An autopsy case of fatal acute peritonitis complicated by illegal acupuncture therapy.

Acupuncture is an alternative medical therapy and widely practiced in Northeast Asia. Although it is known as a safe procedure, complications including infection, pneumothorax, hemorrhage, and cardiac tamponade have been reported. The authors present a rare case of fatal acute peritonitis due to penetration of acupuncture needles directly into the abdominal and pelvic cavity.

Plasma components affect accuracy of circulating cancer-related microRNA quantitation.

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as candidate biomarkers of various diseases and conditions including malignancy and pregnancy. This approach requires sensitive and accurate quantitation of miRNA concentrations in body fluids. Herein we report that enzyme-based miRNA quantitation, which is currently the mainstream approach for identifying differences in miRNA abundance among samples, is skewed by endogenous serum factors that co-purify with miRNAs and anticoagulant agents used during collection.

Upregulated amniotic fluid cytokines and chemokines in emergency cerclage with protruding membranes.

PROBLEM  To identify the prognostic factors for pregnancy outcome in women who received emergency cerclage for dilated cervix with protruding membranes. METHOD OF STUDY  A prospective cohort study was performed, and a total of 14 women who received emergency cerclage were included. Clinical features and laboratory findings including amniotic fluid cytokines and chemokines were compared between women who had successful pregnancy (survival group, n = 6) and those who had perinatal death (non-survival group, n = 8).

Selective release of microRNA species from normal and malignant mammary epithelial cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in body fluids are candidate diagnostics for a variety of conditions and diseases, including breast cancer. One premise for using extracellular miRNAs to diagnose disease is the notion that the abundance of the miRNAs in body fluids reflects their abundance in the abnormal cells causing the disease. As a result, the search for such diagnostics in body fluids has focused on miRNAs that are abundant in the cells of origin.

Metastasizing dermatofibroma in lung.

Benign dermatofibroma is very common skin tumor and can very rarely metastasize. We report a case of metastasizing dermatofibroma on a 36-year-old woman who presented multiple bilateral lung nodules. She underwent incisional biopsy for cellular dermatofibroma of the right shoulder 7 years ago.

Expression and mutational analysis of c-kit in ovarian surface epithelial tumors.

Coexpression of Kit ligand and c-kit has been reported in some gynecologic tumors. To determine whether imatinib mesylate is useful in ovarian epithelial tumors, we performed immunohistochemical and mutational analysis. The cases consisted of 33 cases, which included 13 serous cystadenocarcinomas, 1 borderline serous tumor, 8 mucinous cystadenocarcinomas, 6 borderline mucinous tumors and 5 clear cell carcinomas.

The role of microsatellite instability at chromosome 11p15.5 in the progression of breast ductal carcinoma.

The study of microsatellite instability (MSI) has provided the evidence to support a sequential, progressive pathway for the development of cancer. In this study, we analyzed the role of MSI at chromosome 11p15.5 using microdissection of paraffin-embedded tissue from 68 matched normal and breast tumor samples.