Rhabdomyosarcoma with epithelioid morphology: A challenging cytologic diagnosis in a pleural effusion.

Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) are rare malignant skeletal muscle tumors that present more commonly in pediatric populations. The WHO currently classifies RMS into four types, embryonal, alveolar, pleomorphic, and spindle cell/sclerosing variants. Epithelioid rhabdomyosarcoma (EpiRMS) is another rare, recently described subtype of RMS presenting in older patients with a male predominance and has a rapidly progressive clinical course with frequent metastases.

Mycophenolate Mofetil and Pulmonary Fibrosis After Kidney Transplantation: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) induced lung disease has been described in only a few isolated reports. We report a case of fatal respiratory failure associated with MMF after kidney transplantation. CASE REPORT A 50-year-old Hispanic male with a history of end-stage renal disease secondary to hypertension underwent deceased donor kidney transplantation.

Wound healing in the paranasal sinuses after Coblation, Part II: evaluation for endoscopic sinus surgery using a sheep model.

Background: A previous study on wound healing with a rabbit model showed thermal injury to sinus mucosa with complete respiratory re-epithelialization by postoperative day (POD) 29. This study was designed to further understand the pattern of injury using the bipolar radiofrequency plasma process used by the Coblator and evaluate postprocedure healing.

Methods: Based on experience with our rabbit model, three sheep underwent endoscopic sinus surgery.

Wound healing in the rabbit paranasal sinuses after Coblation: evaluation for use in endoscopic sinus surgery.

Background: Bipolar radiofrequency can be used surgically to excise and cauterize tissue simultaneously. It has potential for use in endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). This study was performed to determine the extent and pattern of injury in the paranasal sinuses with bipolar radiofrequency and evaluate wound healing.

Racial differences in sarcoidosis granuloma density.

Study Objectives: While sarcoidosis generally inflicts a greater morbidity on African-American compared with Caucasian patients, no studies have examined whether racial differences exist in the intensity of the histologic hallmark of sarcoidosis, noncaseating granulomas.

Design And Setting: The study was conducted as a retrospective case series in a tertiary referral center.

Patients: The study included 187 patients with histopathologic confirmation of sarcoidosis by trans- and/or endobronchial biopsy between July 1991 and December 2001.

Use of a new method in reaching consensus on the cause of cytologic-histologic correlation discrepancy.

Pathologists exhibit very poor agreement in adjudicating the cause of cytologic-histologic correlation discrepancies, which contributes to problems in designing interventions to reduce discrepancy frequency. In this observational study, we developed a visual method of adjudicating discrepancy cause, termed the No-Blame Box method, which consisted of initially assessing specimen interpretability by separately evaluating specimen quality and the presence of tumor. Five pathologists blindly adjudicated the cause of discrepancy in pulmonary specimens from 40 patients.

The "Big Dog" effect: variability assessing the causes of error in diagnoses of patients with lung cancer.

Purpose: The frequency of diagnostic error in patients who have a lung mass and a pathology specimen is as high as 15%. This study examined the role of inter-pathologist agreement in identifying the cause of error in these patients.

Methods: Pathologists from six institutions reviewed the slides of 40 patients who had a pulmonary specimen false-negative diagnosis.

Double slide viewing as a cytology quality improvement initiative.

Few studies have measured the effect of pre-sign out double viewing of cytology cases as a means to decrease error. Three Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded project sites performed pre-sign out double viewing of 431 pulmonary cytology cases. Two-step or more differences in diagnosis were arbitrated as interpretive errors, and the effect of double viewing was measured by comparing the frequency of cytologic-histologic correlation-detected errors in the previous 2 years with the double-viewing period.

Low hospital mortality in patients with acute interstitial pneumonia.

Study Objectives: To compare the presenting features and outcome of patients with acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) with other patients with diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) and with historical control subjects.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: A large, urban, teaching hospital.

Developmental lung anomalies in the adult: radiologic-pathologic correlation.

Encountering a developmental lung anomaly in the adult can be a challenge, as the abnormality may be mistaken for something more sinister. The common anomalies encountered are classified into three broad categories: bronchopulmonary (lung bud) anomalies, vascular anomalies, and combined lung and vascular anomalies. The imaging features of these developmental anomalies at conventional radiography, ventilation-perfusion lung nuclear scanning, angiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging are useful in differential diagnosis of thoracic lesions.