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Biomedical subjects

F Rilke

Publications and source records attributed to F Rilke.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Malignant histiocytosis: a clinicopathologic study of 18 consecutive cases.

The clinical records and histologic material of 18 consecutive patients with malignant histiocytosis were reviewed. The age of the patients ranged from 20 months to 72 years (median 35 years). There were 14 males and 4 females (3.5:1). Lymph node and liver enlargement, fever, and skin nodules were the most common physical findings; and leukocytosis was frequently the most abnormal laboratory test. Seven of 18 patients died, and their survival ranged from 1 to 15 months (median 8 months) after histopathologic diagnosis. The histologic findings on lymph nodes, spleen, liver, bone marrow, and skin were investigated with special reference to both the cellular composition and the pattern of lymph node involvement. Vascular invasion of small perinodal vessels was observed in 4 fatal cases. The absence of capsular invasion and the lack of cohesiveness among atypical proliferating histiocytes of malignant histiocytosis appeared to be inconstant. Sequential lymph node biopsies revealed in later stages the extension of the histiocytic proliferation from the sinuses into the cords and the complete obliteration of the nodal structures. The radiologic investigations yielded numerous pathologic findings that were consistent with the dissemination of the disease. Complete response to initial treatment was achieved in patients that were treated with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. Complete response with chemotherapy was achieved only when the treatment included adriamycin. The histologic and clinical features of the present series provide future evidence for the recognition of malignant histiocytosis as a distinct clinical and pathologic entity.

Adolescent↗

Malignant histiocytosis: a histological and ultrastructural study of lymph nodes in six cases.

A morphological, histological, and ultrastructural investigation was carried out on a series of six cases of malignant histiocytosis observed between 1973 and 1977. All lymph nodes were obtained prior to treatment. The histological findings revealed that the proliferating cell type was in all cases represented by histiocytes of varying degrees of atypia and with consistent phagocytic activity. In four cases, the histiocytic cellular proliferation also showed some degree of cohesiveness and, in two cases, there was capsular invasion. In three cases blood vessel invasion by malignant cells could be seen within the lymph node and in the surrounding tissue. On electron microscopy the tumour cells of malignant histiocytosis appeared to be pleomorphic with three types of cells: undifferentiated cells, histiocytes with variable degrees of differentiation, and cells with intermediate features. In particular, nonphagocytic and actively phagocytic histiocytes could be identified. The histological and ultrastructural data further support the idea that malignant histiocytosis is a disease that is related to the neoplastic proliferation of moderately differentiated histiocytes and their precursors. The latter may undergo various transformations with either apparently benign or definitely atypical morphological features.

Adolescent↗

Prognostic significance of the labeling index in non-Hodgkin human malignant lymphomas.

The labeling index has been determined in 34 non-Hodgkin malignant lymphomas. The kinetic parameter has been analyzed in relation to the different histologic types, according to the Kiel calssification, and a kinetic classification with three main groups at low, intermediate, and high proliferative activity has been proposed. The analysis of the survival of the patients in relation to the labeling index of the malignant lymphoma cell population has shown that the potential proliferative activity has an important prognostic significance.

Humans↗

Clinical evaluation of cytological diagnosis of nasopharyngeal malignancies.

Between 1970 and 1975 cytological examination was applied to the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal malignancies in a series of 216 consecutive patients who had either a tumour in the nasopharynx or clinical signs of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, or who were locally asymptomatic but had enlarged cervical lymph nodes. Smears were taken by introducing a small rough pad of compressed gauze through the mouth into the nasopharynx with an upward-angled forceps. In each case the cytological smear was taken immediately before biopsy; often, a lymph node was removed subsequently. When morphological diagnoses were doubtful and histological findings were at variance with positive cytological findings, the patients were reexamined clinically, and diagnosis was postponed. The case material was made up of 90 nasopharyngeal carcinomas, 24 lymphomas, one malignant melanoma, one adenoid cystic carcinoma and 100 patients without malignancies. Cytological findings from the first smear were positive in 77.8% of nasopharyngeal carcinomas, in 66.6% of lymphomas and in the cases of melanoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma. There were no false-positive results. When the nasopharyngeal carcinomas were subdivided into undifferentiated carcinomas of the nasopharyngeal type and squamous-cell carcinomas, cytological findings were positive in ,0% and 73%, respectively. Positivity of histological findings was distributed as follows: 91.7% for malignant lymphomas, 86.6% for undifferentiated carcinomas and 86.6% for squamous-cell carcinomas. With respect to clinical suspicion of malignancy, positive cytological findings were obtained in 50% of clinically occult cases and in 84.6% of patients with obvious malignancies; intermediate figures were found for clinically doubtful (64.3%) and for highly suspicious (77.8%) cases. Cyto-histological concordance was shown in 70% of cases; false-negative histological results were obtained in 7.8% and false-negative cytological results in 16.6% of cases. Combined cyto-histological positive results allowed diagnostic accuracy from the first samples in 94.4% of cases. Undifferentiated carcinoma appeared to be the malignancy most accessible to cytological diagnosis, with positive results ranging from 65% in clinically negative or doubtful cases to 84.5% in those with obvious tumours. Assessment of the cytology of the nasopharynx, using the new sampling method described herein, may be a useful diagnostic tool in nasopharyngeal maliganancies.

Biopsy↗

Conservative treatment of breast cancer. A trial in progress at the Cancer Institute of Milan.

The report describes a clinical trial on conservative surgery in progress at the National Cancer Institute of Milan, Italy. The randomized clinical trial compares radical mastectomy with a more conservative procedure consisting of mammary resection plus axillary dissection plus radiotherapy. The resection comprises an entire quadrant of the breast together with the overlying skin and the corresponding portion of the fascial sheet of the pectoralis major. The axillary dissection is performed in continuity with the resected breast quadrant except in cases with tumors of lower inner quadrants, who need two separate incisions. After surgery the patients receive 6000 rads to the residual breast tissue over five to six weeks, starting 15 days after operation. The cosmetic results are satisfactory in approximately 70% of cases. The trial is limited to cases with tumors less than 2 cm and no palpable axillary nodes (T1N0M0). Patients with histologically positive lymph nodes (N+) are submitted to adjuvant chemotherapy with CMF for one year. From September 1973, to October 1976, 331 cases entered the trial. One hundred sixty were treated with radical mastectomy and 164 with the conservative procedure. Axillary metastases were found in 23% of the radical and in 29% of the conservative surgery group. Four local-regional recurrences have occurred till now, two in each group. Five cases in the radical mastectomy group and one in the conservative group had distant metastases. The clinical trial will collect some 500 cases by the end of 1977 and significant preliminary results are expected to be available from 1978.

Adult↗

Correlation of cell kinetic findings with morphology of non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas.

Kinetic studies were carried out on 6 benign and 37 malignant lymph nodes from patients with non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas (ML). The labeling index, DNA content, and cell distribution through the cell cycle were analyzed in the ML, which were classified according to the Kiel classification. Approximately 90% of the ML studied showed a clear diploidy; the only cases of polyploidy were limited to some centroblastic-centrocytic ML with more than 30% malignant centroblasts and to be single centroblastic ML. The labeling indexes ranged from 0.05 to 33%. No correlation was found between the proliferative rate and the degree of ploidy, while a grading of labeling index was found in relation to the three main DNA distribution patterns observed (i.e., G1 peak, S accumulation, and bimodal distribution through the cell cycle). From a kinetic point of view, the most heterogeneous groups were the lymphoplasmacytoid (subtype polymorphous) and centroblastic-centrocytic ML, where the degree of proliferation increased as the mixture of cell type (relative to the former group) and the malignant centroblastic component (relative to the latter group) increased.

Adolescent↗

Sequential laparoscopy and laparotomy combined with bone marrow biopsy in staging Hodgkin's disease.

In a series of 121 unselected, previously untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease staging laparoscopy combined with needle bone marrow biopsy detected the presence of extranodal disease in the liver or marrow or both in 9% of the patients. A spleen biopsy yielded positive findings in 13%. Subsequent laparotomy with open marrow biopsy performed in 110 patients with negative liver and marrow findings from the first combined procedure revealed the presence of extranodal hepatic lymphoma in two additional spleens. Surgical marrow biopsy was always interpretey. Although devoid of major complications, biopsy of the spleen is not recommended as a routine procedure in staging laparoscopy. This prospective sequential study confirms that laparoscopy plus needle marrow biopsy is a useful, rapid, safe, and economic procedure to establish stage IV disease in the large majority of patients with nodal involvement. Considering the recent more extensive use of chemotherapy for intermediate stages of Hodgkin's disease, our findings suggest that laparotomy with splenectomy needs a critical re-evaluation as a routine staging procedure for patients with no overt extranodal lymphoma.

Biopsy, Needle↗

Laparoscopy and laparotomy combined with bone marrow biopsy in staging Hodgkin's disease.

The relative merits of laparoscopy with liver and spleen biopsy and staging laparotomy were studied in 91 unselected patients with Hodgkin's disease. Laparoscopy with liver and spleen biopsy were combined with needle biopsy of the bone marrow and laparotomy was combined with open bone marrow biopsy. In 65 untreated patients six out of seven with liver or marrow disease, or both, were shown to have extranodal lymphomas in these sites by laparoscopy plus needle marrow biopsy. Among 26 patients who had been treated this finding occurred in six out of 10 patients. Spleen biopsies during laparoscopy detected infiltration by lymphoma in 14 out of 37 (38%) patients with diseases spleens. Morbidity was higher after laparotomy than after laparoscopy. Laparoscopy produced abdominal bleeding secondary to splenic biopsy in two patients. All patients with Hodgkin's disease should be subjected to laparoscopy plus needle marrow biopsy before undergoing laparotomy.

Adolescent↗