Cellular basis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in horses.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory obstructive disease of the airways characterized with hypersensitivity of the airway tissues to various allergens, most commonly the fungi contained in the poor-quality hay and straw bedding-Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Thermoactinomyces vulgaris. It is manifested clinically in middle-aged horses with recurrent episodes of dyspnea, chronic cough, and their reduced athletic and working capacity. Pulmonary emphysema and lack of pulmonary collapse are the most common gross lesion.

[A histologic variant of autoimmune hepatitis with zonal necrosis].

Autoimmune hepatitis type 1 in a 8-year old girl is described. The diagnosis was established using International Autoimmune hepatitis group scoring system. In addition to characteristic histologic features of autoimmune hepatitis (periportal hepatitis, piecemeal necrosis and rozettes) prominent centrilobular necrosis was discovered.

[Pathohistologic diagnosis of cholesterol ester storage disease].

Cholesteryl ester storage disease (CESD) is rare and characterised by accumulation of cholesteryl esters and triglycerides in many tissues due to the deficiency of lysosomal acid lipase. We report on a 2 1/2-year old child with CESD. The diagnosis was made by liver biopsy and finding of heat-sensitive birefrigent crystals seen in frozen liver tissue under polarized light.

Sputum cytopathological findings in pig farmers.

The purpose of this study is to compare the cytological changes in the respiratory tracts of pig farmers exposed to an environment of swine confinement buildings with control, non-exposed subjects living in the same geographical area. Spontaneously produced sputum specimens were obtained from 133 pig farmers and 120 control subjects, all clinically healthy, and grouped according to smoking habits and sex. The findings of siderophages, eosinophils, abnormal columnar cells and respiratory spirals were significantly more frequent in the pig farmers.

[Autoimmune hepatitis in children].

Unlabelled: Autoimmune hepatitis is a rare chronic disease of unknown aetiology with female predominance, circulating autoantibodies, hypergammaglobulinaemia, typical major human leukocyte antigen types (HLA A1/B8/DR3) and a good response to immunosuppressive therapy. It seems that the main features in autoimmune hepatitis are a primary or secondary defective suppressor-T-cell function. Recently, we are realizing the recommendations of the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Study Group, using a combination of clinical, biochemical and serological features.