Gallium scintigraphy in the detection of amiodarone lung toxicity

Fourteen gallium scans were obtained in 11 patients suspected of having amiodarone lung toxicity on the basis of clinical findings, pulmonary function tests, and chest radiographs. All 11 patients had abnormal scans. Gallium accumulates in various inflammatory and neoplastic lesions, but despite this nonspecificity, the findings suggest gallium scintigraphy is a useful procedure to detect amiodarone lung toxicity when used in the appropriate clinical setting.     

Mediastinal needle biopsy

A review of 52 consecutive needle biopsies of the mediastinum is presented. The aspirated material yielded cytologic and/or histologic diagnosis in 50 needle biopsies; two needle biopsies failed to yield adequate cellular material for diagnosis. All but two of the 50 patients had confirmation of the biopsy diagnosis by surgical, autopsy, or clinical correlation. In 32 patients, a 20-gauge needle was used for the biopsy. A larger-bore (17-gauge) needle with a cutting device was used in 20 cases to obtain more tissue for histologic diagnosis of benign or unusual malignant lesions. Despite the larger size of the needle, the rate of complications remained low.     

Visualization of biological texture using correlation coefficient images

Subsurface structural features of biological tissue are visualized using polarized light images. The technique of Pearson correlation coefficient analysis is used to reduce blurring of these features by unpolarized backscattered light and to visualize the regions of high statistical similarities within the noisy tissue images. It is shown that under certain conditions, such correlation coefficient maps are determined by the textural character of tissues and not by the chosen region of interest, providing information on tissue structure. As an example, the subsurface texture of a demineralized tooth sample is enhanced from a noisy polarized light image.     

Papillary thyroid carcinoma: Demographics,treatment, and outcome in eleven pediatric patients treated at a single institution

We describe 11 cases (8 females, 3 males) of papillary thyroid carcinoma in children treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital over a 33-year period, and review the literature. Ages ranged from 7–25 years (median, 16 years). Six patients had primary papillary thyroid carcinoma. Five patients had secondary papillary thyroid carcinoma after treatment of Hodgkin's disease (n = 2), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 2), and neuroblastoma (n = 1) with chemotherapy and cervical radiation. The typical presentation was either cervical lymphadenopathy or a thyroid mass of short duration. Treatment consisted of thyroidectomy, cervical lymph node dissection, and postoperative thyroid hormone replacement (n = 11), parathyroid reimplantation (n = 1), ¹³¹I ablation (n = 4), external-beam irradiation (n = 1), and chemotherapy with doxorubicin (n = 1) or carboplatin and topotecan (n = 1). Nine patients are alive without evidence of disease 3.0–22.4 years from diagnosis. One patient has persistent but stable disease 17.3 years after diagnosis. One patient relapsed with metastatic lung disease 0.8 years after the initial diagnosis. He continues to do well after a brief but unsustained complete radiographic remission of disease to combination chemotherapy with carboplatin and topotecan. Our review supports excellent long-term outcome for primary or secondary papillary thyroid carcinoma in pediatric patients, although complications may require close follow-up in a multidisciplinary setting. Med. Pediatr. Oncol. 28:433–440, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Regional transport of TNF-alpha across the blood-brain barrier in young ICR and young and aged SAMP8 mice.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) controls the exchange of regulatory substances, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), between the brain and the blood. Transport across the BBB of some regulatory substances is altered with aging. Here, we measured the blood to brain unidirectional influx rate (Ki) for whole brain and 10 brain regions for radioactively labeled TNF in three groups of mice: young (2 mo old) ICR (the standard outbred albino laboratory mouse also termed CD-1), young SAMP8 (a strain which develops impaired learning and memory with aging that correlates with an age-related increase in brain levels of amyloid beta protein), and aged (17 mo) SAMP8 mice. In ICR mice, the hypothalamus had the fastest (1.73 microl/g-min) and the parietal cortex the slowest (0.189 microl/g-min) rates of uptake, a regional difference of about 9 fold. No differences in transport into whole brain or brain regions occurred between the ICR and young SAMP8, showing a lack of differences between strains. Transport was higher for the occipital cortex, midbrain, and striatum in aged SAMP8 mice. These results show blood-borne TNF enters some regions of the brain much more readily than others and TNF transport is increased into some brain regions of the SAMP8 mice at an age when learning and memory are impaired.     

Cytologic and immunohistochemical diagnosis of neuroendocrine (Merkel cell) carcinoma in cerebrospinal fluid

Neuroendocrine (Merkel cell) carcinoma of the skin is a rare entity. Often locally aggressive, this lesion may also metastasize to organ systems, including bone, liver, and brain. The authors report a case of a 64-year-old male who presented with hoarseness and dysphagia 17 months after resection of a primary Merkel cell carcinoma of the nose. Additional studies revealed bilateral vocal cord paralysis secondary to central nervous system dysfunction. Cytologic evaluation of the cerebrospinal fluid revealed malignant tumor cells consistent with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma. Presented are the cytologic and immunohistochemical findings in a case of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma involving the central nervous system.     

Fluorescence lifetime imaging of activatable target specific molecular probes

In vivo optical imaging using fluorescently labeled self‐quenched monoclonal antibodies, activated through binding and internalization within target cells, results in excellent target‐to‐background ratios. We hypothesized that these molecular probes could be utilized to accurately report on cellular internalization with fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLI). Two imaging probes were synthesized, consisting of the antibody trastuzumab (targeting HER2/neu) conjugated to Alexa Fluor750 in ratios of either 1:8 or 1:1. Fluorescence intensity and lifetime of each conjugate were initially determined at endosomal pHs. Since the 1:8 conjugate is self‐quenched, the fluorescence lifetime of each probe was also determined after exposure to the known dequencher SDS. In vitro imaging experiments were performed using 3T3/HER2⁺ and BALB/3T3 (HER2^?) cell lines. Changes in fluorescence lifetime correlated with temperature‐ and time‐dependent cellular internalization. In vivo imaging studies in mice with dual flank tumors [3T3/HER2⁺ and BALB/3T3 (HER2^?)] detected a minimal difference in FLI. In conclusion, fluorescence lifetime imaging monitors the internalization of target‐specific activatable antibody–fluorophore conjugates in vitro. Challenges remain in adapting this methodology to in vivo imaging. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.