Histological and intraoperative evaluations of the arachnoid in patients with Chiari I malformation.

Background: Arachnoid dissection for decompression of Chiari I malformation is controversial. Whether arachnoid changes have an impact on the clinical course is not established. This paper documents the histological spectrum of arachnoid changes and evaluates correlations with preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative data.

Genetic and immunological biomarkers predict metastatic disease recurrence in stage III colon cancer.

Background: Even though the post-operative outcome varies greatly among patients with nodal positive colon cancer (UICC stage III), personalized prediction of systemic disease recurrence is currently insufficient. We investigated in a retrospective setting whether genetic and immunological biomarkers can be applied for stratification of distant metastasis occurrence risk.

Methods: Eighty four patients with complete resection (R0) of stage III colon cancer from two clinical centres were analysed for genetic biomarkers: microsatellite instability, oncogenic mutations in KRAS exon2 and BRAF exon15, expression of osteopontin and the metastasis-associated genes SASH1 and MACC1.

Identification of clinically relevant cytomegalovirus infections in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Several lines of evidence indicate that cytomegalovirus infection can be substantially associated with onset of inflammatory bowel disease, especially in patients refractory to immunosuppressive treatment. As cytomegalovirus is widely spread in the population, here we present a quantitative detection system suitable to differentiate clinically relevant cytomegalovirus infection from common latent cytomegalovirus. Using a quantitative real-time PCR approach, cytomegalovirus viral load was evaluated in 917 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded colon biopsy samples of 136 patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.

Primary osteosarcoma of the breast after complete resection of a metaplastic ossification: a case report.

Background: Primary osteosarcoma of the breast is an extremely rare lesion. The pathogenesis of primary osteosarcomas is controversial.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a 63-year-old white German woman who presented with a mass in her right breast after routine screening.

Interaction of cyclooxygenase isoenzymes, nitric oxide, and afferent neurons in gastric mucosal defense in rats.

The cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors 5,5-dimethyl-3-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(4-methylsulfonyl)phenyl-2(5II)-furanone (DFU) (0.02-2 mg/kg) and N-[2-(cyclohexyloxy)-4-nitrofenyl]-methanesulfonamide (NS-398) (0.01-1 mg/kg), the COX-1 inhibitor 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-trifluoromethylpyrazole (SC-560) (0.