BRAFV600E mutation in the pathogenesis of a large series of papillary thyroid carcinoma in Czech Republic.

Background: Activating point mutation of the BRAF gene, the most common genetic alteration reported in papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), has been associated with poor prognostic characteristics.

Aim: Our objective was to determine the frequency of BRAFV600E mutation in PTC tumor tissues from the period 1960-2007 and to correlate it with clinicopathological parameters.

Subjects And Methods: DNAs were extracted from 242 PTCs, 23 sporadic medullary carcinomas, one anaplastic carcinoma and 6 poorly differentiated carcinomas.

Atrophy of type II fibres in myasthenia gravis muscle in thymectomized patients: steroid-induced change with prognostic impact.

Selective atrophy of type II muscle fibres has been long recognized as an enigmatic but consistent feature of myasthenia gravis (MG) muscle; however, the pathophysiology and the mechanism of that change have remained obscure. In the present study, the results of histomorphometric analysis performed on muscle biopsies from 207 thymectomized seropositive MG patients were correlated with clinical features of MG to demonstrate possible pathophysiological associations and potential prognostic impact. The atrophy of type II fibres was verified in 35 cases (16.