[Rare case of giant fibrovascular polyp of the esophagus].

The benign lesions of esophagus constitutes small part of all esophageal tumors and among them giant esophageal polyps are exceptionally rarely reported. The authors present the uncommon case of pedunculated giant fibrovascular polyp (lenght 12cm and diameter 2cm) in the esophagus in a 79-years-old woman who was admitted to our department because of hoarseness, throat discomfort during swallowing and endoral tumor regurgitation during cough. The polyp was removed by minimally invasive approach by endoscopic procedure which was particularly important in our patient because of her advanced age.

[Angiofibroma of the nasal cavity and anterior ethmoid cells--problems in differential diagnosis].

Background: Nasal angiofibromas are commonly called juvenile nasal angiofibromas (JNA) because of the almost exclusive occurrence in adolescent males. It is a relatively rare benign fibrovascular tumor originating in the posterior lateral wall of the nasopharynx with only a very few cases diagnosed in females.

Case Report: Authors present a case of a 26 y.

[Localized amyloidosis of upper respiratory tract].

Amyloidosis results from the deposition of amyloid proteins in organ and tissues. It can be localized or systemic. Amyloidosis may be classified as either primary or secondary.

[Assessment of apoptosis measured with TUNEL in laryngeal cancer].

Programmed cell death is a combined intracellular process. For the activation of apoptosis as proapoptotic genes and antiapoptotic ones are needed as well. There are several methods of apoptosis assessment but in laryngeal cancer prognostic value of apoptotic index is still unclear.

Adhesion molecules and their ligands in nasal polyps of aspirin-hypersensitive patients.

Background: Chronic inflammation with tissue eosinophilia plays a key role in the pathogenesis of asthma and nasal polyps in patients with aspirin hypersensitivity.

Objective: To evaluate the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule I (ICAM-1) and their ligands (the integrins lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 and very late-activation antigen 4 [VLA-4]) in nasal polyps of patients with aspirin hypersensitivity compared with aspirin-tolerant individuals.

Methods: Immunohistochemical studies were performed using a peroxidase method and monoclonal antibodies on 6-microm-thick cryostat sections cut from frozen polyps collected during elective surgery from 21 aspirin-sensitive and 23 aspirin-tolerant patients.