The penetrating potential of autoantibodies into live cells in vitro coincides with the in vivo staining of epidermal nuclei

We have previously demonstrated that IgG autoantibodies derived from SLE patients are capable of penetrating into nuclei of living COLO-16 cells, in vitro. To address the possible correlation in Lupus Erythematosus (LE) between the in vivo ANA binding to nuclei of epidermal cells and the presence of intranuclear penetrating antibodies in sera of those patients, 25 consecutive patients were studied. Out of 25 skin biopsies, 11 specimens (8 of SLE and 3 of DLE) showed by immunofluorescent microscopy extensive in vivo presence of IgG in epidermal nuclei, whereas all sera of these patients stained nuclei of living COLO-16 cells, in vitro. Such penetration was also observed in additional 6/25 sera of patients, but with in vivo negative biopsies. This in vitro nuclear binding, which was unrelated to clinical symptoms of patients or their serological autoantibody profile and titer, was reproduced following cross-linking of intracellular protein by PLP fixation. Likewise, western blotting (immunoblotting) analysis, demonstrated the intranuclear presence of IgG in all in vitro intranuclear IgG staining sera. Furthermore, this in vitro presence, which neither affects cell viability nor DNA synthesis, is time-dependent and of a transient nature: nuclear staining disappears within 48 h following removal of the penetrating sera from medium. In conclusion, since the COLO-16 in vitro assay mirrors exactly the in vivo situation, and because of its higher sensitivity, it provides an excellent tool for the study of non-degraded autoantibody penetration into the nuclei of living cells.

Measurement of the maturation parameter by using computer-assisted interactive image analysis may be helpful in the differential diagnosis between compound Spitz nevus and malignant melanoma

The so-called maturation parameter (MP) (that is, the ratio of the mean nuclear areas in the deep portion and in the superficial portion of a tumor) was measured and calculated using a computer-assisted interactive image analysis system in 29 compound Spitz nevi (SNs) and 37 primary invasive cutaneous malignant melanomas (MMs), of which 16 and 14 lesions, respectively, measured up to 1 mm in Breslow thickness (that is, thin). The MPs of the SNs and MMs were found to be 0.37-0.89 (mean +/- SD, 0.64 +/- 0.1) and 0.81-1.16 (mean +/- SD, 0.96 +/- 0.1), respectively (p < 0.001). The MPs of the subgroups of thin SNs and MMs were 0.56-0.87 (mean +/- SD, 0.67 +/- 0.1) and 0.86-1.10 (mean +/- SD, 0.98 +/- 0.1), respectively (p < 0.001). Most of the SNs and MMs had MP values of < 0.81 and > 0.89, respectively. This pattern of distribution prevailed in the subgroup of thin lesions. Thus, the previously shown difference in MPs between SN and MM for thicker lesions (> or = 1.0 mm) was demonstrated in this study in thin lesions (< or = 1.0 mm) as well. Although a relatively small area of overlap in MP values exists between compound SNs and MMs, including the thin ones, below this area the lower the MP value the more likely the diagnosis is SN, and vice versa.

An experimental model of fasciitis-panniculitis. Induction of chronic fibrosing panniculitis in the rat by subcutaneous injections of lipase

We describe an experimental model of the fasciitis-panniculitis syndrome, which includes eosinophilic fasciitis and its related disorders. Rats were given a single or repeated subcutaneous injections of saline or a 10% lipase solution. The injection sites were studied histologically and histomorphometrically. With few exceptions, the subcutaneous-fascial unit of the saline-injected rats was normal. An acute necrotizing panniculitis with inflammatory involvement of the adjacent fascia was found 2 days after a single injection of lipase. Three to 6 weeks after a single injection of lipase, the subcutaneous fat tissue and fascia were fibrotically thickened and chronically inflamed. Similar but more advanced alterations had developed in animals killed 3 weeks after three weekly injections of lipase. Progressive fibrotic thickening of the subcutaneous-fascial unit was observed following an increasing number of weekly lipase injections. The acute-phase reaction expresses a pattern of steatonecrotic tissue damage. In the ohronic phase, the fibrotically thickened subcutaneous layers typify a reaction pattern analogous to that of the human fasciitis-panniculitis syndrome. This experimental model permits better appreciation of the disorder's nonspecific pathogenesis and may help in the search for alternative therapeutic modalities.

Anticardiolipin antibodies and acute myocardial infarction in non-systemic lupus erythmatosus patients: a controlled prospective study

PURPOSE

To examine the prevalence of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACLA) in relatively young patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and their role in subsequent coronary and thromboembolic events in the post-MI period.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In 124 relatively young survivors (aged 65 or younger) of acute MI, ACLA were measured in a controlled prospective study on admission and 3 months later. Myocardial reinfarction and thromboembolic events during a mean follow-up period of 19 +/- 3 months were diagnosed by standard tests.

RESULTS

Seventeen (14%) of the 124 patients were ACLA positive (either IgM or IgG) upon admission compared with 2 out of 76 (3%) of the control group matched for age and coronary risk factors (P < 0.01). The levels of ACLA remained unchanged in all but 1 patient 3 months later. During the follow-up period the rate of thromboembolic events and myocardial reinfarction was significantly higher in the ACLA-positive patients as compared with the ACLA-negative group: 41% versus 4% (P < 0.0001) and 35% versus 10% (P < 0.05), respectively. Using logistic regression, high titer of ACLA was found to be the only independent risk factor for subsequent thromboembolic events or myocardial reinfarction after acute MI.

CONCLUSIONS

High prevalence of ACLA was found in relatively young survivors of acute MI. The presence of ACLA is a marker for increased risk of subsequent myocardial reinfarction and thromboembolic events after acute MI.

Percutaneous ablation of malignant liver tumor in rabbits using low radio frequency energy

Radio frequency (RF) current has been used successfully to ablate normal human tissue. To further investigate the clinical application of this modality in tumors we studied the potential of using RF percutaneously to destroy experimental liver tumors. Thirty five outbred albino rabbits underwent liver VX2 tumor direct-implantation during open surgery. After 21 days ultrasonography was performed revealing tumor presence and size. A shielded RF needle was designed so that it could be inserted percutaneously through an introducing needle, and an electrical insulation shield covering the RF needle could be retracted to control the length of the exposed RF needle inside the tissue. Twenty two days after tumor implantation RF was applied via the aforementioned needle using a ZoMed International RF generator. In one group of rabbits the procedure was performed under direct vision during open surgery and on the other group treatment was applied percutaneously, guiding the needle by tumor palpation. Rabbits were killed 3 days later and pathology revealed 4 to 25 mm intratumoral RF induced lesions. A direct relation was found between lesion size, power and duration of RF application (At 7.5 W, r = 0.48, p = 0.032). Based on our preliminary results we may conclude that RF may have clinical application in the near future for percutaneous local tumor control in parenchymal organs.

Treatment of experimental mouse bladder tumour by LPS-induced epithelial cell shedding

The purpose of the present study was to explore the therapeutic potential of serial administration of shedding-inducing endotoxin in a mouse tumour bladder model. The studies were conducted with two variants derived from the MBT-2 tumour namely, T5 and T50, the latter being far more aggressive than the former. It was found that T5 tumours responded to intravesical lipopolysaccharides (LPS) instillation by a considerable reduction in their pace of growth (P < 0.0001) when treatment was initiated 3 days after tumour implantation, but not when started after 7 days. The T50 variant did not respond to LPS when treated 3 days after implantation, but a considerable reduction in rate of growth occurred when treatment was started after 1-2 days. Shedding induced by intravesically instilled LPS was found to retard considerably the progression rate of experimental bladder tumour.

A comparison between histological grade and nuclear morphometry for predicting the clinical outcome of localized renal cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVES

To determine the interrelationship of histological grade and nuclear morphometry and to compare their prognostic significance in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective prognostic study of 39 patients with localized (pT1, pT2) RCC was performed. Conventional histological grade and nuclear morphometry were assessed independently and the correlation between these grading systems and their impact on the patients' outcome were evaluated.

RESULTS

Histological grade and the nuclear morphometric variables were significantly correlated: the strongest association was that between grade and the nuclear regularity factor. The best predictor of disease-free interval and survival (by univariate analysis) was the combination of nuclear area and nuclear elongation factor, followed by conventional tumour grade, nuclear elongation factor, nuclear regularity factor and nuclear area. However, a multivariate analysis showed that the only independent prognosticator for survival was the combination of nuclear area and nuclear elongation factor.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that nuclear morphometry is prognostically superior to histological grade in patients with localized RCC.

Safety of laparoscopic cholecystectomy on a teaching service: a prospective trial

In a prospective audit of our first 213 laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LC), we compared the results obtained by qualified surgeons to those obtained by residents. The first group started performing LC after undergoing formal laboratory laparoscopic courses. The second group was introduced to LC by standard attending-resident teaching in the operating room. In all, 137 LC wer performed by qualified surgeons and 76 by residents. Patients' clinical and laboratory characteristics were not significantly different in the two groups. The conversion rate to laparotomy (11.5% and 12.5%), mean duration of surgery (88 and 83 min), iatrogenic perforation of the gallbladder (16% and 18.5%), "lost stones" (7% and 4%), use of drains (12% and 13%), and extension of the umbilical port incision (about 30% in both groups) were similar in the two groups. The incidence of biliary (3% and 4%) and infectious (3.5% and 4%) complications was equivalent in both groups. We conclude that with the traditional attending-resident approach to surgical education, residents safely and quickly acquire the necessary skills to perform LC without jeopardizing the safety of patients.

The role of nuclear morphometry for predicting disease outcome in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

More than one-third of patients with localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC) will have disease progression after nephrectomy. Present histopathologic variables cannot accurately predict the outcome of individual patients.

METHODS

Nuclear morphometry was performed by an image analyzer on histologic sections from 39 specimens of pathologic T1 and T2 classification RCC. All patients underwent radical nephrectomy and were followed for a mean of 7.6 years. A univariate analysis and then a multivariate stepwise regression method were used to correlate results with patients' outcome.

RESULTS

The best predictors of disease free interval were mean nuclear elongation factor (MNEF) (P = 0.023), mean nuclear regularity factor (MNRF) (P = 0.034), and mean nuclear area (MNA) (N = 0.038). Univariate analysis identified a significant correlation between patient survival and MNEF (P = 0.009), MNRF (P = 0.020) and MNA (P = 0.023). Combination of MNEF and MNA was even more strongly associated with survival (P = 0.0013). Multivariate analysis revealed that MNA (P = 0.044) and MNEF (P = 0.045) correlated independently with survival.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that nuclear morphometry provides objective independent prognostic information for patients with localized RCC.

Comparison of the 10-minute supine-30-minute tilt test with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure for the diagnosis of diastolic systemic hypertension

A variant of the protracted tilt test, the 10-minute supine -30-minute tilt test (10S-30TT), has been proposed by us for the evaluation of blood pressure (BP). The present investigation compares parameters of diastolic BP by 3 methods: office measurements, 10S-30TT, and 24-hour ambulatory monitoring; the last method served as a reference standard. Twenty patients presenting at the office with diastolic BP values ranging from 80 to 120 mm Hg (median 90) were studied. Statistically significant correlations were observed between the following parameters: diastolic office BP and average ambulatory awake diastolic BP (r = 0.64, p = 0.002); average tilt-test diastolic BP and average ambulatory awake diastolic BP (r = 0.69, p = 0.0006); frequency of elevated diastolic BP values during the tilt test and frequency of elevated ambulatory awake diastolic BP values (r = 0.69, p = 0.0007). Diastolic BP diagnosis scores exhibited strong correlation only between the ambulatory and tilt-test diagnosis (kappa = 0.70), but not between ambulatory and office BP diagnosis (kappa = 0.50). Based on the close correlation between results of the 10S-30TT and ambulatory monitoring in the evaluation of diastolic BP, we suggest that the faster and cheaper tilt test may serve as a substitute in certain categories of patients.

Increased thromboembolic incidence in anti-cardiolipin-positive patients with malignancy

This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of anti-cardiolipin antibodies (ACLAs) in patients with malignancy and to investigate a possible association of ACLAs with thromboembolic events in such patients. The study included 216 patients with solid and non-solid malignancies and an age-matched control group of 88 healthy subjects. ACLA levels were measured and related to thromboembolic phenomena (diagnosed by imaging methods) that occurred within 12 months of the diagnosis of cancer. Forty-seven patients (approximately 22%) with cancer were ACLA positive as compared with only three subjects (approximately 3%) in the control group (P < 0.0001). The ACLA-positive cancer patients had a significantly higher rate of thromboembolic events than ACLA-negative cancer patients: 13 of 47 (28%) vs 24 of 169 (14%), respectively (P < 0.05). High titres of either IgG-ACLA or IgM-ACLA were found in 10 out of 13 ACLA-positive cancer patients with thrombotic complications, but in only 2 out of 34 cancer ACLA-positive patients without thromboembolic events (P < 0.0001). In four cancer patients in whom ACLA levels were followed ACLA decreased after successful surgery/chemotherapy treatment and remained negative and thromboembolic free for 12 months of follow-up. Patients with malignancies show an increased prevalence of ACLA. Furthermore, ACLA-positive patients, mainly those with high titres, are much more prone to thromboembolic events.

An immunohistochemical study of estrogen and progesterone receptors in adenocarcinoma of the endometrium and in the adjacent mucosa

The immunoperoxidase stain for estrogen and progesterone receptor content in endometrial adenocarcinoma was correlated with the grade and stage, level of myometrial invasion, age and survival of the patients. Anti-estrogen and anti-progesteone receptor monoclonal antibodies were applied to paraffin-embedded tissue from hysterectomy specimens of 100 patients with adenocarcinoma of the endometrium. In 34 of the cases the receptors were studied in the endometrium adjacent to the tumor and compared to the nuclear receptor content in the carcinoma. There was a high inverse correlation between the estrogen receptor status and the grade of tumor (R = - 0.45, P = 0.006). The estrogen receptor measured in the endometrium near the tumor showed a negative correlation with the grade of the tumor (R = -0.42, P = 0.013). The estrogen, but not the progesterone, receptor content, was positively related to the age of the patient (P < 0.05). No significant correlation of the receptor status with the depth of myometrial invasion was found, despite the obvious interdependence between the grade and myometrial invasion. The progesterone receptor staining index appeared to be a distinct independent prognostic factor in endometrial cancer. The immunohistochemical analysis of the steroid hormone status in endometrial cancer therefore offers an alternative to the quantitative ligand-binding assay.

Case report: extensive pulmonary and aortic thrombosis and ectasia

Progressive shortness of breath developed in an elderly woman with a 25-year history of recurrent superficial phlebitis and hemoptysis. Extensive mural thrombosis and ectasia of the large and medium-sized pulmonary arteries and aorta were revealed on echocardiography and computerized tomography. The patient died 2 months later. On autopsy, the gross morphologic findings were similar with those observed by imaging. Histologically, there was mild inflammation in the intima and media of the aorta and the large pulmonary arteries, consistent with nonspecific arteritis. The extensive thrombosis and ectasia of the pulmonary arteries and aorta differ from previously published cases and cannot be assigned to a known nosologic entity. Two alternative explanations are proposed. First, an endothelial disorder was responsible for a diffuse vasculopathy that involved veins, pulmonary arteries, and aorta. Second, a vasculopathy of the Hugh-Stovin type, characterized by phlebitis and pulmonary thromboembolism, caused pulmonary hypertension and low cardiac output. The low flow state favorized aortic thrombosis and, at the site of interaction between the clot and the arterial wall, arteritis developed as an epiphenomenon, which induced arterial dilatation. Combined idiopathic pulmonary artery and aortic thrombosis and ectasia is rare and calls for corroboration of sporadic observations such as the current one.

Awareness detection during caesarean section under general anaesthesia using EEG spectrum analysis

This study examined the relationship between the EEG (spectral edge frequency 90-SEF90) and the occurrence of awareness defined for the purpose of this study as responsiveness to verbal commands. Fifty women undergoing general anaesthesia for elective Caesarean section were examined. Responsiveness to verbal commands was detected every minute in the period from the induction of anaesthesia to the delivery of the newborn using the Tunstall isolated forearm technique and correlated with the SEF90 value. The patients were assigned by a randomized code to receive either thiopentone (4 mg.kg-1) or ketamine (1 mg.kg-1) for induction of anaesthesia. Before the administration of succinylcholine a tourniquet was applied to the free arm, and inflated to 200 mmHg, to maintain motor function to one arm. The EEG recordings started five minutes before induction and were recorded throughout anaesthesia. The incidence of responsiveness to verbal commands was lower in the ketamine group (24%) where the average SEF90 was 12.0 +/- 3 Hz, than in the thiopentone group (52%), where the average SEF90 was 18.09 +/- 3 Hz (P = 0.01). The results suggest that SEF values of < or = 8.6 Hz were sufficient to avoid responsiveness to verbal commands.

[Intestinal cystic duplication in infants and the etiology of intussusception]

2 infants, 3 months old and 8 months, respectively, with restlessness and vomiting were each found to have ileocolic intussusception with barium filling defects. Laparotomy disclosed in each a dome-shaped structure, 2 cm and 0.6 cm in greatest diameter, respectively, on the antimesenteric side of the ileal wall. Histological examination showed cystic duplication of the ileum. It is suggested that manual reduction generally fails when cystic duplication is an etiological factor, and surgery is then mandatory.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal septum mucosa

Primary squamous cell carcinomas of the nasal septum constitute only 9% of all malignant tumors of the nasal cavity. We present 16 cases occurring during a 14-year period. As the initial signs of these carcinomas are no different from non-neoplastic disease, a high index of suspicion is necessary in order to correctly diagnose these lesions. It seems to us that when the diagnosis of nasal septum carcinoma is established, the best method of treatment is wide surgical excision and immediate repair of the defect by a split-skin graft.

Sleep, depression, and suicide

In a retrospective study of the electroencephalographic (EEG) sleep of major depressives with and without a history of suicide attempts, suicide attempters had longer sleep latency, lower sleep efficiency, and fewer late-night delta wave counts than normal controls. Nonattempters, compared to attempters, had less rapid eye movement (REM) time and activity in period 2, but more delta wave counts in non-REM period 4. Although both attempters and nonattempters were like controls in regard to REM period 2, patients with suicide attempts had altered intranight temporal distribution of phasic REM activity, with increased REM activity (by both visual and automated scoring) in REM sleep period 2 (significant group x period interaction). These findings, which may be more traitlike or persistent than state-related, are discussed in the context of current theories on the role of serotonin in the regulation of sleep and in suicidal behavior.