Über einen der Parakeratosis variegata (Unna) bzw. Pityriasis lichenoides chronica (Neisser-Juliusberg) nahestehenden eigentümlichen Fall

Ohne ZusammenfassungHiezu Taf. XXX u. XXXI.     

Cytopathic effects of human papillomavirus infection and the severity of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia : A frequency study

Cytopathic effects related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection are more frequently found in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1; however, there are indications that at least half the histological diagnoses of CIN2 and CIN3 include koilocytosis areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of the cytological criteria suggestive of HPV infection in the cervical smears of women with a histological diagnosis of CIN. One hundred and sixty-two women with abnormal cervical smears and a diagnosis of CIN confirmed by histopathology were selected, including 46 cases of CIN 1, 42 of CIN 2 and 74 cases of CIN 3. Koilocytosis was found in 63% of the smears from women with a histopathological diagnosis of CIN 1. This sign was observed in 26.2% and 25.7% of smears of women with a diagnosis of CIN 2 and CIN 3, respectively. Cytomegaly also was frequent in cervical smears of women with histopathological diagnosis of CIN 1 (71.8%). On the other hand, spindle cells and atypical metaplasia were more frequent in women with CIN 2 and CIN 3. Atypical parakeratosis showed similar frequency in all grades of CIN diagnosis. Koilocytois and cytomegaly were inversely correlated with the diagnosis of CIN2 or CIN 3, with OR values respectively of 0.30 (95%CI 0.13-0.68) and 0.26 (95%CI 0.11-0.58). The others signs analyzed did not show any significant association. Koilocitosis and cytomegaly can provides good reassurance that a patient with atypical cervical smear have CIN 1.     

Evaluation of anti-influenza efficiency of polyclonal IgG antibodies specific to the ectodomain of M2 protein of influenza A virus by passive immunization of mice

We attempted to quantify the protective potential of polyclonal IgG antibodies specific to the ectodomain of M2 protein (eM2) of influenza A virus (IAV) against lethal influenza infection of mice. For this purpose, eM2 conjugated with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) or KLH alone were administered with Freund's adjuvant intraperitoneally (i.p.) to BALB/c mice. IgG antibodies specific to the KLH-eM2 conjugate (anti-KLH-eM2 IgGs) and KLH (anti-KLH IgGs), respectively, were purified from ascitic fluids. Analysis of the preparation of anti-KLH-eM2 IgGs by ELISA revealed that it contained about 25% of anti-eM2 IgGs and 75% of anti-KLH IgGs. Taking into account this finding mice were passively immunized by intravenous route with 320, 160, 80, and 40 μg of anti-eM2 IgGs per mouse, respectively, while 320 μg of anti-KLH IgGs were used in control. Following subsequent infection with 3 LD50 IAV the survival of mice was determined. An absolute protection (100% survival) was obtained with 320 μg of anti-eM2 IgGs, and a relatively strong significant protection (~80% survival, p = 0.024) with 160 μg. The amount 160 μg of IgGs represents approx. 100 μg IgGs per 1 ml of blood.     

Staging Dementia From Symptom Profiles on a Care Partner Website

Background

The World Wide Web allows access to patient/care partner perspectives on the lived experience of dementia. We were interested in how symptoms that care partners target for tracking relate to dementia stage, and whether dementia could be staged using only these online profiles of targeted symptoms.

Objectives

To use clinical data where the dementia stage is known to develop a model that classifies an individual’s stage of dementia based on their symptom profile and to apply this model to classify dementia stages for subjects from a Web-based dataset.

Methods

An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to identify the relationships between the dementia stages and individualized profiles of people with dementia obtained from the 60-item SymptomGuide (SG). The clinic-based training dataset (n=320), with known dementia stages, was used to create an ANN model for classifying stages in Web-based users (n=1930).

Results

The ANN model was trained in 66% of the 320 Memory Clinic patients, with the remaining 34% used to test its accuracy in classification. Training and testing staging distributions were not significantly different. In the 1930 Web-based profiles, 309 people (16%) were classified as having mild cognitive impairment, 36% as mild dementia, 29% as moderate, and 19% as severe. In both the clinical and Web-based symptom profiles, most symptoms became more common as the stage of dementia worsened (eg, mean 5.6 SD 5.9 symptoms in the MCI group versus 11.9 SD 11.3 in the severe). Overall, Web profiles recorded more symptoms (mean 7.1 SD 8.0) than did clinic ones (mean 5.5 SD 1.8). Even so, symptom profiles were relatively similar between the Web-based and clinical datasets.

Conclusion

Symptoms targeted for online tracking by care partners of people with dementia can be used to stage dementia. Even so, caution is needed to assure the validity of data collected online as the current staging algorithm should be seen as an initial step.     

Cytological criteria to predict basal phenotype of breast carcinomas

Breast carcinoma is a heterogeneous disease. It can be classified into phenotypes based on the expression of certain proteins, with distinct differences in prognosis. The basal phenotype is associated with worse prognosis and it still remains without specific treatment. However, there is currently no international consensus on the cytological criteria that could predict this phenotype. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the cytological criteria in fine‐needle aspiration biopsy and to identify their association with the basal phenotype of breast carcinoma. Fine‐needle aspiration biopsy specimens and tissue sections (mastectomy specimen) from 74 cases of high‐grade invasive ductal breast carcinomas were consecutively retrieved from the files of three institutions. Breast carcinomas were studied using the tissue microarray technique, being classified into phenotypes: luminal A, luminal B, HER2 overexpression, and basal. The cytological criteria for all cases were reviewed blindly by two pathologists according to five cytological criteria: cellularity, cell pattern, presence of necrosis, nucleoli, and nuclear atypia. Exact Fisher test was used to test the association between cytological criteria and the phenotypes of breast carcinoma. Necrosis was present in 64.7% of basal breast carcinomas, and 31.1% of nonbasal breast carcinomas, and that result was statistically significant, showing an odds ratio (OR) of 3.80. The basal phenotype, compared with the luminal A, showed more necrosis (OR = 6.97), present/prominent nucleoli (OR = 8.18), and cellularity more frequently (OR = 18.03). Necrosis, as well as present/prominent nucleoli and abundant cellularity are criteria more frequently associated to the basal phenotype of breast carcinoma. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Vertical transmission of Kaposi's sarcoma

AIDS related Kaposi's sarcoma is commonly seen in homosexual men, only occasionally in men and women with heterosexually acquired HIV, and extremely rarely in children. The case of an HIV infected mother and her vertically infected child who both developed visceral Kaposi's sarcoma is reported. It is proposed that the putative Kaposi's sarcoma agent may also be transmitted vertically.