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Biomedical subjects

A Abramson

Publications and source records attributed to A Abramson.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Cytogenetic analysis of head and neck carcinomas.

Ten primary squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) of the head and neck were evaluated cytogenetically after 10-14 days of in vitro culture. Addition of 3% L-glutamine was essential for consistent epithelial growth of these carcinomas. Outgrowth of cells from tissue explants contained a mixture of chromosomally normal and abnormal cells; the abnormal cells had extensive changes including translocations, marker chromosomes, inversions, deletions, and duplications. In addition, all carcinomas contained cells with pulverization and double minute chromosomes (dmin). Chromosomes 11, 13, and 14 had "hotspots" of rearrangements.

Adult

Detection and typing of papillomavirus DNA in formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue.

Clinical specimens from nine patients with papillomatosis of the vocal cords and three patients with vocal cord polyps were evaluated for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA using two complementary molecular hybridization techniques. In one method, involving polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, HPV DNA sequences were replicated in vitro from tissue DNA extracted from paraffin sections prior to hybridization. Polymerase chain reaction amplification was compared with the standard method of Southern blot hybridization. Results of the two techniques for all nine laryngeal papillomas agreed completely: five patients harbored HPV type 6 and four HPV type 11. Both PCR amplification and Southern blot hybridization found two of the three polyps to be free of HPV infection, while PCR detected HPV type 18 in one polyp specimen that was reported negative by Southern blot hybridization, suggesting a greater sensitivity of PCR. Our results demonstrate that PCR amplification is as reliable and at least as sensitive as Southern blot hybridization. Moreover the PCR technique opens the way to the undertaking of a whole variety of retrospective studies using formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues.

Blotting, Southern

Ductal carcinoma in situ: mammographic findings and clinical implications.

Mammograms, specimen radiographs, and pathology reports of 51 women with ductal cancer in situ (DCIS) in 54 breasts were retrospectively analyzed. Reason for presentation was known for 44 women, including six with symptoms due to DCIS and 16 who either had been previously treated for or had (contralateral) breast cancer. Mammographic patterns of DCIS were microcalcifications in 37 of 54 (68%) lesions and calcifications within a mass in 16 (30%). Multifocal DCIS, evidenced radiographically by patterns of more than one mass, more than one cluster of microcalcifications, or parallel linear, irregular intraductal calcifications, was seen in 35 of 54 (65%) breasts but only on specimen radiographs in four of these. In 22 (41%) lesions maximum tumor expanse was greater than 2.5 cm, and all were multicentric. Multicentricity of tumor and tumor size greater than 2.5 cm may indicate need for therapies more radical than simple excision. Breast irradiation has been shown to significantly diminish recurrence rates in these patients. Mammography and specimen radiography with magnification may be appropriate in these cases to identify all possible tumor sites in the involved breast.

Adult

Gadolinium-DTPA in the evaluation of intradural extramedullary spinal disease.

Gadolinium-DTPA was used in MR imaging of the spine to determine the ability of a contrast agent to increase the detection and characterization of disease in the intradural extramedullary space. Although MR imaging, especially with recent technological improvements, has been shown to be at least competitive with, and often superior to, myelography and postmyelography CT in the study of intramedullary and extradural disease, its use in the assessment of intradural extramedullary disease has been questioned. We selected 12 patients with intradural extramedullary disease as demonstrated by positive CSF cytology and/or myelographic findings and performed MR examinations on them before and after administering gadolinium-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg). Gadolinium-DTPA was extremely effective in depicting intradural extramedullary disease of the spine. Small nodules of 3 mm, virtually invisible on noncontrast MR scans, enhanced strongly and were easily detected. In addition, leptomeningeal spread of tumor along nerve roots was also visualized, sometimes more readily than by myelography and postmyelography CT. The remarkable sensitivity of gadolinium-DTPA to intradural extramedullary disease assures its role in future MR examinations of the spine.

Adult

Case report: extramedullary plasmacytoma of the larynx.

A case of extramedullary plasmacytoma of the larynx is presented. The case is unique for the extramedullary plasmacytoma's marked extension into the mediastinum. The computed tomography (CT) features are described.

Aged