Angioleiomyoma is a benign tumour arising from the vascular smooth muscle (tunica media) and presents commonly between third and fifth decades of life. Although there are sporadic reports about this tumour in the literature, none describes all the information in detail. This review is an attempt to collate all the facts in one concise article. Angioleiomyoma presents as a painful mass in approximately 60% of the cases. One of the distinct clinical feature noted is the increase in size of the swelling with physical activity of the involved part, especially in the hand. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of painful nodular lesions of the extremity. Pre-operative diagnosis is difficult, but with a high index of suspicion and awareness, it is possible. The use of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging should be considered. It causes minimal morbidity and excision is usually curative. Histological examination using smooth muscle Actin stain portraits the smooth muscle bundles clearly.

Level II, prospective case series.

Introduction A foreign body (FB) is an object or substance foreign to the location where it is found. FBs in the ear, nose, and throat are a common problem frequently encountered in both children and adults. Objective To analyze FBs in terms of type, site, age, and gender distribution and method of removal. Methods A retrospective study was performed in a tertiary care hospital in the central part of Nepal. The study period was from June 2013 to May 2014. The information was obtained from hospital record books. Results A total of 134 patients had FBs in the ear, nose, or throat; 94 were males and 40 were females. Of the 134 patients, 70 (52.23%) had FB in the ear, 28 (20.89%) in the nose, and 36 (26.86%) in the throat. The FB was animate (living) in 28 (40%) patients with FB in the ear and 1 (3.5%) patient with FB in the nose, but the FB was inanimate (nonliving) in any patient with FB in the throat, in 42 (60%) patients with FB in the ear FB, and in 27 (96.4%) patients with FB of the nose. The FB was removed with or without local anaesthesia (LA) in 98 (73.13%) patients, and only 36 patients (26.86%) required general anaesthesia (GA). The most common age group affected was <10 years. Conclusion FBs in the ear and nose were found more frequently in children, and the throat was the most common site of FB in adults and elderly people. Most of the FBs can be easily removed in emergency room or outpatient department.

Key Clinical MessagePyogenic granuloma is a benign vascular neoplasm of the oral cavity that usually presents as a small nodular lesion, the gingiva being the commonest site. Occasionally it occurs at uncommon sites with unusual sizes. Here we describe two cases of oral pyogenic granulomas that had an unusual presentation.

The amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide is believed to play a central role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. However, the natural, evolutionarily selected functions of Aβ are incompletely understood. Here, we report that nanomolar concentrations of Aβ act synergistically with known cytokines to promote pro-inflammatory activation in primary human astrocytes (a cell type increasingly implicated in brain aging and AD). Using transcriptomics (RNA-seq), we show that Aβ can directly substitute for the complement component C1q in a cytokine cocktail previously shown to induce astrocyte immune activation. Furthermore, we show that astrocytes synergistically activated by Aβ have a transcriptional signature similar to neurotoxic “A1” astrocytes known to accumulate with age and in AD. Interestingly, we find that this biological action of Aβ at low concentrations is distinct from the transcriptome changes induced by the high/supra-physiological doses of Aβ often used in in vitro studies. Collectively, our results suggest an important, cytokine-like function for Aβ and a novel mechanism by which it may directly contribute to the neuroinflammation associated with brain aging and AD.