Heparanase expression: a potential ancillary diagnostic tool for distinguishing between malignant cells and reactive mesothelium in body cavity effusions.

Objective: Heparanase, an endoglycosidase that cleaves heparan sulphate, is frequently expressed in carcinomas and was suggested to play a role in cell invasion and metastasis. We investigated whether heparanase expression may serve as a reliable marker to discriminate benign mesothelial cells from malignant cells shed into body cavities.

Methods And Results: Cytological smears of effusions from 51 hospitalized patients were immunostained for heparanase.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the kidney. Report of a case initially diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology.

Background: Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) is a malignant small round cell tumor that exhibits neuroepithelial differentiation, most often presenting as a bone or soft tissue mass in the trunk or axial skeleton in adolescents and young adults. Isolated cases of PNET have been observed at visceral sites, such as the ovary, testis, uterus, bladder and pancreas. We present a case of PNET in the kidney initially diagnosed by fine needle aspiration (FNA).

Fine needle aspiration biopsy of intraparotid schwannoma. A case report.

Background: Intraparotid schwannoma of the salivary gland is a rare entity. Review of the literature revealed one previous report describing its cytologic features.

Case: A 22-year-old man had a slowly growing, painless mass in the left parotid gland.

FGFR2 mutation in clinically nonclassifiable autosomal dominant craniosynostosis with pronounced phenotypic variation.

We describe a mutation in the FGFR2 gene in affected members of a large family with inherited autosomal dominant craniosynostosis. The mutation is a G1044A transition at codon 344 of exon B of the gene and results in abnormal splicing of the FGFR2 transcript. The phenotypic effect of the mutation varies greatly.

Foreign body granulomas in peritubal and periovarian adhesions: a possible cause for unsuccessful reconstructive surgery in infertility.

A major problem in tubal reconstructive surgery is the recurrence of peritubal and periovarian adhesions which negate the surgical endeavors. In many cases the etiology of these adhesions is obscure. Histologic re-evaluation with polarized light of 49 resected adhesions revealed residual cornstarch glove powder and suture material in seven specimens.

Giant cell carcinoma of the pancreas. Report of a case with upper gastrointestinal bleeding diagnosed by endoscopic brush cytology.

A case of upper gastrointestinal bleeding as the first and only manifestation of giant cell carcinoma of the pancreas invading the duodenum is described. The polypoid tumor was visualized during endoscopy. The diagnosis was made by a cytologic brush and confirmed by endoscopic biopsy.

Potentially deleterious effect of cornstarch glove powder in tubal reconstructive surgery.

Even with the most painstaking techniques, cornstarch granules used as surgical glove powder are deposited in the abdominal cavity during laparotomy. In tubal reconstructive surgery, aimed at the elimination of fibrous adhesions, this deposition may have undesirable consequences. After a successful operation, starch particles introduced in the abdominal cavity may result in the formation of new adhesions.

Intracellular starch granules in cytologic material.

Starch glove powder may contaminate the environment and material removed from patients. When such material is not fixed immediately, starch granules may be ingested by viable phagocytes, possibly giving rise to the mistaken impression that phagocytosis took place in the body of the patient. The presence of phagocytosed material in cytologic preparations should not automatically lead to the conclusion that intravital phagocytosis has taken place.