Pacing lead-induced granuloma in the atrium: a foreign body reaction to polyurethane.

We described a case of an 82-year-old male who presented with a granuloma entrapping the polyurethane-coated pacing lead at the site of contact on the atrium. He had been paced for 8 years without symptoms or signs suggestive of an allergic reaction to the pacemaker system and died from thrombosis of the superior mesenteric artery and heart failure. A histological examination of the nodule showed an incidental granuloma with multinucleated giant cells.

Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis with multiple organ involvement including fatal adrenalitis: a case report with autopsy findings.

A 68-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease developed renal dysfunction after starting carbamazepine for epilepsy. Although Ga-67 citrate scintigraphy strongly suggested interstitial nephritis, renal biopsy was not possible due to her overall state. At 61 days after admission, she died of unexplained shock.

[A new role of pathologists in medical risk management].

Safety management is the prime issue for health professionals. How can we pathologists to improve their risk sense to prevent medical errors? Various autopsy cases such as drug adverse events, unexpected sudden deaths and/or multiple organ failures after operations have made us aware of faulty systems of health care. Thus, the scope of pathology must be extended from the traditional tissue and cell pathology to the implementation of preventive pathology, by participation in morbidity and mortality conferences.

Apoptosis and microglial activation in influenza encephalopathy.

During influenza epidemics in Japan, the number of children with acute encephalopathies and encephalitis has recently increased. Although the pathophysiologies remain unclear, there is usually brain edema with evidence of damage to the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). We investigated the glial reaction and apoptosis in brains of eight such cases comprising two of acute necrotizing encephalopathy and six of influenza encephalopathy, and compared the results with those in five control brains.