Thrombosis is a major clinical feature of the antiphospholipid syndrome. Interactions between genetic and acquired factors could contribute to thrombosis development. In this study, we evaluated 40 patients with antiphospholipid syndrome and thrombosis, 31 primary and nine secondary to systemic lupus erythemathosus, to estimate the carrier rates of factor V Leiden, 20210A --> G prothrombin variant and 677C --> T in the MTHFR gene. Protein C, protein S and antithrombin were measured in 30 patients, with a median of 100.66 +/- 23.86, 93.57 +/- 36.44 and 98.8 +/- 5.67%, respectively. None of the patients were deficient on these natural anticoagulants. No significant variation was found between the patient group and the controls, regarding the prevalence of homozygotes for the mutated 677T allele (2.5 versus 5.4%), or heterozygotes for factor V Leiden (0 versus 0.7%). Despite the fact that these mutations are relatively common in Brazilian thrombophilic patients, its low prevalence in this cohort of patients suggest that these genetic alterations are not risk factors for thrombosis in antiphospholipid syndrome. The prevalence of the mutated allele 20210A of the prothrombin gene was higher in patients when compared with controls (5 versus 0.7%; P = 0.01), suggesting that prothrombin variant could increase the risk of thrombosis in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome.
ObjectiveTo investigate, in a large prospective multicenter study, whether 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose-positron emission tomography is sufficiently accurate to identify clinically important bone marrow involvement by Hodgkin's lymphoma to replace routine bone marrow biopsy in a developing tropical country.MethodsPatients newly diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma were recruited from six cancer centers in Brazil. All were staged by the results of positron emission tomography/computed tomography that were centrally reviewed and by iliac crest bone marrow biopsy. Patients were classified as having marrow disease if they had lymphoma identified by marrow biopsy histology or had focal 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose marrow uptake that resolved following chemotherapy.ResultsA total of 246 participants were recruited from six different centers and 62 (25.2%) were judged to have Hodgkin's lymphoma in the bone marrow. Positron emission tomography and biopsies were concordant in 206 patients (83%). Positron emission tomography correctly identified marrow disease in 59/62 patients (95.1%) and marrow biopsy in 25/62 patients (40.3%). In 22/62 (35.4%) patients, the two techniques were concordant in the diagnosis of marrow involvement. Of the forty discordant results, positron emission tomography found bone marrow involvement in 37 patients, upstaging 22 to stage IV and having an impact on therapeutic decision in nine cases given their reallocation from early to advanced stage. Three false negative positron emission tomography results were obtained with bone marrow biopsy giving positive findings. All three cases were classified as stage IV regardless of bone marrow findings implying no modification in the clinical management. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of positron emission tomography for detecting bone marrow disease were 95%, 100% and 98% and for bone marrow biopsy they were 40%, 100% and 84%, respectively.ConclusionWe conclude that positron emission tomography can replace marrow biopsy in Brazilian patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma without compromising clinical management.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.