Long-Term Follow-Up of Pediatric Excimer Laser-Assisted Penetrating Keratoplasty for Congenital Stromal Corneal Dystrophy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to highlight characteristic clinical and microscopic findings and report the long-term follow-up of pediatric excimer laser-assisted penetrating keratoplasty (excimer-PKP) for congenital stromal corneal dystrophy (CSCD).

Methods: A 2-year-old Greek child presented with CSCD at our department. Clinical examination showed bilateral flake-like whitish corneal opacities affecting the entire corneal stroma up to the limbus.

Recurrence of macular corneal dystrophy on the graft 50 years after penetrating keratoplasty.

To report the recurrence of a macular corneal stromal dystrophy 50 years after penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). Observational case report A 76-year-old male patient presented with visual impairment in the right eye (OD) 50 years after PKP in 1962 (44 years after PKP also in the left eye (OS) in 1968) following explosion injury. His visual acuity had already been impaired before the trauma because of bilateral corneal opacities.

Effect of 3q oncogenes SEC62 and SOX2 on lymphatic metastasis and clinical outcome of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Chromosome 3q26 amplification represents a frequent alteration in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). Overexpression of 3q26 encoded genes SEC62 and SOX2 was detected in various cancers, including HNSCCs, indicating their potential function as oncogenes. In our study, we elucidated the function of SEC62 and SOX2 in HNSCC patients, with a main focus on their effect on lymphatic metastasis and patient survival.

Identification of SEC62 as a potential marker for 3q amplification and cellular migration in dysplastic cervical lesions.

Background: Chromosome 3 amplification affecting the 3q26 region is a common genomic alteration in cervical cancer, typically marking the transition of precancerous intraepithelial lesions to an invasive phenotype. Though potential 3q encoded target genes of this amplification have been identified, a functional correlation of potential oncogenic function is still missing. In this study, we investigated copy number changes and the expression level of SEC62 encoded at 3q26.

Noninvasive histological imaging of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas using confocal laser endomicroscopy.

Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is an imaging technique that uses miniaturized fiberoptic probes to allow real-time histological imaging of human tissue. An application of CLE in otorhinolaryngology has hardly been investigated so far. In our study, we analyzed the applicability of CLE to visualize cancerous and healthy tissue of the head and neck region.

Characterization of miR-146a and miR-155 in blood, tissue and cell lines of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients and their impact on cell proliferation and migration.

Purpose: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with an unchanged 5-year survival rate during the last decade. To detect reliable prognostic markers and improve patients' outcome in future, the aim of our study was to detect differences in microRNA (miRNA; miR) expression profile and further on to analyze the functional role of selected miRNAs.

Methods: Blood samples from HNSCC patients and sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers were analyzed by microarrays and validated by quantitative real-time PCR.

Orthotopic tumorgrafts in nude mice: A new method to study human prostate cancer.

Background: In vivo model systems in prostate cancer research that authentically reproduce tumor growth are still sparse. While orthotopic implantation is technically difficult, particularly in the mouse, most models favor subcutaneous tumor growth. This however provides little information about natural tumor growth behavior and tumor stroma interaction.

Combination of p16(INK4a) /Ki67 immunocytology and HPV polymerase chain reaction for the noninvasive analysis of HPV involvement in head and neck cancer.

Background: High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been identified as a relevant risk for the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). As HPV status has also gained a role as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for this entity, there is a growing demand for valid HPV testing in HNSCC patients

Methods: Liquid-based cytological smears from 45 HNSCC and 20 control patients were collected and used for simultaneous immunocytochemical p16(INK4a) /Ki67 staining using a CINtec PLUS kit after the presence of tumor cells was verified in a Papanicolaou-stained slide. The same cytological suspension was used for the detection of HPV DNA by specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

The Fuhrman grading system has no prognostic value in patients with nonsarcomatoid chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.

The prognostic value of the Fuhrman nuclear grading system has been questioned for chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) because this subtype frequently displays nuclear and nucleolar pleomorphism. The present study reevaluates this grading system in a series of patients with nonsarcomatoid chRCC. We identified 176 patients (3.

Can ki-67 play a role in prediction of breast cancer patients' response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy?

Background: Currently the choice of breast cancer therapy is based on prognostic factors. The proliferation marker Ki-67 is used increasingly to determine the method of therapy. The current study analyses the predictive value of Ki-67 in foreseeing breast cancer patients' responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Repeat corneal graft failure due to graft-to-host herpetic infection.

Background: Herein, we present the case of a young female patient with keratoconus, who was subjected twice to repeat keratoplasty, and each time, she experienced a corneal graft failure.

Findings: Under the suspicion of herpetic eye disease, we administered topical and systemic anti-herpetic treatment after the second repeat keratoplasty. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the corneal graft is clear, until recently.

Progranulin antibodies in autoimmune diseases.

Systemic vasculitides constitute a heterogeneous group of diseases. Autoimmunity mediated by B lymphocytes and their humoral effector mechanisms play a major role in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) as well as in non-ANCA associated primary systemic vasculitides and in the different types of autoimmune connective tissue disorders and rheumatoid arthritis. In order to detect autoantibodies in systemic vasculitides, we screened protein macroarrays of human cDNA expression libraries with sera from patients with ANCA-associated and ANCA-negative primary systemic vasculitides.

Changing indications for penetrating keratoplasty in Homburg/Saar from 2001 to 2010--histopathology of 1,200 corneal buttons.

Background: To evaluate the trends in indications for penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) in Homburg/Saar between 2001 and 2010.

Methods: Retrospective review of 1,200 corneal buttons which underwent PKP that were performed between 2001 and 2010 at the Department of Ophthalmology of Saarland University Hospital, Germany. Indications were classified into eight different groups following histological analysis: keratoconus, Fuchs' dystrophy, bullous keratopathy, corneal scars, keratitis, regraft, corneal dystrophy other than Fuchs' dystrophy, and other diagnoses.

Histological and biochemical findings in membranous cataract.

Background: In this report we present a patient with unilateral membranous cataract and describe the histological and biochemical findings accompanying this rare condition.

Methods: The patient underwent an uneventful cataract extraction. Aqueous humor (20 μl) was aspirated from the anterior chamber intraoperatively and processed for fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) using an immunoassay method (ELISA).

Histology and function: analyzing the uvular muscle.

Objective: Virtual surgery and virtual patients necessitate quantitative data on the area of interest. The study was conducted to exactly describe the embryonic and fetal uvular muscle (MU), relevant for clinical as well as virtual surgery and virtual patient generation.

Method: Serially sectioned viscerocrania of 10 aborted embryos and fetuses underwent three-dimensional reconstruction to obtain detailed anatomic data and perform finite element analyses.

Silencing of the SEC62 gene inhibits migratory and invasive potential of various tumor cells.

Sec62 is part of the protein translocation apparatus in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In yeast, Sec62 participates in the post-translational translocation of proteins into the ER, but its function in mammals remains elusive. Previously we described the amplification and over-expression of the SEC62 gene in prostate cancer cell lines and the protein has been described as a potential target gene in prostate cancer.

Differential expression of IGF components and insulin receptor isoforms in human seminoma versus normal testicular tissue.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGF) have mitogenic and antiapoptotic functions, and may be involved in tumor growth. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of IGF components in seminoma compared to normal testis. Normal testicular tissues from autopsy cases and seminoma from surgery cases were obtained for microarray and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of IGF-1, IGF-2, IGF receptor type 1 (IGF-R1), IGF-R2, insulin receptor isoforms A (IR-A) and B (IR-B), and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) 1-6.