Loss of heterozygosity alterations associated with progesterone therapy in endometrial hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was analyzed in four patients with endometrial hyperplasia (EH) with atypia (two patients) and without atypia (two patients) and in five patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma (EAC) to clarify the clinicopathologic relationship between genetic alterations and hormone therapy. Each patient was initially administered high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) as a uterine-sparing treatment. The five microsatellite markers used to analyze LOH were at chromosomal loci 8p22.1, 8p21, 8p21.3, 8p22, and 8p22. DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded sections before, during, and after MPA therapy using laser capture microdissection. As a result, LOH was more frequently detected after MPA therapy (overall ratios were 16, 17, and 29% before, during, and after MPA therapy, respectively). LOH is more easily detected in EH loci than in EAC loci before MPA. For EAC, initial LOH detection on chromosome 8 may be related to an incomplete response to MPA, but negative LOH does not guarantee a favorable treatment outcome. For EH or atypical endometrial hyperplasia, it is unknown whether LOH alteration associated with MPA therapy is related to atypia of the disease.     

Met-RANTES ameliorates fibrous airway obliteration and decreases ERK expression in a murine model of bronchiolitis obliterans.

OBJECTIVES: Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is the main cause of late mortality among long-term survivors of lung transplantation. Chemokine-chemokine receptor (CCR) interaction and subsequent recruitment of infiltrating cells to the graft are early events in the development of chronic rejection of transplanted lungs. The present study investigated whether blockade of chemokine receptors CCR1 and CCR5 with Met-regulated-on-activation, normal T cells expressed and secreted (RANTES), an amino-terminal modified derivative of RANTES/CCL5, affects the development of BO in murine model and we sought to determine the expression of RANTES/CCL5 and their relationship with extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Materials and Methods: BALB/c mouse tracheas were heterotopically transplanted into C57Black6 recipients and treated for 21 days with either Met-RANTES at 20 microg/day or vehicle. Animals were killed at 21 days after transplantation for histologic examination of ERK expression. RESULTS: RANTES/CCL5 was highly expressed in allografts compare to isografts. Met-RANTES treatment ameliorated fibrous airway obliteration in a mouse model of BO and decreased ERK expression. CONCLUSION: Blockade of chemokine receptors by Met-RANTES ameliorated airway obliteration and decreased ERK expression. These findings suggest that chemokine receptors CCR1 and CCR5 play significant roles in the development of chronic rejection and ERK may be a new molecular target for chronic rejection.     

Nucleolar organizer regions in meningioma

Seventy-eight cases of meningioma and related tumors were examined independently using a simple and reproducible argyrophilic method for the demonstration of nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) and staining with bromodeoxyuridine monoclonal antibody. The mean number of AgNORs per cell and the bromodeoxyuridine labeling index were shown to be linearly related (r = 0.84, P less than 0.001). The mean AgNOR number was 2.99 for meningeal sarcoma, 2.29 for anaplastic meningioma, 2.08 for hemangiopericytic meningioma. 1.72 for recurrent meningioma without atypical histological findings, and 1.52 for nonrecurrent meningioma. We noted that the mean number of AgNORs reflected the cellular kinetics of a tumor and was related to histological grade and clinical behavior.     

Extended total arch replacement for type B aortic dissection with ascending aneurysm following healed aortic dissection

We describe a case of type B aortic dissection with large ascending aortic aneurysm occurring 12.8 years after aortic root replacement (Cabrol procedure) in a non-Marfan patient with cystic medial necrosis of the aorta. We have successfully performed an extended total aortic arch replacement using a four-branched graft through the “L-indsion” approach (a combination of a left anterior thoracotomy and upper half median sternotomy). Of note, a histological specimen from the aneurysmal ascending aortic wall revealed “healed aortic dissection” with fibrous tissue replacing the media and intima in addition to multiple foci of cystic medial necrosis.     

Anterior interosseous nerve palsy after reduction and percutaneous pinning of open fractures of the radius and ulna.

We report a case of an anterior interosseous nerve palsy after closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of open fractures of the radius and ulna in an adult. Operative findings showed that the anterior interosseous nerve was trapped between the distal and proximal part of the fractured radius. Treatment by neurorrhaphy gave a satisfactory result.     

Tricuspid annuloplasty and right ventricular function in mitral valve disease

From 1985 to 1987, we examined relationship between the lesion of tricuspid valve and right ventricular function in 31 patients (male: 9, female: 22) with mitral valve disease. The median age at operation was 52 years (range 37-69 years). Group I consisted of 17 patients (MS: 10, MSR: 5, MR: 2) accompanied with tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and Group II 14 patients (MS: 12, MSR: 2) without TR. In all cases of Group I tricuspid annuloplasty (TAP) were performed correctly. De Vega methods were done in 12 cases and Carpentier rings were used in 5 cases. Cardiac catheterization was done before and after operation. And right ventricular volume was measured by right ventricular angiography. In both groups pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, pulmonary artery pressure and cardiac index were improved postoperatively. Pulmonary artery resistance (PAR) and total pulmonary resistance (TPR) in Group I were significantly higher before operation but there were no difference between two groups postoperatively. Right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (RVEDVI) and right ventricular end-systolic volume index (RVESVI) in Group I were significantly improved postoperatively, but in Group II these were within normal range both pre- and postoperatively. Preoperative PAR was correlated inversely with postoperative right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF). It means that patients with severe pulmonary vascular lesion had postoperative lower right ventricular function. In both groups, RVESVI was in inverse correlation with RVEF pre- and postoperatively. In both groups, there was an inverse correlation between the per cent change of RVESVI and that of RVEF. This means that RVESVI influenced right ventricular pump function.     

Sisters with mercury exposure

The same iron pot in which their father had boiled lead with mercury (from a glass thermometer) for the purpose of alchemy, was also used for cooking in the kitchen. Although his wife had died of mercury poisoning, and his 14-year-old and 11-year-old daughters were found to excrete 322 and 455 micrograms/l mercury in the urine, respectively, (1-10 micrograms/l in controls), he stubbornly refused to give permission for them to be examined further. Nine months later, the daughters were permitted to be sent to our clinical ward. While the blood level of mercury had already come down to near normal, its excessive deposition in hair, kidneys and other parts of the body as well as its excessive urinary excretion, were still persistent (beyond tenfold the normal). According to our measurement values, mercury ranged from 14 to 49 micrograms/g in every 1-cm-piece of 10 cm hair of the elder sister, and ranged from 21 to 85 micrograms/g in 14 cm hair from the younger sister. About a 75% decrease in mercury deposition was estimated during these 9 months, based on the speculation of 1.5 cm/month hair-lengthening.