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Low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (B-NHL) are malignant diseases of the lymphatic tissue, the diagnosis and treatment of which may involve not only the lymphoma specialist but also physicians of many other specialties. They constitute 35% of lymphomas and in each clinical entity of this group a wide range of clinical behavior and histological and or clinical progression can be observed at various times. For this reason, tumors of the lymphatic tissue are not currently classified in terms of low or high aggressiveness of biological behavior, and therapeutic crite ria vary, depending on the characteristics of the disease and of the patient. In general, asymptomatic patients with low-grade B-NHL and with no specific abnormalities on laboratory tests are initially monitored at regular intervals, as treatment at diagnosis has not been shown to improve the prognosis of the disease. First-line forms of treatment, when indicated according to the clinical and laboratory criteria or progression of the disease, include radiotherapy, chemotherapy and treatment with monoclonal antibodies, either as monotherapy or, more commonly, as combination therapy. At present, the clinician can and must choose from a wide variety of therapeutic options, since there does not appear to be one single treatment that is uniformly superior, either regarding the disease or the effects on the patients. With an ever-expanding range of therapeutic modalities, the specialized physician needs to remain familiar with the clinical expressions and course of these diseases in order to provide therapeutic interventions that are necessary, timely and successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction We report a case of early lactobacillus endophthalmitis which occurred ten days after trabeculectomy. Case presentation A 76-year-old Caucasian diabetic woman underwent uncomplicated trabeculectomy with a collagen implant as an adjunct, in her left phakic eye, for the treatment of uncontrolled open-angle glaucoma. Ten days post-operatively, our patient complained of left phakic eye discharge pain and visual acuity decreased to "light-perception". The anterior chamber had 3+ cells and flare, and there was also 2 mm layered hypopyon. Vitreous involvement was present obscuring visualization of the fundus. On the same day our patient underwent vitrectomy surgery and intra-vitreal and systemic antibiotics were administered. Vitreous cultures grew Lactobacillus brevis. Our patient responded well to treatment and 30 days after vitrectomy visual acuity improved to 1/10. Six months later our patient underwent cataract surgery. Eight months after initial surgery visual acuity was 2/10 and intra-ocular pressure was 14 mmHg without any anti-glaucoma medication. Conclusions This is the first report of acute lactobacillus endophthalmitis in the phakic eye of a diabetic patient after trabeculectomy. Glaucoma surgeons should be aware of the potential for acute post-operative endophthalmitis due to rare microorganisms, such as lactobacillus, in glaucoma filtration surgery, especially in diabetic patients. The literature shows an increased risk of endophthalmitis when anti-metabolites are used in conjunction with trabeculectomy. Perhaps, any type of wound healing modulation, such as collagen or mitomycin-C may increase this risk. However, it is unclear at this time and more studies need to be done. In this single case, vitrectomy combined with intra-vitreal and systemic antibiotics were efficient in limiting the devastating sequels of this complication.

Competing Interests: ET is a HemaSphere Editor. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Background/aim: Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL) is an aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), whose prognosis has greatly improved since the incorporation of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab into current therapeutic regimens. Evidence, however, on the optimal time interval between consecutive chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) cycles is still scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy outcomes of the more commonly administered 3-weekly regimens to the biweekly ones in a PMLBCL patients' population, who were mostly treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone every 21 days (R-CHOP-21) or R-CHOP-14., Patients and Methods: We retrospectively studied our cohort of consecutively treated PMLBCL patients, focusing on their treatment density, in order to determine possible differences in treatment outcomes., Results: CIT, in the form of both R-CHOP-21 as well as R-CHOP-14 (or similar regimens), is highly active in PMLBCL, with low rates of early treatment failure. In our cohort of patients, R-CHOP-14 did not result in a meaningful improvement of freedom from progression (FFP) or overall survival (OS)., Conclusion: Both R-CHOP-14 and R-CHOP-21 are probably equally effective in PMLBCL, yet further, prospective, randomized studies are warranted to clarify whether dose-dense regimens can be associated with better disease control and long-term results., (Copyright © 2022, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

End-of-treatment (EoT) PET/CT is used as a guide to omit radiotherapy (RT) patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL). We present the mature and extended results of a retrospective study evaluating the prognostic significance of EoT-PET/CT after adequate response to R-CHOP. Among 231 consecutive PMLBCL patients, 182 underwent EoT-PET/CT and were evaluated according to the Deauville 5-point scale (D5PS) criteria. Freedom from progression (FFP) was measured from the time of PET/CT examination. Among 182 patients, 72 (40%) had D5PS score 1 (D5PSS-1), 33 (18%) had 2, 28 (15%) had 3, 29 (16%) had 4, and 20 (11%) had 5. The 5-year FFP was 97, 94, 92, 82, and 44% for D5PSS-1, D5PSS-2, D5PSS-3, D5PSS-4, and D5PSS-5, respectively. Among 105 patients with unequivocally negative PET/CT (D5PSS-1/D5PSS-2), 49 (47%) received RT (median dose 3420 cGy) and 56 (53%) did not with relapses in 0/49 vs. 4/56 patients (2 mediastinum and 2 isolated CNS relapses).The 5-year FFP for those who received RT or not was 100% versus 96%, when isolated CNS relapses were censored (p = 0.159). Among D5PSS-3 patients (27/28 irradiated-median dose 3600 cGy), the 5-year FFP was 92%. The 5-year FFP for D5PSS-4 and D5PSS-5 was 82 and 44%; 44/49 patients received RT (median dose 4000 and 4400 cGy for D5PSS-4 and D5PSS-5). Our study supports the omission of RT in a sizeable fraction of PET/CT-negative patients and definitely discourages salvage chemotherapy and ASCT in patients with PMLBCL who conventionally respond to R-CHOP, solely based on PET/CT positivity in the absence of documented progressive or multifocal disease. The persistence of positive PET/CT with D5PSS < 5 after consolidative RT should not trigger the initiation of further salvage chemotherapy in the absence of conventionally defined PD., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.)

Background: R-CHOP can cure approximately 75% of patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL), but prognostic factors have not been sufficiently evaluated yet. R-da- EPOCH is potentially more effective but also more toxic than R-CHOP. Reliable prognostic classification is needed to guide treatment decisions., Materials and Methods: We analyzed the impact of clinical prognostic factors on the outcome of 332 PMLBCL patients ≤65 years treated with R-CHOP ± radiotherapy in a multicenter setting in Greece and Cyprus., Results: With a median follow-up of 69 months, 5-year freedom from progression (FFP) was 78% and 5-year lymphoma specific survival (LSS) was 89%. On multivariate analysis, extranodal involvement (E/IV) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ≥2 times upper limit of normal (model A) were significantly associated with FFP; E/IV and bulky disease (model B) were associated with LSS. Both models performed better than the International Prognostic Index (IPI) and the age-adjusted IPI by Harrel's C rank parameter and Akaike information criterion. Both models A and B defined high-risk subgroups (13%-27% of patients [pts]) with approximately 19%-23% lymphoma-related mortality. They also defined subgroups composing approximately one-fourth or one-half of the patients, with 11% risk of failure and only 1% or 4% 5-year lymphoma-related mortality., Conclusion: The combination of E/IV with either bulky disease or LDH ≥2 times upper limit of normal defined high-risk but not very-high-risk subgroups. More importantly, their absence defined subgroups comprising approximately one-fourth or one-half of the pts, with 11% risk of failure and minimal lymphoma-related mortality, who may not need more intensive treatment such as R-da-EPOCH., Implications for Practice: By analyzing the impact of baseline clinical characteristics on outcomes of a large cohort of patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma homogeneously treated with R-CHOP with or without radiotherapy, we developed novel prognostic indices which can aid in deciding which patients can be adequately treated with R-CHOP and do not need more intensive regimens such as R-da-EPOCH. The new indices consist of objectively determined characteristics (extranodal disease or stage IV, bulky disease, and markedly elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase), which are readily available from standard initial staging procedures and offer better discrimination compared with established risk scores (International Prognostic Index [IPI] and age-adjusted IPI)., (© 2021 AlphaMed Press.)

Purpose: To assess and compare the safety and the efficacy of VisThesia™ and Viscoat® in cataract surgery., Methods: This prospective randomized clinical trial included 44 eyes of 44 patients that were assigned randomly to undergo phacoemulsification either with VisThesia™ or with Viscoat®. Preoperative data included age, gender, visual acuity, IOP and mean endothelial cell density. Postoperative, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), IOP, mean endothelial cell density and painful sensation during surgery were recorded., Results: BCVA, evaluated with Snellen chart in decimal fraction, was statistically improved in both groups. Specifically, mean BCVA in VisThesia group was increased from 0.28 ± 1.8 SD preoperatively to 0.83 ± 1.4 SD postoperatively, whereas, in the Viscoat group, BCVA was increased from 0.31 ± 2.1 SD preoperatively, to 0.85 ± 1.2 SD after surgery (p > 0.1). The mean postoperative IOP was lower in the VisThesia group, but the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.1). Preoperatively, the mean endothelial cell count was 2322.3 ± 161.1 SD cells/mm(2) in Viscoat group and 2304.8 ± 142.8 SD cells/mm(2) in the VisThesia group, similar between groups (p > 0.1). At day 15 after cataract surgery the postoperative endothelial cell count was 2102.9 ± 182.8 SD cells/mm(2) in Viscoat group and 2032.6 ± 160.4 SD cells/mm(2) in the VisThesia group (p > 0.1). The mean endothelial cell decrease was 212 cells/mm(2) (9.1%) in the Viscoat group and 272 cells/mm(2) (11.8%) in the VisThesia group. The difference was not statistically significant between the two groups (t-test = 0.18, p > 0.1). This value is within standard normal endothelial cell decrease after a cataract surgery. Painful sensation was not reported during any stage of the procedure., Conclusions: Topical-intracameral anesthesia with VisThesia™ allows cataract surgery without any painful sensation in the majority of patients. Both Viscoat® and VisThesia™ have similar safety profile during intra- and post-operative period and identical endothelial protection, as endothelial cell loss is within normal limits.

Background: Primary bone lymphoma is a rare disease, representing less than 5% of all extra-nodal non-Hodgkin lymphomas., Materials and Methods: We retrospectively searched the database of the lymphoma unit, Hematology/Lymphoma Department, Athens General Hospital 'Evangelismos' for primary bone lymphoma patients. Demographic and clinicopathologic data were collected and overall survival was analyzed. A log-rank test was used in a univariate analysis to identify factors affecting overall survival., Results: We identified 24 and analyzed data from 22 patients. 12 were male (54.5%) and 10 female (45.4%) and their median age was 55 years (range: 19-83). Most patients had localized disease at the time of diagnosis (n = 19, 86.3%), the most common site was the spine (n = 11, 50%) and the most common histology was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. 21 patients received chemotherapy as initial therapy and 16 received combined chemoradiation. 81.8% of the patients (n = 18) achieved complete remission. 5-year survival rate was 86.3% and overall survival was found to be affected by the patients' initial response to treatment., Conclusions: Primary bone lymphoma is usually associated with a good prognosis. Prospective studies are needed in order to clarify the effect of immunochemotherapy in overall survival., (Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Intestinal pseudo-obstruction is a condition characterised by clinical manifestations of mechanical obstruction of the intestine in the absence of any organic occlusion of the lumen. This syndrome has rarely been reported to complicate the course of systemic amyloidosis. We describe the case of a 64-year-old man who presented with the syndrome of small bowel pseudo-obstruction secondary to AL amyloid infiltration of the gastrointestinal tract. We comment on the pathophysiology and on the clinical importance of amyloidosis-associated intestinal pseudo-obstruction.

Introduction: We report a case of early lactobacillus endophthalmitis which occurred ten days after trabeculectomy., Case Presentation: A 76-year-old Caucasian diabetic woman underwent uncomplicated trabeculectomy with a collagen implant as an adjunct, in her left phakic eye, for the treatment of uncontrolled open-angle glaucoma. Ten days post-operatively, our patient complained of left phakic eye discharge pain and visual acuity decreased to "light-perception". The anterior chamber had 3+ cells and flare, and there was also 2 mm layered hypopyon. Vitreous involvement was present obscuring visualization of the fundus. On the same day our patient underwent vitrectomy surgery and intra-vitreal and systemic antibiotics were administered. Vitreous cultures grew Lactobacillus brevis. Our patient responded well to treatment and 30 days after vitrectomy visual acuity improved to 1/10. Six months later our patient underwent cataract surgery. Eight months after initial surgery visual acuity was 2/10 and intra-ocular pressure was 14 mmHg without any anti-glaucoma medication., Conclusions: This is the first report of acute lactobacillus endophthalmitis in the phakic eye of a diabetic patient after trabeculectomy. Glaucoma surgeons should be aware of the potential for acute post-operative endophthalmitis due to rare microorganisms, such as lactobacillus, in glaucoma filtration surgery, especially in diabetic patients. The literature shows an increased risk of endophthalmitis when anti-metabolites are used in conjunction with trabeculectomy. Perhaps, any type of wound healing modulation, such as collagen or mitomycin-C may increase this risk. However, it is unclear at this time and more studies need to be done. In this single case, vitrectomy combined with intra-vitreal and systemic antibiotics were efficient in limiting the devastating sequels of this complication.