Inova Neuropathology and Neuroradiology Course Takes Place January 13-17, 2020

Hsiang-Chih (Sean) Lu, MD, PhD

Dr. Hsiang-Chih (Sean) Lu, MD, PhD, neuropathology fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, writes the following:

"There is an annual neuroradiology and neuropathology review course held by Inova. It has a fantastic line-up of speakers but unfortunately it’s not very well known in the pathology field. I thought it may be a good idea to mentioned this on your blog so more people (particularly trainees) know about this course."

A valuable course indeed! Thanks for the reminder, Dr. Lu.

Dr. Craig Horbinski to deliver webinar entitled "Understanding Molecular Characteristics of Tumors and Implications for Treatment" on September 16

The Society for Neuro-Oncology is initiating a series of webinars as part of it online education effort. To kick off our new webinar series, Dr. Craig Horbinski from Northwestern Medicine/Feinberg School of Medicine will present "Understanding Molecular Characteristics of Tumors and Implications for Treatment" on Monday, September 16, 2019 at 10:00am Central.

Craig Horbinski, MD, PhD

Register for the webinar by clicking here.

Learning objectives

• Explain the importance of advanced molecular testing in the workup of brain tumors • Interpret the results of next-generation sequencing when applied to brain tumors • List the assays, and specific molecular targets, currently recommended for the workup of brain tumors • Discuss the future of methylation profiling on the workup of brain tumors • Allied Health professionals can use the information in educating patients

Target Audience

Allied health professionals, nurses, social workers and therapists in the field of brain tumor research.

Registration

Registration is free but limited to the first 500 participants. All SNO webinars will be recorded. If you are unable to participate live, it will be available to view in SNO’s Online Education Center.

Dr. Fausto Rodriguez lectures on pineal tumors live tomorrow on Pathcast

Tuesday, August 27 - 8 AM EST Topic: Tumors of the Pineal Region Presented by Fausto Rodriguez, M.D., Associate Professor of Pathology, JHUSOM This seminar can be accessed live through the following links at 8 AM on Tuesdsay: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/394929204645050/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVxosS9hPP3ikMQXAE9Pamw/videos Website: http://pathologycast.com/ For any questions please contact the creators of PathCast, Dr. Rifat Mannan or Dr. Emelio Mardrigal at pathologycast@gmail.com To learn more about this and other educational activities from the Department of Pathology visit: http://pathology.jhu.edu/department/training/clinicians.cfm   This hour-long PathCast seminar presented by Dr. Fausto Rodriguez will be broadcast live on both Facebook and YouTube. Live chat will be available for you to discuss the presentation with Dr. Rodriguez during the seminar. The PathCast will be archived after the live session at: http://pathology.jhu.edu/department/training/clinicians.cfm

Best Post of April 2019: Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in patients without obvious immunosuppression

The next in our "Best of the Month" series comes from Friday, April 12, 2019:

I recently received a case in consultation which turned out to be progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Reading the clinical history, it was not entirely clear what predisposed the patient to PML. It wasn't clear, that is, until my mentor (the illustrious BK DeMasters) referred me to a nine-year-old paper by Sarah Gheuens, Gerald Pierone, Patrick Peeters, and Igor J. Koralnik entitled Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in individuals with minimal or occult immunosuppression (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry2010;81:247-254). In this series, hepatic cirrhosis -- which was what my patient had -- was among the more common conditions in PML patients with minimal immunosuppression. Other conditions that can be associated with PML in the minimally immunosuppressed are those with renal failure and idiopathic CD4+ lymphopenia,

The authors discuss the possible mechanisms for the development of PML in patients with hepatic cirrhosis:

"[H]epatic cirrhosis can lead to portal hypertension and hypersplenism, with subsequent leucopenia as white blood cells are sequestrated in the enlarged spleen. Furthermore, cirrhosis also leads to hypogammaglobulinemia... It is well known that cirrhotic patients have a higher risk of developing bacterial infections, and 30–50% of deaths among cirrhotic patients are directly caused by infections. Immune dysfunction in hepatic disease may be caused by altered cytokine production, impaired cellular immune response and vascular disturbances, which lead together to increased susceptibility to infections."