BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is one of the endemic parasitic diseases in many developing countries. Despite this, appendicitis secondary to schistosomiasis is an uncommon condition even in some endemic areas. Schistosomal appendicitis, an incidentally discovered appendicitis associated with schistosomiasis histological findings, affects young males predominantly. Timely diagnosis and treatment, including appendectomy and anti-helminthic therapy, are crucial.
METHODS: A 24-year-old Sudanese male patient presented with abdominal pain. Diagnosed with acute appendicitis, he underwent appendectomy, revealing appendix inflammation with Schistosoma ova in histopathology. Abdominal ultrasound detected no complications. Weakly positive Schistosoma serology was noted, but stool and urine analysis showed no infection evidence. Prescribed praziquantel, patient had 3-year post-op follow-up without complications.
CONCLUSIONS: This case report underscores the significance of including schistosomiasis in the differential diagnosis of appendicitis, particularly in regions where the disease is endemic. It underscores the necessity of histopathological evaluations for accurate diagnosis, emphasizing the potential implications for clinical practice in similar settings.

Schistosomiasis (bilharziasis) is a major neglected tropical disease. It is endemic in many tropical and subtropical communities. Schistosomal polyps (S. polyps) are not uncommon presentation of this infection. Although the colon is the most commonly affected organ, many other organs are affected. S. polyps are associated with a variable range of morbidity independent of the Schistosomal infection. S. polyps are frequently described in endemic areas and increasingly reported in non-endemic areas mainly among immigrants and visitors to the endemic areas. This review aimed to increase awareness of practitioners, especially gastroenterologists, for this peculiar type of polyps caused by this neglected infection hence improving patient outcomes. Web-based search of different databases was conducted for the literature focusing the development of S. polyps in the colon and other organs with analysis of the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment. The following key words were used in the search, \"Schistosomiasis\" OR \"Bilharziasis\" AND \"Polyps\" OR \"Polyp\" AND \"Colon\" OR \"Small intestine\" OR \" Duodenum\" OR \" Stomach\" OR \"Esophagus\" OR \" Gallbladder\" OR\" Pharynx\" OR \"Larynx\" OR \"Trachea\" OR \"Urinary bladder\" OR \" Ureter\" OR \"Renal Pelvis\" OR \"Urethra\". All publication types including case reports, case series, original research, and review articles were retrieved and analyzed. S. polyps are not infrequent presentation of acute or chronic Schistosomal infection. S. polyps are described in many organs including the bowel, genitourinary tract, skin, gallbladder and the larynx. Presentation of S. polyps is variable and depends on the site, number as well as the polyp size. The relationship of S. polyps to malignant transformation is a matter of discussion. Presence of S. polyps is sometimes the only manifestation of Schistosomiasis. Small polyps can be treated medically with praziquantel, while large accessible polyps are amendable for endoscopic excision through different polyp resection techniques. However, huge, complicated, non-accessible and suspicious polyps are indicated for surgical management or advanced endoscopic resection when appropriate. Clinicians and endoscopists should be aware about these facts when treating patients living in, immigrated from or visiting endemic areas.

MicroRNAs are involved in gene regulation in several common liver diseases and may play an essential role in activating hepatic stellate cells. The role of these post-transcriptional regulators in schistosomiasis needs to be further studied in populations from endemic areas for a better understanding of the disease, the development of new therapeutic approaches, and the use of biomarkers for the prognosis of schistosomiasis.
We performed a systematic review to describe the main human microRNAs identified in non-experimental studies associated with aggravation of the disease in people infected with Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) and Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum). Structured searches were carried out in PubMed, Medline, Science Direct, Directory of Open Access Journals, Scielo, Medcarib, and Global Index Medicus databases without time and language restrictions. This is a systematic review following the guidelines of the PRISMA platform.
The miR-146a-5p, miR-150-5p, let-7a-5p, let-7d-5p, miR-92a- 3p, and miR-532-5p are associated with liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum, revealing that these miRNAs that have been shown to be associated with liver fibrosis are good targets for new studies that evaluate their potential as a biomarker or even treating liver fibrosis in schistosomiasis.

UNASSIGNED: Bladder cancer (BC) has a particular importance in Egyptian patients due to aggressive behavior and absence of prognostic markers.
UNASSIGNED: To evaluate the expression of gene and protein expression of HER2 and epidermal growth factor (EGFR) in Egyptian patients with BC and ultimately to investigate their clinical implication and prognostic significance.
UNASSIGNED: The study was carried out on 46 patients with urothelial bladder BC. Tissue were obtained from transurethral resection (N = 22) and radical cystectomy (N = 24) specimens. The original hematoxylin and eosin slides were re-evaluated and the formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues which had sufficient tumor tissue (>75%) and minimal or absent tumor necrosis were selected for immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RNA extraction. Furthermore, five control biopsies were obtained from patients with cystitis. Follow-up data were retrieved from the medical records which included the treatment regimen, disease recurrence and/or progression, and survival.
UNASSIGNED: EGFR and HER2 protein were overexpressed in 35% and 46% of patients respectively. EGFR was correlated with the tumor size, grade and pathological stage, with a similar trend for HER2. The recurrence rate was higher in patients with expression of any of the markers. Gene expression was significantly higher (10.6-folds) for EGFR and (21-folds) for HER2 in patients with BC in comparison to control patients. Survival analysis showed lower median disease-free survival in association with HER2 protein overexpression.
UNASSIGNED: Our data highlighted the prognostic significance of EGFR and HER in BC and proposed their possible use as predictive markers and potential therapeutic targets.

To consolidate reported information on presentation, diagnosis, and treatment modalities in testicular schistosomiasis (TS) to provide a reference tool for this rare disease.
A comprehensive PubMed search was performed using PRISMA guidelines, which yielded 21 articles detailing 22 cases of TS.
Testicular schistosomiasis remains a rare disease, presenting at a variety of ages (median age 27). All reports of this condition are associated with exposure to an endemic area. The most common presenting symptoms include nonspecific testicular swelling (54.5%) followed by a testicular mass/nodule (18.4%). Diagnosis relies upon clinical suspicion due to low specificity on laboratory and imaging evaluation, with only 18% of urine evaluations positive for parasitic infection. Final diagnosis was made on biopsy (38.1%), radical orchiectomy (47.6%) or frozen section during partial orchiectomy (14.3%). Treatment included anthelmintic mediation (37%), radical/partial orchiectomy (31%), or some combination of the above.
This systematic review of individual patient data reveals that while urine tests and imaging may aid in diagnosis, all patients require definitive histologic diagnosis. It is important to obtain a thorough history to elucidate exposure to endemic areas and inform whether biopsy, and subsequent testicular preservation, may be appropriate.

BACKGROUND: Moynihan\'s aphorism that \"gall stone is a tomb stone erected in the memory of the organism with in it\" is true even today. This case could be an example to reemphasise the forementioned axiom. We present here a case of Chronic Granulomatous Schistosomal cholecystitis which is an unusually rare cause of Cholecystitis and cholelithiasis, that too in a non-endemic area. The patient has never ever visited the known endemic zones of Schistosomiasis or Bilharziasis areas in India. In a way it could be the first case report of schistosomiasis in this area.
METHODS: A 59-year-old female patient presented to the Out-patient department of SMS&R, Sharda university, with right hypochondriac region pain and dyspepsia of six months duration. Investigation revealed Chronic Cholecystitis with Cholelithiasis. After a thorough workup the patient was taken up for Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which was converted to open cholecystectomy due to adhesions and to prevent any iatrogenic injury to the biliary tree. Histopathological examination revealed Chronic Granulomatous Schistosomal Cholecystitis with Cholelithiasis. Patient did well in the post-operative period with anti-helminthic treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Literature is still undecided whether the Schistosomal eggs deposition in the gallbladder can cause an episode of acute cholecystitis. However, a lithogenic outcome of schistosomiasis secondary to the induction of chronic granulomatous and fibrocalcific changes of the gallbladder and biliary ducts wall, seems probable.

In this study we aim to compare clinicopathological characteristics and cancer specific survival between patients treated with radical cystectomy for pure squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation (SqD).
We reviewed data of 1737 consecutive patients treated with radical cystectomy and urinary diversion between January 2004 and February 2014. Only patients with pure SCC or SqD were included in the analysis. Squamous differentiation was defined as intercellular bridges or keratinization in the tumor. Clinicopathological data and recurrence free survival (RFS) were compared between patients diagnosed with SCC and SqD.
SCC and SqD were found in 318 and 223 patients, respectively. Mean age was 57 ± 8.3 years in SCC and 58.8 ± 7.8 in SqD (P = .008). A higher proportion of female patients was observed in SCC group compared to SqD (31.8% vs. 22% P < .0001). Patients with SqD were more likely to have extravesical (58.3% vs. 46.2%: P = .006) and nodal positive disease (34.5% vs. 14.5%: P < .0001) than pure SCC patients. Bilharzial eggs were found in 61% of SCC vs. 46% of SqD (P = .001).; The median (IQR) follow up period for SCC and SqD was 63 (12-112) months and 23 months (9-74.7), respectively. The 5-year RFS for SCC and SqD were 77% and 59.8 %, respectively (P < .0001).; Multivariate cox regression analysis identified advanced pT stage (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3-2.86, P = .0001), nodal positive disease (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1-2.48, P = .01) and SqD histology (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.14-2.31, P = .007 as independent predictors of 5-year RFS.
Patient with SCC had significantly higher 5-year RFS in comparison to SqD. The higher rate of extravesical disease and lymph node metastasis in SqD patients is indicative of aggressive behavior of this histologic type.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of intraoperatively measured portal vein pressure (PVP) on mortality in non-cirrhotic bilharzial patients undergoing splenectomy.
METHODS: The present study is a prospective study that was conducted in Egypt from April 2014 to April 2018. Adult patients with non-cirrhotic bilharziasis who were scheduled to undergo splenectomy were included. Studied cases were divided into a survival cohort and a non-survival cohort. The main objective was the correlation between the incidence of mortality and intraoperative PVP.
RESULTS: The present work comprised 130 cases with a mean age of 51.8 ± 6.4 years old. The in-hospital mortality rate was 22.3%, with sepsis as a major cause of death (37.9%). In term of the association between preoperative variables and mortality, survivors had statistically significant lower portal vein diameter (13.6 ± 1.8 versus 15.2 ± 1.8mm; p<0.001) and higher portal vein velocity (14.2 ± 1.8 versus 10.4 ± 2.3 cm/sec; p<0.001) than nonsurvivors. The survived patients had significantly lower PVP (13.9 ± 1.1 versus 17.7 ± 2.7; p<0.001). A cut-off value of ≥14.5 mmHg, the PVP yielded a sensitivity of 86.2% and a specificity of 69% for the prediction of mortality. The association analysis showed a statistically significant association between mortality and postoperative liver function parameters.
CONCLUSIONS: High intraoperative PVP is linked to early postoperative death in non-cirrhotic cases undergoing splenectomy. Our study showed that PVP > 14.5mmHg was an independent predictor of death and showed good diagnostic performance for the detection of early postoperative mortality.

Bladder urothelial carcinoma (BUC) has two pathways with distinct molecular features and prognosis, non-muscle invasive (NMI) and muscle invasive (MI) tumors. The aim is to investigate the expression of GATA3 and CK5/6 in BUC with correlation to clinicopathologic parameters, including their impact on survival beside their potential use to stratify cases into prognostic subgroups. This study included 80 cases of BUC stained immunohistochemically by GATA3 and CK5/6. The cases were divided into four groups regarding expression status of both markers (luminal, basal, mixed, and null). GATA3 percentage of expression decreased in urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation, MI tumors, high-grade tumors, tumors with involved lymph nodes, presence of perineural invasion, presence of bilharziasis, presence of lympho-vascular invasion, and high mitotic count. CK5/6 positivity was higher in urothelial carcinoma cases with squamous differentiation, MI tumors, and presence of perineural invasion. Pure urothelial carcinoma and NMI were in favor of luminal group (GATA3 +ve/CK5/6 -ve). Univariate analysis showed that the presence of bilharziasis was associated with shorter PFS (p = .04). GATA3 and CK5/6 could be used for the stratification of urothelial bladder carcinoma into subtypes with different characteristics. Luminal bladder cancer represents the most common type (60%) that carries favorable features. Bilharziasis-associated urothelial carcinoma carries poor outcome manifested by short PFS.

Schistosomiasis (bilharziasis) is a common parasitic disease in subtropical and tropical parts of Africa, some parts of the Middle East, South America, Asia, and some parts of the Caribbean. It is a major public health problem and associated with significant morbidity and mortality in endemic areas. We describe a 28-year-old male patient presenting with bleeding per rectum associated with mucus secretion, abdominal pain, anorexia, and weight loss. Blood investigation showed pancytopenia with macrocytic hypochromic anemia. Meanwhile, his colonoscopy showed two large polyps 10 cm and 50 cm away from the anal verge, each measuring 3 cm in size. Microscopic examination of multiple colonic biopsies confirmed Schistosoma mansoni. The patient was treated with praziquantel, which improved his condition. Colonic schistosomiasis is an important differential diagnosis in patients with a history of travel to endemic areas. Early diagnosis and medical management can avoid unnecessary invasive intervention in such cases.