Treatment options for malignant hemangioendotheliomas of the thyroid.

Background: Malignant hemangioendotheliomas of the thyroid are rare tumors predominantly seen in areas with endemic goiter such as the Alpine regions. The estimated incidence of the disease is between 0.15 and 0.

A small prospective study of chordomas treated with radiotherapy and razoxane.

Purpose: To evaluate the local effect of conventional photon irradiation in chordomas if the radiosensitizing agent razoxane is added. The rationale for this procedure were improved results previously seen in soft tissue and chondrosarcomas with this combination.

Patients And Methods: Between 1988 and 1996, five patients with histologically confirmed chordomas of the skull base or the spine (three females, two males) were irradiated with 6- and 25-MeV photons under razoxane medication, one patient was treated with a telecobalt unit.

Is sentinel lymph node biopsy reliable and indicated after preoperative chemotherapy in patients with breast carcinoma?

Background: Many studies support the concept and accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) for staging patients with breast carcinoma, which can be performed with low morbidity in lymph node negative patients. Preoperative chemotherapy (PC) plays an important role in the treatment of patients with operable breast carcinoma and is another approach with which to reduce radical surgery in patients with more advanced disease. It is of interest whether the sentinel lymph node accurately represents the axillary status after PC and, thus, whether the sentinel node concept can be applied to both groups.

Aggressive angiomyxoma: irradiation for recurrent disease.

Background: Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a tumor of the soft tissues predominately occurring in the genital and pelvic area with a strong propensity to local recurrences. The entity was first described in 1983. The tumor is regarded as low-grade sarcoma by some authors; its cause and pathogenesis are presently unknown.

[Advanced breast biopsy instrumentation (ABBI). Histopathologic evaluation of a new investigation method].

The ABBI (advanced breast biopsy instrumentation) system has only recently been available for diagnostic excisional biopsy of small, non-palpable lesions of the breast. Between 1.1.

[Focal proliferation in reactive hyperplastic parathyroid tissue in end-stage renal failure--implication for autotransplantation after total parathyroidectomy].

Total parathyroidectomy with simultaneous autotransplantation may be associated with recurrence of graft-dependent hyperfunction due to excessive proliferation. We performed macroscopic tissue selection with a stereomicroscope prior to autotransplantation, which resulted in very low recurrence rates. As this technique greatly depends on experience, we investigated the possibility of additionally using proliferation staining (PCNA, MIB-1) for the detection of dysfunctional tissue.

[Correlation of histology of the primary tumor with liver metastases in colorectal carcinoma].

The histology of colorectal tumors was correlated with the presence of liver metastases in a retrospective study performed on 179 patients who were autopsied between 1975 and 1990. For the analysis of metastatic patterns, 116 cases with at least one distant metastatic site were selected. A distinct relationship between mucin expression of colorectal tumors and liver involvement was found.

[Sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer--a minimally invasive procedure for staging of the axilla].

Clinical examinations and imaging methods are not sufficiently reliable for an exact staging of axillary nodes in breast cancer. The sentinel node biopsy concept is a minimally invasive procedure to locate and remove the first and important nodes responsible for draining a tumor. Histologic examinations using immunohistochemical methods permit more accurate staging than hematoxylin and eosin staining alone.

[Malignant hemangioendothelioma of the thyroid gland: new results on pathogenesis, therapy and prognosis].

Background: Malignant hemangioendothelioma of the thyroid is a rare tumor predominantly described in areas with endemic goiter like the Alpine regions. The estimated incidence of the disease is between 0.15 and 0.

[Generalized osteopathy with pathological fractures in a patient with long-term exposure to fluorine-containing plastics].

In a 68-year-old man with a painful syndrome of the lower extremities which began at the age of 64 years, workup revealed a generalized osteopathy with sclerosis of the axial skeleton and osteopenia at the extremities associated with pathologic fractures. The occupational history showed exposure to several synthetics such as vinyl chloride, polyethylene, delrine and polyamides over 30 years. However, a presumptive connection between the skeletal disorder and the occupational exposure could not initially be substantiated.

[Prognosis and epidemiology of malignant hemangioendotheliomas of the thyroid gland].

Five new cases of malignant hemangioendothelioma of the thyroid are reported. This rare malignant tumor is described predominantly in regions with endemic goiter such as the Alpine zone. The estimated incidence of the disease is between 0.

[Experiences with total parathyroidectomy and autotransplantation of intraoperatively selected parathyroid tissue in reactive renal hyperparathyroidism].

Surgery is indicated in cases of therapy-resistant reactive renal hyperparathyroidism with clinical symptoms and signs. The method of choice is total parathyroidectomy, with autotransplantation of parathyroid tissue into the forearm musculature. Twenty-two patients were parathyroidectomized.

Resistance of gram-negative bacilli and staphylococci from blood cultures to aminoglycoside antibiotics. Comparison of 3 in vitro investigations from Austria 1982-1988.

A total of 790 blood culture isolates was collected during 3 study periods in 1982/83, 1984/85 and 1987/88. Staphylococci were the most frequent bacteria in the first two periods (56.5% and 63%, respectively).

Occult papillary carcinoma of the thyroid with pulmonary lymphangitic spread diagnosed by lung biopsy.

Distant metastases from occult papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, which is defined as a tumor less than 15 mm in diameter, are extremely rare. A 21-year-old patient with miliary micronodular densities in both lungs is described, in whom pulmonary lymphangitic spread of occult papillary thyroid carcinoma was diagnosed by transthoracic lung biopsy.

[Acute cardiac death in chronic-ischemic heart disease (CIHD)].

Ischemic heart disease as a basic disease with accompanying findings and exogenous factors comes to a typical triad of SCD. There is a critical midlife situation due to O2-shortage. Dispositional and situational conditions come to be important, especially in cases in which morphological substrates are absent.

[Bronchial cancer from the viewpoint of 2 neighboring regional cancer registers].

From follow-up examinations on 460 male and 67 female patients with bronchial cancer during the years 1981 and 1982 in the cantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell/Switzerland, as well as from the region of Vorarlberg/Austria various morphological and clinically registered parameters of importance to oncology were comparatively analysed. These regional clinical cancer registers have existed for many years and are recognized legitimately and clinically as an important partial aspect in diagnostic, therapy and prophylaxis of malignant tumours.

[A so-called atypical adenoma of the thyroid in an endemic struma area].

In view of the benign clinical course of the atypical adenoma and the high diagnostic accuracy of our frozen sections we feel that subtotal strumectomy with in toto removal of the adenoma and closely spaced follow-ups constitutes an adequate treatment of this thyroid neoplasm. In our opinion primary lobectomy means unnecessarily exposing a disproportionately high percentage of patients to the higher complication risk of this more radical surgery. From 1977 to 1982 there were 47 cases of atypical adenoma among our patients.

[Intraoperative rapid biopsy of thyroid neoplasms and surgical procedures in atypical adenoma].

For a differential diagnosis of atypical adenoma and highly differentiated follicular carcinoma cryosections are of value only if findings are positive. Between 1977 and 1982 we observed 85 thyroid carcinomas and 47 atypical adenomas. In 5 cases the diagnosis on the basis of a cryosection had failed to detect a carcinoma.

[Resistance of blood culture isolates in vitro to 4 aminoglycoside antibiotics in Austria--1982/83].

Over the period September 1982 to February 1983 268 blood culture isolates were consecutively collected in 4 microbiological laboratories in Austria (Linz, Vienna, Graz, Feldkirch) and 251 of these strains (streptococci excluded) were tested for resistance to Gentamicin (G), Tobramycin (T), Netilmicin (N) and Amikacin (A) using a microtitre broth dilution method. This investigation was part of an international study. Of the bacterial strains examined 57% were staphylococci (34% Staphylococcus aureus) and 43% gram-negative rods (18% E.

[Clinical aspects of pseudomyxoma peritonei].

On the basis of two cases the problems of peritoneal pseudomyxoma (PP) are discussed with respect to pathogenesis, clinical diagnosis and therapy. The abundant quantities of mucus present in the peritoneal cavity in this syndrome originate primarily in ruptured histologically malignant or benign mucous ovarian cystomas or benign mucocele or mucogenic carcinomas of the appendix, respectively. Independent of the histological findings the clinical course and consequently the prognosis of PP basically depends on the amounts of mucus present.