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.

[The effect of sex factors on cytologic changes in the sputum of young adults exposed to urban air pollution].

Unlabelled: The harmful effect of occupational and urban air pollution on the function and structure of the respiratory tract has been proved. The severity and incidence of epithelial changes are in direct relation to duration of exposure and age of the examined population groups [1]. Squamous metaplasia of bronchial epithelium is an indicator of predisposition to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer [1-5].

Congenital hepatic fibrosis of heterotopic hepatic tissue.

We describe a unique case of a one-month-old infant with congenital hepatic fibrosis in the heterotopic liver within the adrenal gland. The main (orthotopic) liver was normal. Complex congenital heart disease and asplenia were associated.

Cytological changes of the respiratory tract in young adults related to high levels of air pollution exposure.

Several histopathological and cytological studies have shown that lesions of the respiratory tract epithelium become increasingly severe with duration of exposure to high levels of urban air pollution as well as with ageing of studied population groups. In this study we investigated and compared findings of cytological abnormalities in sputa of young adults (21-25 years of age) exposed to high levels of air pollution since birth with those who were exposed in the last 2-3 years only. All subjects were non-smokers and were clinically healthy at the time of sampling.

[Morphology of lung cancer].

Giving a final diagnosis of lung cancer, is only possible due to the detail microscopy analysis of large samples, where "small biopsies" or cytological samples can be used as working diagnosis. Modern tumor diagnostics strictly includes TEM and immunohistochemistry. Also, in contemporary literature there are a lot of classifications in order to determinate nature of tumor and enlighten its causes, to describe it's biological behaviour and to predeterminate value and type of medical intervention.

Cytologic changes of the respiratory tract in vineyard spraying workers.

A cytologic investigation of sputum samples, obtained from rural workers engaged for years in spraying of vines, was performed in comparison to that of inhabitants of the same environment who were not vineyard workers. The subjects were grouped according to their smoking habits. Sputum specimens were conventionally stained with hematoxylin and eosin and were also tested for copper by rubeanic acid.

Ultrastructural changes of the human pancreas in acute shock.

Human pancreas tissue was studied electron microscopically during various stages of shock. The subcellular changes of exocrine pancreas affect in particular endoplasmic reticulum (ER), mitochondria, cytoplasm, and nuclei. Alterations correlate with duration and severity of shock, causing cell death in prolonged or severe manifestations of shock.

[So-called malacoplakia of the testis and epididymis].

We report on a case of malacoplakia involving testis and epididymis in 63-year-old man. The lesion had a characteristic yellow nodular gross appearance and was composed of histiocytes, neutrophils and plasma cells. Calcospherules (Michaelis-Gutmann bodies) are prominent.

Pancreatic lesions in shock and their significance.

The pancreas was examined histologically in 146 cases of patients dying of shock. The finding of morphological evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in the pancreas supports the opinion that the pancreas in highly sensitive to disturbances of blood perfusion. The presence of DIC combined with a variety of pathological lesions in the exocrine ad endocrine pancreas was sufficiently characteristic to justify use of the term " shock pancreatitis".

[Ultrastructure of liver cells during experimental histamine shock (author's transl)].

An light and electronmicroscopic study of the rabbit hepatocytes during shock after experimental histamine release by Polymyxin-B-sulphate was made. As soon as five minutes after the histamine liberation the endoplasmatic reticulum becomes dissociated and the mitochondria show a spherical transformation. When the shock lasts up to one hour the changes are more intensive.