Telepathology between Richmond and Beckley Veterans Affairs Hospitals: report on the first 1000 cases.

Objective: A telepathology connection between Richmond VAMC and Beckley VAMC using dynamic robotic telepathology to provide pathology services remotely was established.

Materials And Methods: This study reports a 14-month experience using telepathology to diagnose surgical specimens obtained from patients at the Beckley VA Medical Center and viewed in Richmond 250 miles away. Over 14 months, 2325 slides representing 1000 cases were viewed.

Prognostic histomorphometry in colorectal adenocarcinoma.

In order to examine the use of morphometry in the prognosis of colorectal adenocarcinoma, histologic material from 30 patients was analyzed. The volume-weighted nuclear volume (Vvnuclei), mean nucleolar diameters (dnucleoli) and their standard deviation (snucleoli) were determined in each case. These variables were compared between patients who died of the disease and those who did not.

Identification of Charcot-Leyden crystals by electron microscopy.

Observations of the ultrastructure of Charcot-Leyden crystals are sporadic in the literature. These crystals appear occasionally in clinical materials, however, and may pose diagnostic dilemmas if not correctly identified. Two cases in which unusual crystallike structures were seen on electron micrographs of specimens were evaluated for diagnostic purposes.

Specific attachment of mesenteric IgA lymphoblasts to specialized endothelium of intestinal mucosa lamina propria capillaries.

The bulk of IgA secreted in the gut is mostly contributed by locally dwelling plasma cells derived from B cells originating in the gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT). These IgA cells originate in Peyer's patches and recirculate, returning to the gut upon maturity. The precise mechanism of homing to secretory mucosae is to date not fully understood.