Imbalance of matrix metalloproteinase-1 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases: a novel approach for explaining the parenchymal liquefaction of the septic spleen?

Objective: The causal pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the parenchymal liquefaction of the septic spleen are still far from clear. The balance between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors, the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), is largely responsible for the remodelling of tissues. Deregulation of this balance is a characteristic of extensive tissue degradation in certain chronic inflammatory diseases.

[The changing role of intraoperative mammary frozen sections in breast cancer: comparison of data from East and West Germany before and after reunification].

The goal of the present study lies in the comparison of differently funded health care structures, with emphasis on certain aspects regarded to be essential for medical progress. For this purpose, mammary intraoperative frozen sections pooled from a total of 4163 intraoperative frozen sections obtained from representatively selected departments of pathology from East and West Germany before and after reunification were analysed comparatively. Our results clearly demonstrate a profound change in the role of intraoperative mammary frozen sections, with a predominantly diagnostic function in the former German Democratic Republic as a tool for histopathologically evaluating "questionable" mammary lesions.

The white pulp in the setting of the septic spleen caused by different bacteria: a comparative morphometric study.

In the past little attention has been paid to histomorphologic changes accompanying the phenomenon of the septic spleen, thus indirectly reinforcing the old axiom that the spleen is an organ of mystery. It is especially noteworthy that the relationship between different causative bacteria and histopathologic abnormalities of the white pulp has not been investigated. In this study morphometric analysis was performed on the white pulp of 30 spleens obtained at autopsy from individuals with premortal sepsis.

Mycobacterial spindle cell pseudotumor (MSP) of the nasal septum clinically mimicking Kaposi's sarcoma: case report.

Mycobacterial spindle cell pseudotumor (MSP) is a rare benign lesion characterised by local proliferation of spindle--shaped histiocytes containing acid--fast atypical mycobacteria, clinically resembling Kaposi's sarcoma. Most cases of MSP reported so far affected immunodeficient patients or patients receiving immunosuppressive medication. We report a case of MSP affecting the nasal septum of a 76-year-old man, a location that has not been published so far concerning the manifestation of MSP.

A rare course of Whipple's disease with atypical cardiac manifestation.

Whipple's disease (WD) is a rare disorder caused by the gram-positive actinomycete Tropheryma whippelii (1). An oral route of acquisition is presumed (2). WD is a chronic systemic infection morphologically characterized by foamy PAS-positive macrophages.

[Renal cell carcinoma. Comparative analysis of the prognostic significance of the WHO-classification and the Störkel's prognostic score].

Due to the increasing epidemiological importance of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the past, several studies have been undertaken to evaluate a variety of parameters in view of their aptitude for reliably predicting individual prognosis. Currently, staging according to the TNM classification and pathohistological nuclear grading of the tumor is most widely used for determining prognosis. In the latest edition of the TNM system, a subdivision of the stage pT1 into the stages pT1a and pT1b has been established.

[Angiomyolipoma of the kidneys as a rare cause of retroperitoneal hemorrhage. Two case reports with tuberous sclerosis Bourneville-Pringle].

Tuberous sclerosis (Bourneville-Pringle-disease, TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by seizures, mental retardation and hamartomatous tumours in multiple organs, including subependymal giant cell astrocytomas, cardiac rhabdomyomas and renal angiomyolipomas. Recent population-based studies suggest a prevalence of 1 case per 25,000 individuals. Renal angiomyolipomas, which may be found sporadically or associated with TSC, become evident as an acute retroperitoneal haemorrhage or by symptoms of a flank mass.

Fast and sensitive immunodetection of carcinoma cells in sentinel nodes.

In a number of clinical situations, especially in the context of the recent sentinel node concept, lymph-node involvement has to be determined intraoperatively. Since serious and dependable decisions are to be made according to the result of this examination, the most reliable method for the detection of tumour cells should be applied. We and others have shown previously that routine histological examination underestimates lymph-node metastases, and that immunohistochemistry (IHC) significantly improves the accuracy of staging.

Discordance between K-ras mutations in bone marrow micrometastases and the primary tumor in colorectal cancer.

Purpose: To study bone marrow micrometastases from colorectal cancer patients for the presence of K-ras mutations and to compare their genotype with that of the corresponding primary tumor.

Patients And Methods: Bilateral iliac crest aspiration was performed in 51 patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer, and bone marrow micrometastases were detected by immunohistochemistry. The presence of K-ras mutations was determined by single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis on both primary tumors and paired bone marrow samples and was confirmed by sequencing.

[Diagnostic importance of flow cytometry in staging malignant lymphoma].

Bone marrow biopsy plays an important role in the clinical diagnosis of malignant lymphoma. Further diagnostic methods need to be established to increase accuracy in the light of advances over recent years in the immunophenotypical characterization of discrete lymphatic bone marrow lesions and the continuing difficulty in classifying them. This study compared the diagnostic value of flow cytometry to that of conventional bone marrow biopsy in 156 patients with 191 marrow biopsy specimens or bone marrow aspirates.

[Differential atypical ductal hyperplasia/DCIS/invasive carcinoma diagnosis and significance of micrometastases].

During the last years the increasing knowledge of preliminary stages of breast cancer has substantially contributed to the understanding and therapy of this disease. The definition and classification are shortly discussed.

Phenotypic characteristics of cell lines derived from disseminated cancer cells in bone marrow of patients with solid epithelial tumors: establishment of working models for human micrometastases.

Bone marrow (BM) is a clinically relevant site of micrometastatic disease in patients with solid epithelial tumors. It is, therefore, important to establish suitable models that allow the in-depth characterization of disseminated tumor cells present at low frequencies of 10(-5)-10(-6) nucleated BM cells. The aim of this study was to assess common phenotypic features of nine tumor cell lines established from BM of patients with cancer of the prostate (four cell lines), breast (two cell lines), lung (two cell lines), and colon (one cell line) using immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, and reverse transcription-PCR.

Mycobacterium ulcerans infection in a child from Angola: diagnosis by direct detection and culture.

Buruli ulcer, caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, is a chronic ulcerative skin disease, found predominantly in central and west Africa and Australia. A boy of 2.5 years of age from Angola was admitted to our hospital with severe kwashiokor and a large ulcer with undermined edges on the left side of the thorax.

Cold acetone fixation and methacrylate embedding. A suitable method for routine processing of bone marrow biopsies.

Here we report that acetone fixation at -18 degrees C with subsequent embedding in methyl-/butylmethacrylate is a reliable method for the routine processing of bone marrow biopsies. This method allows good conventional histological visualization of morphological details, which is comparable with other fixation procedures. The essential advantage of this method is that a wide range of monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal antisera can be used for immunohistochemical investigations for diagnostic and scientific purposes.

Reduced expression of plakoglobin indicates an unfavorable prognosis in subsets of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Plakoglobin is thought to play a key role in cadherin-mediated epithelial cell adhesion, because it is a common component of desmosomal and nondesmosomal adherens junctions. Because loss of homotypic cell adhesion is an important early step in invasion and metastasis of solid tumors, we evaluated the frequency and prognostic significance of a deficient expression of plakoglobin in human lung cancer.

Patients And Methods: At primary surgery, representative specimens of the primary tumor were obtained from 96 consecutive patients with completely resected non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) without overt distant metastases.

[Cystic adventitial degeneration of the popliteal artery. Rare cause of intermittent claudication in middle-aged adults].

We report on a 36-year old male patient with clinically prolonged intermittent claudication of the right leg. An operative specimen measuring 8.0 cm of the A.

Mucins (MUC1 and MUC3) of gastrointestinal and breast epithelia reveal different and heterogeneous tumor-associated aberrations in glycosylation.

In a comprehensive study, we examined the expression of the membrane and secretory mucins MUC1 and MUC3, respectively, in normal and neoplastic gastrointestinal and breast epithelia before and after specific alterations of their glycan structures by neuraminidase, alpha-fucosidase, or carbohydrate-specific periodate oxidation. MUC1 mRNA was also identified in normal colorectal tissues by in situ hybridization. The data revealed that normal colorectal epithelia express both MUC1 mRNA and protein, which were detectable after periodate oxidation with all tested MUC1-specific antibodies.

[Adenomatoid tumor of the uterus--2 case reports].

We report two cases of the so-called adenomatoid tumor of the uterus, which have been detected in patients who underwent surgery for leiomyomas. The clinical signs, origin and immunohistochemical characteristics of the adenomatoid tumor are described. Adenomatoid tumors are slow growing epithelioid neoplasias with a co-expression of vimentin and cytokeratins.

[Prognostic significance of micrometastases in axillary lymph nodes in breast carcinoma].

We looked for micrometastases in the axillary lymph nodes of 163 women with breast carcinoma, using monoclonal anticytokeratin antibodies. We found 26 micrometastases (2.1%) in node-negative patients (n = 17).

Thomsen-Friedenreich-related carbohydrate antigens in normal adult human tissues: a systematic and comparative study.

A broad variety of normal human tissues were examined for the expression of Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF)-related histo-blood group antigens, TF (Gal beta 1-3GalNAc alpha 1-R), Tn (TF precursor, GalNAc alpha 1-R), sialosyl-Tn (NeuAc alpha 2-6GalNAc alpha 1-R), considered to be useful in cancer diagnosis and immunotherapy, and sialosyl-TF, the cryptic form of TF. These antigens or, more correctly, glycotopes, were determined by immunohistochemistry with at least two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) each (except sialosyl-TF) as well as by lectin histochemistry. For a better dissection of sialosyl-TF and TF glycotopes, tissue sections were pretreated with galactose oxidase or the galactose oxidase-Schiff sequence.

[Expression of plakoglobin in bronchial carcinomas: incidence and significance for disease outcome].

Loss of homotypic cell adhesion is an important prerequisite for invasion and metastasis of epithelial tumor cells. The function of E-cadherin, which mediates epithelial cell-cell adhesion, is regulated by a complex of proteins bound to its cytoplasmic tail, including a-, b-, g-catenins and plakoglobin (PG). The present study was designed to assess whether downregulation of plakoglobin expression occurs in human non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and whether this change is associated with an unfavorable prognosis.

[Osteomyelitis from Cryptococcus neoformans].

A forty-three-year old patient suspected of having a bone tumor in his left femur, was submitted to the hospital. However, osteomyelitis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans has been demonstrated by culture. The history of the patient revealed a long-term therapy with corticosteroids due to sarcoidosis.