A leg ulcer as manifestation of metastatic squamous cell vaginal carcinoma

Cutaneous metastasis of vaginal carcinoma is extremely rare. So far, the total number of reported skin metastasis of vaginal carcinoma is only one. We present another case with an unusual manifestation of vagina carcinoma metastasis: skin metastasis presenting as a leg ulcer on the lower leg.     

Freeze-fracture morphology and quantification of human bronchial epithelial tight junctions.

A comprehensive investigation of the morphology of human airway epithelial tight junctions was carried out by freeze-fracture electron microscopy using quantitative methods designed to analyze a range of junctional characteristics. Extrapulmonary bronchi that appeared grossly normal were taken at sites distant from tumor in lungs resected for pulmonary carcinoma. The absence of cellular atypia in the samples was confirmed by histology. Airway levels I (main bronchus; n = 7 subjects) and II (lobar bronchus; n = 5 subjects) were compared with respect to junctional depth, strand number, and junctional complexity. Junctional complexity was assessed by frequency of strand interconnection and numbers of strands per interconnection. Comparisons between airway levels I and II for these parameters showed that there were no significant differences in strand number or junctional complexity between the two airway levels. However, junctional depth was slightly but significantly reduced at level II compared with level I (P less than 0.01). The arrangement of strands varied considerably from one junction to the next, irrespective of the cell types involved. "Parallel" and "network" patterns of junctions were observed; the existence of gradations between these two patterns indicated that they represent opposite extremes of a single junctional form rather than distinct categories of junction. These results have allowed us to establish a data pool for normal human bronchi from which the structure of epithelial cell junctions in bronchial diseases can be compared.     

Localization of a gene for otosclerosis to chromosome 15q25-q26

Among white adults otosclerosis is the single most common cause of hearing impairment. Although the genetics of this disease are controversial, the majority of studies indicate autosomal dominant inheritance with reduced penetrance. We studied a large multi- generational family in which otosclerosis has been inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. Five of16 affected persons have surgically confirmed otosclerosis; the remaining nine have a conductive hearing loss but have not undergone corrective surgery. To locate the disease- causing gene we completed genetic linkage analysis using short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRPs) distributed over the entire genome. Multipoint linkage analysis showed that only one genomic region, on chromosome 15q, generated a lod score >2.0. Additional STRPs were typed in this area, resulting in a lod score of 3.4. STRPs FES (centromeric) and D15S657 (telomeric) flank the 14. 5 cM region that contains an otosclerosis gene.