Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

H B Carstens

Publications and source records attributed to H B Carstens.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Primary malignant melanoma of the common bile duct.

Biliary tract obstruction in a 30-year-old man was found to be caused by a malignant melanoma in the common bile duct. Melanin pigment was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Extensive search for a primary malignant melanoma elsewhere was unsuccessful. No pigmented lesions had been removed previously. There were junctional changes in the mucosa of the common bile duct close to the tumor. The malignant melanoma in the common bile duct therefore is considered to be primary. Only one other case of primary malignant melanoma in the common bile duct has been described in the literature, whereas metastases to the major bile ducts in one autopsy study of malignant melanoma in the more common locations were found with a frequency of 6 per cent.

Adult

Soft tissue tumor with prominent leptomeric fibrils and complexes.

A recurrent soft tissue tumor from the groin in a 37-year-old male is described. The tumor cells contain many leptomeric structures, both fibrils and complexes, but none of the other characteristic features of striated muscle: alternating parallel thick and thin myofilaments with Z-line material. A review of one rhabdomyoma and six rhabdomyosarcomas demonstrates that leptomeric structures are present in large amounts in the rhabdomyoma but are very infrequent in only three of the six rhabdomyosarcomas. A careful search for leptomeric structures is indicated when the ultrastructural diagnosis of either rhabdomyoma or rhabdomyosarcoma is being considered.

Adult

Giant cell tumors of tendon sheath. An electron microscopical study of 11 cases.

Light and electron microscopy of 11 giant cell tumors of tendon sheath revealed a pleomorphic cell population in which the giant cells had similarities to osteoclasts, and the stromal cells had similarities to primitive mesenchymal cells, osteoblasts, fibroblasts, and histiocytes. I suggest that giant cell tumors of tendon sheath are derived from mesenchymal cells with partial osseous differentiation.

Adult

Ultrastructure of sclerosing hemangioma.

Specimens from 9 patients with the varying histopathologic patterns of sclerosing hemangioma were studied by electron microscopy. Not only were there numerous identifiable vascular spaces, but many of the cells had the ultrastructural characteristics of endothelial cells whether they were lining vascular spaces, forming organoid structures or were isolated. The Weibel-Palade bodies served as a marker for endothelial cells. They are rod-shaped, with a length up to 2 mu and a diameter up to .1 mu, and contain a tubular substructure, the diameter of the individual tubules being 150 [unk]. Our findings clearly support Gross and Wolbach's theory that this group of lesions is of endothelial origin.

Adolescent

Membrane-bound cytoplasmic crystals, similar to those in alveolar soft part sarcoma, in a human muscle spindle.

Membrane-bound cytoplasmic crystals were found in the intrafusal fibers of a muscle spindle from a patient with neurogenic atrophy. The crystals have a periodicity of 10 nm and an intersecting axis angle of approximately 80 degrees. This makes the crystals similar to those described in alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS). Because the crystals in ASPS may not be quite as specific as previously believed, and because similar crystals have been described in various other neoplasms, the present findings should not be taken as evidence for a muscle spindle derivation for ASPS.

Crystallization

Mammary carcinosarcoma presenting as rhabdomyosarcoma: an ultrastructural and immunocytochemical study.

A mass in the left breast of a 32-year-old woman was first diagnosed as sarcoma with rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation. Subsequent studies demonstrated a malignant epithelial component to be present, changing the diagnosis to carcinosarcoma. This course of events supports the concept that many, if not all, sarcomas of the breast would be mixed tumors with a malignant epithelial component, if search for the epithelial component was extensive. Carcinosarcomas with rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation in the breast are rare, but like sarcomas elsewhere, they do not metastasize to regional lymph nodes, but disseminate hematogenously, primarily to the lungs.

Adult

Glomerulocystic disease and lupus glomerulonephropathy.

A renal biopsy demonstrated the presence of both glomerulocystic disease (GCD) and lupus glomerulonephropathy in a patient who was admitted for an unrelated disease and was found to have proteinuria and renal failure. Of 12 adult patients with GCD reported in the literature, some form of glomerulonephropathy was demonstrated in 3. One of the 3 had the membranous type of lupus glomerulonephropathy. When family members of previously reported cases of GCD have been examined, "occult" cases of GCD were frequently identified. GCD is probably a much more frequent disease than the relatively small number of published cases would lead one to believe. In adults GCD is often asymptomatic and will only become symptomatic if another renal disease, such as lupus glomerulonephropathy, is superimposed.

Female