Distribution and expression of the alpha-tubulin mRNA in the hippocampus and the temporal cortex in Alzheimer's disease.

The distribution of the messenger RNA for alpha-tubulin has been investigated by in situ hybridization in the human hippocampus and temporal cortex in normal subjects and in Alzheimer's disease. The alpha-tubulin mRNA was strongly expressed in neurons in the gyrus dentatus, in the Ammon's horn and in cortical layers of the temporal cortex. The same distribution was observed in Alzheimer's disease.

Proximal deletion of chromosome 21 confirmed by in situ hybridization and molecular studies.

Foetal blood sampling was performed at 35 weeks of gestation due to abnormal foetal ultrasound findings. There was apparent monosomy 21 (45,XX,-21) in all mitoses analyzed. The infant died at 37 weeks during delivery.

Prognostic scoring in adult astrocytic tumors using patient age, histopathological grade, and DNA histogram type.

High-grade astrocytic tumors constitute the most serious as well as the most common group of primary brain tumors. Although several prognostic factors have been proposed, little is known about the prognostic value of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ploidy in adult astrocytic tumors. In a series of 146 adult patients, aged 16 to 82 years, the individual prognostic values of six variables were studied, namely: tumor histopathological grade, treatment, patient age, extent of tumor, ploidy level, and DNA histogram type.

Cylindrical spinal meningioma. A case report.

A case of cylindrical spinal meningioma is reported. This most unusual morphology suggested a preoperative diagnosis of either lymphoma, metastatic epidural tumor, or meningioma. At operation, the tumor was found to be hard and extremely adherent to the cord, so its anterior part had to be left in place.

Positron emission tomography and histopathology in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

We studied a 62-year-old man with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), using positron emission tomography (PET) and (18F)-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG). Glucose metabolism was heterogeneously decreased throughout the brain. At autopsy, regional distributions of spongiosis, astrogliosis, and neuronal loss correlated with premortem regional metabolic deficits.

Characterization of nuclear DNA content, proliferation index, and nuclear size in a series of 181 meningiomas, including benign primary, recurrent, and malignant tumors.

The characterization of nuclear area, the proliferation index, and nuclear DNA content was carried out by means of digital cell image analysis, which makes it possible to compute morphometric and densitometric features on Feulgen-stained nuclei from archival, that is, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded materials. The 181 meningiomas studied included 173 classic (41 meningotheliomatous, 27 fibroblastic, 82 transitional, nine psammomatous, eight angiomatous and six hemangioblastic tumors) and eight malignant meningiomas (three hemangiopericytomas and five tumors that we labeled HFM, that is, tumors exhibiting evidence of histological features of malignancy). The results reveal a strong relationship between incomplete surgical resection and recurrence on the one hand and between the probability of recurrence and histopathological type on the other.

Pineal cyst: normal or pathological?

Review of 500 consecutive MRI studies was undertaken to assess the frequency and the appearances of cystic pineal glands. Cysts were encountered in 2.4% of cases.

Characterization of nuclear size, ploidy, DNA histogram type and proliferation index in 79 nerve sheath tumors.

The distribution values of ploidy, of the DNA histogram type, of the proliferation index and of the nuclear area are described in a series of 79 nerve sheath tumors including 7 traumatic neuromas, 55 primary and 9 recurrent benign schwannomas, 5 benign neurofibromas and 3 malignant tumors. The nuclear parameters were computed on Feulgen-stained nuclei (from archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded materials) by means of digital cell image analysis. The results show that 20-30% of benign nerve sheath tumors exhibit an abnormal nuclear DNA content (DNA index > 1.

Histopathologic grading and DNA ploidy in relation to survival among 206 adult astrocytic tumor patients.

Background: The authors studied the benefit of performing histopathologic grading and DNA ploidy characterization with respect to patient survival in a series of 206 astrocytomas (AST) for which they obtained 134 complete clinical follow-ups.

Methods: The material analyzed came from archival material, i.e.

Simultaneous neurofibroma and schwannoma of the sciatic nerve.

The authors report a case of simultaneously occurring neurofibroma and schwannoma of the sciatic nerve and discuss the complementary aspects of MR and US. The schwannoma was well-defined and showed distal enhancement on sonographic evaluation, whereas the neurofibroma was ill-defined; both tumors were hypoechoic. T1- and T2-weighted MR images revealed similar signal characteristics of the two tumors, but intense enhancement following administration of gadolinium-DTPA distinguished the schwannoma from the neurofibroma.

What's new in the pathology of neuronal cytoskeleton: the significance of neurofibrillary tangles.

Neurofibrillary tangles are a neuronal change observed in various conditions, linked with dementia when affecting the cerebral cortex as in Alzheimer's disease. They may be found locally close to fibrous or vascular tumors, or affect extensive regions of the neocortex while the cerebellum and the medulla are not affected. Recent immunological and biochemical studies demonstrate that the MT-associated protein tau is the main component of the tangles, in an abnormally phosphorylated state.

Meningioma associated with subdural haematoma: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Subdural haematoma (SDH) caused by meningioma is infrequent. 18 cases are described in the literature. We report 2 new cases.

A survey of 65 tumors within the spinal cord: surgical results and the importance of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging.

Between January 1984 and December 1990, 65 intramedullary spinal cord tumors were diagnosed and operated on. In this series, all patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging investigations and were operated on with the Cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator whenever necessary. Major surgical difficulties have been found in patients previously treated by radiotherapy with or without biopsy.

Sarcoidosis presenting as an isolated intramedullary tumor.

We report a case of isolated intramedullary sarcoidosis. The patient developed progressive signs that indicated a spinal tumor, which were investigated with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging scans. Magnetic resonance imaging clearly revealed an intramedullary lesion, but the diagnosis of sarcoidosis was made on the pathological analysis of the surgical specimen.

Synaptophysin and chromogranin A immunoreactivities in senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease.

Immunolabelling for synaptophysin and chromogranin A, two polypeptides associated with small clear and large dense core synaptic vesicles respectively, has been performed on tissue sections of the temporal cortex in Alzheimer's disease in combination with anti-A4 amyloid labelling. The dystrophic neurites in many senile plaques were observed to be labelled by the anti-synaptophysin or anti-chromogranin A antibodies. Some diffuse amyloid deposits, demonstrated by antibodies against synthetic amyloid A4 peptides, were associated with a punctuate increase in synaptophysin or chromogranin A immunoreactivity.

[Sporadic Z disk myopathy with accumulation of rods and cytoplasmic bodies].

An unusual myopathy with extensive myofibrillar degeneration related to the Z disk is reported. Focal Z disk disappearance, accumulation of numerous rods and cytoplasmic bodies and some rimmed vacuoles represented the major pathologic features of this sporadic muscular disorder, sharing common clinical and electrophysiological features with inclusion body myositis. This diagnosis was excluded because all nuclei appeared normal and 15-18 nm filaments were not observed in cytoplasm or in the vicinity of membranous whorls.

Tau in Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles. N- and C-terminal regions are differentially associated with paired helical filaments and the location of a putative abnormal phosphorylation site.

To investigate the extent to which whole tau proteins, structurally abnormal tau and fragments of tau are incorporated into neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease, an immunocytochemical mapping study using a panel of antibodies to several synthetic human tau peptides has been performed. Neurofibrillary tangles were immunolabelled in situ, and paired helical filaments (PHF), the principal structural component of tangles, were immunolabelled after isolation and Pronase treatment. N-Terminal and C-terminal domains of tau were found to be present in tangles in situ.

Lung fibrosis induced by Thorotrast.

A 63 year old woman developed progressive shortness of breath, pulmonary hypertension, and respiratory failure and died from pulmonary fibrosis 45 years after thoracic fistulography with Thorotrast. Bouts of acute respiratory failure occurred with features of noncardiogenic pulmonary oedema. Lung tissue obtained by biopsy and at necropsy showed abundant radioactive particles of thorium dioxide in the lungs.

Rating of the lesions in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type: concordance between laboratories. A European multicenter study under the auspices of EURAGE.

The study reported was intended to compare the impressions and analyses of investigators from 11 different laboratories on 2 slides, each from 6 cases with varying quantities of neuropathological change of the type found in Alzheimer's disease and normal ageing. The material came from 6 selected female patients over 75 years of age all of whom had been examined in detail and assessed by the Blessed Test Score. Two were severely demented, 2 mildly demented and 2 were considered to be normal.

Argyrophilic breast carcinoma, single metastasis to the pituitary gland.

Five years ago, a 44 year-old woman presented with an apparently localized cancer of the right breast, initially treated by surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. After a 4 year disease-free interval, she developed bi-temporal hemianopsy, due to a suprasellar tumor causing compression of the optic chiasma. The tumor was resected by the transsphenoidal route and histological examination revealed neuroendocrine characteristics described as "argyrophilic breast carcinoma".

Paraganglioma of the cauda equina. Report of 2 cases and review of 59 cases from the literature.

Paragangliomas of the cauda equina are not so rare as said in the literature. Two additional cases are presented with a global analysis of the 59 cases from the literature. The diagnosis of this pathology greatly benefit of the use of immunostainings as the cells are often neuron-specific enolase, neurofilament protein and somatostatin positive so that electron microscopy is thus no longer mandatory for establishing the diagnosis.

Accumulation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum in Alzheimer's disease: new morphological evidence of axoplasmic flow disturbances.

Numerous enlarged neurites and presynaptic terminals containing tubulovesicular profiles of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) were observed in frontal biopsies from six patients with Alzheimer's disease. These accumulations of SER probably reflect disturbances of axoplasmic flows. In addition, curvilinear tubular inclusions similar to those characteristic of Farber's disease were found in one patient.

Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging of spinal tumors.

Forty-eight Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR examinations of the spine were performed in 40 patients referred for MR because of clinically suspected spinal tumor or for further evaluation of an expanded cord. The study group consisted of 32 patients with spinal tumors (seven ependymomas; seven astrocytomas; four hemangioblastomas; two arteriovenous malformations; two unidentified intramedullary neoplasms; four meningiomas; and single cases of metastatic breast carcinoma, cavernous hemangioma with associated hematomyelia, neurinoma, angiolipoma, drop metastasis from medulloblastoma, and epidermoid with diastematomyelia). In the remaining eight patients, other diagnoses were established: thoracic disk herniation (two patients), lumbosacral meningocele (one), syringomyelia secondary to arachnoiditis (four), and expanded cord secondary to gliotic tissue (one).