Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Osculati.
Magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify a spinal mass at the level of the 6th-7th cervical vertebral body in a cat. The MRI images were most consistent with the presence of an intradural, extramedullary meningioma that was confirmed by subsequent histological examination.
We have performed a submicroscopic analysis of the parathyroid glands removed from 2 patients with tertiary hyperparathyroidism. In both cases an RER-associated structure was found, which has never been described in normal or pathologic conditions in protein-secreting cells. This finding was present in only one of the glands of each patient. Their morphologic features are described. The significance of this structure is also discussed.
The vestibular nerve of patients with Meniere's disease and vascular cross-compression syndrome of the root entry zone due to the antero-inferior cerebellar artery was studied. All patients underwent vestibular neurectomy using the retrosigmoid approach, which permits the removal of a long nerve segment. CA were found in the cytoplasm of astrocytes that had not shown signs of degeneration at the central portion of the vestibular root entry zone. No membrane intervened between CA and the surrounding cytoplasm, which was rich in filaments, in particular near the CA, and poorly equipped with other organelles. CA were round or oval inclusions measuring 10-12 microns in diameter. The matrix of the CA was composed of low-density amorphous material, with irregular masses displaying a medium density. A network of randomly oriented filaments and bilaminar, osmiophilic lipid fragments with the same structure and thickness of myelin layers were embedded in the matrix. The CA rich in bilaminar fragments were recognizable also at low magnification for their high electron density. In the astrocytic cytoplasm, near the CA, round or ovalshaped, electron-dense bodies with a multilamellar structure were often visible. These results confirm the hypothesis that CA may contain degenerating myelin embedded in a microenvironment rich in glucose polymers and that CA could be an indicator of neurodegeneration.
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Some observations have been made on inferior olive specimens in the adult cat, with aldehydes fixation techniques through vascular perfusion suitable for electron microscropy. The results made it possible to recognise five types of vesicular structures present in different nerve endings (differences either in type or in number). A possible topographic organization of synaptic connections, between the afferent endings and the dendritic structures of the inferior olive has been considered and it seems that on every large dendrite, nearer the cell body, there is a development of numerous connection. As such connections give a great deal of information to the dendrites with much much interaction it seems possible that there is modulation in the activation of the postsynaptic element. On the other hand, in the periphery of the dendritic branch, many thin branches seem to make contact with few and large endings; this leads us to believe that the regulations of the information is not based only on the afferences but mainly on distribution, origin and number of the postsynaptic elements. A study of the interdendritic connections and of tubulo-vesicular structures showed that their diameter and dense content have a similar morphology with the big granulated vesicles, visible in the terminals, or along the fibres or, frequently, in the Golgi apparatus.
Clinical, physiological and histological investigations on lung involvement are reported in 33 rheumatoid patients. The clinico-pathological patterns of rheumatoid lung disease observed in 19/27 non-smoking female patients were characterized radiologically by diffuse interstitial opacities, functionally by V/Q inequality and microscopically by peribronchiolar and/or alveolar fibrosis. Emphasis is placed on the ventilation/perfusion relationship as well as histopathological studies for a more accurate diagnosis of lung disease in RA. Patients with pulmonary nodules and pleural opacities were also observed. A possible immunological aetiology is suggested on the basis of the simultaneous finding of IgG, complement and fibrinogen in the pulmonary tissue.
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