Differential diagnosis of heart tumours.

Cardiac tumours represent a wide spectrum of neoplastic and non-neoplastic masses. Plenty of them, especially primary cardiac neoplasias, are rare diseases. Last revision of WHO classification introduced several changes in their histopathological assessment.

Presence of DNA in the amniotic fluid in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to assess the rate and load of amniotic fluid DNA and their associations with intra-amniotic infection and intra-uterine inflammatory complications in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM). The secondary aim was to assess the short-term morbidity of newborns from PPROM pregnancies complicated by amniotic fluid DNA.

Methods: A retrospective study of 788 women with singleton pregnancies complicated by PPROM between 24 + 0 and 36 + 6 weeks of gestation was performed.

Cervical human papillomavirus infection in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Objective: To evaluate the association between cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection at the time of admission and the presence of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI) in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) and to determine the association between cervical HPV infection and short-term neonatal morbidity.

Methods: One hundred women with singleton pregnancies complicated by PPROM between the gestational ages of 24+0 and 36+6 weeks were included in the study. The presence of HPV DNA was evaluated in scraped cervical cells using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Association of Atrial Fibrillation with Morphological and Electrophysiological Changes of the Atrial Myocardium.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. For long time it was considered as pure functional disorder, but in recent years, there were identified atrial locations, which are involved in the initiation and maintenance of this arrhythmia. These structural changes, so called remodelation, start at electric level and later they affect contractility and morphology.

EGFR in triple negative breast carcinoma: significance of protein expression and high gene copy number.

Background: As up to 60 % of triple negative breast carcinomas are reported to express EGFR, the receptor is a potential target for biological therapy. The exact role EGFR plays in triple negative breast carcinoma (TNBC) biology, however, remains uncertain. We aimed to discover associations between EGFR protein expression as well as gene copy number changes and clinico-pathologic TNBC characteristics.

[Practical comments on examination of placenta in the second and third trimester of gravidity].

The authors present a short summary of placental pathology for the general pathologist. Practical tips for macroscopic examination of formalin-fixed material are listed and several cases are presented for illustration of the theoretical text.

[Morphological and electrophysiological changes of the heart atria in necropsy patients with atrial fibrillation - a pilot study].

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common supraventricular tachycardia, has a morphological base, so called remodelation of atrial myocardium, with its abnormal conduction pattern as a consequence. The remodelation regards electrical, contractile, and structural properties. In this pilot study we attempted to find relations between the myocardial morphological (scarring, amyloidosis, left atrial enlargement) and electrophysiological (ECG characteristics of the P-wave) changes in patients with AF.

Histopathology of aspirated thrombi during primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Thrombus aspiration in the setting of primary percutaneous coronary intervention is a recently recommended technique that facilitates thrombus removal from the culprit lesions in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. Thrombectomy specimens from 50 patients with symptoms of AMI lasting usually not more than 12 h were examined by methods of routine histology, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and electron microscopy (ELMI). In 36 patients, there were fresh thrombi, in 10 older thrombi (8 of them with simultaneous presence of a fresh thrombi) and in 3 atheroma material only (in additional 7 patients atheroma material was admixed to the thrombi), and in one patient, there was carcinoma embolus.