Acute myelogenous leukemia with megakaryocytic myelosis

A case of acute myelogenous leukemia terminating in megakaryocytic myelosis is reported. There was a severe, apparently neoplastic proliferation of megakaryocytes so different from that seen in acute granulocytic leukemia or myelofibrosis that a diagnosis of acute megakaryocytic myelosis was warranted. The clinical and pathologic findings of the case are presented in detail. The literature of this extremely rare hematologic disease is reviewed, and differentiation from chronic and malignant myelosclerosis is discussed.

[Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (2 cases). Immunological study (author's transl)]

Flat wart-like lesions of two patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EDV) were associated with pink, tan or depigmented pityriasis-like macules. There was no familial history nor mental retardation. Human papilloma virus (HPV) type 5 was demonstrated in the two patients and was responsible for the pityriasis-like lesions. Malignancies seem to be closely related to HPV-5 infection since bowenoid transformation occurred in the 2 patients. Immunological studies showed an increase of serum IgE in both patients and an important decrease of IgM in one of them. Most of delayed hypersensitivity skin tests were negative. T-cell percentages (E rosettes) were decreased in one patient, normal for the other one. The mitogenic response to PHA and ConA was markedly depressed in the two patients but returned to normal values in one of them after 3 months of aromatic retinoid (Ro 10-9359) treatment. Beside the viral type, the defect of cell mediated immunity could play an important role in the disease and in the malignant conversion of the lesions. A long-term preventive treatment by retinoic acid derivatives could be of interest for patients with HPV type 5 EDV.

Carcinoid of the uterine cervix: a case report with light and electron microscopic studies

The case of a 33-year-old woman with primary carcinoid of the uterine cervix is reported. Primary carcinoid tumor is well known to occur in organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, lung and gonads. However, its occurrence in the uterine cervix is rare. To our knowledge, primary carcinoid of the uterine cervix has not been reported from the United States, although it has been well documented by non-American authors. Light microscopically, the tumor was characterized by formation of solid nests, trabeculae and glands. The cells therein showed argyrophil granules but were negative for argentaffin reaction. Electron microscopy revealed the presence of numerous neurosecretory granules and microfilaments. On the basis of light microscopic ultrastructural and cytochemical properties, the tumor is believed to arise from the normal argyrophil cell of the cervix and is regarded as an endocrine tumor, a member of the group of neoplasms called apudomas.

Vaccinia virus variants as presumable cause of vaccinial complications

Two vaccinia viruses isolated from patients with vaccinial complications (vaccinial ulcer, postvaccinial seizures) showed qualitative differences from the original parental strain. After intradermal injection of the viruses into the rabbit marked necroses developed, which the original strains did not produce. While the parental virus did not grow on the chorioallantoic membrane at 41 degrees C after 2 days incubation, the vaccinia variant produced typical lesions at that temperature. Also the yield of infectious virus on various cell systems was 1--2.5 logs higher for the virus than for the original vaccine strain. With the plaque technique differences were seen in the appearance and size of plaques between the variant and the parental vaccinia strain. These results indicate that virus of an increased pathogenicity could be isolated from the patients and this might be causally connected with the postvaccinial complications from which they were suffering.