PPARγ in coronary atherosclerosis: in vivo expression pattern and correlations with hyperlipidemic status and statin treatment.

Objective: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) is involved in regulation of macrophage inflammation and in atherosclerosis. Herein we investigate the influence of statin treatment on PPARγ expression in coronary artery disease.

Method: PPARγ expression was investigated in coronary atherosclerotic atherectomies (N=48) and arteries (N=12) from patients with stable or unstable coronary syndromes or undergoing cardiac transplantation for end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy, respectively, by immunohistochemistry.

Asymptomatic inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the heart: immunohistochemical profile, differential diagnosis, and review of the literature.

Background: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is an uncommon lesion, mainly occurring in children and young adults and extremely rare in the heart. IMTs are composed of differentiated myofibroblastic cells accompanied by inflammatory cells. Cardiac IMTs are considered biologically benign, but they may have fatal consequences depending upon the peculiarity of site.

Verrucoid lesions of mitral valve in a dog with features of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor.

We report a mitral valve lesion detected at autopsy in a 9-year-old male German Shepherd dog suffering from mild mitral regurgitation. Gross examination of the heart showed exophitic, noncontiguous lesions involving the atrial aspect of both mitral leaflets. Microscopic evaluation of the mitral lesions disclosed a diffuse proliferation of myofibroblasts with little atypia, arranged loosely and rather randomly, within a myxoid stroma and associated with inflammatory cells identified as CD138+ plasma cells, CD68+ macrophages, and eosinophils.

Angiogenesis, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and procoagulant factors in coronary artery giant aneurysm of a fatal infantile Kawasaki disease.

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an infantile febrile illness of unknown origin characterized by clinical, laboratory and histopathologic features of systemic vasculitis.

Methods And Results: We report a 3-month-old female infant with incomplete KD who suddenly died despite intravenous immunoglobulin, aspirin, steroid and heparin treatment. Postmortem examination confirmed the echocardiographically detected giant coronary aneurysms and showed occlusive thrombosis in the giant aneurysm of the left anterior descending coronary artery, associated with neoangiogenesis, macrophage infiltration and immunostaining for tissue factor (a strong initiator of the coagulation cascade), thrombopoietin receptor and tumour necrosis factor-alpha.