Gastric Metastasis from Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer, Resembling Primary Gastric Cancer

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common subtype of invasive breast cancer and sometimes presents with an unusual metastatic pattern. Its gastric metastasis is difficult to differentiate from primary adenocarcinoma. This report presents a case of breast ILC for which the initial presentation was gastric metastasis. A 62-y-old woman presented with gastric outlet obstruction secondary to a gastric mass that had been diagnosed on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and biopsy. The patient had been referred for 18F-FDG PET/CT for staging. The baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT scan demonstrated extensive axillary nodal and gastric metastases with a breast mass, which raised suspicion of a primary breast carcinoma. Distinguishing primary gastric adenocarcinoma from metastatic breast ILC is essential, considering that the 2 diagnoses lead to divergent treatments. Therefore, this entity needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis in clinical practice.

Multiplex PCR for simultaneous detection of DNA contamination from nonhalal species in beef products

A large number of mixtures of non-halal ingredients such as pork and rat meat in processed foods has worried the public, especially adherents of the Islamic religion. There is a need for a method to detect the presence of non-halal contaminants in several foods found in the community. This study aims to obtain a valid method by proposing multiplex PCR to detect DNA in processed meat foods. The sample of this research was processed beef (meatballs) obtained from five parts of the region from Surabaya, Indonesia. Multiplex PCR results on target species (pigs, mice, cattle) showed thick and clear DNA bands. This indicates that the amplification runs optimally. The designed primer can be used to test samples of processed meat foods on the market. The results showed that there was no adulteration with rat meat or pork in all samples in all areas in Surabaya. The results of electrophoresis showed that there was only one DNA band measuring 495 bp which was the result of the amplification of bovine DNA. The multiplex PCR developed in this study proved to be effective for detecting non-halal contaminants in meat-processed food products to be used as a reference for other tests.

Anesthesia in a child with Kinsbourne syndrome: Does anesthesia technique matters?

Kinsbourne syndrome is a rare neurological paraneoplastic syndrome associated with neuroblastic tumors. There are very few literatures on its anesthetic management and interaction with anesthetic agents. The epileptogenic potential of certain anesthetic agents such as ketamine, etomidate, and meperidine might trigger opsoclonus and myoclonus and have an impact on the long-term neurological outcome. The objective of this case report is to discuss the safety of anesthetic agents and their relationship in a patient with Kinsbourne syndrome. We discuss our experience in the anesthetic management of a child with Kinsbourne syndrome with ganglioneuroblastoma in the thoracic paravertebral space.

A Study on BMPR-IB Genes of Bayanbulak Sheep

The average twin lambing rate of Bayanbulak sheep is 2% to 3%. However, a flock of sheep with a close genetic relationship and an average of 2 to 3 lambs per birth has been found recently. To determine the major genes controlling the prolificacy of the flock in the present study, the flock was designated A while 100 normal Bayanbulak sheep were randomly selected to comprise the control flock B. Ligase detection reaction method was applied to detect and analyze the 10 mutational loci of the 3 candidate prolificacy genes including bone morphogenetic protein type I receptors, bone morphogenetic protein 15, and growth differentiation factor 9. The 10 mutational loci are as follows: FecB locus of the BMPR-IB gene; FecX^I, FecX^B, FecX^L, FecX^H, FecX^G, and FecX^R of the BMP15 gene; and G1, G8, and FecTT of the GDF9 gene. Two mutations including BMPR-IB/FecB and GDF9/G1 were found in Bayanbulak sheep. Independence test results of the two flocks demonstrate that the FecB locus has a significant effect on the lambing number of Bayanbulak sheep. However, the mutation frequency of the G1 locus in GDF9 is very low. Independence test results demonstrate that the GDF9 locus does not have a significant impact on the lambing performance of Bayanbulak sheep. Among the 10 detected loci, BMPR-IB/FecB is the major gene that influences the high lambing rate of Bayanbulak sheep.