Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia 2 (Men 2)/Men 2A (Sipple Syndrome)

Primary Localized Cutaneous Amyloidosis in Association with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Background:

Lichen amyloidosis, a type of primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis, is characterized by pruritic brown or grayish pigmented papules.

Objective:

We report a case of lichen amyloidosis in which the skin lesion consisted of asymptomatic salmon-pink-colored papules on the back of the neck to the upper back. This was different from typical clinical pictures of lichen amyloidosis. Our patient proved to have thyroid papillary carcinoma.

Conclusion:

Our case may suggest that lichen amyloidosis could be a cutaneous manifestation of thyroid cancers.

An autopsy case of bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma-associated cerebral hemorrhage

The autopsy findings of a 30-year-old woman who died of cerebral hemorrhage induced by bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma are presented. The cerebral hemorrhage was shown on the left cerebral hemisphere widely. Her both adrenal glands were severe swelling, and their parenchyma was occupied by a dark red-brown tumorous positive for chromogranin A. The serum catecholamine and their metabolite, vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) levels were markedly high. Furthermore, cardiac hypertrophy and sclerosis of the arteries of various organs had progressed, suggesting an influence of persistent endocrinal hypertension. The measurement of serum VMA level was thought to be valuable for a postmortem diagnosis of pheochromocytoma. Bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma may have excessively secreted catecholamine and subsequently caused secondary hypertension, leading to cerebral hemorrhage.

Thyroid disease and the skin

Cutaneous manifestations of thyroid disease are protean in nature and can be divided into specific lesions such as the thyroglossal duct cyst and cutaneous metastases from thyroid malignancy, nonspecific signs secondary to thyroid hormone imbalance, and associated dermatologic and systemic disorders. This review represents a summary and update of thyroid disease and the skin.

Primary hyperparathyroidism: what every orthopedic surgeon should know

The diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism should rarely by missed by the orthopedic surgeon. When a patient presents with a pathologic fracture, routine serum calcium should be obtained. If there is evidence of elevated serum calcium or any of the pathognomonic findings of primary hyperparathyroidism on plain radiographs, total and ionized calcium and an intact parathyroid hormone levels should be obtained to make the diagnosis (Figure 5). When patients require surgical treatment for an orthopedic condition and also need surgery for hyperparathyroidism, the procedures can be safely performed simultaneously. Simultaneous parathyroidectomy corrects the underlying endocrinopathy, thereby improving the outcome of the orthopedic procedure. In addition, these procedures can easily be performed simultaneously under one anesthetic and thereby minimize cost and length of hospitalization.

Bronchopulmonary-foregut malformations: a continuum of paracrine hamartomas?

The bronchopulmonary-foregut malformations (BPFM) are usually sporadic, solitary cystic hamartomas involving conducting airways, arteries, venous drainage, and lung parenchyma. Transitional, compound hamartomas exist, and only their morphology is well-known. Between 1984-1994 we encountered and studied 10 unrelated patients and a stillborn infant with BPFM (out of 24,000 families). Ten were diagnosed in utero and one at birth as having congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung (CCAML). Postnatally, two diagnoses (20%) were corrected to bronchogenic cyst (BC) and diaphragmatic hernia, respectively. Bilateral lung involvement was present in 1 patient, and in 2 there was a considerable macroscopic regression of the hamartoma. Histologic studies of the six resected CCAML confirmed the diagnosis and implied dysregulated paracrine growth with its cellular and extracellular growth factors, protooncogenes, oncogenes, cytokines, cell-adhesive molecules, and receptors of these regulatory peptides, and their complex interactions as developmental morphogens in time and space.

Cutaneous macular amyloidosis associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia 2A

Cutaneous amyloidosis and multiple endocrine neoplasia 2A (MEN 2A) have been previously reported in several families. A genetic linkage of both disorders has recently been described. Notalgia paraesthetica has been suggested to be involved in the aetiology of amyloidosis in such patients. We report such an association in a 48-year-old woman with several relatives suffering from MEN 2A. Treatment with topical capsaicin, which has been shown to be effective in notalgia paraesthetica, was not useful in our patient.