Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Gandolfi.
The problem of recovering the affinity distribution in the immune response from experimental binding data is considered. Starting from a previously proposed analytical expression for this distribution the study of the parameter constraints has been completed in order to guarantee the physical meaning of the results.
The auditory pathway of a 17-year-old deaf patient with Cockayne's syndrome was examined histologically. The cochlea showed marked atrophy of the spiral ganglion and attenuation of the cochlear division of the eighth cranial nerve. By means of the Computer Image Analyzer, the total number of neurons in the ventral cochlear nucleus was found to be reduced from 30,440 to 18,821. The mean diameter of the neurons in the ventral cochlear nucleus, medial dorsal olivary nucleus, and inferior colliculus was smaller than in a control patient, whereas in the medial geniculate nucleus and anterior transverse gyrus of Heschl, the neuronal size approximated the norm. The changes in the first three auditory relay nuclei were considered to represent transsynaptic atrophy caused by degeneration of the spiral ganglion and, possibly, the cochlear neuroepithelium. This histological report verifies that deafness in Cockayne's syndrome is largely sensorineural and that degeneration of spiral ganglion in humans can lead to a chain of trans-synaptic degeneration in the ventral cochlear nucleus, medial dorsal olivary nucleus, and inferior colliculus.
The rate of DNA synthesis along S phase is estimated from flow cytometric histograms on the basis of a mathematical model of a cell population. In the absence of loss, the model expresses the population kinetics in terms of DNA synthesis rate, S-phase influx, and population size. A single histogram is sufficient to determine the DNA synthesis rate when the population is in balanced exponential growth. Two suitably chosen histograms are necessary if the S-phase influx is exponential in a time interval longer than the S-phase duration. The analysis procedure was tested on published autoradiographic data and applied to three cultured cell lines (CM-S, 3LL, and M14 cells) that show various patterns of DNA distribution. In each case the cell-cycle fractions, the DNA synthesis rate, and the S-phase duration were obtained.
A case of primary osteosarcoma of the C-6 vertebra in a 39-year-old woman is described. The tumor presented with signs and symptoms of radicular involvement, which were successfully treated surgically. Osteosarcomas of the vertebral column are uncommon, and their localization in the cervical region is definitely rare. The literature on the subject is briefly reviewed.
A general expression for time sequences of DNA-fluorescence histograms from flow microfluorometry is given in this paper. Such expression is given in terms of the law of DNA growth along S phase, the flux of cells into S, and the efflux out of M. Special conditions of growth (e.g. the exponential steady-state growth), and the case of blocks in S phase are also analyzed. Some simulations of the expressions obtained are presented.
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The rate of DNA synthesis along S-phase can be estimated on the basis of a simple model of a cell population, from a single FCM histogram under conditions of balanced exponential growth, and from two histograms suitably spaced in time under conditions of locally exponential S-phase influx. An algorithm that constructs a piecewise constant approximation of the synthesis rate and estimates the phase fractions from a single histogram is presented. The results of the application of the algorithm to a set of computer generated histograms in balanced exponential growth are reported.
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An unusual case of spinal cord compression caused by histiocytosis-X of the vertebral body of T-7 was recently operated upon in our department; the case was diagnosed during the operation by means of the squash-smear cytologic technique. Characteristic cytologic features were the presence of sparse eosinophilic leukocytes containing mature, multilobed nucleai and sharp, rather coarse, cytoplasmic granules; abundant histiocytes with round to oval, sometimes indented nuclei and finely granular cytoplasm; and giant, multinucleated cells, as those seen in granulomatous lesions. These cytotypes were grouped to form a monotone, but highly characteristic pattern. We think the reported picture is diagnosic of the pathologic entity under discussion.
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Intraneuronal inclusions, consisting of polyglucosan and having histochemical and ultrastructural features identical to Lafora body of familial myoclonic epilepsy (Unverricht-Lafora disease), have been found restricted to the lateral pallidum in five patients. Two of these patients were also found to have status marmoratus of the basal ganglia. These lateral pallidal inclusions have been named after Bielschowsky, their original discoverer. We report two additional patients with status marmoratus and Bielschowsky bodies and suggest that these two conditions are frequent concomitant phenomena arising independently from a common cause.
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Anomalies of the peripheral auditory system have been reported in major autosomal trisomies. In order to investigate the central auditory pathway, a quantitative and morphometric study of the ventral cochlear nucleus was performed in 2 cases of trisomy 13, 2 cases of trisomy 18 and 1 case of trisomy 21. Data were obtained using a Cambridge Imanco Quantimet 720 Image Analyzing System according to the methods already described. For statistical evaluation, trisomy 13 and 18 cases were considered as group 1-trisomies and compared to full-term controls. Each trisomy was then compared separately to both premature and full term control groups. Trisomy 21 was investigated separately. Quantitative data in trisomy 18 suggest a slight maturational retardation of the ventral cochlear nucleus with respect to gestational age. No significant abnormalities were detected in trisomy 13, aside from those determined by the age difference, when compared to premature controls. The estimated total number of neurons in both trisomies did not differ statistically from that of the control groups. Other brain stem auditory nuclei did not show relevant pathology. Golgi impregnation of the temporal cortex revealed immature neuronal development, especially in trisomy 13. Trisomy 21 showed a greatly reduced number of neurons in the ventral cochlear nucleus, a small nuclear volume, low cell packing density and an abnormally large mean neuronal diameter. The findings of this investigation are discussed and tentatively correlated to the hearing defects reported in these trisomies.
A systematic quantitative and cytometric study of the ventral cochlear nucleus has been performed on 3 groups of histologically normal brains, ranging in age from 20 weeks of gestation to adult life. Serial sections, 20 micrometer in thickness, through the length of the nucleus were obtained from paraffin-embedded blocks of the ponto-medullary junction. Every 10th section was analyzed with a Cambridge Imanco Quantimet 720 Image Analyzing system. The surface area of the nucleus was determined on each slide. Cells showing neuronal characteristics were individually counted and classified into 18 pre-determined cell size classes. The raw total number of cells was then corrected for periodicity and split cell error. The total volume of the nucleus and cell packing density were estimated. The mean total number of neurons was 26,098 in premature, 31,802 in full term and 30,440 in adult cases. There was no significant difference among these values. The mean volume of the nucleus was 1.32 mm3 in premature, 3.84 in full term and 5.43 in adult cases. Positive correlation coefficients were found comparing volume versus age. A negative correlation coefficient was detected comparing cell packing density versus age from the full term period to adult life. A significant increase in the number of cells in the largest cell classes was also found with increasing age. The mean neuronal diameter did not change significantly between premature and full term cases but was significantly different between full term and adult cases. These findings are discussed and compared to already reported quantitative studies of the ventral cochlear nucleus in man, which involved manual counting techniques.
Symptomatic subependymomas of the fourth ventricle are rare and usually not included in the preoperative differential diagnosis of tumors in this region. The case of a 63-year-old man with fourth ventricle subependymoma is described. For several years he had suffered with nausea and vomiting, and now presented signs of direct involvement of the posterior fossa. He was investigated preoperatively with computerized tomography, but the ultimate diagnosis was not suspected at that time. The tumor was diagnosed as an subependymoma at operation and was totally excised. This tumor type can easily be recognized on intraoperative frozen section, and its diagnosis should always lead to an attempt at complete surgical removal.
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