VE1 immunohistochemistry is a useful and convenient surrogate for detecting BRAF V600E mutation in BM biopsy specimens decalcified with hydrochloric or formic acid-based solutions.
Objectives: Two characteristic peripheral blood smear findings of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are lymphocytosis and many smudge cells. Excluding smudge cells from manual differential (MDIFF), a common laboratory practice, yields unreliable results and consequently necessitates MDIFF on an albumenized blood smear. Since smudge cells represent remnants of fragile lymphoid cells, we sought to (1) test the hypothesis that reliable MDIFF results can be obtained from the nonalbumenized blood smear by including smudge cells and counting them as lymphocytes, and (2) confirm our previously reported finding that automated differential (ADIFF) results are also acceptable in these patients. Methods: We compared corresponding results of MDIFFs on non-albumenized smears vs MDIFFs on albumenized smears (Group A, n ¼ 82), ADIFFs vs MDIFFs on albumenized smears (Group B, n ¼ 50), and ADIFF vs MDIFFs on AJCP / MEETING ABSTRACTS S70 Am J Clin Pathol 2016;146:S62-S81
Counting smudge cells as lymphocytes on nonalbuminized blood smears yielded reliable MDIFF results. Reportable ADIFF results were generated by the analyzer on 73% of the specimens, of which 93% were reliable.
A 62-year-old female with a past medical history of hypertension, presented with complaints of fever, headaches, muscle aches, abdominal pain and weakness. She quickly decompensated and developed ventilator-dependent respiratory failure.
Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare variant of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma which has been most commonly reported in jaw and oral cavity in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected patients. A handful of cases have been reported in the extra-oral sites. Plasmablastic lymphomas should be differentiated from other large cell lymphomas as these lymphomas have very short survival and poor response to chemotherapy. We present a case of PBL in an HIV infected patient with history of recurrent anal fistulotomies.
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.