic fibrosis with pancreatic sufficiency, minor lung involvement and marked viscosity of the cervical mucous. The D579G mutation causes an A1868G transition, a substitution of an aspartic acid to a glycine residue, generating an important amino acid change (charged to hydrophobic) in the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD). The mutation was first described by Brancolini et al. (1995) on two pancreatic sufficient CF patients, compound heterozygotes for delta508F. patients were from Southern italy (Puglia) as the D579G homozygote one, who is a 30 years old woman from Taranto (Puglia), daughter of second cousins born in Bari (Puglia). The identification of a homozygote D579G patient might confirm that this mutation does correlate with pancreatic sufficiency and a mild pulmonary phenotype. ( info) |
2/112. Acquired perforating dermatosis in diabetes mellitus: an unusual case. A case of elastosis perforans serpiginosa in a patient who presented with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus secondary to pancreatic insufficiency in a background of common variable immunodeficiency and endocrinopathy, as evidenced by pernicious anaemia and growth hormone deficiency, is described. In acquired perforating dermatosis occurring in patients with diabetes or renal failure, there is a spectrum of changes that may show an overlap of histological features of the four classic perforating diseases. The biopsy changes of the patient described in the present study most closely resembled those of elastosis perforans serpiginosa. ( info) |
3/112. pregnancy in bone marrow failure syndromes: diamond-Blackfan anaemia and Shwachman-diamond syndrome. pregnancy in bone marrow failure syndromes has risk to mother and fetus. There are fewer than 30 reports of cases with diamond-Blackfan anaemia (DBA), and none with Shwachman-diamond syndrome (SD). We report two DBA and one SD cases. One DBA mother received transfusions intra-partum, and the other only post-partum. Both required caesarean sections (C-sections) for failure of labour to progress and severe pre-eclampsia respectively. Both subsequently resumed pre-pregnancy steroid-induced control of anaemia. approximately 40% of DBA pregnancies required maternal transfusions; 25% delivered by C-section. The SD patient also had Ehlers-Danlos (ED) syndrome and urticaria pigmentosa (UP). Her blood counts were adequate until week 38, when the platelet count dropped and a C-section was performed. pregnancy management in marrow failure disorders requires obstetricians with expertise in high-risk pregnancies, and haematologists with experience with marrow failure syndromes. ( info) |
4/112. Approaching the patient with chronic malabsorption syndrome. The causes of chronic malabsorption may be categorized as decreased intestinal absorption, most commonly caused by celiac sprue; or maldigestion caused by pancreatic insufficiency. The initial step in the evaluation of these patients should include stool studies to confirm fat malabsorption. If fat malabsorption is confirmed, endoscopy with small-bowel biopsies and aspirates for bacterial culture usually follows. A normal endoscopic examination should lead to assessment of pancreatic function. In the setting of normal pancreatic function and the absence of bile acid deficiency, a barium radiograph of the small bowel should be made, looking for anatomical abnormalities. Celiac sprue is an intolerance to gluten caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and immunologic factors. It classically causes malabsorption. However, it is likely that many patients who exhibit only minor manifestations of the disease go unrecognized and untreated. A presumed diagnosis of celiac sprue is confirmed after a clinical and endoscopic response to a gluten-free diet. Serological markers are available with high degrees of sensitivity and specificity, but duodenal biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis. A minority of patients are unresponsive to a gluten-free diet, and intestinal lymphoma should be suspected in these cases. ( info) |
5/112. Shwachman-diamond syndrome: early bone marrow transplantation in a high risk patient and new clues to pathogenesis. Shwachman-diamond syndrome (SDS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by exocrine pancreas insufficiency, metaphyseal dysostosis and bone marrow dysfunction. Recurrent severe bacterial infections and susceptibility to leukaemia are the major causes of morbidity and mortality occurring preferentially in patients with pancytopenia and features of myelodysplasia. Here we report a patient with SDS leading to recurrent bacterial infections and a deteriorating condition since early infancy. Extensive investigations disclosed severe pancytopenia, myelodysplasia and a clonal cytogenetic abnormality, inv(14)(q11q32), as risk factors of leukaemic transformation. He therefore underwent allogeneic geno-identical bone marrow transplantation which resulted in correction of all haematological and immunological abnormalities within an 18-month follow up period.Conclusion bone marrow transplantation may be considered early as a valuable treatment option especially in high risk Schwachman-diamond syndrome patients anticipating malignant transformation, life-threatening severe infections or further organ damage. ( info) |
6/112. Discordant detection of monosomy 7 by GTG-banding and FISH in a patient with Shwachman-diamond syndrome without evidence of myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myelogenous leukemia. The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of hematologic disorders commonly affecting elderly persons and often leading to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Although rare in children, when MDS does occur, it is frequently part of a congenital disorder such as Shwachman-diamond syndrome (SDS). monosomy 7 and/or deletion of part or all of 7q are poor prognostic signs in MDS and AML, although the pathophysiologic relationship between this finding and MDS or AML is unclear. Shwachman-diamond syndrome is an inherited illness characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and by congenital neutropenia. patients with SDS are at increased risk of developing myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Because monosomy 7 is a poor prognostic sign in MDS and AML, establishing its presence is important. However, different methods of detection of monosomy 7 may lead to different results in some patients. We present the case of a 10-year-old girl known to have SDS, who had a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy done to rule out MDS and AML. By light microscopy, the patient's bone marrow was unremarkable. GTG-banding showed the following karyotype: 45,XX,-C[3]/47,XX, C[1]/46,XX[45]. fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed with a chromosome 7-specific alpha-satellite probe (D7Z1). Almost all (373 of 376) cells exhibited only one chromosome 7 signal. A second marrow aspiration done 6 months later showed an essentially normal karyotype by GTG-banding. fluorescence in situ hybridization with the same chromosome 7 probe showed 230 of 250 cells to be monosomic for chromosome 7. A whole chromosome 7 painting probe demonstrated disomy for chromosome 7 in 90 of 90 cells; however, subtle heteromorphism in the centromeric regions of the 2 copies of chromosome 7 was noted in some cells. This case demonstrates that FISH and GTG-banding can give discordant results, that the two should be viewed as complementary technologies, and that both have a place in a full karyotypic analysis. Furthermore, this case demonstrates for the first time that heteromorphism and/or subtle structural abnormalities of chromosome 7, previously associated with MDS and AML, can exist without clinical or morphologic signs of these illnesses. It will be of interest to further study the relationship, if any, between SDS and various structural abnormalities of chromosome 7 in MDS and AML, and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis, physiology, and treatment of these disorders. ( info) |
7/112. Wolcott-Rallison syndrome: a case with endocrine and exocrine pancreatic deficiency and pancreatic hypotrophy. Clinical analysis and genetic investigations of new cases of Wolcott-Rallison syndrome are needed to evaluate the role of the gene(s) directly or indirectly implicated in pancreas development and in the aetiology of the syndrome. ( info) |
8/112. Emergence of an unusual bone marrow precursor B-cell population in fatal Shwachman-diamond syndrome. The Shwachman-diamond syndrome (SDS) is a rare congenital disorder for which inheritance by an autosomal recessive trait has been suggested. Shwachman-diamond syndrome is defined by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency combined with severe neutropenia. Moreover, SDS patients are at risk to develop neoplastic hematologic diseases. We describe 2 SDS-affected daughters of consanguine parents who were born 1 year apart, at 35 and 36 weeks of gestation, and who died at the age of 4 and 3.5 months, respectively, due to respiratory infections. Histologic bone marrow evaluation of the second-born child revealed a diffuse proliferation of immature B cells, which comprised 40% of the total cellularity. These cells were identified as precursor B cells by immunophenotyping studies (CD79a( )/CD10( )/CD20(-)/CD22(-)/CD34(-)/ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase(-)). Molecular determination of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene status did not reveal clonality. The emergence of this peculiar B-cell population was interpreted as a marked increase of hematogones. Although the clinical significance and the exact function of hematogones is still obscure, they may play a critical regenerative role in the regulation of hemopoiesis, but without malignant potential in SDS. immunophenotyping and molecular studies, therefore, have potential value in the differential diagnosis of primary bone marrow failures. This report adds SDS to the spectrum of conditions in which a prominent number of hematogones may be observed. ( info) |
9/112. Isochromosome (7)(q10) in Shwachman syndrome without MDS/AML and role of chromosome 7 anomalies in myeloproliferative disorders. Shwachman syndrome (SS) is an autosomal recessive disorder in which bone marrow dysfunction is observed, with development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemias (AML) in up to one third of the cases. Inconclusive data are available as to increased chromosome breakage in SS, while chromosome 7 anomalies, and often an isochromosome (7)(q10), are frequent in cases with MDS/AML. We report on the consistent presence of an i(7)(q10) in the bone marrow and blood lymphocytes in one of two sisters affected with SS without any clinical or cytological signs of MDS/AML. Thus, this patient was either a case of constitutional mosaicism for the i(7)(q10), or this had to be acquired in a nondysplastic and non-neoplastic marrow clone. dna polymorphism analysis demonstrated the paternal origin of the i(7q). We postulate that the SS mutation acts as a mutator gene, and causes karyotype instability; abnormal clones would thus arise in the marrow, and chromosome 7 anomalies, i(7q) in particular, will in turn lead to MDS/AML. If this interpretation is correct, it would be also an indication to consider chromosome 7 anomalies in general, out of SS, as primary changes in MDS/AML pathogenesis. ( info) |
10/112. Cytogenetic characterization of acute myeloid leukemia in Shwachman's syndrome. A case report. We report on a case of acute myeloid leukemia in a 17-year old boy affected by Shwachman diamond syndrome (SDS). Conventional cytogenetics at diagnosis revealed an abnormal clone with complex karyotypic changes including typical myeloid aberrations, such as monosomy 5, tetrasomy of chromosome 8, trisomy 9, and deletion of the short arm of chromosome 12. The boy was treated with conventional chemotherapy and reached complete remission of leukemia, confirmed by cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Nevertheless he failed to regenerate normal marrow cellularity and blood cell count. Cytogenetic information on hematologic malignancies in SDS patients are discussed. ( info) |