Pure epidermoid cysts of the ovary.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A C Bateman.
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AIMS: To determine the applicability of rapid, sequence specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based HLA class II genotyping for the distinction of complete from partial hydatidiform moles (HM) using DNA extracted from formalin fixed and paraffin wax embedded tissue. METHODS: Nine HM were studied. DNA was extracted from formalin fixed and paraffin wax embedded tissue after mechanical separation of decidual and molar components. HLA class II DRB (DRB1, -3, -4, and -5) and DQB1 genotyping was performed using a parallel series of PCR reactions, each of which contained sequence specific primers designed to amplify different HLA DRB and DQB1 alleles or allele groups (PCR-SSP analysis). In each case the HLA DRB and DQB1 genotypes identified within the decidua and HM were compared. RESULTS: Within the decidual tissue, HLA DRB genotypes were assignable in all nine cases, and HLA DQB1 genotypes were identified in seven cases. Within the molar tissue, HLA DRB genotypes were assignable in seven cases, and at least one HLA DQB1 allele was identified in seven cases. Interpretation based on HLA class II genotyping was therefore possible in two cases classified on histological appearances as complete HM, in four classified as partial HM, and in one HM of uncertain type. Different HLA DRB and DQB1 haplotypes were identified within the decidual and molar tissue from both complete HM, consistent with a solely paternal origin and supporting the histological diagnosis. HLA DRB and DQB1 alleles common to the decidual and molar tissue were present within the four partial HM and the HM of histologically uncertain type, consistent with combined maternal and paternal genetic input to these HM, supporting the histological diagnosis in four cases and suggesting that the histologically equivocal case was also a partial HM. CONCLUSION: PCR-SSP HLA class II DRB and DQB1 typing is reliably applicable to DNA extracted from formalin fixed and paraffin wax embedded tissue. Therefore, in a suitably equipped HLA typing laboratory, this technique provides a useful adjunct to histological examination for differentiation of complete from partial HM.
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Mislabelling of surgical specimens can seriously affect the accuracy of histopathology reports. We describe two cases in which clinically suspected mislabelling was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based HLA DRB and DQB tissue typing of paraffin biopsy-derived DNA, using sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP HLA typing). In the first case, two patients underwent surgery for breast carcinoma. A subcutaneous lymph node containing metastatic carcinoma was received with the breast specimen from one patient, but was clinically considered more likely to originate from the other patient who underwent breast surgery on the same day. In the second case, histological examination of retained products of conception from a young woman revealed adenocarcinoma, but a repeat curettage specimen consisted of secretory phase endometrium. In case 1, PCR-SSP HLA typing confirmed the clinical suspicion that the subcutaneous lymph node received with tissue from one patient originated from the other patient. This result converted the first patient from lymph node positive breast carcinoma to lymph node negative disease. In case 2, there was no evidence from PCR-SSP HLA typing that the endometrial samples had originated from different patients. PCR-SSP HLA typing requires fewer steps than methods based on PCR amplification followed by oligonucleotide probing (PCR-SSOP HLA typing), and relies on the amplification of shorter sequences of DNA. Therefore, this technique can produce more rapid results than PCR-SSOP HLA typing, and is ideally suited to typing partially degraded DNA derived from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue.
We have studied the clinical, radiological and pathological features of three patients with recurrent massive lower gastrointestinal arterial haemorrhage. Case 1 was an example of Dieulafoy's vascular malformation within the proximal ascending colon in a 46-year-old woman. Cases 2 and 3 were men aged 81 and 83 years with arterial erosions contained within small mucosal diverticula in the hepatic flexure and descending colon, respectively. All three patients presented with recurrent acute episodes of massive lower gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Selective mesenteric angiography was performed in cases 1 and 3 to localize the bleeding point in both patients. The features were very different to those of angiodysplasia, lacking the tuft of abnormal vessels and the early venous filling phase commonly seen in the latter condition. The patients were all successfully treated by partial colectomy. The aetiology of Dieulafoy's vascular malformation remains unclear. The ruptured arteries in cases 2 and 3 shared many histological features with the Dieulafoy lesion in case 1. The lesions in cases 1 and 2 were associated with recent oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory therapy, suggesting coincidental mucosal ulceration as a contributory factor.
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Enterococcus faecium, which was highly resistant to vancomycin (MIC 256 mg/liter), but susceptible to teicoplanin (MIC 2 mg/liter), caused two distinct episodes of infection on a renal unit in the United Kingdom. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) indicated that a single strain caused the first episode, while the second episode, which occurred 1 year later, involved multiple strains, all of which were distinct from the original strain. Vancomycin resistance in all but one of these strains was mediated by transferable plasmids that carried the vanB glycopeptide resistance gene. Transfer either of resistance plasmids or the vanB resistance determinant itself to different strains occurred during the second episode. Plasmid-mediated vanB resistance has not been widely documented. A retrospective study of a reference collection revealed two other vanB-encoding plasmids from an E. faecalis and an E. faecium referred from two further UK centers. Although restriction analysis indicated no similarity between the plasmids from the three different centers, all contained a 2.1-kb EcoRV fragment that hybridized with a probe for the vanB gene. This suggests that there has been dissemination of a conserved glycopeptide resistance determinant, of which vanB is a part.
Spontaneous dissection of the coronary arteries is an uncommon condition that may lead to sudden, fatal coronary artery occlusion. Three cases of sudden death attributable to coronary artery occlusion are presented. Dissection was associated with Marfan's syndrome in the first case, and occurred three weeks postpartum in the second case. In case 1, dissection occurred within the intima, and was not associated with an inflammatory cell infiltrate. In cases 2 and 3, dissection occurred between the tunica media and the external elastic lamina, and was associated with a mixed inflammatory infiltrate, rich in eosinophils, T lymphocytes, and histiocytes. The spatial limitation of the inflammatory infiltrate to the adventitial compartment, together with the absence of inflammation in case 1, suggests a reactive origin rather than a causative role for the inflammatory cells. Detailed examination of serial blocks of any coronary artery occlusion is essential in young patients.
The treatment and prognosis of patients with cerebral astrocytic tumours are currently guided by histopathological classification. This study evaluates immunohistochemistry using Ki-67, an antibody to a nuclear protein expressed in proliferating cells, and DO-7, an antibody to the product of the tumour suppressor gene p53, as prognostic indicators for these tumours. Immunohistochemistry with Ki-67 has been correlated with the behaviour of many different tumours, but its value as a prognostic indicator in astrocytic tumours is diminished by the conflicting results of previous studies. Immunohistochemistry with antibodies to the p53 protein has been used as a prognostic indicator in melanomas and some carcinomas, but the relation between prognosis and accumulation of this protein in astrocytic tumours has not been clarified. We have tested the hypothesis that survival is correlated with Ki-67 immunolabelling indices (LIs) and patterns of p53 immunolabelling in the cerebral astrocytic tumours of a large cohort of patients (n = 123) for whom clinical indices were well documented. Astrocytic tumours were divided into three histological types: fibrillary astrocytoma (n = 24), anaplastic astrocytoma (n = 31), and glioblastoma (n = 68). Histological type and patient age were independent predictors of survival. Median Ki-67 LIs differed significantly (P < 0.0001) between the types of astrocytic tumour, and tumours with a Ki-67 LI < 2% had a significantly (P < 0.0001) better prognosis. Ki-67 LI as a continuous variable carried a significant (P = 0.0043) unadjusted hazard to survival which was lost when adjusted for other variables, notably histological type. By contrast, no relation was found between survival and three categories of p53 labeling (p53-negative, p53 LI < 40%, and p53 LI > 60%). The results indicate that, whereas Ki-67 immunohistochemistry predicts survival in patients with astrocytic tumours, conventional histological appraisal remains the best guide to prognosis, and immunohistochemistry for p53 has no value in the assessment of these tumours.
This study evaluates the use of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II PCR-SSO typing for the investigation of suspected specimen contamination in four routine surgical histopathology cases. Two cases were of patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate gland. The third case was a patient undergoing excision of a subcutaneous small cell carcinoma. The fourth case was a patient undergoing reversal of a Hartman's procedure for adenocarcinoma of the colon. Tissue was extracted from routinely processed formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material and HLA class II typed, using a non-radioactive polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probe technique (PCR-SSO), using probes specific for the DRB, DQA, and DQB loci. The accuracy of PCR-SSO typing of DNA extracted from paraffin biopsy material was confirmed by concordant results for DRB, DQA, and DQB typing in five separate control individuals from whom frozen and paraffin lymph node biopsies were available. PCR-SSO typing was also successful in the four study cases and revealed that contamination had occurred in two cases, eliminating this possibility in the remaining cases. This study demonstrates that DNA can be reliably amplified and accurately typed from routinely processed material, and reveals a useful new application for PCR-SSO tissue typing.
AIMS: To evaluate the effect of microwave irradiation on the staining quality of a range of commonly used primary antibodies in archival, formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded material, with emphasis on antibodies that have previously worked successfully only on frozen tissue. METHODS: Immunocytochemistry (streptavidin-biotin complex technique) was performed on histological sections of a range of normal and pathological tissues, after varying treatment with microwave irradiation. The staining quality of each antibody was compared with that achieved without prior treatment of the sections or after enzyme predigestion. RESULTS: Microwave irradiation permitted successful immunostaining with 20 antibodies that stained only frozen tissues before. The staining characteristics of 21 antibodies that were already known to stain formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded material were improved. Another 39 antibodies did not show enhanced staining with microwave irradiation. The method preserves tissue morphology and produces more consistent staining than that achieved by enzyme predigestion with many antibodies. Microwave irradiation may also allow some primary antibodies to be used at higher working dilutions. The citrate buffer used in this study avoids the necessity of exposure to heavy metal salts. CONCLUSIONS: Microwave antigen retrieval represents an important technical advance within immunocytochemistry that will greatly increase the range of antibodies which can be used to study formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded tissues.
Low-grade lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) characteristically show centrocyte-like cells, plasmacytic differentiation, follicular colonization and lymphoepithelial lesions (epitheliotropism). High-grade lymphomas of MALT are thought to lack these features and can only be identified as MALT lymphomas with confidence if they are admixed with residual low-grade tumours. We studied 23 cases of MALT lymphoma of the thyroid. Six were predominantly low-grade, 12 were predominantly high-grade, and five contained both low- and high-grade areas. All cases were stained for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen and laminin using an immunoperoxidase technique. The low-grade lymphomas all contained lymphoepithelial lesions, generally in the form of clusters of intra-acinar centrocyte-like cells. Eleven of the 12 high-grade MALT lymphomas of the thyroid also showed lymphoepithelial lesions. These appeared in three forms: follicles or clusters of epithelial cells infiltrated by groups of centrocyte-like cells, intra-acinar clusters of blast cells, or irregular invasion of islands of epithelial cells by blast cells. The first pattern presumably represented residual low-grade tumour over-run by high-grade lymphoma. The second two patterns indicated that the factors that result in epitheliotropism in low-grade MALT lymphomas are also present in high-grade tumours. Following this study we identified epitheliotropism in single examples of high-grade MALT lymphomas of the bronchus and small intestine. Previous failure to recognize epitheliotropism in high-grade MALT lymphomas of the gastrointestinal tract may be due to loss of the affected epithelium. The localization and relatively good prognosis of high-grade MALT lymphomas may be related to retention of MALT characteristics including epitheliotropism.
Serious infection caused by Lancefield group C streptococci is unusual in man. Two unrelated deaths associated with these organisms in a 55 year old woman who died after three days of diarrhoea and vomiting, and in a 65 old man who died after a week of non-specific symptoms, are presented. Post mortem examination showed septicaemia in the former and severe aortic stenosis with widespread septic emboli and probable meningitis in the latter. Lancefield group C streptococci were isolated from both cases. These organisms may be carried asymptomatically and usually cause disease in animals but cases of serious human infection have recently been described, mainly in elderly patients or those with other predisposing factors.