Frozen section diagnosis in donor liver biopsies: observer variation of semiquantitative and quantitative steatosis assessment.

Donor livers are not generally accepted for liver transplantation if intraoperative frozen section histology on wedge biopsies provides evidence for more severe steatosis. In this reliability study, assessment of steatosis in donor liver biopsies by different approaches (frozen sections vs. paraffin sections; macrovesicular steatosis vs.

Klatskin tumour: meticulous preoperative work-up and resection rate.

Background: Surgery represents the only potentially curative treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (hilCC). It may be suggested that meticulous preoperative work-up in Asian countries leads to higher resection rates.

Method: One hundred and eighty-two patients treated in our department between 1998 and 2008 were included in an analysis based on our prospectively recorded database.

Expression of E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in so-called 'negative' appendices: first results to support the pathological diagnosis in borderline cases.

Background: Since the rate of histologically 'negative' appendices still ranges between 15 and 20%, appendicitis in 'borderline' cases remains a challenging disease. As previously described, cell adhesion molecule expression correlates with different stages of appendicitis. Therefore, it was of interest to determine whether the 'negative' appendix correlated with the absence of E-selectin or vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1).

CT-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy in oncology outpatients: sensitivity, specificity, complications.

Background: Inpatient CT-guided core needle biopsies are an integral diagnostic method to obtain a histology from lesions of unknown dignity in oncology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate feasibility, sensitivity, specificity, and complication rate of diagnostic CT-guided percutaneous core needle biopsies in oncology outpatients.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of all oncology outpatients who received CT-guided core needle biopsies between August 2001 and March 2005.

Primary human coculture model of alveolo-capillary unit to study mechanisms of injury to peripheral lung.

In order to delineate individual pathomechanisms in acute lung injury and pulmonary toxicology, we developed a primary coculture system to simulate the human alveolo-capillary barrier. Human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMEC) were cocultivated with primary isolated human type II alveolar epithelial cells (HATII) on opposite sides of a permeable filter support, thereby constituting a bilayer. Within 7-11 days of coculture, the HATII cells partly transdifferentiated to type-I-like (HATI-like) cells, as demonstrated by morphological changes from a cuboidal to a flattened morphology, the loss of HATII-cell-specific organelles and the increase of HATI-cell-related markers (caveolin-1, aquaporin-5, receptor for advanced glycation end-products).

C-kit and its ligand stem cell factor: potential contribution to prostate cancer bone metastasis.

The tyrosine kinase receptor c-kit and its ligand stem cell factor (SCF) have not been explored in prostate cancer (PC) bone metastasis. Herein, we found that three human PC cell lines and bone marrow stromal cells express a membrane-bound SCF isoform and release a soluble SCF. Bone marrow stromal cells revealed strong expression of c-kit, whereas PC cells showed very low levels of the receptor or did not express it all.

TA-MUC1 epitope in non-small cell lung cancer.

MUC1 (CD227), an established tumor marker, is expressed on glandular epithelia and on epithelial tumors. Tumor MUC1 differs from normal MUC1 by modified glycan side chains. Recently, a novel carbohydrate-induced conformational tumor-associated MUC1 epitope (TA-MUC1) was described, whose clinical relevance in lung cancer is not known.

[Mast cell-rich aluminium granuloma].

Persistent subcutaneous nodules arise at the injection sites of aluminium hydroxide-absorbed hyposensitization solutions. We present a hitherto unreported phenomenon in aluminium granuloma. Two years after specific immunotherapy, a patient suffered increasingly from urticaria.

Methylene blue-aided cholangioscopy in patients with biliary strictures: feasibility and outcome analysis.

Background And Study Aims: Chromoendoscopy using methylene blue is employed in the gastrointestinal tract to delineate neoplastic lesions. We tested the value of chromoendoscopy during choledochoscopy for characterization of local inflammation, neoplasias, and other alterations in patients with biliary strictures.

Methods: Patients with suspected biliary lesions were scheduled for endoscopic retrograde cholangiography with subsequent cholangioscopy.

The prognostic impact of blood group-related antigen Lewis Y and the ABH blood groups in resected non-small cell lung cancer.

The blood group antigen Lewis Y is expressed on epithelial tumors of the respiratory, digestive and reproductive system. Despite being regarded as an attractive target for immunotherapy, its function is still not well defined and its prognostic value remains a subject of discussion. Eighty-three paraffin-embedded tissue sections of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in stage I-IIIa, who underwent surgical resection of the primary tumor (73% male; 43% adenocarcinoma), were stained with a new, highly specific monoclonal antibody against Lewis Y (clone A70-C/C8).

Malignant and unclear histological findings in incidentalomas.

Background: The management of incidentalomas with tumor size 3 cm and larger is still under controversial discussion.

Study Design: Clinical charts of 65 patients who underwent adrenalectomy for an incidentaloma were reviewed.

Results: Sixty-five patients were operated.

Resistance of the internal mammary artery to restenosis: a histomorphologic study of various porcine arteries.

Background/aims: Restenosis after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of the internal mammary artery (IMA) grafts is much less pronounced than in other arteries and venous grafts. The aim of the study was to test whether various arteries respond differently to dilatation.

Methods: PTA of the IMA, carotid, renal and circumflex coronary (RCx) arteries was performed in 9 pigs (balloon to artery ratio of 1:1.

Intraoperative assessment of liver organ condition by the procurement surgeon.

Unlabelled: Generally the transplanting surgeon accepts or declines the offer of a marginal organ in view of all available information. Hence, in some cases it is the procurement surgeon who decides about the suitability for potential further liver transplantation.

Methods: From January 1, 2003 to September 30, 2005, a total of 402 organ procurement operations were performed in our region.

Frequent chromosomal gains in recurrent juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) is a rare benign tumor, mostly affecting adolescent males. Some patients develop recurrences after surgery independently of completeness of removal. Only very limited data concerning underlying chromosomal changes are available.

Tacrolimus monotherapy without steroids after liver transplantation--a prospective randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial.

Early steroid withdrawal after liver transplantation (LT) is desirable in order to reduce steroid side effects. Between February 2000 and August 2004, 110 patients after LT were included in this prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Randomization was performed before LT.

D2-40 labeling in lymphangiomyoma/lymphangiomyomatosis of the soft tissue: further evidence of lymphangiogenic tumor histogenesis.

We examined ten cases of extrapulmonary lymphangioleiomyoma/lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM; all patients female; median age 46.5 years) for immunohistochemical labeling with a monoclonal antibody against podoplanin (D2-40), which is specific for lymphatic endothelial lining. We found positive staining in thin-wall branching vessels reflecting the lymphatic nature of tumor vessels in all cases tested.

Transarterial chemoembolization before liver transplantation in 60 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Tumor recurrence is a major problem after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In 60 patients OLT was performed for HCC after pretreatment by repeated transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Forty-four recipients exceeded the Milan criteria.

Dysfunction of the non-neuronal cholinergic system in the airways and blood cells of patients with cystic fibrosis.

The non-neuronal cholinergic system is widely expressed in human airways, skin and immune cells. Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), acetylcholine and nicotine/muscarine receptors are demonstrated in epithelial surface cells, submucosal glands, airway smooth muscle fibres and immune cells. Moreover, acetylcholine is involved in the regulation of cell functions like proliferation, differentiation, migration, organization of the cytoskeleton, cell-cell contact, secretion and transport of ions and water.

Release of non-neuronal acetylcholine from the isolated human placenta is affected by antidepressants.

Non-neuronal acetylcholine (ACh) is released from the human placenta into the extracellular space via organic cation transporters (OCTs). The present experiments investigated whether ACh release from epithelial cells is affected by drugs which are substrates of OCTs. The antidepressant drugs amitriptyline and doxepine were tested as both substances are not approved for pregnant women but frequently used.

[Massive hemorrhage in a 28-year-old male patient with intestinal Behçet's disease].

A 28-year-old man was admitted to the emergency room of our hospital after syncope and acute gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of numerous oral and genital ulcerations as well as uveitis anterior and erythema nodosum, the diagnosis of Behçet's disease had been confirmed previously. The bleeding focus could not be detected by endoscopy.

Response to transarterial chemoembolization as a biological selection criterion for liver transplantation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Criteria to select patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for liver transplantation (LT) are based on tumor size and number of nodules rather than on tumor biology. The present study was undertaken to assess the role of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in selecting patients with tumors suitable for LT. Ninety-six consecutive patients with HCC were treated by repeatedly performed TACE, 62 of them exceeding the Milan criteria.

Image cytometric DNA analysis of mucosal biopsies in patients with primary achalasia.

Aim: To determine DNA aneuploidy in mucosal biopsies of achalasia patients for subsequent rapid diagnosis.

Methods: Biopsies from the middle third of the esophagus were obtained in 15 patients with achalasia. Immunohistochemical staining was carried out with monoclonal antibodies MIB-1 for Ki67 and PAb 1801 for p53, in addition to the conventional histologic examination for dysplasia.

[Second reading of breast imaging at the hospital department of radiology: reasonable or waste of money?].

Purpose: To assess the effect of a second diagnostic reading of breast imaging at a university department of radiology.

Material And Methods: The diagnostic reports of first readers from different private radiology practices and the reports of second readers from the university department of radiology were compared with the histological results (n = 214) and outcome of follow-ups for 4 years (n = 74) in 236 patients (mean age 55 years). BI-RADS categories were used for this purpose.