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Soft tissue sarcomas are rare, but early, accurate diagnosis with subsequent appropriate treatment is crucial for the clinical outcome. The ESSR guidelines are intended to help radiologists in their decision-making and support discussion among clinicians who deal with patients with suspected or proven soft tissue tumors. Potentially malignant lesions recognized by ultrasound should be referred for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which also serves as a preoperative local staging modality, with specific technical requirements and mandatory radiological report elements. Radiography may add information about matrix calcification and osseous involvement. Indeterminate lesions, or lesions in which therapy is dependent on histology results, should be biopsied. For biopsy, we strongly recommend referral to a specialist sarcoma center, where an interdisciplinary tumor group, with a specialized pathologist, radiologist, and the surgeon are involved. In sarcoma, a CT scan of the chest is mandatory. Additional staging modalities are entity-specific. There are no evidence-based recommendations for routine follow-up in surgically treated sarcomas. However, we would recommend regular follow-up with intervals dependent on tumor grade, for 10 years after the initial diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diphtheria represents a serious infectious disease with high epidemic potential. Could be preventable by vaccination (minimum 95% vaccination coverage at 1 year; 90% in adults). It is considered as a re-emerging disease, exemplified by diphtheria epidemic in the period 1991-1995 in all CIS countries. In Europe, in 2008-2010, 77 cases of diphtheria were clinically and microbiologically confirmed. "Imported" toxigenic strains of C. diphtheriae are circulating in developing countries, where diphtheria is still endemic. This disease still reprents a threat because of sporadically occuring in developed countries. In Romania, there were no reported diphtheria cases since 1989. Number of non-toxigenic strains isolated in territory ranged from 356 isolates in 1995 and 40 in 2007. Currently, we cannot establish if there is a real and significant reduction of C. diphtheriae reported strains or this is due to a lower interest for surveillance by laboratory, in the country. It is also not known the involvement in pathology, in Romania, for other species belonging to the genus Corynebacterium (including for immunocompromised patients). The objective of this paper is to produce and disseminate a diagnostic algorithm for suspected diphtheria cases and identification to species level of all strains belonging to the genus Corynebacterium. Diagnostic algorithm will be available to Public Health Authorities in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anemia is a presentation of an underlying disease or deficiency. As stated by the WHO, anemia is defined as hemoglobin (Hb) levels <12.0 g/dL in women and <13.0 g/dL in men. This review of clinical practice aimed to determine the diagnostic approach to anemia in primary care patients., Summary: Nutritional deficiencies, medications, chronic inflammatory conditions, malignancy, renal dysfunction, and bone marrow and inherent disorders contribute to anemia development. Anemia is classified and diagnosed by the values of hematological parameters, underlying pathological mechanism, and patient history. The diagnostic approach of anemia in primary care settings is focused on history, physical examination, laboratory findings including complete blood cell count, reticulocyte count, and peripheral smear examination, fecal occult blood test, and ultrasound findings., Key Messages: Anemia is the most common hematological disorder that represents a major health burden worldwide. Hb levels alter with gender, ethnicity, and physiological status. Anemia is often multifactorial. The evaluation of a patient with anemia in primary care includes clinical history, physical examination, and laboratory findings with fecal occult blood test and abdominal ultrasound. The wide variations in general practice in European countries are based on different health care systems but also knowledge of GPs that reflect educational and research policy., (© 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Patient registries are instrumental for clinical research in rare diseases. They help to achieve a sufficient sample size for epidemiological and clinical research and to assess the feasibility of clinical trials. The European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) registry currently comprises information on more than 25,000 patients with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). The prerequisite of a patient to be included into the ESID registry is an IEI either defined by a defect in a gene included in the disease classification of the international union of immunological societies, or verified by applying clinical criteria. Because a relevant number of patients, including those with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), representing the largest group of patients in the registry, remain without a genetic diagnosis, consensus on classification of these patients is mandatory. Here, we present clinical criteria for a large number of IEI that were designed in expert panels with an external review. They were implemented for novel entries and verification of existing data sets from 2014, yielding a substantial refinement. For instance, 8% of adults and 27% of children with CVID (176 of 1704 patients) were reclassified to 22 different immunodeficiencies, illustrating progress in genetics, but also the previous lack of standardized disease definitions. Importantly, apart from registry purposes, the clinical criteria are also helpful to support treatment decisions in the absence of a genetic diagnosis or in patients with variants of unknown significance., (Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. All rights reserved.)