ALCOHOL-RELATED SUDDEN DEATH WITH HEPATIC FATTY METAMORPHOSIS: A COMPREHENSIVE CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL INQUIRY INTO ITS PATHOGENESIS

To clarify the pathogenesis of the widely known but obscuresyndrome of sudden death with hepatic fatty metamorphosis observedin alcohol abusers, we have scrutinized both the clinical andpathological data of 11 subjects who died under such circumstancesbetween 1987 and 1993. Death followed several days of uninterrupteddrinking often with little dietary intake. The notable clinicalfeatures on arrival at the emergency room were disturbance ofconsciousness (11/11), hypotension (47/6), hypothermia (3/5),hypoglycaemia (8/11), metabolic acidosis (6/6), renal dysfunction(11/11), and hyperammonaemia (5/5). The common hepatic pathologywas the extensive appearance of numerous microvesicular fattydroplets in the hepatocytes together with varying degrees ofmacrovesicular fatty change; four subjects had an underlyingcirrhosis. Death undoubtedly results from a variety of metabolicdisturbances triggered by the combination of massive ethanolintake and starvation. The appearance of extensive microvesicularfatty change superimposed on macrovesicular fatty change wasconsidered to be an associated phenomenon     

Diagnosis of Small Pancreatic Carcinoma

A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate the clinicalsymptoms and abnormal test findings in small pancreatic carcinoma.Five hundred and thirty-six cases of pancreatic carcinoma withthe histology of duct cell carcinoma were collected from 14medical centers in Japan. In 440 of the cases, tumor size wasmeasured at the time of laparotomy or from the resected specimen.Three hundred and seventy-seven patients (86%) had a carcinomalarger than 3.0 cm; only 30% of these were resectable. Sixty-threepatients (14%) had a carcinoma of 3.0 cm or less, with resectabilityof 97%. Detecting a tumor of "3 cm or less" with a high probabilityof resectability is the objective of early diagnosis with theresulting possibility of a cure. In most cases these small carcinomaswere found easily when obstructive jaundice was present (73%).However, the estimated occurrence of obstructive jaundice associatedwith carcinomas of 3 cm or less was only 10% among the totalcases of pancreatic carcinoma studied. Therefore, it is necessaryfor early diagnosis to detect carcinomas of 3 cm or less presentingwithout jaundice. The symptoms of small carcinoma without jaundiceare weight loss, anorexia, upper abdominal pain, back pain anda palpable abdominal mass. Among the various available examinations,endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, computerizedtomography and ultrasonography were valuable in diagnosing thesesmall carcinomas.     

Primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor in the retroperitoneum

Abstract  Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most frequent non-epithelial neoplasm in the gastrointestinal tract. GIST has received much attention both for its clinical significance and biological nature, while the retroperitoneal condition identical to GIST has been rarely described. Presented herein is a case of GIST arising from the retroperitoneum in a 67-year-old man. The solid tumor measuring 4 cm was uncovered in the retroperitoneum, between the abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava, on computed tomography. The patient underwent surgical excision of the tumor. Histological examination showed proliferating spindle cells in the clearly demarcated tumor; immunoreactivity for Kit and CD34 in tumor cells confirmed the diagnosis of GIST. The histological origin of GIST is suggested to be gastrointestinal pacemaker cells, because they share specific immunoreactivity for CD117/Kit, which is also relevant to pathogenesis of GIST. The present case was a rare primary GIST in the retroperitoneum with typical immunopathological features.     

ETHANOL INDUCES HETEROGENEOUS REDUCTION OF CYTOCHROME aa3 WITHIN PERFUSED RAT LIVER LOBULE ASSESSED USING MICROSPECTROSCOPY

The redox state of cytochrome aa₃ was measured at microspots(20µm diameter) within the lobule of perfused rat livers,using reflectance microspectroscopy, and the effect of ethanolinfusion on sublobular distribution of the redox states wasevaluated. A sigmoidal relationship was observed between oxygendelivery and the reduction of cytochrome aa₃ in both the periportaland pericentral regions of the liver lobule when the influentO₂ concentration was decreased in a graduated manner. This sigmoidalcurve was shifted to the more reduced state by ethanol infusion,with ethanol (25–100mM) increasing the degree of cytochromeaa₃ reduction in a dose-dependent manner according to the distancefrom the periportal region along a sinusoid. This increase wasspatially heterogeneous within a liver lobule. These data indicatethat ethanol accelerates cytochrome aa₃ reduction, with a distinctgradient of reduction along sinusoids but a heterogeneous distributionwithin the liver lobule.     

Stepped care medical treatment for cirrhotic ascites: Analysis of factors influencing the response to treatment

Abstract Thirty-two patients with liver cirrhosis and ascites were treated by stepped care diuretic treatment as follows: step 1, placed on a 35 mEq sodium diet; step 2, given 400 mg/day of potassium canrenoate in addition to step 1 treatment; step 3, given 40-80 mg/day of furosemide in addition to step 2 treatment. Eleven out of 32 patients (34.4%, group 1) and 12 of 21 patients (57.1%, group 2) lost their ascites at step 1 and step 2, respectively. The remaining nine patients (group 3) required step 3 treatment. Basal urinary sodium excretion and creatinine clearance were significantly lower and β₂-microglobulin was significantly higher in group 3 than those in groups 1 and 2. Elevation of basal plasma renin activity and norepinephrine was evident only in group 3. In group 1, urinary sodium excretion decreased after the treatment. In group 2, plasma α-atrial natriuretic polypeptide was lowered and plasma renin activity and norepinephrine were elevated after the treatment. These results suggest that basal renal function and plasma renin activity and norepinephrine levels are useful indices to predict the effect of ascites treatment and that responders to sodium restriction or potassium canrenoate may be in the state of vascular overflow, while non-responders to potassium canrenoate may be in the state of vascular underfilling. In summary, this stepped care treatment is safe without any side effects, although the diuretics themselves may lead to relative vascular underfilling.     

Subtyping of uropathogenic Escherichia coli according to the pathogenicity island encoding uropathogenic-specific protein: Comparison with phylogenetic groups

BACKGROUND: Phylogenetic analysis has been used widely to characterize extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli in molecular epidemiological studies. We have recently reported a putative pathogenicity island (PAI), carrying uropathogenic-specific protein (usp) and a unique mosaic structure of small open reading frames following usp, providing four subtypes of PAIusp classified from their sequential patterns. METHODS: A total of 427 E. coli isolates from uncomplicated urinary tract infections (194 cystitis, 76 pyelonephritis, and 107 prostatitis) and 50 fecal isolates were examined for phylogenetic grouping and PAIusp subtyping as well as the prevalence of virulence factors (VF) and O serogroups. RESULTS: Both phylogenetic group B2 and usp-positive strains were equally predominant in cystitis, pyelonephritis and prostatitis (B2, 80.9%, 86.8%, and 86.9%; usp, 79.4%, 93.4%, and 88.8%, respectively). Furthermore, each PAIusp subtype was shown to be closely associated with several VF genes as well as several common O serogroups of uropathogenic E. coli. CONCLUSIONS: In molecular epidemiological studies, PAIusp subtyping will provide additional informative findings of E. coli strains belonging to phylogenetic group B2.