A rare case of paratesticular leiomyosarcoma

Scrotal wall leiomyosarcoma: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Up to 30% of all scrotal masses are sarcomas. Leiomyosarcoma of the scrotal wall is rare, and its clinical significance and prognosis have not been well defined, since the most reported cases have little or no follow-up.

CASE PRESENTATION

We report a 45-year-old Caucasian man who was admitted with a firm, nontender, mobile scrotal wall mass from 15 months ago. Laboratory data including testicular tumor markers were within normal range, and transscrotal ultrasonography revealed an oval-shaped, hypoechogenic, solid mass with blood flow and well-defined border. Histopathologic examination and immunohistochemistry staining, following surgical excision, were in favor of malignant leiomyosarcoma.

CONCLUSION

Here we describe the morphological features and immunohistochemical presentations of the tumor and the patient's relatively long-term follow-up.

Primary Paratesticular Leiomyosarcoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Paratesticular soft tissue sarcomas are very rare malignant mesenchymal tumors. With only few cases reported in the literature, data regarding diagnostic and management of these tumors are limited. We reported a case of primary paratesticular leiomyosarcoma in a 72-year-old man complaining of a progressively growing painless right scrotal mass. The patient underwent radical inguinal right orchiectomy and adjuvant 3D conformal radiotherapy to the tumor bed including the surgical scar. The prescription dose was 54 Gy, and no pelvic irradiation was performed. He remained free of recurrence for the last 16 months.

Investigating the use of quick response codes in the gross anatomy laboratory

The use of quick response (QR) codes within undergraduate university courses is on the rise, yet literature concerning their use in medical education is scant. This study examined student perceptions on the usefulness of QR codes as learning aids in a medical gross anatomy course, statistically analyzed whether this learning aid impacted student performance, and evaluated whether performance could be explained by the frequency of QR code usage. Question prompts and QR codes tagged on cadaveric specimens and models were available for four weeks as learning aids to medical (n = 155) and doctor of physical therapy (n = 39) students. Each QR code provided answers to posed questions in the form of embedded text or hyperlinked web pages. Students' perceptions were gathered using a formative questionnaire and practical examination scores were used to assess potential gains in student achievement. Overall, students responded positively to the use of QR codes in the gross anatomy laboratory as 89% (57/64) agreed the codes augmented their learning of anatomy. The users' most noticeable objection to using QR codes was the reluctance to bring their smartphones into the gross anatomy laboratory. A comparison between the performance of QR code users and non-users was found to be nonsignificant (P = 0.113), and no significant gains in performance (P = 0.302) were observed after the intervention. Learners welcomed the implementation of QR code technology in the gross anatomy laboratory, yet this intervention had no apparent effect on practical examination performance.