Higher prevalence of pulmonary macrothrombi in SARS-CoV-2 than in influenza A: autopsy results from 'Spanish flu' 1918/1919 in Switzerland to Coronavirus disease 2019.

Similar to the influenza A pandemic in 1918/1919, the new Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally. The causes of death in COVID-19 are frequently compared to a seasonal influenza outbreak. Complete COVID-19 autopsy studies were almost non-existent in the first months of the outbreak and are still rare with respect to the number of deaths.

[The impact of methodology on the reported prevalence of thyroid pathology: comparison of two autopsy series from Switzerland performed with different methods].

To investigate the impact of methodology on the detection and hence reported prevalence of pathological findings in thyroids, in the geographic area of Kt. Thurgau in Switzerland, we used two different methods in two consecutive autopsy series of 420 patients. In series A, the thyroids were sliced unfixed and only suspect lesions were examined histologically.

Digital 3D reconstruction of two parahissian accessory bundles in a case of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of digitized histological serial sections of the cardiac conduction system yielded two accessory pathways in a case of a 24-day-old male infant who died after a short period of illness with ECG findings of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In infants, the differential diagnosis of possible accessory pathways connecting the AV conduction system, atrial or ventricular septum includes dispersed conduction system tissue without connecting features. This is why three-dimensional reconstruction is necessary in order to refute or establish connectivity of cell groups as found in histological serial slice images.

Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia: evidence for a T-cell lymphoproliferative origin.

Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALHE) is commonly regarded an angioproliferative process characterized by the presence of prominent, bizarrely shaped blood vessels. These vessels are accompanied by an inflammatory infiltrate that is thought to be a reactive component. Both the cell of origin and the pathogenesis of ALHE remain controversial.

Microarrays of bladder cancer tissue are highly representative of proliferation index and histological grade.

The number of genes suggested to play a role in cancer biology is rapidly increasing. To be able to test a large number of molecular parameters in sufficiently large series of primary tumours, a tissue microarray (TMA) approach has been developed where samples from up to 1000 tumours can be simultaneously analysed on one glass slide. Because of the small size of the individual arrayed tissue samples (diameter 0.

High-throughput tissue microarray analysis of 3p25 (RAF1) and 8p12 (FGFR1) copy number alterations in urinary bladder cancer.

Studies by comparative genomic hybridization revealed that the chromosomal regions 3p25 and 8p11-p12 are recurrently amplified in bladder cancer. To investigate the prevalence of DNA copy number alterations in these chromosomal regions and study their clinical significance, we used probes for the RAF1 (3p25) and FGFR1 (8p12) genes for fluorescence in situ hybridization. A tissue microarray containing 2317 tumors was analyzed.

High-throughput tissue microarray analysis of cyclin E gene amplification and overexpression in urinary bladder cancer.

Studies by comparative genomic hybridization revealed that the 19q13 chromosomal region is frequently amplified in bladder cancer. The cyclin E gene (CCNE), coding for a regulatory subunit of cyclin-dependent kinase 2, has been mapped to 19q13. To investigate the role of cyclin E alterations in bladder cancer, a tissue microarray of 2,317 specimens from 1,842 bladder cancer patients was constructed and analyzed for CCNE amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization and for cyclin-E protein overexpression by immunohistochemistry.

[From epidemiology of melanoma to prevention--facts and references].

Melanoma incidence rates in Switzerland are very high for European standards. Incidence is increasing like in other white populations; melanoma mortality has stopped its secular increase and is decreasing in people under the age of 65. The reasons for the high melanoma rates in Switzerland can only be guessed: Switzerland is a rich country (melanoma is more prevalent among the rich); the Swiss are known to spend their vacations in Southern countries, exposing themselves to the sun.

[A normal thyroid gland upon autopsy: a relatively uncommon finding].

In a series of 420 autopsies the thyroid glands have been weighed, serial sections made and examined histologically with at least one specimen per lobe. There is an age-dependent increase in mean thyroid weight. In the 7th decade the mean weight exceeds 29 g and weights above this are regarded as goitre.

[Histopathological and clinical aspects of benign cutaneous fibrous histiocytoma: increased rate of recurrent histiocytomas with a proliferative tendency].

An investigation of 2486 benign cutaneous fibrous histiocytomas (BFH) at the institute of Pathology of Münsterlingen, Switzerland, revealed a special group of histiocytomas, proliferative benign cutaneous fibrous histiocytomas (PBFH). These tumors recur 17 times more frequently than the so-called normal benign cutaneous fibrous histocytoma (NBFH). A quantitative analysis of six histopathological parameters showed that PBFH can be differentiated from NBFH with a sensitivity of 95%.

[Spitz nevus and Reed nevus: simulating melanoma in adults].

One hundred and three cases of Spitz nevi were reviewed, 36% of these patients were adults. The lesions in children occurred primarily on the face and secondarily on the trunk followed by the extremities. In adults, they affect the legs in women, and the trunk in men as does malignant melanoma.

Digital 3D image reconstruction of ventriculocapillary communication as revealed in one case after transmyocardial laser revascularization.

TMR (Transmyocardial Laserrevascularization) was performed on the partially dyskinetic left ventricular anterior wall with stenotic coronary blood supply in a 61 year old woman with a history of angina and myocardial infarction. As an ischemic aneurysm developed in the anteroapical region of the TMR treated area, it became clear that TMR did not provide a substitute for coronary blood supply in this very heart region. The aneurysm was removed surgically 7 months after TMR and showed histopathologic features of an acute aneurysm.

[Transmyocardial laser revascularization. Histopathology of laser channels in 10 postoperatively deceased patients 1 to 18 days after treatment with a CO2 laser].

TMLR (Transmyocardial laser revascularization) is a disputed cardiosurgical technique available in Europe since 1994 that aims to deliver additional blood flow to ischemic myocardium from the left heart chamber. Goal of our study is morphological examination of laser channels in human hearts to answer the questions: Are there patent laser channels with communication to the left chamber and to intramural vessels? We examined hearts of 10 patients who died during the first 18 days after TMLR. Channels were examined in histological serial sections under the light microscope.

Melanoma in childhood: an EORTC-MCG multicenter study on the clinico-pathological aspects.

Melanoma in children is rare. Nevertheless, it is imperative that clinicians be aware that melanoma does occur in childhood. Yet there is very little information available on the clinico-pathologic variations, and the prognostic parameters of melanoma in children.

[Pathologic-anatomic examination of prostatovesiculectomy samples in prostate carcinoma].

The incidence of the prostatic carcinoma as well as the cases treatable by radical prostatovesiculectomy with curative intention is increasing. The exact pathological examination of the specimens defines the stage of disease and subsequently the prognosis and therapeutic consequences. The compatibility of different scientific studies is made difficult by the lack of a standard in the pathological examination of the specimens.

[Analysis and epidemiology of gallstones in deceased and autopsied patients of the Thurgau canton].

In our postmortem examinations of patients in the canton of Thurgau from May 1989 through December 1991 we found a cholelithiasis or a condition after a cholecystectomy of gallstones in 44% of the women and 23% of the men. While gallstones were found in only 11% of the women and 7% of the men up to age 50, half of all women and every third man in the age group over 90 had gallstones. Among the gallstone carriers, 8% of the women and 2.

Cytokeratin expression in mucinous sweat gland carcinomas: an immunohistochemical analysis of four cases.

Four mucinous sweat gland carcinomas were examined for the distribution of cytokeratin (CK) polypeptides using immunohistochemical techniques on paraffin-embedded sections. All the tumour specimens reacted with monoclonal antibodies to CK 7, CK 8, CK 18 and CK 19. Antibodies to CK 1, CK 1/2/10/14, CK 1/5/10/11, CK 13, CK 14 and CK 20 did not stain any of the carcinomas.

[Multiple primary melanomas of the hair follicles--a special form of malignant melanoma of the skin].

Within 5 years, a 79-year-old male patient developed multiple primary melanomas, all which originated from the hair follicles. The fact that this patient was elderly, the high number of primary tumors, their follicular origin, and the lack of a history of such disorders in the patient's family caused us to postulate that multiple primary follicular melanomas represent a special form of malignant melanoma of the skin.