Inflammatory aortic aneurysm: possible manifestation of IgG4-related sclerosing disease.

In this study, we investigate the hypothesis that IgG4-related autoimmune reaction is involved in the formation of inflammatory aortic aneurysms (IAA). We obtained 23 cases of IAA and 11 cases of atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms (AAA) as control group. We evaluated the expression of IgG4 in both IAA study cases and AAA control cases.

Pathology of Black Creek Canal virus infection in juvenile hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus).

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of inoculum dose on the pathogenesis of Black Creek Canal virus (BCCV) infection in the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), the principal host of BCCV. No sign of illness was observed in any of the 52 juvenile hispid cotton rats inoculated with 3.1, 1.

In utero drugs of abuse exposure testing for newborn twins.

This report describes testing of a case of in utero drugs of abuse exposure in which discordant results were seen between urine and meconium, and between twin meconium samples. The discordance between urine and meconium could be explained by the differences in detection window, threshold concentration and screening technology, and the discordance between dizygotic twin meconium samples could be explained by the differences in drug diffusion and placental and fetal biotransformation of drugs. The meconium sample of one twin screened negative for benzodiazepines was reported positive in the confirmation assay with higher sensitivity and a lower cut-off concentration.

Cytodiagnosis in the autopsy suite: a tool for improving autopsy quality and resident education.

Context: Despite several publications attesting to its accuracy and value, cytology is rarely used for preliminary autopsy diagnosis in the United States. Postmortem cytodiagnosis has the potential to increase the accuracy and specificity of the provisional and final autopsy diagnoses, increase resident interest in cytodiagnostic techniques, and direct pathologists to request pertinent special studies, such as microbial cultures and special stains.

Objective: To assess and illustrate the value of cytodiagnostic techniques for improving autopsy quality assurance and resident education.

Pathologic features of Mycobacterium kansasii infection in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Context: Mycobacterium kansasii is a slow-growing photochromogenic mycobacterium that may infect patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) late in the course of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The clinical features of pulmonary and extrapulmonary infections have been described in the literature; however, the pathology of infection has not been adequately addressed.

Objective: This report describes the pathologic features of 12 cases of M kansasii infection in patients with AIDS.

Infection by Dipylidium caninum in an infant.

Dipylidium caninum, the dog tapeworm, is a cosmopolitan parasite of dogs and cats and occasionally causes human infection in the United States. Diagnosis is made by observing the characteristic rice grain-like proglottids in stool specimens and the pathognomonic egg packets in the gravid uterus in histologic sections of the parasite. There have been few reported cases of human infection with this parasite, and very little information on the pathology of this zoonotic disease is available in the English language.

Maporal viral infection in the Syrian golden hamster: a model of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a severe and often fatal rodent-borne zoonosis. Maporal (MAP) virus is a newly discovered hantavirus that originally was isolated from an arboreal rice rat captured in central Venezuela. The results of this study indicate that MAP virus in the Syrian golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) can cause a disease that is clinically and pathologically remarkably similar to HPS.

Expression of CD4 on peripheral blood granulocytes. a novel finding in a case of myelodysplastic syndrome in association with t(5;12).

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are associated with cell maturation defects that can manifest as abnormal surface antigen expression. We describe a patient with refractory anemia with excess blasts, who presented with infection and extensive dysplastic features in peripheral blood granulocytes. The granulocytes expressed CD11b, CD13, CD15, CD33, and CD43.