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Leptospirosis affects humans in both urban and rural areas, and in temperate and tropical climates. The spectrum of human disease caused by leptospires is extremely wide, ranging from subclinical infection to a severe syndrome of multiorgan infection with high mortality. However, the great majority of the infection has either subclinical or very mild illness; hereby, most patients do not seek medical attention. We herein present two patients with leptospirosis hospitalized due to unexplained fever, anemia, and hepatosplenomegaly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the different therapy regimens used in multiple myeloma (MM) on bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) levels. Materials and Methods: One hundred and thirteen patients with MM were included in the study. Patients were grouped according to the regimens they received, as follows: group 1, melphalan and prednisolone (MP); group 2, vincristine, adriablastin, and dexamethasone (VAD); group 3, thalidomide plus dexamethasone; and group 4, bortezomib plus dexamethasone. BALP levels were measured before treatment and at the third and sixth months of treatment. A fifth group consisted of patients in the post-treatment remission period at study entry (no-treatment group). Results: The BALP levels at the third and sixth months of the treatment were significantly higher than the pre-treatment levels in the bortezomib and the no-treatment groups, whereas no significant difference was observed in the MP, VAD, and thalidomide groups. Conclusion: Considering that BALP is a surrogate marker of bone formation, our study suggests that bortezomib more efficiently leads to the improvement of bone disease in myeloma than other treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Bone marrow fibrosis is the second most common complication that causes morbidity and mortality in patients with Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between JAK2V617F mutation and bone marrow fibrosis at diagnosis in patients with MPNs. Material and Methods: In total, 149 patients with MPNs were retrospectively evaluated to determine if there was an association between the histological grade of bone marrow fibrosis and JAK2V617F mutation. Results: In all, 67.7% of the patients carried the mutated JAK2 gene. The presence of JAK2V617F mutation was not associated with the occurrence of bone marrow fibrosis (P = 0.55) or its grade at diagnosis (P = 0.65). Conclusion: Molecular mechanisms or genetic defects other than JAK2V617F may underlie the occurrence of bone marrow fibrosis in patients with MPNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of three patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who underwent fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to evaluate significance of these recurrent monosomies. It mentions that patients were treated with imatinib. The study highlights the effectiveness of FISH and conventional cytogenetics in detection of cancer.