Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A R Schned.
Bilateral testicular carcinoma in situ in a 17-year-old patient with persistent müllerian duct syndrome is reported. The pertinent literature is reviewed and the management of both testicular carcinoma in situ and persistent müllerian duct syndrome is discussed.
A unilateral multicystic mass in the connective tissue adjacent to the vas deferens in a 46-year-old man is reported. Anatomically, it was distinct from the epididymis and vas and contained no sperm. The epithelial lining was simple, ciliated, and cuboidal to columnar. The cysts were surrounded by connective tissue collars containing smooth muscle. The authors postulate that this lesion represents a cystic hyperplasia of vestigial Wolffian duct remnants, based on its unique histologic features and the exclusion of other plausible explanations. The supraepididymal, paravasal location suggests origin in the paradidymis.
This study sought to determine whether nucleolar organizer region (NOR) counts might be of diagnostic use specifically in the frequently difficult identification of well-differentiated prostate cancer. Total silver-stained NOR (AgNOR) counts on sections were done in 50 consecutive nuclei from 22 cases of well-differentiated adenocarcinoma composed exclusively of Gleason grades 1 or 2 and in 50 consecutive nuclei in foci of benign glands on the same slide. Malignant nuclei contained a mean of 4.84 AgNORs; benign nuclei, 3.39 AgNORs. This difference was statistically highly significant (P < .0001), but there was considerable overlap of mean AgNOR counts between malignant and benign groups. Thus, to obtain a rule requiring a specificity of greater than 95% using the mean AgNOR count as a definition of malignancy, the maximum sensitivity possible was only 32%. Despite the overlap in mean AgNOR counts, however, in all but one case the mean count for malignant nuclei was greater than that for benign nuclei. This suggests that the diagnostic potential of AgNOR counts might be better realized by a comparison of counts between a suspicious focus and an adjacent focus of benign glands.
Reported is a case of a rare lymphoepithelial cyst of the tail of the pancreas that developed in a young man with no symptoms. To the authors' knowledge, it is the first case described to be entirely situated within the pancreas, thus confirming its pancreatic origin. Biologic behavior appears to be entirely benign, and the primary importance of its recognition is in the distinction from cystic malignant neoplasms.
We report the findings of a large localized collection of rheumatoid nodules in the renal cortex of a male patient with long-standing seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid nodules are a rare occurrence in the urinary tract, with only two previous reports of renal involvement, to our knowledge. A possible relationship, on the basis of immunologically mediated mechanisms, to accompanying chronic pyelonephritis is proposed.
Prosthetic vascular graft infection requires graft removal and often leads to limb loss. To determine whether vascularized muscle flaps could alter the course of graft infection, 18 mongrel dogs (18-29 kg) were randomized to one of three groups and underwent unilateral carotid artery bypass with 6-mm X 4-cm PTFE grafts. At implantation, the grafts were inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus, 2 x 10(7) organisms/wound. On Day 3, dogs with patent grafts underwent wound debridement, irrigation, and closure, and the treatment to which they had been randomized was carried out. Group A (n = 4, controls) received only dicloxacillin, 500 mg po bid, beginning on Day 4. Group B (n = 5) underwent transfer of a vascularized sternocephalicus muscle flap around the infected graft, but received no antibiotics. Group C (n = 5) underwent muscle transfer as in Group B and were given dicloxacillin as in Group A. Dogs were followed until anastomotic disruption occurred or for 60 days. Quantitative bacterial cultures were taken from sternocephalicus muscle and wound fluid at the time of debridement and at sacrifice. All dogs that received antibiotics without flaps or flaps without antibiotics (Groups A and B) experienced anastomotic disruption. Dogs that received both antibiotics and flaps (Group C) had a significantly lower incidence of hemorrhage (20%, P less than 0.05). At sacrifice, fewer bacterial colonies were cultured from muscle flaps of Group C as opposed to Group A dogs (0.05 +/- 0.02 x 10(5) vs 0.79 +/- 0.31 x 10(5), P less than 0.05). Muscle flaps with antibiotic therapy may prove to be effective treatment for infected prosthetic vascular grafts.
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A leiomyosarcoma of the seminal vesicle, found at an early stage on routine rectal examination, is described. The authors believe that this report represents, to date, the most conclusive documentation of primary origin of a sarcoma in the seminal vesicle. It is also the first report in which electron microscopy yielded definitive diagnostic information. Review of the previously reported cases suggests that radical surgery may offer a realistic chance for cure.
Severe acute and chronic hepatic damage occurred in a white man who had taken phenelzine sulfate (Nardil) 45 mg daily for 70 days. Liver biopsy showed a mixed hepatitic and cholestatic pattern with extracellular deposition of a unique homogeneous collagenous substance. Portal cirrhosis developed and has persisted. The patient was found to have a "rapid acetylator phenotype" and high rate of metabolism of antipyrine. These innate factors may have predisposed to hepatic injury due to phenelzine.
Many previous studies have established the value of the autopsy in assessing clinical diagnostic accuracy. None has described, however, the use of the autopsy as an ongoing, prospective audit of clinical and pathologic performance. The authors herein outline the process and report the initial results of a comprehensive quality assessment program on their autopsy service. Particular emphasis was placed on evaluation of the responsiveness of the autopsy to clinical questions and interests. The four parts of the overall program included an epidemiologic survey of causes of death in the authors' patient population, a determination of the clinical significance of autopsy findings, an assessment of clinical factors that may have contributed to death, and a quality control mechanism of the autopsy itself. The process can be adapted to a variety of hospital settings.
We studied eight cases of an epididymal lesion resembling vasitis nodosa. Four cases were encountered among a group of patients who underwent epididymectomy for pain following vasectomy. The other four cases occurred in the absence of that history. The lesion probably represents a regenerative effort following rupture of a duct resulting from long-standing obstruction, either locally or at some point distally in the ductal system. Recognition is important to prevent misdiagnosis as a neoplasm.
Protoporphyria was diagnosed in a 56-yr-old man based upon a typical clinical and family history, marked increases in erythrocyte and fecal protoporphyrin concentrations, and a marked decrease (21% of normal) in activity of hepatic heme synthase. Routine tests of liver function and histology were normal, except for a slight increase in bromsulphalein retention (9% at 45 min). Liver chemistries remained normal for 8 more years, but deteriorated rapidly when the patient was 63 yr old, with cholestasis precipitated by injury due to excess intake of ethanol. This, in turn, led to a defect in hepatic protoporphyrin excretion and to further worsening of liver injury due to porphyrin deposition. Our patient represents the 21st and oldest patient thus far reported to have died of liver failure complicating protoporphyria.
Infection is an uncommon but unfortunate complication of prosthetic arterial bypass grafting. Because previously described methods of treatment of such infections which do not involve excision of the graft have not met with uniform success, we undertook a study of the efficacy of silver sulfadiazine cream in the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections of polytetrafluoroethylene carotid artery bypass grafts in dogs. At the time of bilateral grafts placement in 14 dogs, wounds were inoculated with at least 2 X 10(7) organisms. Three days later all wounds were opened. The wounds of seven dogs were treated with daily applications of silver sulfadiazine cream and the wounds of the other dogs were treated with daily applications of povidone iodine ointment. The dogs were sacrificed at 30 days or at the earliest evidence of arterial beeding from the wounds, whichever came first. Cultures of the wound were taken, and graft and artery histologic findings were studied at the time of sacrifice. Although survival of the dogs treated with silver sulfadiazine was marginally better than that of the dogs treated with povidone iodine, viable bacteria were present in microabscesses in many apparently healed wounds in the former group. We conclude that daily applications of silver sulfadiazine cream does not reliably eradicate staphylococcal infections involving polytetrafluoroethylene arterial bypass grafts.
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A group of 20 surgical specimens in 18 patients with a previously unappreciated syndrome of unremitting epididymal pain and induration 5 to 7 years after vasectomy was collected during a 2-year interval. These symptoms uniformly were unresponsive to conservative measures, including empiric antibiotics. Total unilateral or bilateral epididymectomy and partial vasectomy led to complete relief of symptoms, usually within 24 hours. Pathological examination of the specimens revealed features consistent with sequelae of long-standing obstruction. Recognition of this late post-vasectomy syndrome, which represents a major complication of vasectomy, might be expected to increase as cohorts of vasectomized individuals age.
We describe a patient with a solitary pulmonary nodule that proved to be a rheumatoid nodule and a coexistent carcinoma. Similar cases from the literature are reviewed. Fine needle aspiration cytologies from such lesions are potentially misleading and must be interpreted cautiously. Pulmonary nodules in patients with rheumatoid arthritis clearly should be approached as possible carcinomas.
From 1973 to 1982, 189 patients were treated at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for Stage C or D prostatic carcinoma. In eight of these cases (4.2%), there was clinical or pathological evidence for intracranial metastases. The condition of subdural neoplastic spread, not from contiguous bone, was identified in five cases, two of which were suspected before death. Four of these five patients were thrombocytopenic or pancytopenic at the time of the diagnosis. Intraparenchymal brain metastases were identified in six cases. Cerebellar, temporal bone, cavernous sinus, and splenium infiltration by tumor were unusual findings in individual cases. The results of chest x-rays and respiratory status were poor predictors of lung metastases in four of five patients on whom autopsies were performed. This article describes the spectrum of radiographic and pathologic findings of intracranial prostatic carcinoma, and suggests that the likely mechanism of brain metastasis in these cases is by the dural veins and Virchow-Robin spaces.