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Biomedical subjects

F C Ho

Publications and source records attributed to F C Ho.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Ristocetin-induced platelet agglutination in four Chinese patients with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia.

We studied the degree of Ristocetin-induced platelet agglutination in 4 Chinese patients with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. At Ristocetin concentrations of 1.2-2.0 mg/ml (final concentration) variable, abnormal responses were observed. The most notable feature in 3 of 4 patients studied was the phenomenon of dose dependent, cyclic platelet agglutination-disagglutination. However, this phenomenon could be reproduced in only one of the 2 patients who were investigated on 2 separate occasions. Variable, but often characteristic responses of thrombasthenic platelets to different concentrations of Ristocetin are a useful additional diagnostic marker for this disease.

Blood Platelet Disorders↗
PubMed1984

Clinico-pathological features of malignant lymphomas in 294 Hong Kong Chinese patients, retrospective study covering an eight-year period.

The clinical records and histological material from 294 adult Chinese patients with malignant lymphoma were examined. These patients were first seen at the Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, during the 8-year period 1975-82. There were 27 patients (9.2%) with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 267 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). The median age at presentation was younger for HD (45 years) and the male: female ratio was higher (2:1) than the corresponding figures for NHL of 51 years and 1.4:1. In 76 patients (28.5% of NHL), the disease was thought to have originated in an extra-nodal site, 48 of these cases being gastrointestinal lymphomas. It was possible to reclassify 234 NHL according to the Rappaport and Kiel classifications, and the Working Formulation (WF) proposed by the US National Cancer Institute Study; for HD, the Rye classification was used in 26 cases where suitable material was available. Nodular/follicular lymphomas made up 17.1% of nodal NHL and 5.3% of extra-nodal NHL. The "histiocytic" (Rappaport) or large-cell (WF) subtype was the commonest amongst diffuse NHL. There were only four cases of Burkitt's lymphoma. For HD, the nodular sclerosing subtype was commonest in females (5 out of 8 cases) and for males, the commonest was mixed cellularity (10 out of 18 cases). Of patients with nodal NHL 64.7%, presented with Stage IV disease. For HD, there were about equal numbers of patients presenting with Stage II and Stage IV disease (10 and 9 respectively). The low incidence of Hodgkin's disease and of follicular lymphomas is comparable to figures from other "oriental" countries such as Japan.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Acute intravascular hemolysis indicating thrombosis of Bjork-Shiley aortic prosthesis.

A patient with a Bjork-Shiley aortic prosthesis inserted two years and four months prior to receiving adequate anticoagulant therapy suddenly had severe intravascular hemolysis develop as a result of thrombosis of her aortic prosthesis. There was no notable hemodynamic compromise. The mechanism of the intravascular hemolysis is discussed.

Aortic Valve↗
PubMed1980

Lipothymoma.

Two cases of asymptomatic lipothymoma, discovered on "routine" roentgenograms of the chest, are presented. Thirty well-documented reports of this tumor in the English literature are reviewed. The pertinent points concerning this rare clinicopathological entity are summarized and discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Human colostral and breast milk cells. A light and electron microscopic study.

Colostrum and breast milk samples were obtained from 74 women, 18 of whom gave sequential samples. The mean total leukocyte count in colostrum was 3190 cells/mm3. Proportions of macrophages, polymorphs and lymphocytes varied widely; macrophages usually predominated. Serial sampling showed (1) a small fall in total counts through delivery, (2) a fall in total counts and the proportion of PMNs at the onset of lactation, (3) after 1 to 2 weeks of lactation the appearance of cytoplasmic fragments together with epithelial cells which later constituted the main cell type. It was estimated that the total number of leukocytes available to the neonate remained approximately constant during the first 2 weeks of lactation and fell thereafter. Functionally, morphologically and histochemically macrophages in colostrum and breast milk resembled macrophages elsewhere. Their ultrastructure was characterized by filiform surface projections, numerous endocytic vacuoles and lipid droplets in the cytoplasm.

Colostrum↗
PubMed1978

Malignant histiocytosis: report of five Chinese patients.

Five Chinese patients with malignant histiocytosis are described, the diagnosis being based on microscopic evidence of infiltration of at least three different tissues by noncohesive atypical phagocytic histiocytes, without total obliteration of normal architecture of those tissues. The mean age of the patients was 28 years; all presented with pyrexia (of 2 weeks to 2 1/2 years duration) and all had circulating neoplastic cells. Two patients showed remission with quadruple chemotherapy and one is alive and without symptoms 6 years after onset of his illness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Abnormal distribution of O-alkyl groups in the neutral glycerolipids from human hepatocellular carcinomas.

The direct comparison of O-alkylglycerol composition in the neutral lipids fractions prepared from human hepatocellular carcinomas with that in corresponding preparations from nonneoplastic liver is reported. Tumor-bearing liver and noncancerous liver specimens were obtained either during surgery or at autopsy. Thirty different tissue specimens obtained from 18 cases were analyzed. Representative samples from each specimen were examined microscopically to confirm the pathological diagnosis. Gas chromatographic analysis of alkylglycerol derivatives showed that hexadecylglycerol, octadecylglycerol, and octadecenylglycerol were the principal components. Compared to the noncancerous liver, hepatocellular carcinomas contained higher proportions of hexadecylglycerol and lower proportions of both C18-glyceryl ethers. Associated with this change was an increase in the proportion of saturated to monoenic alkylglycerols. These abnormalities appeared to be more severe in the necrotic areas of the tumors. Higher concentrations of neutral alkyl glycerolipids and of cholesterol were found in the tumors; no differences between the two groups could be found in the levels of ether-linked phosphoglycerides, triglycerides, and lipid phosphorus.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMed1977

Pigmented carcinoid tumour of the thymus.

An asymptomatic thymic tumour, classified as a carcinoid tumour on the basis of its light and electron-microscopic appearances, is described. This tumour was atypical in having foci of melanin pigmentation, the pigment being contained in dendritic melanocytes and melanophages. We suggest that the pigmented cells are not neoplastic and represent latent thymic melanoblasts stimulated in some way by the carcinoid tumour. Alternative explanations are discussed.

Carcinoid Tumor↗
PubMed1976

Accumulation of glyceryl ether lipids in Wolman's disease.

We have shown that ether-linked glycerolipids accumulated in the adrenal, liver, and spleen of a male Chinese infant with Wolman's disease; the increases were mainly in the alkyl and alk-1-enyl glycerolipids that did not contain phosphorus. Alkyldiacylglycerol accounted for a portion of the rise in the neutral alkylglycerols. The spleen also contained increased amounts of ether-linked phosphoglycerides of the alkyl and alk-1-enyl types. Organs from a Niemann-Pick patient were also included in this study; they did not show comparable rises in the content of ether-linked glycerolipids, suggesting the possibility that storage of these compounds may be characteristic of Wolman's disease, or a variant form thereof.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Gastrointestinal lymphoma in Chinese: a retrospective analysis.

Eighty-four Chinese patients with gastrointestinal lymphoma were reviewed. There were 45 gastric and 39 intestinal lymphomas. The median age was 45 years and the male to female ratio 1.14:1. Diffuse histiocytic (60 per cent) or diffuse large cell (53.5 per cent) lymphoma comprised a majority of the cases. A high incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding at presentation was observed in our patients. According to a modified staging classification, a larger proportion of patients with intestinal lymphoma had advanced disease (Stage III and IV) than those with gastric lymphoma (82 per cent versus 55 per cent, p less than 0.02) and gastric lymphoma carried a better prognosis. The modified staging classification used in this study appeared to stratify better the patients into 2 sub-groups of localized (Stage I and II) and advanced (Stage III and IV) disease, which correlated very well with the prognosis. Good treatment results were obtained following intensive therapy in our patients with localized disease (Stage I and II). The poorer treatment results of patients with advanced disease (Stage III and IV) call for better chemotherapy regimens and earlier diagnosis. Surgical resection of the primary gastrointestinal lesion is recommended to prevent haemorrhage and perforation following chemotherapy, which occurred in 38 per cent of our patients whose gastrointestinal lesions were not resected.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Management of stage I-II diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the Waldeyer's ring: combined modality therapy versus radiotherapy alone.

Twenty five patients with stage I and II diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the Waldeyer's ring were reviewed. There were 19 patients with diffuse histiocytic, 4 diffuse lymphocytic poorly differentiated and 2 diffuse mixed lymphoma. Their median age was 51 years. There were 12 males and 13 females. Eight patients had stage I, and 17 had stage II disease. There was a significantly higher incidence of involvement of the left side of the Waldeyer's ring compared to the right (p = 0.0251). Fifteen patients received radiotherapy alone, and ten had radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The median durations of follow-up were 42 (range 8-162) and 44 (range 8-97) months respectively. All patients had complete remission but 9 patients (36 per cent) subsequently had relapse of their lymphomas. Stomach was the commonest site of relapse (44 per cent). The disease free survival and overall survival at 5 years were 59 per cent and 57 per cent respectively. Higher relapse rate was observed in the radiotherapy alone group (60 per cent) as compared to the combined modality therapy group (0 per cent). Patients who received combined modality therapy had significantly superior 5 years disease free survival (100 per cent versus 32 per cent, p less than 0.01) and overall survival (81 per cent versus 40 per cent, p less than 0.05). After radiotherapy alone, patients with stage II disease appeared to have a high relapse rate than those with stage I disease (70 per cent versus 40 per cent) but the difference did not reach statistical significance due to small sample sizes. The histological subtypes did not appear to affect their prognosis. All patients with stage I and II diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the Waldeyer's ring should have gastrointestinal barium studies at initial staging, and a prospective randomised study on these patients comparing radiotherapy alone and combined modality therapy should be performed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Hong Kong Chinese: a retrospective analysis.

Follicular lymphoma is relatively rare in Hong Kong Chinese. Fifty-two patients with follicular lymphoma were reviewed. The histology was nodular lymphocytic poorly differentiated (NLPD) in 75 per cent, nodular mixed (NM) in 21 per cent and nodular histiocytic (NH) in 4 per cent. Our patients appeared to have a higher proportion of NLPD and a lower proportion of NM lymphoma than the western series. Fifty patients were analysed excluding the two patients with NH lymphoma. They had a median age of 50 and a male to female ratio of 0.92. Seventy-two per cent of them presented with asymptomatic lymph node enlargement. Twenty per cent had B symptoms and 32 per cent bulky tumour. Twelve per cent had stage I disease, 2 per cent stage II, 30 per cent stage III and 56 per cent stage IV. A high incidence of bone marrow involvement (48 per cent of all patients) was found. All seven stage I-II patients responded to involved-field radiotherapy alone and none of them has relapsed. The 43 stage III-IV patients were treated with chemotherapy without deferral and a majority of them received CVP (51.1 per cent) or chlorambucil alone (34.9 per cent). The complete response rate of stage III-IV patients was 81 per cent and 26 per cent of the complete responders relapsed. The 5-years disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival of all patients (stage III and IV) were 50 per cent and 65 per cent respectively. The DFS curve showed a pattern of continuous relapses. Stage III patients appeared to have a better complete response rate, a lower relapse rate and superior disease-free survival than stage IV patients but the differences did not reach statistical significance. However, the overall survival of stage III patients was significantly better than stage IV patients (p less than 0.02). Other factors including sex, age, presence of bulky tumour, B symptoms, histologic subtypes and the chemotherapeutic regimes did not significantly affect their prognosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma presenting as hemophagocytic syndrome.

Three patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma presenting with pyrexia, wasting, hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia in the absence of myelophthisic lymphomatous involvement are reported. Early in the course of the disease when there was no significant lymphadenopathy, these cases created enormous diagnostic confusion. Although the clinical features were suggestive of malignant histiocytosis (MH), marrow findings showed phagocytic histiocytes which did not appear atypical, and the criteria for diagnosis of MH could not be satisfied. Lymph node enlargement was detected only after 14, 5, and 8 weeks from the onset of symptoms, and the diagnosis of T-lymphoma was then made on lymph node biopsies. Treatment with multiple agent chemotherapy was attempted. Two patients died 3 days and 11 weeks after treatment was started and the third was lost to follow-up. In contrast with most of the cases reported in the literature, our cases show that a reactive hemophagocytic syndrome can be an early and prominent manifestation of an underlying T-cell lymphoma. Differentiation from other causes of hemophagocytic syndrome can be difficult and lack of histological proof of malignancy in the initial stage often delays definitive diagnosis and treatment.

Adult↗