Primary diffuse meningeal melanomatosis: radiologic-pathologic correlation.

We report a case of primary diffuse meningeal melanomatosis, a rare variant of primary malignant melanoma of the CNS, in a 68-year-old woman. The disease mimicked intracranial hypotension syndrome and was diagnosed only at autopsy (CSF cytologic results were negative). CT revealed hydrocephalus with effacement of the cerebral convexity sulci and abnormal contrast enhancement in the right sylvian and frontoparietal fissures, whereas MR imaging showed diffuse marked dural and leptomeningeal contrast enhancement.

Surgical therapy for adenocarcinoma of the cardia: modalities of recurrence and extension of resection.

In order to define the optimal extent of resection for cancer of the cardia, we considered 116 patients operated upon with five different surgical techniques. The procedures were: transabdominal total gastrectomy associated with distal esophagectomy in 38 patients; transabdominal total gastrectomy and left thoracotomic esophageal resection at the inferior pulmonary vein level in 26 patients; transabdominal total gastrectomy and right thoracotomic esophageal resection at the azygos vein level in 27 patients; transabdominal total gastrectomy and transhiatal lower third esophagectomy in 18 patients; transhiatal total esophagectomy and upper third gastrectomy with cervical esophago-gastroplasty in seven patients. Grading, staging, neoplastic lymphangitis, satellite intramural metastases, infiltration of the resection margin, site of recurrence, and survival were analyzed.

Gynecomastia in type-1 neurofibromatosis with features of pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia with giant cells. Report of two cases.

We describe the histological finding in two cases of gynecomastia in patients with von Recklinghausen's disease. The histological and immunohistochemical features of the two cases were reviewed and compared with those of five cases of gynecomastia in men without clinical evidence of neurofibromatosis. In both patients bearing von Recklinghausen's disease, the breast stroma showed features consistent with pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH).

Prenatal indicators of congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Objective: To assess the validity of a diagnostic protocol designed to predict the outcome of newborns of mothers suspected to have primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during the first 4 months of pregnancy.

Study Design: Anti-CMV immunoglobulin (Ig) M detection by enzyme immunoassay and immunoblot together with the determination of anti-CMV IgG avidity allowed us to classify 456 women as (1) uninfected, (2) undergoing either a primary or a recurrent infection, or (3) having an undefined serologic condition. Prenatal diagnosis was carried out at 21 to 23 weeks' gestation for women.

Identification and chromosomal localisation by fluorescence in situ hybridisation of human gene of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C beta(1).

Members of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC) families are central intermediary in signal transduction in response to the occupancy of receptors by many growth factors. Among PLC isoforms, the type beta(1) is of particular interest because of its reported nuclear localisation in addition to its presence at the plasma membrane. It has been previously shown that both the stimulation and the inhibition of the nuclear PLCbeta(1) under different stimuli implicate PLCbeta(1) as an important enzyme for mitogen-activated cell growth as well as for murine erythroleukaemia cell differentiation.

Cardiovascular autonomic function in patients with primary achalasia.

Impaired gastrointestinal function outside the esophagus has been found in achalasic patients. Moreover, achalasia may occur in diseases in which a systemic dysautonomia is evident. These findings raise the question of whether a generalized subclinical alteration of autonomic control is also present in primary achalasia.

Modulation of CD4, CXCR-4, and CCR-5 makes human hematopoietic progenitor cell lines infected with human herpesvirus-6 susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

Two CD34+ human hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) lines, KG-1 and TF-1, became susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in the presence of a concurrent infection by human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6). We have analyzed the possible mechanism(s) underlying this phenomenon in light of the recent demonstration that at least two members of the chemokine receptor family, CXCR4 (LESTR/fusin) and CCR5 molecules, are the HIV-1-specific coreceptors necessary, together with the high-affinity receptor CD4, for entry into target cells of T-tropic and M-tropic HIV-1 isolates, respectively. KG-1 cells show CXCR4 and CCR5 surface molecules in a large proportion of the cell population.

Clinical and surgical relevance of the progressive phases of intrathoracic migration of the gastroesophageal junction in gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Objective: The pathophysiologic influence of progressive intrathoracic migration of the gastroesophageal junction axial to the esophagus on gastroesophageal reflux disease was investigated.

Methods: A radiologic-manometric study was performed on hiatal insufficiency, concentric hiatus hernia, and short esophagus, the three radiologic steps of intrathoracic gastroesophageal junction migration, and on healthy volunteers. The distances between inferior and superior margins of the lower esophageal sphincter and the diaphragm were measured.

Mammary foam cells. Characterization by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization.

Cells showing abundant, finely vacuolized cytoplasm (foam cells) are found frequently in most benign lesions of the breast and in certain malignant breast tumours. The origin of mammary foam cells (FCs) has not been clarified, and we therefore studied the morphological features of mammary FCs in a series of 50 benign lesions. The FCs were subdivided, on the basis of their distribution into FCs lining the glandular lumina, intraluminal FCs, intraepithelial-pagetoid FCs, and stromal FCs.

Oncocytic carcinoma (malignant oncocytoma) of the breast.

Three cases of oncocytic carcinoma of the breast observed in two women and one man are reported. One tumor was in situ and two were invasive. All three tumors were composed mostly of cells with "low-grade" nuclei and abundant granular eosinophilic cytoplasm.

A concurrent human herpesvirus-6 infection renders two human hematopoietic progenitor (TF-1 and KG-1) cell lines susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type-1.

In human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infected individuals, CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells are profoundly impaired in their proliferation/differentiation capacities. The bulk of the available experimental evidence seems to indicate that hematopoietic progenitors are not susceptible to HIV-1 infection and their defects seem rather the consequence of direct or indirect negative influences of HIV-1-specific soluble proteins released by productively infected accessory cells. We have now shown that in the presence of a concurrent human herpesvirus-6 infection, two hematopoietic (TF-1 [erythromyeloid] and KG-1 [lymphomyeloid]) progenitor cell lines and human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors isolated from the bone marrow of normal donors, became susceptible to HIV-1 infection and permissive to HIV-1 replication, although with a limited virus yield.

Maternal anxiety and childbirth.

The repercussions of the emotional state of a pregnant woman on the course of her labour and delivery and on the state of health of the newborn have been the subject of numerous researches which have yielded contrasting results. The present inquiry was carried out on a group of 34 pregnant women, with the aim of examining the relationship between the emotional state of a woman during pregnancy, on the one hand and, on the other, the course of her labour and delivery, her psychological reaction to it, and the birth weight of her baby.

Pelvic resections: the Rizzoli Institute experience.

Materials, methods, and techniques of pelvic resections are discussed. Results, including the complications of nerve damage, infection, and vascular, visceral, and reconstructive complications are tabulated.

The relationship between fitness and response to selection in Drosophila melanogaster.

The relationship between the selection response exhibited by a morphological trait and the correlated response observed on fitness values has been investigated to improve our understanding of micro-and macro-evolutionary processes. The research was designed to test the validity of the "homeostatic" and "metric deviation" models (Robertson 1956). The results show that: 1) correlated changes in fertility values are larger when selection for minus-variant wing length is applied to males than when it is performed on females, 2) within each of the selected lines, M, F and MF, the reproductive fitness of the populations obtained from vg/vg x +/vg crosses differs from that of the populations derived from +/vg X vg/vg crosses, 3) reproductive fitness values of populations derived from vg/vg X +/vg crosses are fairly constant in selected lines obtained by means of different selective procedures, while mean wing length changes; the corresponding populations from +/vg X vg/vg crosses show, on the contrary, a proportionality between fitness and selected trait values.