Venous hemangioma of the mesoappendix: Report of a case and a brief review of the Japanese literature

We present herein the rare case of a 48-year-old man in whom an abdominal mass, revealed by celiotomy to be a solid tumor of the mesoappendix, was histologically diagnosed as having a venous hemangioma. To our knowledge, only 18 cases of mesenteric hemangioma have been reported in Japan, including the present case. However, establishing a correct diagnosis preoperatively is extremely difficult despite advanced imaging techniques. In fact, a mesenteric mass was diagnosed preoperatively in only 3 of these 18 cases. Complete excision with or without bowel resection was performed in 16 cases. Interestingly, the histological diagnosis of all the previous cases was cavernous hemangioma, confirming that this report decuments the first case of venous hemangioma of the mesentery in the Japanese literature.     

Characteristics and prognosis of synchronous multiple early gastric cancer

AIM:To assess the clinicopathologic characteristics,risk factors,and prognosis for synchronous multiple early gastric cancer(SMGC).METHODS:A total of 146 patients with SMGC and1194 patients with single gastric cancer who had undergone gastrectomy between 1989 and 2008 were retrospectively analyzed to determine their clinicopathologic characteristics and postoperative survival.Tumors were classified into groups on the basis of location and histology.Smoking habits were evaluated using the Brinkman index.Clinical and pathological factors were compared using either Fisher’s exact test or Pearson’sχ2test.Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors.Survival rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.RESULTS:SMGCs accounted for 10.9%of gastric cancer cases and occurred predominantly in elderly male patients with a family history of gastric cancer who were both smokers and drinkers.These tumors were typically macroscopically elevated and histologically differentiated.There were no significant differences between SMGC and single gastric cancer patients with respect to tumor location,tumor size,lymph node metastasis,the number of metastatic lymph nodes,venous invasion,or tumor stage(P=0.052,P=0.347,P=0.595,P=0.805,P=0.559,and P=0.408,respectively).Further,there was no significant difference in postoperative survival between the patient groups(P=0.200).Of the 146SMGC patients,a single patient had remnant cancer.CONCLUSION:A careful preoperative endoscopy is necessary for patients who are at high risk of SMGC,and minimally invasive treatment may be indicated in some cases.     

A case of pulmonary adenocarcinoma harboring osteoclast‐like giant cells: Its evaluation by immunohistochemical and genetic analyses

Tumors harboring osteoclast‐like giant cells (OGCs) at extraosseous site are extremely rare. These rare tumors have been detected most frequently in the pancreas and few pulmonary tumors harboring OGCs have been previously reported. In addition, the genetic profiles of these tumors have remained virtually unknown. Therefore, we report a case of pulmonary adenocarcinoma harboring OGCs in which k‐ras mutation and immunohistochemical study of proteins associated with OGCs were examined. The case was a 70‐year‐old man, who demonstrated a pulmonary mass associated with unusual radiological features. Histopathologically, three different cell types, mucinous adenocarcinoma cell, OGC and mononuclear cell were detected. OGCs were immunohistochemically negative for epithelial markers and positive for histiocytic markers but mononuclear cells were immunopositive for epithelial markers. In addition, both mononuclear and adenocarcinoma cells had the same k‐ras mutation profiles and mononuclear cells were immunohistochemically positive for macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (M‐CSF), one of the factors associated with OGC differentiation. Therefore, mononuclear cells were considered to be derived from neoplastic epithelium and OGCs could represent non‐neoplastic cells. In addition, M‐CSF locally produced could promote the differentiation of OGCs.     

Interventricular dyssynchrony during continuous-flow left ventricular assist device support: observation using the conductance method

Journal of Artificial Organs - The purpose of this study was to observe and clarify the interventricular dysscynchrony caused by continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) support...     

Absorption and metabolism of pyridoxamine in mice. I. Pyridoxal as the only form of transport in blood.

[3H]Pyridoxamine was orally administered to mice in physiological amounts, and the distribution of isotope between the six recognized forms of vitamin B6 and pyridoxic acid was determined at different times in the intestine, liver, blood, and brain. After 7 min about 50% of the radioactivity in pyridoxamine had been absorbed by the intestine and transported to the blood and other organs. Labeled pyridoxal phosphate was found in the intestine and liver. Labeled pyridoxamine could not be detected in the peripheral blood, but substantial amounts of labeled pyridoxal and pyridoxal phosphate were found in the blood. However, when a large amount (40-140 nmol) was given, a significant amount of labeled pyridoxamine was found in the blood, together with labeled pyridoxal and pyridoxal phosphate. These results suggest that the intestine and/or liver play a major role in completely converting physiological amounts of pyridoxamine to circulating pyridoxal, which is then taken up and phosphorylated by other organs.     

Anticancer drug sensitivity test using the short-term microplate culture and MTT dye reduction assay

We have applied the MTT dye reduction assay to the anticancer drugs sensitivity test using short-term microplate cultures. The tumor cells were cultured with the anticancer drugs for 2 and 4 days. After culture, MTT dye was placed in each microwell and culture was carried out again for 4 more hours. The formazans generated by living cells were dissolved in acidified isopropyl alcohol and the absorbances of each well were measured at a wavelength of 540 nm. When tables of cytotoxicity indices classified into anticancer drugs, concentrations and durations of culture for each type of leukemic cell were made, it became possible to compare each drug and to select the effective ones. This assay is simple, precise, rapid, has no washing steps and is convenient for handling a large volume of material. We apply this assay in clinical practice.