1,720,986 research outputs found

    Blood free endometrial sampling: a useful tool in routine diagnosis.

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    The presence of clots or of a great amount of blood in the specimen from curettage or endometrial aspiration may lead to considerable problems for the pathologist. The application of a lysis buffer/ethanol solution before applying conventional fixation techniques may solve this problem. This new technique was tested on a series of endometrial samples. No disadvantages have been recorded, quite the contrary, optimum specimens were obtained for histochemical and immunohistochemical studies

    Human papillomavirus in cervical adenocarcinoma. An in situ hybridization study.

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    Twenty cervical adenocarcinomas (CACs) in women aged 22 to 71 were investigated by in situ hybridization (ISH) with 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 35 and 51 HPV biotinylated probes. Two cases, one adenocarcinoma and one adenosquamous carcinoma (in women aged 28 and 40 respectively) showed focal nuclear positivity to 16 HPV Probe in some neoplastic glands. We used ISH, rather than other hybridization techniques, in order to exclude a positivity to viral DNA, due to adjacent squamous epithelium, either normal or metaplastic, and in squamous foci within adenosquamous tumors. Reviewing the literature, we found 33 out of 98 CACs positive to viral DNA by ISH (33.6%). In spite of the differences found from author to author, a relationship between adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix and HPV infection seems to be possible, as was demonstrated for CIN and invasive cervical carcinomas. These data could explain why the incidence of this neoplasia has tended to increase over the last few years, mainly in younger patients

    Mucin histochemical analysis in the interpretation of Barrett's esophagus. Results of a multicenter study. The Operative Group for the Study of Esophageal Precancer.

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    A multicentric study of Barrett's esophagus (BE) was started in November 1987 to evaluate (1) the prevalence of BE among subjects undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopic examination; (2) the pathologic features of BE; and (3) the correlation between BE and early malignant changes. In 157 of 330 patients who underwent multiple standardized biopsies, BE was confirmed with histologic evaluation. Specialized intestinal-type BE was observed in 84 patients. By applying Alcian blue (pH 2.5)-periodate oxidation-Schiff, high- iron diamine-Alcian blue (pH 2.5), and periodate borohydride-saponification- periodate oxidation-Schiff techniques, the intestinal type of BE was subclassified into colonic and ileal types, both complete and incomplete. Fifty cases had incomplete colonic metaplasia with sulphomucins in the columnar cells and 64 had complete colonic intestinal metaplasia, 49 of them containing O-acetylated sialomucins in the goblet cells. These patients are being included in a short-term follow-up. Dysplasia (six low grade, two high grade) was observed in eight patients in areas of intestinal colonic-type epithelium; in these patients, a complete loss of O-acetylated sialomucins in the dysplastic areas and a remarkable reduction of these mucins in the surrounding tissue were observed. The reduction of O-acetylated sialomucins might indicate relative tissue immaturity, which could represent an early sign of neoplastic dedifferentiation. Therefore, the relevance of O- acetylated sialomucin content in BE, first demonstrated in intestinal type, is now evident, although its biologic importance is being studied

    Patterns of intestinal metaplasia in gastric biopsies. A comparison of different histochemical classifications.

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    A total of 217 cases of gastric intestinal metaplasia (IM), out of 491 cases of consecutive multiple gastric biopsies, were examined using various histochemical methods. Three classifications were adopted (1) Jass and Filipe's (1979), (2) Segura and Montero's (1983), and (3) our own distinguishing two types of small intestine IM (incomplete and complete) and two types of colonic IM (incomplete and complete). Our classification revealed (1) a group of 'pure' IM cases (44%), (2) a group of 'combined' IM cases (15%), either small intestinal or colonic, expressing a maturating line, and (3) a conspicuous group of mixed 'mosaic' IM cases (41%) consisting of all possible combinations between the basic IM types. No significant correlations were found between each IM type and associated diseases (i.g. gastritis, stump gastritis, ulcer, adenoma and adenocarcinoma). However, a suggestive association between colonic IM and malignancy was observed. Our results confirmed the heterogeneity of IM and indicated two differentiation cell lines (ileal and colonic), thus providing additional evidence of impaired maturation and aberrant differentiation along various cell lines, supporting Leblond's (1976) unifying theory on the origin of intestinal epithelial cells

    Assessment of proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression in dysplastic intestinal type Barrett's esophagus. Gruppo Operativo per lo Studio delle Precancerosi Esofagee.

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    In the management of patients with Barrett's Esophagus (BE) the definition of a sub-group of patients at high risk for malignant transformation of the metaplastic epithelium is important. Undoubtedly, the histological evaluation of dysplasia is the most important and objective parameter to identify a malignant transformation of BE. In order to obtain additional data a group of cell proliferation markers was applied in dysplastic lesions. We studied PCNA in a selected group of patients with BE. One hundred six biopsies were examined, referring to fifty five patients with BE, who were followed up for a period of at least one year (1-5 years). All patients showed one or more biopsies positive for dysplasia. PCNA was detected immunohistochemically on formalin fixed and paraffin embedded biopsies, and positive cells were evaluated in a crude percent count. Our results showed a remarkable number of PCNA positive cells in high grade dysplasia and a variable amount of PCNA positive cells in the others groups. In addition, there was an overlap in the number of positive cases between low grade dysplasia (30%), indefinite (33%) and negative (34%). Therefore, the assessment of S-phase cells correlated with the degree of dysplasia seems to be of limited practical use. Cell proliferation is probably affected by many factors and mainly inflammation

    Distribution and significance of the smooth muscle component in polyps of the large intestine.

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    Immunocytochemical staining for alpha smooth muscle actin specifically reveals the distribution of the muscularis mucosae and peripheral intramucosal smooth muscle fibers in the normal mucosa and polyps of the large intestine. In the latter, the muscular component is hyperplastic, especially in pedunculated polyps, which display a thick 'muscular zone' at the top of the stalk. The diagnostic (and prognostic) significance of the distribution pattern of the muscular component in polyps, and in 'early invasion' cases, is discussed
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