Objective pathological diagnosis of coal worker's pneumoconiosis

Pertinent pathological features of lungs obtained at autopsies from 99 coal miners were compared with those observed in the lungs of 268 male town dwellers of comparable age who were not occupationally related to the coal mining or other industries at risk for development of pneumoconiosis. The degree of anthracotic pigment deposition and severity of type of pigmented lesion with its accompanying reticulum fiber formation and fibrosis were significantly greater in lungs of miners. There was a high degree of overlap in degree of pigment deposition, particularly those quantitated as grades 1 and 2 and in lesions regarded as types 1 and 2. The greatest divergence was observed for prevalence of nodular pulmonary lesions (type 4). There was also a considerable divergence in the type 3 alteration characterized by nonnodular aggregates of carbon-laden macrophages accompanied by minimal reactive fibrosis. It appears that an objective pathological diagnosis of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) can be rendered only by the demonstration of type 4 lesions. Approximately 25% of coal miners exhibited unequivocal features of CWP. No significant differences concerning incidence or types of emphysema or frequency of chronic cor pulmonale were encountered between the two populations.

Correlation of estrogen receptor and pathologic characteristics of invasive breast cancer

Estrogen receptor (ER) status was correlated with a large number of pathological and clinical characteristics of 178 invasive breast cancers. Positive ER was found to be significantly associated with high nuclear and low histologic grades, absence of tumor necrosis, presence of marked tumor elastosis, and older patients. These pathologic parameters enumerated are either directly or indirectly related to tumor differentiation suggesting that ER represents another index of this latter. Multivariate analyses disclosed that both age and tumor differentiation are associated with the ER status. Well-differentiated tumors were more frequently ER+ in older women. Inclusion of an estimate of tumor necrosis as well as patient age appears to allow for further discrimination of ER status in poorly differentiated lesions. Considerations relative to ER and tumor differentiation provide a possible explanation for the dichotomy of response to adjuvant chemotherapy observed in pre and postmenopausal women.

Vitreous surgery. XII. New instrumentation for vitrectomy

An improved instrument for removing vitreous tissue consists of a replaceable cutting tip and a micromotor that powers the cutting tip. The cutting tip consists of a helical cutter and a metallic tube housing the cutter. An automated power-control unit is also available to control evacuation, infusion, and speed of rotation of the instrument. Several devices for monitoring the outflow of evacuation material and pressure in the eye and in the evacuation line are included. The cutting tip is illuminated by a fiber-optic system, which provides an additional factor of safety. The instrument contains a cleaning mechanism that eliminates the need for disassembling the cutting tip. When an automated control unit is not available, the vitreous nibbler may be used with manual suction, gravity-controlled infusion, and a simplified control unit.