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Objectives: The 2022 mpox epidemic reached a peak in Belgium and the rest of Europe in July 2022, after which it unexpectedly subsided. This study investigates epidemiological, behavioral, and immunological factors behind the waning of the epidemic in Belgium., Methods: We investigated temporal evolutions in the characteristics and behavior of mpox patients using national surveillance data and data from a prospective registry of mpox patients in the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp). We studied behavioral changes in the population at risk using a survey among HIV-preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users. We determined the seroprevalence of anti-orthopoxvirus antibodies among HIV-PrEP users across four-time points in 2022., Results: Mpox patients diagnosed at the end of the epidemic had less sexual risk behavior compared to those diagnosed earlier: they engaged less in sex at mass events, had fewer sexual partners, and were less likely to belong to the sexual network's central group. Among HIV-PrEP users there were no notable changes in sexual behavior. Anti-orthopoxvirus seroprevalence did not notably increase before the start of national vaccination campaigns., Conclusion: The observed changes in group immunity and behavior in the population at greater risk of exposure to mpox seem unable to explain the waning of the mpox epidemic. A change in the profile of mpox patients might have contributed to the decline in cases., Competing Interests: Declarations of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

During the summer of 2023, the European Region experienced a limited resurgence of mpox cases following the substantial outbreak in 2022. This increase was characterised by asynchronous and bimodal increases, with countries experiencing peaks at different times. The demographic profile of cases during the resurgence was largely consistent with those reported previously. All available sequences from the European Region belonged to clade IIb. Sustained efforts are crucial to control and eventually eliminate mpox in the European Region.

Background: When formulating and evaluating COVID-19 vaccination strategies, an emphasis has been placed on preventing severe disease that overburdens healthcare systems and leads to mortality. However, more conventional outcomes such as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and inequality indicators are warranted as additional information for policymakers., Methods: We adopted a mathematical transmission model to describe the infectious disease dynamics of SARS-COV-2, including disease mortality and morbidity, and to evaluate (non)pharmaceutical interventions. Therefore, we considered temporal immunity levels, together with the distinct transmissibility of variants of concern (VOCs) and their corresponding vaccine effectiveness. We included both general and age-specific characteristics related to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Our scenario study is informed by data from Belgium, focusing on the period from August 2021 until February 2022, when vaccination for children aged 5-11 years was initially not yet licensed and first booster doses were administered to adults. More specifically, we investigated the potential impact of an earlier vaccination programme for children and increased or reduced historical adult booster dose uptake., Results: Through simulations, we demonstrate that increasing vaccine uptake in children aged 5-11 years in August-September 2021 could have led to reduced disease incidence and ICU occupancy, which was an essential indicator for implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions and maintaining healthcare system functionality. However, an enhanced booster dose regimen for adults from November 2021 onward could have resulted in more substantial cumulative QALY gains, particularly through the prevention of elevated levels of infection and disease incidence associated with the emergence of Omicron VOC. In both scenarios, the need for non-pharmaceutical interventions could have decreased, potentially boosting economic activity and mental well-being., Conclusions: When calculating the impact of measures to mitigate disease spread in terms of life years lost due to COVID-19 mortality, we highlight the impact of COVID-19 on the health-related quality of life of survivors. Our study underscores that disease-related morbidity could constitute a significant part of the overall health burden. Our quantitative findings depend on the specific setup of the interventions under review, which is open to debate or should be contextualised within future situations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: To support the COVID-19 pandemic response, many countries, including Belgium, implemented baseline genomic surveillance (BGS) programs aiming to early detect and characterize new SARS-CoV-2 variants. In parallel, Belgium maintained a sentinel network of six hospitals that samples patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and integrated SARS-CoV-2 detection within a broader range of respiratory pathogens. We evaluate the ability of the SARI surveillance to monitor general trends and early signals of viral genetic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and compare it with the BGS as a reference model., Methods: Nine-hundred twenty-five SARS-CoV-2 positive samples from patients fulfilling the Belgian SARI definition between January 2020 and December 2022 were sequenced using the ARTIC Network amplicon tiling approach on a MinION platform. Weekly variant of concern (VOC) proportions and types were compared to those that were circulating between 2021 and 2022, using 96,251 sequences of the BGS., Results: SARI surveillance allowed timely detection of the Omicron (BA.1, BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5) and Delta (B.1.617.2) VOCs, with no to 2 weeks delay according to the start of their epidemic growth in the Belgian population. First detection of VOCs B.1.351 and P.1 took longer, but these remained minor in Belgium. Omicron BA.3 was never detected in SARI surveillance. Timeliness could not be evaluated for B.1.1.7, being already major at the start of the study period., Conclusions: Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 using SARI sentinel surveillance has proven to accurately reflect VOCs detected in the population and provides a cost-effective solution for long-term genomic monitoring of circulating respiratory viruses., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 Sciensano and The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Self-testing has been promoted as a means of increasing COVID-19 test coverage. In Belgium, self-testing was recommended as a complement to the formal, provider-administered indications, such as out of courtesy before meeting others and when feared to be infected. More than a year after the introduction of self-testing their place in the test strategy was evaluated., Methods: We assessed trends in the number of self-tests sold, the number of positive self-tests reported, the proportion sold self-tests/total tests, and the proportion of all positive tests that were confirmed self-tests. To evaluate the reason why people use self-tests, we used the results of two online surveys among members of the general population: one among 27,397 people, held in April 2021, and one among 22,354 people, held in December 2021., Results: The use of self-tests became substantial from end 2021 onwards. In the period mid-November 2021 - end-of-June 2022, the average proportion of reported sold self-tests to all COVID-19 tests was 37% and 14% of all positive tests were positive self-tests. In both surveys, the main reported reasons for using a self-test were having symptoms (34% of users in April 2021 and 31% in December 2021) and after a risk contact (27% in both April and December). Moreover, the number of self-tests sold, and the number of positive self-tests reported closely followed the same trend as the provider-administered tests in symptomatic people and high risk-contacts, which reinforces the hypothesis that they were mainly used for these two indications., Conclusions: From end 2021 onwards, self-testing covered a significant part of COVID-19 testing in Belgium, which increased without doubt the testing coverage. However, the available data seem to indicate that self-testing was mostly used for indications outside of official recommendations. If and how this affected the control of the epidemic remains unknown., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

We aimed to evaluate the relationships between meat or carcass properties and the abundance of 29 proteins quantified in two muscles, Longissimus thoracis and Rectus abdominis, of Rouge des Prés cows. The relative abundance of the proteins was evaluated using a high throughput immunological method: the Reverse Phase Protein array. A combination of univariate and multivariate analyses has shown that small HSPs (CRYAB, HSPB6), fast glycolytic metabolic and structural proteins (MYH1, ENO3, ENO1, TPI1) when assayed both in RA and LT, were related to meat tenderness, marbling, ultimate pH, as well as carcass fat-to-lean ratio or conformation score. In addition to some small HSP, ALDH1A1 and TRIM72 contributed to the molecular signature of muscular and carcass adiposity. MYH1 and HSPA1A were among the top proteins related to carcass traits. We thus shortened the list to 10 putative biomarkers to be considered in future tools to manage both meat and carcass properties. SIGNIFICANCE: In three aspects this manuscript is notable. First, this is the first proteomics study that aims to evaluate putative biomarkers of both meat and carcass qualities that are of economic importance for the beef industry. Second, the relationship between the abundance of proteins and the carcass or meat traits were evaluated by a combination of univariate and multivariate analyses on 48 cows that are representative of the biological variability of the traits. Third, we provide a short list of ten proteins to be tested in a larger population to feed the pipeline of biomarker discovery., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Authors declare no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Employees in non-healthcare occupations may be in several ways exposed to infectious agents. Improved knowledge about the risks is needed to identify opportunities to prevent work-related infectious diseases. The objective of the current study was to provide an updated overview of the published evidence on the exposure to pathogens among non-healthcare workers. Because of the recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, we also aimed to gain more evidence about exposure to several respiratory tract pathogens., Methods: Eligible studies were identified in MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane between 2009 and 8 December 2020. The protocol was registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42019107265). An additional quality assessment was applied according to the Equator network guidelines., Results: The systematic literature search yielded 4620 papers of which 270 met the selection and quality criteria. Infectious disease risks were described in 37 occupational groups; 18 of them were not mentioned before. Armed forces (n=36 pathogens), livestock farm labourers (n=31), livestock/dairy producers (n=26), abattoir workers (n=22); animal carers and forestry workers (both n=16) seemed to have the highest risk. In total, 111 pathogen exposures were found. Many of these occupational groups (81.1%) were exposed to respiratory tract pathogens., Conclusion: Many of these respiratory tract pathogens were readily transmitted where employees congregate (workplace risk factors), while worker risk factors seemed to be of increasing importance. By analysing existing knowledge of these risk factors, identifying new risks and susceptible risk groups, this review aimed to raise awareness of the issue and provide reliable information to establish more effective preventive measures., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Tobacco smoking is known to impact circulating levels of major immune cells populations, but its effect on specific immune cell subsets remains poorly understood. Here, using high-resolution data from 223 healthy women (25 current and 198 never smokers), we investigated the association between smoking status and 35,651 immune traits capturing immune cell subset frequencies. Our results confirmed that active tobacco smoking is associated with increased frequencies of circulating CD8+ T cells expressing the CD25 activation marker. Moreover, we identified novel associations between smoking status and relative abundances of CD8+ CD25+ memory T cells, CD8+ memory T cells expressing the CCR4 chemokine receptor, and CD4+CD8+ (double-positive) CD25+ T cells. We also observed, in current smokers, a decrease in the relative frequencies of CD4+ T cells expressing the CD38 activation marker and an increase in class-switched memory B cell isotypes IgA, IgG, and IgE. Finally, using data from 135 former female smokers, we showed that the relative frequencies of immune traits associated with active smoking are usually completely restored after smoking cessation, with the exception of subsets of CD8+ and CD8+ memory T cells, which persist partially altered. Our results are consistent with previous findings and provide further evidence on how tobacco smoking shapes leukocyte cell subsets proportion toward chronic inflammation., Competing Interests: TS is a consultant for Zoe Global Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Piaggeschi, Rolla, Rossi, Brusa, Naccarati, Couvreur, Spector, Roederer, Mangino, Cordero, Falchi and Visconti.)

Susceptibility to infection such as SARS-CoV-2 may be influenced by host genotype. TwinsUK volunteers (n = 3261) completing the C-19 COVID-19 symptom tracker app allowed classical twin studies of COVID-19 symptoms, including predicted COVID-19, a symptom-based algorithm to predict true infection, derived from app users tested for SARS-CoV-2. We found heritability of 49% (32-64%) for delirium; 34% (20-47%) for diarrhea; 31% (8-52%) for fatigue; 19% (0-38%) for anosmia; 46% (31-60%) for skipped meals and 31% (11-48%) for predicted COVID-19. Heritability estimates were not affected by cohabiting or by social deprivation. The results suggest the importance of host genetics in the risk of clinical manifestations of COVID-19 and provide grounds for planning genome-wide association studies to establish specific genes involved in viral infectivity and the host immune response.

Background: Understanding of the true asymptomatic rate of infection of SARS-CoV-2 is currently limited, as is understanding of the population-based seroprevalence after the first wave of COVID-19 within the UK. The majority of data thus far come from hospitalised patients, with little focus on general population cases, or their symptoms., Methods: We undertook enzyme linked immunosorbent assay characterisation of IgM and IgG responses against SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and nucleocapsid protein of 431 unselected general-population participants of the TwinsUK cohort from South-East England, aged 19-86 (median age 48; 85% female). 382 participants completed prospective logging of 14 COVID-19 related symptoms via the COVID Symptom Study App, allowing consideration of serology alongside individual symptoms, and a predictive algorithm for estimated COVID-19 previously modelled on PCR positive individuals from a dataset of over 2 million., Findings: We demonstrated a seroprevalence of 12% (51 participants of 431). Of 48 seropositive individuals with full symptom data, nine (19%) were fully asymptomatic, and 16 (27%) were asymptomatic for core COVID-19 symptoms: fever, cough or anosmia. Specificity of anosmia for seropositivity was 95%, compared to 88% for fever cough and anosmia combined. 34 individuals in the cohort were predicted to be Covid-19 positive using the App algorithm, and of those, 18 (52%) were seropositive., Interpretation: Seroprevalence amongst adults from London and South-East England was 12%, and 19% of seropositive individuals with prospective symptom logging were fully asymptomatic throughout the study. Anosmia demonstrated the highest symptom specificity for SARS-CoV-2 antibody response., Funding: NIHR BRC, CDRF, ZOE global LTD, RST-UKRI/MRC., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Our aim in this study was to investigate whether the behaviors of dairy cows on pasture, predicted with accelerometer data and combined with GPS data, can be used to better understand the relationship between behaviors and pasture characteristics. During spring 2018, 26 Holstein cows were equipped with a 3D-accelerometer and a GPS sensor fixed on a neck-collar for five days. The cows grazed alternatively in permanent and in temporary grasslands. The structural elements, soil moisture, slope and botanical characteristics were identified. Behaviors were predicted every 10 s from the accelerometer data and combined with the GPS data. The time-budgets expressed in each characterized zone of 8 m × 8 m were calculated. The relation between the time-budgets and pasture characteristics was explored with a linear mixed model. In the permanent grassland, dairy cows spent more time under a tree to ruminate ( p < 0.001) and to rest ( p < 0.001) and more time to graze in areas with Holcus lanatus ( p < 0.001). In the temporary grassland, behavior was influenced by the external environment (presence of other animals on the farm; p < 0.05). Thus, this methodology seems relevant to better understand the relationship between the behaviors of dairy cows and grazing conditions to develop precision grazing.

This trial aimed to integrate metadata that spread over farm-to-fork continuum of 110 Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)Maine-Anjou cows and combine two statistical approaches that are chemometrics and supervised learning; to identify the potential predictors of beef tenderness analyzed using the instrumental Warner-Bratzler Shear force (WBSF). Accordingly, 60 variables including WBSF and belonging to 4 levels of the continuum that are farm-slaughterhouse-muscle-meat were analyzed by Partial Least Squares (PLS) and three decision tree methods (C&RT: classification and regression tree; QUEST: quick, unbiased, efficient regression tree and CHAID: Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection) to select the driving factors of beef tenderness and propose predictive decision tools. The former method retained 24 variables from 59 to explain 75% of WBSF. Among the 24 variables, six were from farm level, four from slaughterhouse level, 11 were from muscle level which are mostly protein biomarkers, and three were from meat level. The decision trees applied on the variables retained by the PLS model, allowed identifying three WBSF classes (Tender (WBSF ≤ 40 N/cm 2 ), Medium (40 N/cm 2 < WBSF < 45 N/cm 2 ), and Tough (WBSF ≥ 45 N/cm 2 )) using CHAID as the best decision tree method. The resultant model yielded an overall predictive accuracy of 69.4% by five splitting variables (total collagen, µ-calpain, fiber area, age of weaning and ultimate pH). Therefore, two decision model rules allow achieving tender meat on PDO Maine-Anjou cows: (i) IF (total collagen < 3.6 μg OH-proline/mg) AND (µ-calpain ≥ 169 arbitrary units (AU)) AND (ultimate pH < 5.55) THEN meat was very tender (mean WBSF values = 36.2 N/cm 2 , n = 12); or (ii) IF (total collagen < 3.6 μg OH-proline/mg) AND (µ-calpain < 169 AU) AND (age of weaning < 7.75 months) AND (fiber area < 3100 µm 2 ) THEN meat was tender (mean WBSF values = 39.4 N/cm 2 , n = 30).

The aim of study was to investigate the relationships between the characteristics of cull beef cows in the Rouge des Prés breed, finishing practices and physicochemical characteristics and sensory traits of Longissimus thoracis (LT) and Rectus abdominis (RA) muscles from 111 cows. On the basis of our surveys, which qualify at cow level the animal characteristics and finishing diet, clusters of cull cows and finishing practices are created and their effects tested on LT and RA meat quality. Old and heavy cows with good suckling ability (95 months, 466 kg and 7.1/10) are characterized by LT with larger fibers, and higher intramuscular fat content and fat-to-muscle ratio. Young and heavy cows with low suckling ability (54 months, 474 kg and 4.4/10) are characterized by LT and RA with lower MyHC IIx and higher MyHC IIa and MyHC I proportions. MyHC IIx and IIa proportions are lower and a* and b* color indices higher when cows are finished on pasture, probably related to grass diet and physical activity. The fat-to-muscle ratio is higher without any effect on the intramuscular fat content when cows are finished over a short period (107 days) with a high level of concentrate (9.7 kg/day). The opposite effect is observed over a long period (142 days) with a low level of concentrate (5.8 kg/day), confirming the interaction effect between finishing duration and amount of energy concentrate on the allotment of adipose tissue deposit.

Objectives: To investigate the reasons for the high prevalence of epilepsy (>6%) discovered in 2015 in the Aketi health zone in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo., Methods: Persons with epilepsy (PWE) diagnosed in a door-to-door survey in 2015 were traced and re-examined in 2017 by a neurologist. Confirmed PWE were paired with matched controls. For onchocerciasis assessment, children 7-10 years old were tested for IgG4 Onchocerca volvulus (OV16) antibodies, a rapid epidemiological mapping of onchocerciasis (REMO) study was performed, and ivermectin coverage was investigated., Results: Forty-three (61.4%) previously diagnosed PWE were traced; the neurologist confirmed the epilepsy diagnosis in all of them. The overall OV16 positivity rate was 64.5%. Poor ivermectin coverage (55.9%) and a high prevalence of onchocercal nodules (>70%) were observed. The prevalence of epilepsy was 5.7% in Aketi rural town, with nine PWE (13.8%) experiencing head nodding seizures. A case-control study showed that PWE had lower body weight and higher ivermectin coverage in 2017 than healthy controls., Conclusions: The high prevalence of epilepsy in the Aketi health zone, despite 14 years of community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI), was found to be associated with high onchocerciasis transmission and low ivermectin use. An awareness programme to increase ivermectin coverage and the introduction of a bi-annual CDTI programme should be considered., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Data from birth to slaughter of cull cows allowed using a PCA-based approach coupled with the iterative K-means algorithm the identification of three rearing practices classes. The classes were different in their carcass characteristics. Old cows raised mainly on pasture have better carcass characteristics, while having an equivalent tenderness, juiciness, flavor, intramuscular fat content, and pHu to those fattened with hay or haylage. The Longissimus thoracis muscle of the cows raised on pasture (with high physical activity) showed greater proportions of IIA fibers at the expense of the fast IIX ones. Accordingly, the meat of these animals have better color characteristics. Superoxide dismutase (SOD1) and αB-crystallin quantified by Dot-Blot were the only other biomarkers to be more abundant in "Grass" class compared to "Hay" and "Haylage" classes. The relationships between the biomarkers and the 6 carcass and 11 meat quality traits were investigated using multiple regression analyses per rearing practices. The associations were rearing practice class and phenotype trait-dependent. ICDH and TP53 were common for the three classes, but the direction of their entrance was different. In addition, rearing practices and carcass traits were not related with Hsp70-Grp75 and μ-calpain abundances. The other relationships were specific for two or one rearing practices class. The rearing practices dependency of the relationships was also found with meat quality traits. Certain proteins were for the first time related with some beef quality traits. MyHC-IIx, PGM1, Hsp40, ICDH, and Hsp70-Grp75 were common for the three rearing practices classes and retained to explain at list one beef quality trait. A positive relationship was found between PGM1 and hue angle irrespective of rearing practices class. This study confirms once again that production-related traits in livestock are the result of sophisticated biological processes finely orchestrated during the life of the animal and soon after slaughter.

This study investigated the relationships among a list of 23 protein biomarkers with CIE-L*a*b* meat color traits and ultimate pH on Longissimus thoracis (LT) and Rectus abdominis (RA) muscles of 48 protected designation of origin Maine-Anjou cows. The technological parameters were correlated with several biomarkers and were in some cases muscle-dependent. More biomarkers were related to pHu in LT than in RA muscle. Some consistencies were found, by the common correlation of pHu with MyHC-IIa and MyHC-IIx. The pHu of the LT muscle was also correlated with other cytoskeletal entities and proteins belonging to metabolism and cellular stress. In contrast to the relationships found between biomarkers and LT pHu, more proteins were related to the instrumental color coordinates in RA than in LT muscle. The regression equations were parameter- and muscle-dependent. Certain of the retained proteins explained more than one color coordinate. Hsp70-Grp75 was positive in the models of L*, a*, b*, and C* of LT and of b* in the RA muscle. Further heat shock proteins were strongly related with the meat color coordinates in both muscles. The involvement of metabolic enzymes and myofibrillar proteins in the meat color development was also verified in this experiment. This study confirmed once again the importance of numerous biological pathways in beef color.

This report describes a problem-based learning activity concerning antibiotic exposure and bacterial resistance in human and veterinary medicine. In addition, learning outcomes and satisfaction of students were recorded by the supervisors of the activity. The students all participated actively in the group work and considered that the small size of the group facilitated interpersonal communication. They believed that working in an interdisciplinary group helped them learn better than if they were following specific courses. They also reported that their mid-term meeting with one of the supervisors was a catalyst for the initiation of a real work group. Concerning the evaluation of the activity itself, the supervisors considered that the group provided a relevant analysis of the issue. These characteristics should encourage teachers to test this method of learning certain aspects of microbiology and infectious diseases with their students., (© FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

This report describes the integration of the microbiology and infectious diseases teaching courses in an international Master's level interdisciplinary programme based on the 'One world, one health' WHO concept, and reports the students and teachers' evaluation related to their feelings of about this innovative programme. The integration was evaluated by recording the positioning of these two topics in the five teaching units constituting the programme, and by identifying their contribution in the interactions between the different teaching units. The satisfaction of students was assessed by a quantitative survey, whereas the feelings of students and teachers were assessed by interviews. The study demonstrated that microbiology and infectious diseases were widely involved in interactions between the teaching units, constituting a kind of cement for the programme. The students assigned a mean score of 3.7 to the topics dealing with microbiology and infectious diseases. According to the qualitative data, students and teachers considered that the interdisciplinary approach provided new insights but reported problems of communication, probably inherent to the multiculturalism of the class., (© FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: We report a 19-week gestation female foetus with a new syndrome characterised by increased nuchal translucency and severe micromelia with campomelia evident from the early second trimester., Methods and Results: Cytogenetic studies performed on amniocytes revealed a normal female karyotype. Autopsy after termination of pregnancy showed facial dysmorphism, cleft palate, bowed, shortened limbs, hypoplasia of the preaxial elements in all four limbs with accompanying accessory ossification centres in the feet, and severe calvarial underossification. A diagnosis of otopalatodigital syndrome type 2, associated with mutations in FLNA, a gene encoding the cytoskeletal protein filamin A, was considered but discarded due to the severity of micromelia, early lethality, and the presence of generalised osteopenia instead of hyperostosis. The degree of undermodelling and campomelia was reminiscent of another group of conditions that include atelosteogenesis types 1 and 3, caused by mutations in FLNB. Sequencing analysis did not reveal any pathogenic mutation in the three paralogous filamin genes: FLNA, FLNB and FLNC., Conclusion: Clinical, radiological and cytogenetic findings suggest that this phenotype is a new entity whose aetiopathogenesis may be functionally related to the filaminopathies., (2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Cysts located on the tongue are rare and usually diagnosed in childhood. Here we report on the prenatal diagnosis of an unusual cystic malformation of the tongue with heterotopic intestinal tissue explored by prenatal ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and on its surgical treatment and histological examination. The prenatal differential diagnoses as well as perinatal management of cystic lesions of the tongue are reviewed., (Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)