The importance of symptom duration in relation to prognosis of carcinoma of the large intestine

Between 1971 and 1982, 162 patients underwent surgical treatment for carcinoma of the large intestine; follow-up data was available for 94 per cent of the patients. Tumor stage distribution was homogeneous and did not differ significantly with increasing duration of symptoms. The duration of symptoms was not determinant of survival, whereas stage influenced survival. These results show that patients with carcinoma of the large intestine with a short symptomatic period do not have either less advanced tumors or better survival prospects.

A computerized data bank of surgical pathology and cytopathology diagnoses. Structure and purposes

A computerized data bank was created to file the diagnoses from the Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology laboratories in a University Department of Pathology. The diagnoses are divided into separate diagnostic statements, coded according to SNOMed and stored on magnetic tapes. Coding procedures are made easier by the creation of a lexicon of diagnoses used. The use of additional keys, besides SNOMed codes, allows the retention of further information. Several programs perform many data-retrieval operations both routinely and on request in order to meet different goals in the fields of quality control, diagnosis, education and research. The system is characterized by low cost, flexibility and multi-purpose utilization.

Study of the IgG oligoclonal bands in cerebral spinal fluid in multiple sclerosis by electroimmunofixation

22 MS CSFs and 20 control CSFs were studied using an electroimmunofixation (EIF) technique on Cellulose Acetate strips. The oligoclonal gammaglobulin bands on MS CSFs were composed almost exclusively of complete IgG molecules. In a few MS CSFs bands composed of free heavy chains and of free light chains were observed. The bands were very often (93 percent) found to be homogeneous as far as the light chain type was concerned. In such homogeneous bands the light chain type most frequently observed was Kappa (59 percent). In 5 MS cases only Kappa type bands were detected, while a CSF with Lambda type bands only was never observed. On control CSFs, clear cut IgG oligoclonal bands were observed only in a case of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE).

Chemically Induced Hepatocellular Proliferative Changes in the Rat Without Evidence of Neoplastic Transformation

The hypothesis that hepatocellular proliferative changes give rise to autonomous, neoplastic lesions in rodents was tested in this study in which hepatoproliferative lesions induced in rats by feeding an experimental psychoactive drug, cyproximide, were examined at various times during the course of a 24 month study. A total of 610 male and female rats (Charles River Laboratories COBS®CD®(SD)BR, Wilmington, Mass.) were distributed into three groups. Each of two treatment groups contained 230 rats given 0.1% or 0.4% of cyproximide in the diet. One hundred and fifty rats were given a drug-free diet and served as controls. Five males and five females from each group were sacrificed for postmortem examination after 6, 12 and 20 months of drug diet feeding after which remaining rats were retained for recovery (nontreatment) periods of 18, 12 and 4 months, respectively. An additional 25 males and 25 females from each dose level were treated for 24 months and then sacrificed along with all surviving recovery and control rats. The results of this study demonstrated that the incidence of proliferative lesions was greater in the liver of treated rats (especially females) than in control rats; however, the incidence of hepatocellular neoplasms was the same in treated and control rats.

Biometric analysis of splanchnic and somatic weight in infancy

During 712 consecutive autopsies on liveborn infants, body weight and the weight of single organs were systematically recorded. These data have provided the material for a statistical investigation. Tables and graphs have been prepared to allow a statistical estimate of the normal value of the weight of organs in the first year of life, as a function of body weight and/or the subject's age. It has been shown that in this period, the weight of an organ varies as a linear function of these two independent variables, whose action is sometimes synergic and, more rarely, in conflict in determing the weight of the organ.

Mitochondrial inclusions in human cancer of the gastrointestinal tract

Four cases of adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal tract have been examined. Large electron-dense mitochondrial inclusions were found in the mitochondria of many cells; after detailed histochemical tests they could be classified into two types. The first type of inclusion consisted of clusters of electron-dense, calcium-containing granules linked to a glycoproteic substrate. These inclusions were linked to a glycoproteic substrate. These inclusions were always associated with cristae and were found in the mitochondria of cells that showed clear signs of degeneration. The second type of inclusion was found much more frequently and consisted essentially of phospholipids of which electron density was strictly osmium dependent. Their structure was usually at least partly lamellar, but in some cases it was homogeneous throughout. It is hypothesized that inclusions of the second type may have the same biological role as the morphologically identical inclusions found in the mitochondria of brown fatty tissue in the perinatal rat and in yeasts during glucose repression or anaerobiosis. The resemblance between the homogeneous variety of inclusions within the second type and the mitochondrial inclusions recently described in human leukemic lymphoblasts and monoblasts has been stressed to bring out the need for a histochemical check on the supposedly viral nature of the latter inclusions.

Oesophageal phlebectasis in an infant with pulmonary venous obstruction owing to a congenital heart defect

Clinical findings and postmortem examination of a newborn infant are reported. Prominent features were a complex congenital heart defect ("pre-mature closure of foramen ovale", with mitral and aortic atresia), causing severe obstruction to pulmonary venous return, pulmonary lymphangiectasis and oesophageal phlebectasis. The occurrence of oesophageal phlebectasis in infants with congenital pulmonary venous obstruction is reviewed and the pathogenesis discussed.