{"title":"Morphology and diagnostics of human toxoplasmosis.","authors":"I Röse","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Toxoplasmosis has regained clinical importance. In addition to intrauterine fetal infections, the acquired toxoplasmosis endangers an increasing number of immunocompromised adults. This disease affects not only oncologic patients, but also organ transplant recipients and, above all, AIDS patients. Toxoplasmosis has five clinical subtypes: lymphadenopathy, encephalitis, chorioretinitis, disseminated toxoplasmosis and congenital toxoplasmosis. In biopsies of different organs and autopsies of persons who died as a result of an infectious disease, the pathologist is involved in the diagnostic procedures. The findings of the parasites in tissue specimens still constitute the morphologic feature of toxoplasmosis. Differential diagnosis has been improved by immunohistologic methods for demonstrating toxoplasmas in tissue specimens and by the use of polymerase chain reaction for identification of toxoplasmatic antigens. This review describes the pathomorphology and possibility regarding the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 5-6","pages":"257-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20171598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E Agapitos, P M Pavlopoulos, E Patsouris, P Davaris
{"title":"Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh's disease): a clinicopathologic study of ten cases.","authors":"E Agapitos, P M Pavlopoulos, E Patsouris, P Davaris","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Archival material and clinical data of 10 autopsy cases of Leigh's disease (LS), aged from 44 days to 9 years at death, were reviewed. Development delay, irregular respiration, feeding difficulty, and abnormal eye signs were the most common symptoms. Seizures (five of ten cases) were also frequent. In most patients, the diagnosis of LS was established postmortemly by the presence of symmetrical spongiform lesions affecting several brain centers at autopsy. The histologic examination disclosed associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in six cases, while fatty infiltration of the hepatocytes was observed in four cases. Microvesicular degeneration of the renal tubular epithelial cells was also seen in four cases. Our observations suggest that liver and kidney involvement is a component of LS and that this rare entity has to be considered as a polysystematic disorder, able to affect other organs besides the nervous system and the heart, a fact which has not been emphasized enough in the existing literature.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 5-6","pages":"335-41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20170910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lupus and nonlupus membranous glomerulopathy. Quantitative comparison of the subepithelial deposits and glomerular basement membrane including clinicomorphologic correlations.","authors":"M Danilewicz, M Wagrowska-Danilewicz","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We examined quantitatively 11 renal biopsy specimens from patients with class Va WHO lupus membranous glomerulopathy (LMGN) and 16 from patients with primary (nonlupus) membranous glomerulopathy (NLMGN) for whom both light and electron microscopy as well as immunofluorescence microscopy and full clinical data were available and compared these specimens with six cases of normal controls. In LMGN, subepithelial deposits resembled those seen in stage III of membranous glomerulopathy (MGN) according to the scheme proposed by Churg's group, i.e., for the present study only advanced cases of NLMGN (stage III according to this scheme) were selected. The electron micrographs were scanned in Primax flatbed A4 scanner and morphometric investigations were then performed by means of a computer image analysis system to compare glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickness and the electron-microscopic density of the deposits in LMGN and NLMGN as well as to study whether these parameters could correlate with the clinical data. The study revealed that in LMGN the GBM thickness and the electron-microscopic density of the deposits were significantly increased in comparison with NLMGN. It should also be noted that both in LMGN and NLMGN groups the degree of proteinuria was closely correlated with the density of the deposits, but not with the GBM thickness. Moreover, no correlations were found between serum creatinine and the GBM thickness as well as between serum creatinine and the density of the deposits in these groups. In conclusion, the present data confirm that in LMGN and NLMGN proteinuria mainly depends on density of the subepithelial deposits. Furthermore, in cases with especially high density of these deposits systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) should be taken into consideration, even if this etiology was not clinically suggested at the time of biopsy.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 5-6","pages":"305-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20170906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B A Alexiev, A V Bassarova, S L Popovska, A A Popov, C Z Christov
{"title":"Expression of c-erbB-2 oncogene and p53 tumor suppressor gene in benign and malignant breast tissue: correlation with proliferative activity and prognostic index.","authors":"B A Alexiev, A V Bassarova, S L Popovska, A A Popov, C Z Christov","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The expression of c-erbB-2 oncogene and p53 tumor suppressor gene was studied in methacarn-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens from 58 benign breast lesions and 129 sporadic breast carcinomas, using the supersensitive monoclonal antibodies CB 11 and BP 53-12-1 and the biotin-streptAvidin-amplified methodology. None of the benign lesions studied, which included 36 fibrocystic lesions with mild or florid epithelial hyperplasia, 12 fibrocystic lesions with ADH or ALH and 10 fibroadenomas, demonstrated membrane staining for c-erbB-2 or nuclear immunoreactivity for p53. Overall, 48.06% of primary breast carcinomas showed membrane expression of c-erbB-2, while 28.68% were p53 positive. Those showing p53 immunoreactivity displayed a nuclear and/or cytoplasmic staining type. A significant correlation was seen between c-erbB-2 and p53 expression (r = 0.213, p < 0.05), as well as between c-erbB-2 status and PSNA score (r = 0.221, p < 0.05). In addition, c-erbB-2 and p53, separately or in combination, correlated significantly with the prognostic index. In conclusion, immunohistochemistry of c-erbB-2 and p53 immunohistochemistry allows a better definition of intraductal proliferative lesions and assists in the differentiation between ADH and DCIS. It provides additional clues with regard to the biologic behavior of invasive ductal carcinomas (NOS and medullary).</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 5-6","pages":"271-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20171599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S Tseleni-Balafouta, S I Grigorakis, M Alevizaki, C Karaiskos, P Davaris, D A Koutras
{"title":"Simultaneous occurrence of a medullary and a papillary thyroid carcinoma in the same patient.","authors":"S Tseleni-Balafouta, S I Grigorakis, M Alevizaki, C Karaiskos, P Davaris, D A Koutras","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We present the case of a patient in whom we diagnosed two different thyroid carcinomas (one on each lobe) of distinct histologic type: one derived from the follicular cells (papillary) and one from the C cells (medullary). They were both diagnosed preoperatively by fine needle aspiration (FNA), and the diagnosis was confirmed with histologic examination. \"Inappropriate\" staining with neuroendocrine markers was observed in the papillary tumor. Analysis of tumor tissue for the RET oncogene mutations, commonly found in the MEN2 syndromes, was negative. This case supports the view of a common origin for these two tumor types.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 5-6","pages":"371-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20172047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S A Nair, M B Nair, P G Jayaprakash, T N Rajalekshmy, M K Nair, M R Pillai
{"title":"The basement membrane and tumor progression in the uterine cervix.","authors":"S A Nair, M B Nair, P G Jayaprakash, T N Rajalekshmy, M K Nair, M R Pillai","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Immunocytochemical localization of the basement membrane (BM) proteins laminin, type-IV collagen and fibronectin were analyzed in normal cervical epithelium, low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs), high grade SILs and invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix. A regular, thick and continuous BM was present in normal cervical epithelium and low grade SIL. Interruptions and discontinuity of the BM were more evident in high grade SILs. There was a good correlation between increasing severity of the lesion and increasing number of breaks. In SCC, the distribution of laminin, collagen IV and fibronectin was related to the degree of cellular differentiation, with decreased immunoreactivity being evident in moderately and poorly differentiated tumors. As the invasive potential of the tumor increased, the fragmentation and loss of BM was more evident. Fibronectin showed only moderate to mild immunoreactivity in normal cervical epithelium and low grade SILs. However, the intensity of expression increased in high grade SILs especially in the peritumoral stroma. It may therefore be concluded from these results that snythesis and reabsorption of BM proteins may be related to shifts in cellular metabolism during tumorigenesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 5-6","pages":"297-303"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20170905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A Gruchała, A Niezabitowski, A Wasilewska, K Sikora, J Ryś, W Szklarski, A Jaszcz, B Lackowska, K Herman
{"title":"Rhabdomyosarcoma. Morphologic, immunohistochemical, and DNA study.","authors":"A Gruchała, A Niezabitowski, A Wasilewska, K Sikora, J Ryś, W Szklarski, A Jaszcz, B Lackowska, K Herman","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this study 80 cases of predominantly adult rhabdomyosarcoma are presented as follows: 20 cases of the embryonal type, 32 cases of the alveolar and 8 cases of the pleomorphic type. Additional histologic classification was performed in each type. In myotube stage the histologic picture of fetal muscles cannot be compared to the alveolar type of rhabdomyosarcoma. Desmin and sarcomeric actin are observed in 47.7% of all cases, and myoglobin and myosin in only 23.1%. The reactions were diffuse, disperse, or focal. Electron microscopic study subdivides desmin positive tumors into three groups of differentiation. DNA analysis shows that most desmin positive cells are diploid in comparison to all the tumor cells that are hyperdiploid and tetraploid.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 3-4","pages":"175-84"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20020757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the cervix uteri. A case report.","authors":"L C Horn, U Fischer, K Bilek","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) of the female genital tract are rare and more common in the ovary, but uncommon in the cervix uteri. A 26-year-old woman presented with suspect cervical smears. The conization specimen showed a small cell non-keratinised squamous cell carcinoma with involved margins. The patient underwent radical abdominal hysterectomy and pelvic lymphonodectomy. The microscopic examination showed a densely cellular tumor of small neuroendocrine cells with scanty cytoplasm and rosettes. Immunohistochemically, the cells were slightly positive for NSE and negative for S 100, GFAP, neurofilaments, squamous cell cytokeratin 1, vimentin, desmin and leukocyte common antigen. The diagnosis of PNET, stage pT1b1,N0, M0 was made. The patient underwent adjuvant pelvic radiation. Three years later, pulmonary metastases occured. Radiation therapy of the thorax and six courses of combination chemotherapy (5-FU and cis-platinium) could not prevent tumor progression. The patient died 4.2 years after diagnosis. The autopsy showed widespread lymphatic metastases and hepatic, pulmonal and skeletal metastases and a peritoneal carcinosis. The tumors are resistent to radio- and chemotherapy, and the prognosis is generally poor. Up to 15% foci of squamous or glandular differentiation occur in or adjacent to these tumors. So the authors favor the histogenesis from a pluripotent endocervical stem cell. The neuroendocrine component of mixed tumors improve the prognosis. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize this component.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 3-4","pages":"227-30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20021301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
O Leone, S Piana, G Cenacchi, P A Farneti, E Pilato, D Pacini, R Galli, D Santini, S Pileri
{"title":"Leiomyosarcoma of the pulmonary vein: case report with immunohistochemical and ultrastructural findings.","authors":"O Leone, S Piana, G Cenacchi, P A Farneti, E Pilato, D Pacini, R Galli, D Santini, S Pileri","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We report a case of neoplasia of pulmonary vein in a 45-year-old woman who presented with increasing dyspnea. As a consequence, the neoplasia filled the entire left atrium and appeared to be attached to the left superior pulmonary vein on surgical excision. Histologically, it was composed of a proliferation of sarcomatous cells, with a high mitotic rate and diffuse immunohistochemical positivity for smooth muscle actin, consistent with a leiomyosarcoma. The microscopic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural findings are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 3-4","pages":"235-40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20021303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K Iihara, R Machinami, S Kubota, S Itoyama, A Sato
{"title":"Malignant cystosarcoma phyllodes tumor of the breast mainly composed of chondrosarcoma: a case report.","authors":"K Iihara, R Machinami, S Kubota, S Itoyama, A Sato","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sarcoma of the breast is a very rare occurrence. We experienced a patient with malignant phyllodes tumor, in which a chondrosarcomatous element constituted 90% of the tumor volume. That bone or cartilage may be present in mammary neoplasms has been known for a long time. Most mammary tumors with areas of chondroid metaplasia show a benign histologic appearance. Cystosarcoma phyllodes displaying a chondrosarcomatous element is very rare. The results obtained by echographic and pathologic examinations strongly suggest that the chondrosarcomatous element originates from the fibrous stroma.</p>","PeriodicalId":79430,"journal":{"name":"General & diagnostic pathology","volume":"142 3-4","pages":"241-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20021304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}