Biomedical subjects

C L Trevenen

Publications and source records attributed to C L Trevenen.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1988

Diffuse necrotizing tracheobronchitis: an acute and chronic disease.

Necrotizing tracheobronchitis (NTB) is characterized by acute episodes of airway obstruction, hypercarbia, and lack of chest movement in mechanically ventilated neonates. Emergency bronchoscopic removal of necrotic tissue is essential for survival. Although postmortem lesions extend into smaller bronchi, survivors have not demonstrated residual tracheobronchial abnormalities. Two infants were treated successfully for NTB but succumbed to diffuse tracheobronchial strictures with progressive pulmonary hyperinflation. A third neonate with esophageal atresia and left pulmonary agenesis developed NTB. Despite initial postbronchoscopic improvement, the infant died at age 6 weeks with diffuse obstructing NTB. All three infants required endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. High-frequency jet ventilation was not used. Tracheal cultures for fungi, bacteria and viruses were negative. Successful treatment of NTB may be followed acutely by recurrence of NTB and chronically by diffuse tracheobronchial strictures and emphysema.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1987

Gliosis and glioma distinguished by acridine orange.

Acridine orange fluorochrome of nucleic acids was applied to sections of cerebral tissue from 20 patients showing acute or chronic reactive gliosis. The results were compared with the findings in 39 well differentiated and malignant astrocytomas. The orange cytoplasmic fluorescence of ribonucleic acid is lacking in reactive astrocytes of all ages including gemistocytes, but is uniformly present in astrocytoma cells. Acridine orange is a useful supplementary stain for distinguishing between astrocytosis and astrocytoma, particularly for small cerebral biopsies showing scattered or diffusely infiltrating pleomorphic glial cells.

Acridine Orange↗

PubMed1987

Neuroblastoma: a specific sonographic tissue pattern.

Previous attempts to determine a sonographic appearance characteristic of neuroblastoma have had diverse results. Sonograms of 53 abdominal tumors, including 10 neuroblastomas, imaged during 1982-1986 were reviewed. Four of the patients with neuroblastoma had a distinctive sonographic "lobule" of increased echogenicity in a part of the larger tumor mass. This sonographic appearance was secondary to the growth pattern of the tumor and was not cell specific. Correlative CT scans in two of the four patients did not differentiate this lobule. Histologically, the lobule was an aggregate of uniform neuroblastoma cells (marginated by reticulin and collagen) without hemorrhage, necrosis, or calcification. This tissue pattern was not seen in any of the other 43 neoplasms, including 12 Wilms' tumors. When identified sonographically, the lobule identified in this study seems specific for neuroblastoma and is a valuable diagnostic sign in children with an abdominal mass.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗

PubMed1986

Cytoplasmic RNA in nervous system tumours in children: a fluorochromic histochemical study using acridine orange.

Acridine orange was used as a fluorochromic histochemical stain of nucleic acids, applied to 78 neoplasms of the central and peripheral nervous systems of 60 children. Some cases were compared with 5 adults and 4 other cases of chronic reactive gemistocytic gliosis. Opposite concentration gradients of cytoplasmic ribonucleic acid (RNA) was demonstrated in tumours of the neuronal/neuroectodermal series, and those of the glial/neuroepithelial series. Minimal AO-RNA fluorescence was seen in 8 cerebellar medulloblastomas and in a retinoblastoma; strong AO-RNA fluorescence occurred in one cerebellar medulloblastoma and in 3 primitive neuroectodemal tumours of the cerebral cortex. Intermediate intensity of fluorescence was found in neuroblastomas, and strong fluorescence was shown in well differentiated ganglioneuroma cells and in cells of chromaffin tumours. Among glial tumours, by contrast, the most anaplastic cells displayed the most RNA fluorescence, while better differentiated astrocytoma cells showed much less. Gradients also were found within some astrocytomas, corresponding to zones of relative anaplasia. Minimal or no fluorescence was detected in reactive gemistocytes or in oligodendroglioma cells. Ependymomas were weakly fluorescent and choroid plexus papillomas showed more fluorescence, similar to the findings in normal ependyma and choroid plexus. Several non-neuroepithelial tumours of the nervous system and Schwannomas also were studied. The acridine orange technique applied to either frozen or paraffin sections of nervous system tumours, has value as an adjunct in the diagnosis and grading of these neoplasms and perhaps in distinguishing reactive gliosis from benign astrocytoma.

Acridine Orange↗

PubMed1985

A fluorochromic stain for nucleic acids to demonstrate submucosal and myenteric neurons in Hirschsprung's disease.

Acridine orange, a rapid and technically simple fluorochromic stain of nucleic acids, was applied to sections of 18 specimens of resected distal colon in infants with Hirschsprung's disease. Neurons were readily identified in the submucosal and myenteric plexuses of normal ganglionic segments because of their intense orange cytoplasmic fluorescence of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that contrasted with the pale green of the smooth muscle and connective tissue. This technic, which may be applied to both frozen and paraffin-embedded sections, is a useful adjunct in the confirmation of aganglionic segments of bowel wall.

Acridine Orange↗

PubMed1984

Intrauterine infections with group B beta-haemolytic streptococci.

The case records of 15 infants with intrauterine infections due to group B beta-haemolytic streptococci were traced from the records of two geographically separate centres over a 4-year period (1979-1982). Six infants were stillborn and the other nine died within the first 6 h. All the infants weighed less than 1000 g and were less than 28 weeks gestation. Placental examination in 14 of the 15 infants showed the presence of chorioamnionitis and funisitis. The infants also showed evidence of pneumonitis. Four infants had evidence of otitis media, two had evidence of an early meningitis. A history of antepartum bleeding was present in six infants and abundant retroplacental clot was noted in four of them. The membranes had been ruptured for greater than 24 h in only three infants. In six of the infants the membranes were intact at the time of delivery. A history of intact membranes at the time of delivery does not exclude a diagnosis of an intrauterine infection with this organism, and this series of infants highlights the importance of routine bacteriologic studies of all perinatal deaths.

Extraembryonic Membranes↗

PubMed1984

Systemic histiocytosis: an unusual cause of perianal disease in a child.

A male child first presented with chronic perianal skin disease at 33 months of age and later developed gingival disease and loose teeth associated with alveolar bone erosion. Biopsy of gingival and perianal lesions showed histiocytic proliferation. Following therapy with vinblastine, prednisone, methotrexate, and cyclophosphamide, the lesions healed but disease recurred in the mastoid and was successfully treated with vinblastine alone. Although the perianal area is an unusual site of skin involvement in systemic histiocytosis, this disorder should be considered in any child with chronic unexplained perianal disease, and biopsy of these lesions should be obtained.

Alveolar Process↗

PubMed1982

Disseminated tuberculoid lesions in infants following BCG vaccination.

The records of 830 consecutive autopsies at Children's Hospital, Winnipeg revealed that 26 of the 36 infants (34 Canadian Indian, 1 Inuit and 1 Caucasian) given BCG vaccine shortly after birth had tuberculoid granulomas in various sites, including the vaccination site, regional lymph nodes, liver, spleen, lung, bone marrow and salivary gland. Mycobacterium bovis, BCG type, was identified in three of the four cases in which isolation was attempted. The principal causes of death had been sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory tract infections. None of the infants had histologic evidence of an immune deficiency. However, it is possible that in two cases the dissemination of BCG was enhanced by a temporary immunologic defect induced by malnutrition.

BCG Vaccine↗

PubMed1982

Chondro-osseous changes in Cerebro-Oculo-Facial-Skeletal (COFS) syndrome.

Radiological and pathological findings were described in three cases of COFS syndrome. Early diagnosis of this syndrome is possible by the recognition radiologically of the characteristic proximal displacement of second metatarsals and pathologically by the extensive cell necrosis in the iliac crest biopsy. Pathological findings, including the presence of nuclear bodies in chondrocytes and amianthoid fibres surrounding necrotic cartilage cells, are compatible with a primary degenerative/deformative disorder. The aetiology of this syndrome is unknown.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

PubMed1980

A case of leprechaunism with severe hyperinsulinemia.

This report describes an infant with physical features typical of leprechaunism, including a characteristic facies, hirsutism, and decreased subcutaneous tissue and muscle mass. Intermittent hypoglycemia and severe hyperinsulinemia were documented. The patient's insulin was normal in molecular size and biological activity, but its binding to the patient's cultured fibroblasts was profoundly decreased. Insulin antibodies were not present. A literature review has been undertaken to clarify further the clinical, metabolic, and pathological characteristics of this condition.

Blood Glucose↗

PubMed1980

American trypanosomiasis (Chagas' disease) in a Canadian immigrant infant.

A case of American trypanosomiasis (Chagas' disease) is reported. A 13-month-old Mennonite girl who immigrated to Canada from Paraguay, died at the Children's Centre in Winnipeg from an acute myocarditis due to infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. This diagnosis should be considered when a patient from an endemic area presents with a clinical picture of myocarditis.

Autopsy↗

PubMed1979

Liver disease in infants receiving total parenteral nutrition.

Progressive cholestasis and abnormal elevations of liver enzymes occurred in one third of 92, mostly preterm, newborn infants who received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) with protein hydrolysates, synthetic L-amino acids, and intravenous fat emulsion. The synthetic amino acid plus intravenous fat emulsion was not superior to the protein hydrolysate in preventing liver disease. The liver function returned to normal after discontinuation of TPN, which suggests a causal relationship. Hepatic microscopy was abnormal in 12 of 14 infants examined. The main features were progressive cholestasis and portal tract fibrosis and infiltration, which led to liver failure and death in two infants. In our experience, liver disease is the major metabolic complication of TPN in infants.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ependymal abnormalities in cerebro-hepato-renal disease of Zellweger.

The ependyma in six infants dying with cerebro-hepato-renal (CHR) disease showed similar but less extensive morphological and immunohistochemical abnormalities to those previously demonstrated in lissencephaly/pachygyria. More than two-thirds of the ependyma lining all ventricles was a pseudostratified columnar epithelium resembling midfetal life. Discontinuities did not correlate with minimal ventriculomegaly. Subventricular rosettes were common and not confined to regions of gaps in the overlying ependyma. Subependymal gliosis and glial nodules were absent. Immunoreactivity of ependymal cells for vimentin and GFAP was normal for age, but abnormally positive for S-100 protein and cytokeratin, as in lissencephaly; unlike lissencephaly, the rosettes in CHR disease also are reactive. Ependymal abnormalities may contribute to the pathogenesis of cerebral dysgenesis in CHR disease as in other genetic disorders of neuroblast migration.

Brain↗