Deposition of autofluorescent eosinophil granules in pathologic bone marrow biopsies

Eosinophil granules are intensely autofluorescent when excited by green light. To determine if eosinophils degranulate in the bone marrows of patients with a variety of diseases, we used green light epifluorescence microscopy to examine deparaffinized and dezenkerized sections of 49 bone marrow core biopsies. In 14 of the biopsies, there was striking extracellular deposition of intensely autofluorescent eosinophil granules in addition to numerous intact eosinophils. Among the 14 specimens with extracellular autofluorescence were seven cases of leukemia, four cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, two cases of myelofibrosis, and one case of pancytopenia with eosinophilia. In the remaining 35 specimens, only intact eosinophils were identifiable. There was no extracellular autofluorescence in three normal marrows, four marrows from AIDS patients, or three biopsies from patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). We conclude that green light epifluorescence microscopy identifies extracellular deposits of eosinophil granules in bone marrow biopsies of some neoplastic disorders and in diseases associated with reticulin fibrosis.     

Iopamidol and meglumine diatrizoate: comparison of effects on patient discomfort during aortofemoral arteriography

Iopamidol was compared with Renografin-60 (meglumine diatrizoate, Squibb) in a controlled, randomized double-blind study of 40 patients undergoing peripheral arteriography for arteriosclerotic occlusive disease to determine which agent caused less discomfort. Each patient was evaluated for objective signs of discomfort and subjective feelings of pain and heat. Monitoring was achieved by multiple physical examinations, chemical tests, electrocardiograms, and intra-arterial pressure recordings. It is concluded that iopamidol is safe and causes significantly less patient discomfort than Renografin-60.     

Replacement of the Femoral Head by Ceramic Endoprosthesis: An Experimental Study on Rabbits

In 31 rabbits the femoral head was replaced by a ceramic endoprosthesis. For 11 of the experimental animals the endoprostheses were made by the Arabia China Factory in Helsinki, and for 20 by Staatliche Porzellan Manufaktur in Berlin. The operation was performed under fully sterile conditions and the follow-up time was between 6 and 34 weeks. The hip joint was examined clinically, roentgenologically, macroscopically and histologically.

The bending tolerance of the ceramic endoprosthesis was not adequate. Mechanical loosening of the proximal part of the prosthesis occurred in 68 per cent and was combined with fracture of the prosthetic stem. This created a pseudarthrosis-like reaction in the acetabular area and limited the movement of the hip joint. The distal fragment of the stem was always surrounded by a thin layer of dense bone. In the nonfractured cases (32 per cent), however, the reaction was only moderate and the movement of the hip joint was well preserved. The tissue reactions to the ceramic material were slight, but the great number of secondary reactions following stem fractures make the use of the ceramic endoprosthesis questionable in experiments with rabbits.     

Prevention of fat embolism by early internal fixation of fractures in patients with multiple injuries.

Symptoms of fat embolism occurred in 95 out of 1059 patients with multiple injuries treated in the intensive care unit between 1967 and 1974. The criteria for the diagnosis were: typical snowstorm infiltration on the chest X-ray films, disturbance of consciousness, petechial rash, hypoxaemia, pyrexia and tachypnoea. Long-bone fractures were usual and an important aetiological factor in the development of fat embolism. Early administration of oxygen was most important in treatment, together with regular measurement of blood gases. Tracheostomy was necessary for 28 patients. Fat embolism was not a centra-indication to operative treatment. Indeed, internal fixation of long-bone fractures seemed to reduce the incidence of fat embolism. The number of patients with clinical fat embolism decreased yearly between 1967 and 1974 from 21 to 0. From 1971, however, most of the longbone fractures in patients with multiple injuries were treated by operative fixation in the first days after injury, and this seemed to prevent many cases of clinical fat embolism.