Paradoxical reactions (PR) to tuberculosis (TB) treatment are common during treatment, but have also been described after treatment. A presentation with recurrent signs or symptoms of TB after cure or completion of prior treatment needs to be differentiated between microbiological relapse and a paradoxical reaction. We searched all published literature on post-treatment PR, and present a synthesis of 30 studies, focusing on the epidemiology, diagnosis and management of this phenomenon. We report an additional case vignette. The majority of studies were of lymph node TB (LN-TB), followed by central nervous system TB (CNS-TB). A total of 112 confirmed and 42 possible post-treatment PR cases were reported. The incidence ranged between 3 and 14% in LN-TB and was more frequent than relapses, and between 0 and 2% in all TB. We found four reports of pulmonary or pleural TB post-treatment PR cases. The incidence did not differ by length of treatment, but was associated with younger age at initial diagnosis, and having had a PR (later) during treatment. Post-treatment PR developed mainly within the first 6 months after the end of TB treatment but has been reported many years later (longest report 10 years). The mainstays of diagnosis and management are negative mycobacterial cultures and anti-inflammatory treatment, respectively. Due to the favourable prognosis in LN-TB recurrent symptoms, a short period of observation is warranted to assess for spontaneous regression. In CNS-TB with recurrent symptoms, immediate investigation and anti-inflammatory treatment with the possibility of TB retreatment should be undertaken.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, the highest mortality being found in low- and middle-income countries. Abdominal parietal metastases in cervical cancer are a very rare entity, with an incidence of 0.1-1.3%, and represent an unfavorable prognostic factor with the survival rate falling to 17%. Here, we present a review of cases of abdominal parietal metastasis in recent decades, including a new case of a 4.5 cm abdominal parietal metastasis at the site of the scar of the former drain tube 28 months after diagnosis of stage IIB cervical cancer (adenosquamous carcinoma), treated by external radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy and intracavitary brachytherapy and subsequent surgery (type B radical hysterectomy). The tumor was resected within oncological limits with the histopathological result of adenosquamous carcinoma. The case study highlights the importance of early detection and appropriate treatment of metastases in patients with cervical cancer. The discussion explores the potential pathways for parietal metastasis and the impact of incomplete surgical procedures on the development of metastases. The conclusion emphasizes the poor prognosis associated with this type of metastasis in cervical cancer patients and the potential benefits of surgical resection associated with systemic therapy in improving survival rates.

Background and Objectives: Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent type of neoplasia in women. It is most commonly caused by the persistent infection with high-risk strands of human papillomavirus (hrHPV). Its incidence increases rapidly from age 25 when routine HPV screening starts and then decreases at the age of 45. This reflects both the diagnosis of prevalent cases at first-time screening and the likely peak of HPV exposure in early adulthood. For early stages, the treatment offers the possibility of fertility preservation.. However, in more advanced stages, the treatment is restricted to concomitant chemo-radiotherapy, combined, in very selected cases with surgical intervention. After the neoadjuvant treatment, an imagistic re-evaluation of the patients is carried out to analyze if the stage of the disease remained the same or suffered a downstaging. Lymph node downstaging following neoadjuvant treatment is regarded as an indubitable prognostic factor for predicting disease recurrence and survival in patients with advanced cervical cancer. This study aims to ascertain the important survival role of radiotherapy in the downstaging of the disease and of lymphadenectomy in the control of lymph node invasion for patients with advanced-stage cervical cancer. Material and Methods: We describe the outcome of patients with cervical cancer in stage IIIC1 FIGO treated at Bucharest Oncological Institute. All patients received radiotherapy and two-thirds received concomitant chemotherapy. A surgical intervention consisting of type C radical hysterectomy with radical pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed six to eight weeks after the end of the neoadjuvant treatment. Results: The McNemar test demonstrated the regression of lymphadenopathies after neoadjuvant treatment-p: <0.001. However, the persistence of adenopathies was not related to the dose of irradiation (p: 0.61), the number of sessions of radiotherapy (p: 0.80), or the chemotherapy (p: 0.44). Also, there were no significant differences between the adenopathies reported by imagistic methods and those identified during surgical intervention-p: 0.62. The overall survival evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves is dependent on the post-radiotherapy FIGO stage-p: 0.002 and on the lymph node status evaluated during surgical intervention-p: 0.04. The risk factors associated with an increased risk of death were represented by a low preoperative hemoglobin level (p: 0.003) and by the advanced FIGO stage determined during surgical intervention (p-value: 0.006 for stage IIIA and 0.01 for stage IIIC1). In the multivariate Cox model, the independent predictor of survival was the preoperative hemoglobin level (p: 0.004, HR 0.535, CI: 0.347 to 0.823). Out of a total of 33 patients with neoadjuvant treatment, 22 survived until the end of the study, all 33 responded to the treatment in varying degrees, but in 3 of them, tumor cells were found in the lymph nodes during the intraoperative histopathological examination. Conclusions: For advanced cervical cancer patients, radical surgery after neoadjuvant treatment may be associated with a better survival rate. Further research is needed to identify all the causes that lead to the persistence of adenopathies in certain patients, to decrease the FIGO stage after surgical intervention, and, therefore, to lower the risk of death. Also, it is mandatory to correctly evaluate and treat the anemia, as it seems to be an independent predictor factor for mortality.

The interstitial fluids in tissues are constantly drained into the lymph nodes (LNs) as lymph through afferent lymphatic vessels and from LNs into the blood through efferent lymphatics. LNs are strategically positioned and have the appropriate cellular composition to serve as sites of adaptive immune initiation against invading pathogens. However, for lymph-borne viruses, which disseminate from the entry site to other tissues through the lymphatic system, immune cells in the draining LN (dLN) also play critical roles in curbing systemic viral dissemination during primary and secondary infections. Lymph-borne viruses in tissues can be transported to dLNs as free virions in the lymph or within infected cells. Regardless of the entry mechanism, infected myeloid antigen-presenting cells, including various subtypes of dendritic cells, inflammatory monocytes, and macrophages, play a critical role in initiating the innate immune response within the dLN. This innate immune response involves cellular crosstalk between infected and bystander innate immune cells that ultimately produce type I interferons (IFN-Is) and other cytokines and recruit inflammatory monocytes and natural killer (NK) cells. IFN-I and NK cell cytotoxicity can restrict systemic viral spread during primary infections and prevent serious disease. Additionally, the memory CD8+ T-cells that reside or rapidly migrate to the dLN can contribute to disease prevention during secondary viral infections. This review explores the intricate innate immune responses orchestrated within dLNs that contain primary viral infections and the role of memory CD8+ T-cells following secondary infection or CD8+ T-cell vaccination.

BACKGROUND: Clinical trial data indicate that omitting axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is feasible and may reduce morbidity for carefully selected patients with clinically node-positive breast cancer who achieve a pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT). However, there remains a need to understand how these findings translate to broader clinical practice and to identify which patients benefit most. This study utilizes a national dataset to assess outcomes in axillary management, aiming to inform best practice in axillary de-escalation.
METHODS: The National Cancer Data Base was used to identify women diagnosed with clinically node-positive invasive breast cancer between 2012 to 2020 who received NCT and subsequent ALND. Associations between clinicopathologic factors and axillary pCR were analyzed statistically.
RESULTS: Of the 59,791 patients included, 8,827 (14.76%) achieved nodal pCR. Patients with HR-negative and HER2-positive receptor status more frequently underwent ALND instead of sentinel lymph node biopsy. Conversely, patients over the age of 70, those with private or public insurance, and cases classified as ypT1 or ypT2 were less likely to undergo ALND.
CONCLUSIONS: A subset of patients with clinically node-positive breast cancer received ALND despite achieving axillary pCR following NCT. This highlights an opportunity to enhance precision in identifying candidates for axillary de-escalation, potentially reducing morbidity and tailoring treatment more closely to individual patient needs.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the rate of nodal metastasis in dogs with thyroid cancer and evaluate whether immunohistochemistry (IHC) identifies additional metastases beyond evaluation with H&E.
METHODS: 70 prospectively enrolled client-owned dogs with thyroid cancer managed with thyroidectomy.
METHODS: Dogs underwent thyroidectomy with concurrent elective bilateral medial retropharyngeal (MRP) ± deep cervical lymphadenectomy. Thyroid tumors and associated lymph nodes were reviewed by a single board-certified pathologist. Immunohistochemistry was used for all primary tumors (thyroid transcription factor-1 and calcitonin) to support a diagnosis of follicular or medullary carcinoma. Lymph nodes without evidence of metastasis after H&E review were labeled with the antibody associated with the wider uptake in the primary tumor.
RESULTS: 77 thyroid cancers were resected from the 70 dogs enrolled, including 61 (79.2%) follicular, 8 (10.7%) medullary, and 7 (9.3%) mixed follicular/medullary carcinomas, with 1 (1.3%) carcinosarcoma. Twelve dogs had evidence of nodal metastasis following H&E review. Occult micrometastasis was identified in 1 dog following nodal IHC, resulting in documented metastasis in 13 of 70 (18.6%) dogs. Metastasis was more common with medullary (5/8) and follicular/medullary carcinoma (3/7) than follicular carcinoma (5/61). All MRP metastases were ipsilateral (7/77 [9.1%]), without contralateral MRP metastases (0/62). Fourteen of 41 (34.1%) deep cervical lymph nodes were metastatic.
CONCLUSIONS: Nodal metastasis was uncommon for follicular carcinoma but was seen in > 50% of dogs with thyroid cancer involving a medullary component. Routine nodal IHC appears to be low yield for thyroid carcinoma. Extirpation of ipsilateral MRP and identifiable deep cervical lymph nodes is recommended with thyroidectomy until detailed preoperative risk stratification becomes available.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of porta hepatis lymph nodes (PHLNs) on ultrasonography (US) scans in diagnosing biliary atresia (BA) and predicting the outcomes after Kasai portoenterostomy (KPE) surgery.
METHODS: A total of 668 patients from one hospital were enrolled in the study (542 non-BA and 126 BA). The independent and combined diagnostic efficacy of PHLNs, triangular cord (TC) thickness, and gallbladder morphology were assessed by drawing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and counting the area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). The US features, histopathological findings of PHLNs, and serum total bilirubin (TBIL) levels 3 months post-KPE were correlated.
RESULTS: The AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of PHLNs with hyperechogenicity and a maximum length larger than 8.4 mm were 0.898, 81.8%, 97.8%, 89.6%, and 95.8%, respectively. The combination of PHLNs, TC thickness, and gallbladder morphology achieved the best overall diagnostic efficacy among all indicators with an AUC of 0.927 and a sensitivity of 99.2%. The germinal center number and bile particle number of PHLNs were positively correlated with pathological size and US echogenicity intensity of PHLNs, respectively (r = 0.591, 0.377, p = 0.001, 0.004). The pathological size of PHLNs in BA patients was negatively correlated with jaundice clearance status 3 months after KPE surgery (r = -0.385, p = 0.047).
CONCLUSIONS: PHLNs with hyperechogenicity and a maximum length > 8.4 mm are useful US indicators for BA diagnosis. Additionally, the enlargement of PHLNs might play a role in predicting outcomes of KPE surgery.
UNASSIGNED: The article proposed for the first time that PHLNs with hyperechogenicity and a maximum length > 8.4 mm are a useful US indicator for diagnosing BA.
CONCLUSIONS: PHLNs may be helpful in diagnosing BA and predicting outcomes after surgery. Enlarged hyperechoic PHLNs are a useful diagnostic indicator for BA, and play a role in predicting surgical outcomes. These findings can assist clinicians in more accurately diagnosing BA, enabling more timely treatments.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of our study are to evaluate the diagnostic performance and prognostic value of radiological lymph node (LN) characteristics in pN+ oral cavity squamous carcinoma (OSCC).
METHODS: pN+ OSCC treated between 2012 and 2020 were included. Preoperative imaging was reviewed by a single radiologist blinded to pathologic findings for the following nodal features: imaging-positive LN (iN+), laterality and total number, and image-identified extranodal extension (iENE). The sensitivity of iN+ for pN+ was calculated. The diagnostic performance of other nodal features was evaluated in the iN+ subgroup. The association of radiologic nodal features with overall survival (OS) was evaluated. Inter-rater kappa for radiologic nodal features was assessed in 100 randomly selected cases.
RESULTS: Of 406 pN+ OSCC, 288 were iN+. The sensitivity of iN+ for pN+ was 71% overall, and improved to 89% for pN+ LN >1.5 cm. Within iN+, sensitivity/specificity for LN size (>3 cm), total LN number (>4), and ENE were 0.44/0.95, 0.57/0.84, and 0.27/0.96, respectively. Sensitivity of iENE was higher in the subset, with major (>2 mm) versus minor (≤2 mm) pENE (43% vs. 13%, p = 0.001). Reduced OS was observed in iN+ versus iN- (p = 0.006), iENE+ versus iENE- (p = 0.004), LN size >3 versus ≤3 cm (p < 0.001), and higher LN number (p < 0.001). Inter-rater kappa for iN+, laterality, total LN number, and presence of iENE were 0.71, 0.57, 0.78, and 0.69, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that despite modest sensitivity of most radiological nodal features, the specificity of image-identified nodal features is high and their prognostic values are retained in pN+ OSCC.
METHODS: Level 3 (retrospective review comparing cases and controls) Laryngoscope, 2024.

BACKGROUND: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma(ATC) is a rare pathological type of thyroid malignancy. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of thyroid(PSCCT) is now considered as a subtype of ATC, hereinafter referred to as ATC-SCC subtype. ATC-SCC subtype combined with follicular thyroid carcinoma is exceedingly rare, with fewer cases reported. The ATC-SCC subtype is a highly invasive tumor with a poor prognosis for patients after metastasis occurs, and current treatment of this type of tumor is tricky.
METHODS: A 68-year-old female patient presented with a gradually growing swelling of right cervical region. Comprehensive auxiliary examinations and postoperative pathology confirmed the diagnosis of ATC-SCC subtype with follicular thyroid carcinoma, and the metastasis squamous cell carcinoma of the right cervical lymph nodes originates from ATC-SCC subtype. The patient received chemoradiotherapy postoperative. However, the residual cervical lymph nodes metastasis with squamous cell carcinoma still infiltrated surrounding structures in the neck extensively after palliative resection. The patient died 7 months after surgery.
CONCLUSIONS: Our case highlights that cervical lymph node metastasis may be a significant factor in the poor prognosis of ATC-SCC subtype. This malignancy should be detected and treated early.

BACKGROUND: To compare the diagnostic performance of the Node-RADS scoring system and lymph node (LN) size in preoperative LN assessment for rectal cancer (RC), and to investigate whether the selection of size as the primary criterion whereas morphology as the secondary criterion for LNs can be considered the preferred method for clinical assessment.
METHODS: Preoperative CT data of 146 RC patients treated with radical resection surgery were retrospectively analyzed. The Node-RADS score and short-axis diameter of size-prioritized LNs and the morphology-prioritized LNs were obtained. The correlations of Node-RADS score to the pN stage, LNM number and lymph node ratio (LNR) were investigated. The performances on assessing pathological lymph node metastasis were compared between Node-RADS score and short-axis diameter. A nomogram combined the Node-RADS score and clinical features was also evaluated.
RESULTS: Node-RADS score showed significant correlation with pN stage, LNM number and LNR (Node-RADS of size-prioritized LN: r = 0.600, 0.592, and 0.606; Node-RADS of morphology-prioritized LN: r = 0.547, 0.538, and 0.527; Node-RADSmax: r = 0.612, 0.604, and 0.610; all p < 0.001). For size-prioritized LN, Node-RADS achieved an AUC of 0.826, significantly superior to short-axis diameter (0.826 vs. 0.743, p = 0.009). For morphology-prioritized LN, Node-RADS exhibited an AUC of 0.758, slightly better than short-axis diameter (0.758 vs. 0.718, p = 0.098). The Node-RADS score of size-prioritized LN was significantly better than that of morphology-prioritized LN (0.826 vs. 0.758, p = 0.038). The nomogram achieved the best diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.861) than all the other assessment methods (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The Node-RADS scoring system outperforms the short-axis diameter in predicting lymph node metastasis in RC. Size-prioritized LN demonstrates superior predictive efficacy compared to morphology-prioritized LN. The nomogram combined the Node-RADS score of size-prioritized LN with clinical features exhibits the best diagnostic performance. Moreover, a clear relationship was demonstrated between the Node-RADS score and the quantity-dependent pathological characteristics of LNM.