Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) constitutes 2% of extranodal lymphomas and 0,3%-1,5% of all intracranial neoplasms in immunocompetent patients, being more frequent after the sixth decade of life. We report a case of a 76 year-old man with no antecedents who started his disease with march instability, difficulty to move left side of his body with brachial predominance, holocraneal headache and dizziness. He arrived at emergency with Glasgow 14 and right eyelid ptosis. He had left sided hemiparesis and hypoesthesia with crural predominance and occasional disorientation. Brain computed tomography (CT) showed a contrastenhanced image in the right frontoparietal region with both extra- and intra-cranial components, cerebral edema and middle line deviation. Craniotomy and biopsy of the tumor resulted in diffuse large B cell lymphoma of the central nervous system. The patient wa...

Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are still major health problems worldwide, affecting especially preschool children and pregnant women. The objectives of this article are: a) To describe the laboratory tests for diagnosing IDA and the factors that may influence results of the serum ferritin and the other iron biomarkers ; b) To present advances in iron metabolism, i.e. the critical regulatory role of hepcidin in the absorption and utilization of iron ; c) To describe the impact this new knowledge has had in the design of clinical investigations comparing the absorption of iron following oral supplementation given in consecutive days vs. alternate days schedules; and, d) To describe the clinical situations in which intravenous iron is indicated as secondary or first-line treatment. The concepts expressed and the suggestions made in this article are based on updated li...