Associations between clinical features and therapy with macrophage subpopulations and T cells in inflammatory lesions in the aorta from patients with Takayasu arteritis

Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a large-vessel granulomatous vasculitis; the inflammatory infiltration in arteries comprises macrophages, multi-nucleated giant cells, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, γδ T cells, natural killer (NK) cells and neutrophils. However, it is unknown which subtype of macrophages predominates. This study aims to evaluate macrophages subpopulations in the aorta in TAK. Immunohistochemistry was performed in the aorta from TAK patients (n = 22), patients with atherosclerotic disease (n = 9) and heart transplant donors (n = 8) using the markers CD68, CD86, CD206, CD3, CD20 and CD56. Active disease was observed in 54·5% of patients and active histological lesions were found in 40·9%. TAK patients presented atherosclerotic lesions in 27·3% of cases. The frequency of macrophages, M1 macrophages, T, B and NK cells was higher in the aorta from TAK and atherosclerotic patients compared to heart transplant donors. In TAK, macrophages and T cells were the most abundant cells in the aorta, and the expression of CD206 was higher than CD86 (P = 0·0007). No associations were found between the expression of cell markers and active disease or with atherosclerotic lesions. In TAK patients, histological disease activity led to higher T cell counts than chronic fibrotic lesions (P = 0.030), whereas prednisone use was associated with lower T cell counts (P = 0·035). In conclusion, M1 macrophages were more frequent in TAK and atherosclerotic patients compared to heart transplant donors, while M2 macrophages dominated M1 macrophages in TAK. T cells were associated with histological disease activity and with prednisone use in TAK.

Leiomyosarcoma of the great saphenous vein (vena saphena magna) with granular cell change: Report of a superficial neoplasm

The great saphenous vein (GSV) corresponds to the main superficial large-caliber vessel affected by leiomyosarcoma (LMS). Given its superficial location and because signs of vascular origin may not be clinically apparent, LMS of the GSV may be misinterpreted clinically as superficial nonvascular soft tissue mass. Herein, we report a case on the distal portion of the right GSV of a 57-year-old man. The histopathological recognition of a large-caliber vein-associated LMS (with granular cell change) in an incisional biopsy specimen was crucial to guide radiological evaluation and confirmation of a superficial vascular LMS before surgical treatment. Recognizing this entity in small biopsies is important as its surgical treatment and prognosis differ substantially from nonvascular superficial (ie, subcutaneous and dermal) LMSs. In addition, because vascular LMSs can involve long vessel segments, underestimation of extent of disease is a risk. To the best of our knowledge, granular cell change has not been documented in LMS of the GSV.

Renal medullary carcinoma: report of seven cases from Brazil

We report seven cases of renal medullary carcinoma collected from several institutions in Brazil. In spite of a relatively high incidence of sickle cell trait in Brazil, this is a rare tumor. All patients were males between the ages of 8 and 69 years (mean 22 years). From the collected information, the most frequent presenting symptoms were gross hematuria and flank or abdominal pain. The duration of symptoms ranged from 1 week to 5 months. Most of the tumors were poorly circumscribed arising centrally in the renal medulla. Size ranged from 4 to 12 cm (mean 7 cm) and hemorrhage and necrosis were common findings. All seven cases described showed sickled red blood cells in the tissue and six patients were confirmed to have sickle cell trait. All cases disclosed the characteristic reticular pattern consisting of tumor cell aggregates forming spaces of varied size, reminiscent of yolk sac testicular tumors of reticular type. Other findings included microcystic, tubular, trabecular, solid and adenoid-cystic patterns, rhabdoid-like cells and stromal desmoplasia. A peculiar feature was suppurative necrosis typically resembling microabscesses within epithelial aggregates. The medullary carcinoma of the 69-year-old patient was associated with a conventional clear cell carcinoma. To our knowledge, this association has not been previously reported and the patient is the oldest in the literature. The survival after diagnosis or admission ranged from 4 days to 9 months. The 8-year-old African-Brazilian patient with a circumscribed mass is alive and free of recurrence 8 years after diagnosis. This case raises the question whether a periodic search for renal medullary carcinoma in young patients who have known abnormalities of the hemoglobin gene and hematuria could result in an early diagnosis and a better survival.