Petechial hemorrhages, ethanol, and opioids in victims from intoxication.

Petechial hemorrhages are of interest to forensic pathologists because of their association with pressure on the neck. This study shows the associations between ethanol, opioids in blood and the risk of petechiae in conjunctivae and eye lids of 865 medico-legally examined victims from intoxication, 112 (12.9 %) with petechiae.

Petechial Hemorrhages and Ethanol in Deaths from Intoxication.

Petechiae in conjunctivae and in the palpebrae/skin of the eyelids are of particular interest for the forensic pathologist, because of their association with pressure on the neck. They have been described in the eyelids of intoxicated persons both in case reports and in text books of forensic pathology. We studied 590 deaths caused by intoxication, and 75 had petechiae either in the conjunctivae, the eyelids, or in both locations.

Homicides in Western Norway, 1985-2009, time trends, age and gender differences.

This retrospective study from Western Norway is based on the cases of 196 homicide victims from 1985 to 2009. The median age of the victims was 35 years, in both genders. Within the cases, 113 of the victims were male and 83 female, 28 victims were under the age of 18, and 19 victims were not native Norwegians.

HPV DNA testing improves CIN2+ risk stratification and detection of CIN2+ in delayed triage of ASCUS and LSIL. A population-based follow-up study from Western Norway.

In Norway, Pap smears with atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance (ASCUS) and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) are triaged after 6 months. The aim of the study was to evaluate effects of implementing human papillomavirus (HPV) test (2005) in delayed triage of ASCUS and LSIL in a cohort of women from Western Norway. After a survey of 119,469 cervical Pap smears during 2005-2007, a total of 1055 women with an index ASCUS or LSIL were included in the study and followed up for 3-6 years with respect to progression into cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+).

An experimental protocol for the fractionation and 2DE separation of HeLa and A-253 cell lysates suitable for the identification of the individual antigenic proteome in Sjögren's syndrome.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease affecting exocrine glands, especially the salivary and lacrimal glands. Although most of the SS patients' sera have autoantibodies that can target a variety of antigens, it is not clear what determines which proteins will become autoantigens. The muscarinic receptor M3, an integral plasma membrane protein, has been proposed as a possible autoantigen in SS, and is endogenous in HeLa cells.

Diagnostic validity of fatal cerebral strokes and coronary deaths in mortality statistics: an autopsy study.

Mortality statistics represent important endpoints in epidemiological studies. The diagnostic validity of cerebral stroke and ischemic heart disease recorded as the underlying cause of death in Norwegian mortality statistics was assessed by using mortality data of participants in the Bergen Clinical Blood Pressure Study in Norway and autopsy records from the Gade Institute in Bergen. In the 41 years of the study (1965-2005) 4,387 subjects had died and 1,140 (26%) had undergone a post mortem examination; 548 (12%) died from cerebral stroke and 1,120 (24%) from ischemic heart disease according to the mortality statistics, compared to 113 (10%) strokes and 323 (28%) coronary events registered in the autopsy records.

Birth length and weight as predictors of breast cancer prognosis.

Background: Birth size, and particularly birth length, is positively associated with breast cancer risk in adulthood. The objective of this study was to examine whether birth size is associated with survival among breast cancer patients.

Methods: Information on birth size (weight, length and ponderal index (kg/length (m3)) was collected from birth archives for 331 breast cancer patients who were diagnosed at two university hospitals in Norway (Bergen and Trondheim).

Estrogen receptor beta--an independent prognostic marker in estrogen receptor alpha and progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer?

Both subtypes of estrogen receptor (ER), ERalpha and ERbeta, are normally present in the mammary gland. The role of ERalpha as a prognostic marker in breast cancer is well established due to the beneficial effect of providing tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy. The role of ERbeta, however, is less clear.

[Decline in hospital autopsies].

Background: According to the new autopsy regulation from April 2004 the next to kin must be informed of an autopsy and the right to deny consent. The present study aims at documenting the impact of this regulation on the number of autopsies performed and to determine whether regular reminders and changed autopsy routines could reduce the time needed to complete autopsy reports.

Material And Methods: The following information was gathered; the number of autopsies before and after implementation of the regulation, the number of next to kin who had been informed and the number that had denied consent.

Unnatural death in the elderly : A forensic study from western norway.

The objective of the study was to determine the unnatural manner and causes of death in older people, defined as individuals at least 60 years of age at the time of death. A series of medico-legally examined deaths in older people, who were examined between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2003, and whose deaths were considered unnatural after forensic examination were studied. All deaths took place in western Norway, in two whole counties and the north part of a third county, including one large Norwegian city and one medium-sized city on the west coast of Norway.

The associations of obesity, lymph node status and prognosis in breast cancer patients: dependence on estrogen and progesterone receptor status.

Breast cancer patients who are obese have a higher risk of lymph node metastases and a poorer prognosis than those who are slim. It has been claimed that estrogens derived from fat are important for these associations. If estrogens are important, these relationships must be stronger in the hormone receptor-positive than in the hormone receptor-negative groups.

Hyperbaric oxygen alone or combined with 5-FU attenuates growth of DMBA-induced rat mammary tumors.

We tested the hypothesis that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) alone and with chemotherapy (5-FU) attenuates tumor growth of DMBA-induced tumors in rats. Six series were performed: (1) Controls (air and vehicle 0.9% NaCl i.

Birth weight as a predictor of breast cancer: a case-control study in Norway.

The hypothesis that birth weight is positively associated with adult risk of breast cancer implies that factors related to intrauterine growth may be important for the development of this malignancy. Using stored birth records from the two main hospitals in Trondheim and Bergen, Norway, we collected information on birth weight, birth length and placenta weight among 373 women who developed breast cancer. From the same archives, we selected as controls 1150 women of identical age as the cases without a history of breast cancer.

Premorbid body weight and its relations to primary tumour diameter in breast cancer patients; its dependence on estrogen and progesteron receptor status.

Hormonal mechanisms have been offered as an explanation for the higher frequency of large tumours, lymph node metastases and poorer prognosis in obese breast cancer patients than in lean ones. If hormonal mechanisms are important for these relations, they should probably act more strongly in patients with hormonal receptor positive tumours than in those with negative ones. We have examined if the relations between premorbid body weight or Quetelet's index (weight/height2) and tumour diameter are modified by estrogen receptor alpha (ER) and progesteron receptor (PgR) status.

Efferent vascular invasion in the axillary nodes in breast carcinoma: a potent prognostic factor.

Tumour cells in the efferent vessels of the axillary nodes in breast cancer (EV status) have been associated with poor prognosis since 1979. A prospective study (1980-1989) of all the nodes from 1037 consecutive female patients with unilateral breast cancer whose treatment included axillary node dissection yielded 471 node-positive cases. Tumour cells were found in the efferent nodal vessels of 210 patients, while 252 were negative.

The size of a micrometastasis in the axilla in breast cancer: a study of nodal tumour-load related to prognosis.

Much has been written on micrometastases to the axilla in breast cancer but there is no consensus as to their size. In this study three levels of nodal tumour-load are defined following measurement of nodal tumour area on histology. The two cut-points described are both of clinical interest.

The prognostic contribution of estrogen and progesterone receptor status to a modified version of the Nottingham Prognostic Index.

The aim of this study was to test the prognostic contribution of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptor status to an index consisting of the number of positive lymph nodes, the mean nuclear area of the breast cancer cells (MNA), and tumour diameter. This index is compared with a Danish index, which includes the same factors but uses histological grade instead of MNA. The Danish index has been developed from the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI).

The effect of Losartan, an angiotensin II antagonist, on cardiac function, mass and morphology in rats after repeated hyperbaric exposures.

Previously, we have found development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), myocardial necrosis and haemodynamic changes in rats after repeated hyperbaric exposures to 5 bar. Exactly the same rat model and experimental set-up was applied in the present study. The purpose of this study was to investigate if angiotensin II (Ang-II) plays a role in the development of these cardiac changes.

Aggressive thyroid carcinoma with predominant cribriform growth pattern. Case report.

Thyroid carcinomas demonstrate a morphological and biological spectrum from highly differentiated to undifferentiated (anaplastic) tumours, and the poorly differentiated carcinomas probably occupy an intermediate position, being characterized by a more solid structure. The present thyroid carcinoma, which occurred in a 77 year old male, showed a distinct cribriform growth pattern with marked apoptosis and high-grade features such as nuclear plemorphism, frequent mitotic figures, tumour necrosis and vascular invasion, suggesting the presence of a poorly differentiated carcinoma. Metastatic spread to the regional lymph nodes and lungs were present at the time of diagnosis, and the patient died after 15 months with progressive disease.

Prognostic role of oestrogen and progesterone receptors in patients with breast cancer: relation to age and lymph node status.

Aims: To consider the prognostic role of oestrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status in relation to the age at surgery, length of follow up and lymph node status.

Methods: The study population comprised 977 patients with histologically confirmed breast carcinoma, with a median follow up of nine years. The actuarial life table method was used to test for survival differences.

Pre-morbid body-mass-index in breast cancer: reversed effect on survival in hormone receptor negative patients.

The present study consists of 1,238 women with unilateral breast cancer treated with modified radical mastectomy living in the geographic area of Haukeland Hospital. Their weight and height had been measured years before presentation of the disease. Age-adjusted Quetelet's index (weight/height2) showed that obese women had a 49% higher risk of dying from breast cancer than lean ones.

Lymph node-negative breast cancer: the prognostic role and time dependency of age, tumor diameter and mean nuclear area.

This study of 786 node-negative breast cancer patients demonstrates that the prognostic effect of age at operation, tumor diameter and mean nuclear area (MNA) changed over time. Identifying patients at higher risk of dying after 5 years may be of clinical importance. These are patients who may have had a low metastatic tumor burden at the time of operation and in whom cytostatic adjuvant treatment could be of value.